Labubus: The Toothy Toy That Took Over the World

In the ever-evolving world of collectibles, few phenomena have captured global attention quite like Labubus. What began as a quirky character in a storybook has transformed into a billion-dollar brand, a pop culture icon, and a symbol of modern collector culture. Labubus was born from the imagination of Kasing Lung, a Hong Kong-Belgian artist inspired by Nordic folklore. Originally featured in his illustrated series The Monsters, Labubu—the mischievous elf with sharp teeth and a scruffy charm—was brought to life as a vinyl figure in 2015. But it wasn’t until Lung partnered with Chinese toy giant Pop Mart in 2019 that Labubu truly found its audience.

The Love for the Chiefs, the Love for the City!

Once again, the Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl bound! The Chiefs won the AFC Championship by beating the Buffalo Bills on January 26th. They will be facing the Philadelphia Eagles during Superbowl LIX. This is a historic matchup as Super Bowl LIX marks the second time in three years the Chiefs and the Eagles face each other. It is safe to say that Kansas City (and its surrounding areas) are proud of the Chiefs!

This past holiday season, the Chiefs and Kansas City reached a whole new level – being the stars of a Hallmark Christmas movie. There were multiple cameos, many locations throughout Kansas City, and the spirit of Chiefsmas all wrapped into an hour-and-a-half movie. Kansas City has been booming with pride. The city is welcoming visitors at record levels as Visit KC (the region’s primary destination sales and marketing organization) deploys its “From the Heart” campaign to engage and drive more than 28 million visitors.

Everything’s Up to Date in Kansas City

With the temperature in Kansas City lately being from 90° to 100°, it is no surprise that families are trying to find ways to keep their little ones busy during the summer months that does not involve being outside. This past weekend, my husband and I decided to take a stroll through our very own backyard and head to Crown Center.

Kansas City Celebrating Women’s History Month

As many of you know, March is Women’s History Month. It seems very fitting that the CPKC Stadium opened its doors for its first home match on March 16, 2024. The Stadium is the first privately financed stadium purpose-built exclusively for a professional women’s soccer team, the Kansas City Current. The Current were founded in December 2020 as Kansas City’s National Women’s Soccer League team and are owned by Angie Long, Chris Long and our very own Brittany Mahomes, wife to three-time Super Bowl winner and Quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes.

Holiday Receiving and Giving

The end of the year is always a hectic time for everyone, with many holidays around the world. It is also usually a big time for retail businesses.

This year, retailers have settled the long debate on when the holiday season begins—the earlier the better, as reflected in the surge in Black Friday deals. According to the traditional explanation for Thanksgiving-linked Black Friday sales, retailers—after an entire year of operating at a loss (“in the red”)—supposedly begin to earn a profit (“move into the black”) on the day after Thanksgiving, mainly because shoppers begin to spend heavily on discounted merchandise.

The Power of Pink

A few weeks ago, I was able to catch a movie. I actually went to the movie theater. What movie caught my eye? What brought me out to a movie theater? You guessed it. The one and only – Barbie.

I had Barbies growing up, but I was not one of those fans who counted down the days until the movie’s release. In fact, I did not plan to watch it on the big screen, but the marketing team at Barbie had my social media buzzing.

The combined release of Barbie and Oppenheimer—dubbed “Barbenheimer”—became a pop culture sensation. There were memes left and right about Barbenheimer. The event possibly revived the movie theater industry. According to CNN, Barbenheimer led to the fourth highest-grossing industry weekend of all time in North America, totaling about $302 million.

The Importance of Regulatory Compliance

In case you haven’t turned on the news lately (and it can sometimes be hard to do so these days…), there has been major news regarding OceanGate’s missing Titanic submersible, now officially a catastrophic loss. For those who haven’t followed the story, a tourist submarine went missing during a dive set for the Titanic’s wreck on Sunday. OceanGate sent five people – the Company’s CEO, three paying guests, and a content expert - for an eight-day trip to the site of the Titanic’s wreck. The Titanic’s wreck lies some 435 miles south of St John’s Newfoundland at a depth of 3,800 meters (12,500 ft). For comparison, the Grand Canyon is 2,400 meters (8,000 ft) tall.

It’s that time of the year again – when the Kansas City Office celebrates the Chiefs going to The Big Game!

As the Chiefs prepare to face off against the Philadelphia Eagles, it is important to note what an event like this means to the host city, the city of Glendale, Arizona. Every year, thousands of people travel to the lucky city that will hold the championship, generating millions of dollars in revenue for businesses and local governments. The game is also seen as an opportunity to showcase a city’s culture and attractions, resulting in increased tourism.

A Hawaiian Sojourn

Author: Dara Alvarado

As we are getting into warmer weather here in Kansas City, and, finding myself hard at work inside, it’s hard not to reminisce about my time in Hawaii last October. I was lucky enough to visit Maui in October. My husband and I went for about a week.

It was our first time traveling to Hawaii and we had a connecting flight through LAX. We went through security, got to our gate, checked our tickets (awesome, a two-hour flight), engaged in some people-watching, and had some snacks while waiting for the plane. Fast forward—we are onboard and flying. One hour passes. Two hours pass. At three hours, I begin to wonder. I turn to my husband and ask, “Why are we still in the air?!” Yes, you’re right—the flight was actually six hours instead of two. We did indeed land in Hawaii two hours after our departure from Los Angles, but we forgot about the time difference.

We were exhausted from our supposed two-hour flight, but seeing this scenery definitely made the six-hour plane ride worth it. We drove to our first stop where we had an Airbnb for a few days. We stayed on the north side of the island – more remote and more scenic than the west side. Below is the view from our window.