Nintendo is opening a retail store for its gaming gear in San Francisco today. I went to check it out early on a press visit. And even though I am too cynical to be the biggest Nintendo fan on the planet, I left with about $90.35 worth of merchandise. (Hoping my wife doesn’t read this).
This is only the second store that the Japanese company has opened in the U.S. The first, in Rockefeller Center in New York, opened in November 2001, just after 9/11. For San Francisco, this is a blessing to have a new store opening, as the crowds have stayed away and the stores have been closing since the pandemic.
It’s not a huge store — about 9,000 square feet across two floors — but it’s in the iconic Union Square, just diagonal across the park from Apple’s huge store. And what the two stores share is that they are filled with products where you can tell they pay a lot of attention to detail.
This store is symbolic of gamer fandom, which has become a huge part of mass culture. In fact, gaming culture, or Nintendo culture, is so big with things like Mario Kart and The Super Mario Bros. Movie (which did $1.4 billion at the box office) that people want to engage with it in every walk of life — including in retail stores.
PJ Sadler, a 13-year Nintendo store veteran from New York, came out for the opening. The senior manager told me, “For all of you that have said when are we opening one on the West Coast, it’s finally here.” And on June 5, the store will be stocked with the new Nintendo Switch 2 hybrid game consoles that go on sale that day. Trip Hawkins, who was defeated by Nintendo and Sony while he was at 3DO, believes the Switch 2 will sell more than 100 million units.
Sadler said, “We wanted Nintendo San Francisco to be more than just a store. We want to immerse you with our characters, with our worlds. We’re going to do that through immersive experiences and all the unique products around you.”
The San Francisco store has a lot of merch that is only available in the store, like the Nintendo San Francisco T-shirt I bought and paraphernalia based on all of the Nintendo characters who are on the store’s windows, marching into the front door. All the franchises are represented, like Zelda, Splatoon, Mario Kart, Pikmin, Kirby, Donkey Kong, Pokémon, Princess Peach, Animal Crossing and more. Some of those franchises will have merch that debuted in Japan and is coming to the U.S. for the first time.
I am expecting the Switch 2 gear will be in the downstairs area, which has a few big screens for game demos and one huge gaming wall screen if you want to show off your abilities in front of everyone in the store. You’ll also find the Zelda, Splatoon, Pokémon and Pikmin gear below decks. There’s even a puzzle where you’ll have to located 12 Pikmin characters throughout the store.
“My favorite thing is just the detail and the breadth of products available for all of the different IP that we have,” Sadler said. “We’re overjoyed to be here in Union Square, with the tourism, the local community.”
Sadler even got the jaded press corps of San Francisco, which has been beaten down and reduced by layoffs over the years, to shout, “Here we go!” like in a Mario game. After that, inspired by Sadler’s words, I went over to get my $25 coffee mug and more. I am proud that I resisted temptation to buy a golden box with a question mark on it.
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