NEW YORK—“Hello, you.” Fans of Netflix’s romance-laden psychological thriller YOU may recognize this line as the chilling motif uttered by Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), the show’s predatory yet dangerously charming protagonist.
Fans strolling through New York City’s SoHo neighborhood on April 22 and 23—just ahead of the highly anticipated release of YOU season five—might have also recognized a real-life Mooney’s Rare & Used Books outpost. The show's infamous bookstore is filmed at the Upper East Side’s Logos Bookstore, and is where Joe works in season one when he meets his first victim, Guinevere Beck. It's also where he transforms a basement vault Mr. Mooney once used to preserve rare books into a cage for much more sinister purposes. 
Notable details from the show were brought to life at the pop-up: dark wallpapered walls, ornate rugs, and gold-framed pictures, plus a green bankers lamp and an old-school register atop a branded front desk.Photo: Courtesy of Invisible North
It was all brought to life in a vacant 5,000-square-foot space located at 489 Broome St. by experiential marketing agency Invisible North. Over the course of the two-day pop-up, 3,300 guests visited Mooney’s (which was open to the public but required a 30-minute reservation upon arrival), according to Amber Ward, Invisible North's founder and CEO. On the first day of the event, YOU star Badgley himself made a surprise appearance.
The YOU set rebuild was two months in the making, Ward said, including four days’ worth of load-in to ensure that “the attention to detail was the star of this experience." The bookstore itself spared no detail—down to the dark wallpapered walls, ornate rugs, and gold-framed pictures, plus a green bankers lamp and an old-school register atop a branded front desk. 
The YOU set rebuild was two months in the making, according to Amber Ward, founder and CEO of Invisible North, the experiential marketing agency behind the pop-up.Photo: Courtesy of Invisible North
The guest experience was marked by a literary scavenger hunt, where attendees were tasked with wandering through Mooney’s shelves and opening books in search of handwritten notes to reveal a four-word “cryptic clue” that gave insight into YOU’s final season. (The final phrase: “Secrets don’t stay caged.”)
Once the clue was revealed, guests were ushered through a “staff only” door that led them down a hallway to uncover interactive obsession boxes that nodded to each season of the show—and finally, to the dark side of Mooney's, a replica of Joe’s infamous cage. “Guests were able to step inside, snap a closed-caption photo, and explore Joe’s cage room as the highlight of the experience,” Ward explained. 
Penn Badgley, who plays the show’s predatory yet dangerously charming protagonist, Joe Goldberg, made a surprise appearance during the pop-up and took photos with fans.Photo: Courtesy of Invisible North
At the end of their 30-minute experience, YOU fans walked away with a swag bag that included Joe’s iconic blue cap.
“YOU has amassed such a large and dedicated fan base we knew they would be our toughest critics,” Ward said of collaborating with Netflix—noting that she even tapped YOU superfans on Invisible North’s staff to guide the planted Easter eggs from each season around the experience. Invisible North has been a partner for the streaming giant since 2018, previously working on launches for The Final Table, The Irishman, Emily in Paris, and Outer Banks, among popular titles.
Keep scrolling for a closer look inside the YOU pop-up experience...
A highlight of the space: the recreation of Joe's infamous basement cage, which Mr. Mooney once used to preserve rare books, but Joe used for much more sinister purposes.Photo: Courtesy of Invisible North
A security camera planted in the cage—as it was in the show—served as a creative photo op.Photo: Courtesy of Invisible North
The guest experience was marked by a literary scavenger hunt, where attendees were tasked with uncovering a “cryptic clue” that gave insight into YOU’s final season.Photo: Courtesy of Invisible North
Ward said her agency worked closely with Netflix—and even YOU superfans on Invisible North's team—to plant Easter eggs from each season around the experience.Photo: Courtesy of Invisible North
After a 30-minute walk-through, guests left the fan experience with a branded swag bag complete with Joe's iconic baseball cap.Photo: Courtesy of Invisible North
Over the course of the two-day pop-up, 3,300 guests visited Mooney’s.Photo: Courtesy of Invisible North
