"X Factor" U.K. boy band One Direction has announced more 1D World pop-up stores will be opening in 2013. The 1D World pop-up stores, which sell only One Direction merchandise, are open for a limited time, ranging from two weeks to two months, depending on the location.
Here are the details of the 1D World stores announced so far for 2013:
Feb. 23 to March 9, 2013: Stockholm — MOOD Stockholm
March 16 to April 28, 2013: Minneapolis — Mall of America
March 23 to April 7, 2013: Barcelona, Spain
March 23 to April 14, 2013: Leeds, England — Trinity Shopping Centre
March 28 to April 13, 2013: London — O2 Arena
April 13 to May 4, 2013: Boston — Faneuil Hall Marketplace
In 2012, 1D World pop-up stores opened for a limited time in:
- Melbourne, Australia
- Adelaide, Australia
- Wellington, New Zealand
- Sydney
- Toronto
- Northbrook, Ill. (near Chicago)
- New York City
The 1D store in Leeds will be one of the largest. According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, a One Direction spokesperson commented: “With a floor space of over 5,000 square feet, 1D World Leeds promises to be the ultimate meeting place for all 1D fans in Yorkshire, the North West and beyond. The store will be open for three weeks only; during this time fans can expect exclusive competitions, offers and merch bundles – everything a fan of Louis, Niall, Liam, Zayn and Harry could want.”
Meanwhile, One Direction's 2013 world tour (which began Feb. 23 in London) is continuing to get mostly positive reviews from critics. Here are excerpts from some of the reviews:
Wales Online reviewed the afternoon show on March 2, 2013, at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales:
"The pop band, who have had massive global success in just three years, certainly did not disappoint. But then again, I think these lads could literally just stand on a stage and smile and the girls would scream. And just keep on screaming and screaming ... They didn’t have to do anything clever; the crowd was happy to simply watch them perform. There were no clever dance routines or sophisticated costume changes but when you’re nine, and you’ve just made eye contact with one of One Direction (as they flew above the crowd to give everyone a good look at them) well, that’s good enough."
The Independent reviewed the concert on March 5, 2013, at the O2 Arena in Dublin:
"Musically, 1D veer from the cute to the harmless and all the way back. The wholesomeness, like the screams, is unrelenting. Blondie's 'One Way Or Another' and The Undertones' 'Teenage Kicks' are absorbed into the One Direction continuum, all the barbs and angles ruthlessly removed. The closest One Direction come to breaking out of their safety zone is hovering above the room on a plexiglass platform (they resemble window cleaners who've just raided a Topman store-room), though there is some organised spontaneity as they answer fans' Twitter questions. A sequence of gloopy ballads serve only to underline your suspicion that Horan, now and then hefting a guitar, is probably the most musically talented. But through it all, their grins never dim, the quintet emanating such radioactive quantities of good clean fun you feel you should be wearing sun block."
The Belfast Telegraph reviewed the concert on March 14, 2013, at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland:
"You've also got to respect the fact that One Direction performed last night without the need for a squad of backing dancers, an overly elaborate stage show or even the dreaded boy band staple, stools. It was just them and a four-piece live band, bouncing about in skinny jeans, Ramones T-shirts and messy hair, with the occasional detour to a secondary stage in the centre of the arena. Sure, the group's covers of Blondie's 'One Way or Another' and 'Teenage Kicks' by the Undertones remain scrappy shadows of the originals, but there was no denying the thrill of hearing an arena full of kids – many of whom weren't even born last century, never mind in the 1970s – singing along with the punk classics."
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