First Look: Nintendo opens store in San Francisco's Union Square
Nintendo has opened its second store in the United States – two decades after making its debut.
The Japanese video game giant held a grand opening for its San Francisco store on May 13. The two-story Union Square location offers guests an “immersive shopping experience” for all ages, where they can browse exclusive products including accessories, apparel and home goods.
Nintendo of America first announced plans for its second U.S. location last spring. The new location joins the two-level Nintendo store at Rockefeller Center in New York City, which opened in 2005. There are only three Nintendo stores outside of the U.S. They are all located in Japan, in the cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. (Nintendo, however, does have venues at U.S. theme parks.)
The San Francisco store offers plenty of photo opportunities, including with “larger-than-life statues” of Nintendo characters from franchises such as Super Mario, Splatoon, The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon and more.
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Image credit: Nintendo of America -
Image credit: Nintendo of America -
Image credit: Nintendo of America -
Image credit: Nintendo of America -
Image credit: Nintendo of America -
Image credit: Nintendo of America
In addition, the store boasts several interactive features, including demo stations where visitors can play their favorite games on the Nintendo Switch system or discover new ones. Visitors also have an opportunity to play on a giant gaming screen located on the lower level, which will also be used to air future Nintendo Direct livestreams.
Highlights of the new store include the following:
•The merchandise assortment includes special multi-character artwork products including statue replicas, stationery items and bags, as well as exclusive Nintendo San Francisco-branded apparel.
•The hardware customization kiosk display lets customers create their very own customized Nintendo Switch – OLED Model system. They can choose from different Joy-Con, wrist strap and dock colors for a customized system that will be ready for them to take home the same day.
•Visitors can check in at the My Nintendo kiosk with their Nintendo Account information to get an exclusive sticker for visiting Nintendo San Francisco, plus 50 My Nintendo Platinum Points.
[READ MORE: New retail and events destination opens in San Francisco]
Nintendo has sold more than 5.8 billion video games and over 850 million hardware units globally. The company’s franchises, including Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Pokémon, Animal Crossing and more, have become household names worldwide.
