Love Your Melon’s Mall of America pop-up is open now through March 2026. Photos: Emma Engeldinger
The limited-time installation features exclusive customer experiences.
Through March 2026, Love Your Melon (LYM) is back at the Mall of America with a pop-up store. The brand, owned and founded by Valley resident Zachary Quinn, supplies beanies to children battling cancer, with over 270,000 hats donated since its founding in 2012. LYM also supports nonprofit organizations with similar goals by donating 15 percent of all revenue to their partners fighting childhood cancer.
LYM was acquired by a New York-based company in 2022 before Quinn bought it back in 2025. Now, the new Mall of America storefront offers a chance for customers to support LYM’s mission in person. We asked Quinn for more details about the pop-up.
How has the company’s mission evolved since 2012, and what remains most important to you today?
We’re so excited to have Love Your Melon back and running it as a family business. We’ve returned [to] our original mission—giving a beanie to every child battling cancer in America. We’ve relaunched our Buy One, Give One program. For every beanie sold, one is given.
What inspired you to bring Love Your Melon back to the Mall of America?
As a Minnesota-based brand, the Mall of America has always been a special place for us. As we begin our new chapter, we wanted a space that could match the scale, energy and excitement of what we’re building, and there’s no better venue for that than the Mall of America.
This pop-up is a celebration of where we’ve been and a preview of where we’re headed.
How does this Mall of America pop-up differ from other retail experiences Love Your Melon has done in the past?
This is our most immersive and interactive retail experience. The goal is to invite guests into our community and experience the heart of LYM. The space includes Build Your Own Beanie, interactive displays, exclusive merchandise and storytelling about our impact, all under one roof.
How did the idea for Build Your Own Beanie Studio come about?
We want guests to be a part of the LYM community by creating a beanie themselves. When you choose your knit beanie, pom, patches and accessories, you are building a product that supports children and families battling cancer, turning a simple purchase into a meaningful, memorable moment.
Visitors can customize their own Love Your Melon hat with the Build Your Own Beanie Studio.
Why was it important to feature in-store exclusives at the pop-up?
The LYM Experience is a way for our customers to engage with our community of people who support our mission. We’re offering exclusive, limited edition items that may never be available again to our community of supporters and storytellers. We hope guests leave feeling connected to our mission, our community, and reminded that even small actions—like buying a beanie—can make a meaningful difference.
Looking back at LYM’s history, what impact are you most proud of?
The numbers are meaningful, but what we’re most proud of are the stories behind them—the children whose hospital days were brightened by a cozy hat, the families who felt supported in their most challenging moments and the researchers whose work has advanced thanks to our funding.
Love Your Melon
Facebook: Love Your Melon
Instagram: @loveyourmelon
