The chill of February lingers in the air, but love is already blooming in Harvard Square. With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, students are scouring the internet and local shops for thoughtful gifts that impress their special someone. Among the series of Yelp reviews and promising storefronts is Love Pop, which offers customers a twist on tradition: specialty cards that unfold into an intricate 3D piece of art.
Founded by Harvard Business School alumni Wombi Rose and John Wise, Love Pop designs cards inspired by the ancient Japanese art style of Kirigami, or “Slice-gami.” This technique transforms paper into magical keepsakes—imagine a special love letter accompanied by a flapping butterfly or a happy birthday note compounded with a favorite flower.
The company netted national attention after its appearance on Shark Tank, where it received investor offers from Kevin O’Leary and Robert Herjavec. After careful deliberation and a bidding war between O’Leary and Herjavec, Rose and Wise accepted O’Leary’s proposition. As of 2023, the business has become one of Shark Tank’s most successful investments.
Love Pop has opened nearly 2,000 locations, including one in Harvard Square, offering its products to local students and Cambridge community members alike. Their Cambridge location is one of their few stand-alone stores, as their products are often found in larger gift shops. Whether it’s paper bouquets, Harry Potter cards, Valentine’s Day-themed pop-ups, or cards for any occasion, Love Pop Cambridge has it all. The Harvard Independent had the opportunity to sit down with an employee at Love Pop to discuss the ins and outs of running such a unique business.
Tyrone Perry, who has worked at Love Pop for one year, is an expert on all things Slice-gami. Perry showed us some of his favorite products as he walked through the store’s various sections. The shop was sorted into multiple sections: seasonal, natural, special occasions, licensed, and more. Products line the store’s shelves: an intricately detailed cherry blossom pop-up tree in the store’s nature section—which Perry referred to as “our OG” and one of the cards showcased on Shark Tank—and beautiful bouquets enthrall the eye in the store’s pop-up flower section.
Perry also pointed out a pop-up card featuring a moon above a night sky background, created from ideas in Love Pop’s signature suggestion box. The suggestion box, a brown chest that sits by the register for customer recommendations, is a core feature of this burgeoning business. “We love to hear from all the communities in the world so that we can make it more inclusive,” he said.
In addition to the suggestion box, Love Pop offers cards to people with many different backgrounds. Their website features pop-ups catering to LGBTQ+, Christian, Islamic, Jewish, and Hindu communities.
The store offers special sales just in time for Valentine’s Day, including some exclusively for the Harvard community. “You get 10% off your whole order; there is a secret discount for Harvard alum students and faculty, where you get 25% off because of the [Harvard] connection,” Perry said. This secret discount is how they give back to the school community, which helped inspire their business—the two discovered Kirigami on an HBS trip to Vietnam.
Perry shared his thoughts on the supportive corporate climate of the company. “We need more companies like this that can actually boost the endorphins and bring joy to people, especially regarding sustainably sourced items and art,” he said.
A counter on the wall listed the number 60,711,014 (at the time of the interview), tracking the company’s goal of reaching 1 billion “magical moments.” “[The counter] is not tied to the amount of sales we make, because every product that is sold has two magical moments,” Perry said. These moments, Perry explained, happen once when you find it and another when it’s gifted. The journey to a billion magical moments might seem daunting, but with the customer service of employees like Perry, Love Pop is sure to make it.
A short three-minute walk from the Yard brings Harvard students to a world of Slice-gami art. Perry encourages students to visit him at Love Pop, and take advantage of the 25% discount for a unique Valentine’s Day for you and that special someone.
Kalvin Frank ’28 (kfrank@college.harvard.edu) thinks the Love Pop flower bouquets are beautiful.