Nintendo is finally opening up its second standalone U.S. store nearly 20 years after launching its first location in the States — and this time, it's headed to the West Coast.
The company announced today that it plans to launch a store in San Francisco's Union Square sometime in 2025. The location will officially be called Nintendo San Francisco and according to the press release today will provide "a way for a wide range of visitors from near and far to experience the world of Nintendo, its products, and characters."
The first U.S Nintendo store is situated at a similarly bustling location: Manhattan's historic Rockefeller Center. That store opened up in May 2005 as a two-story, 10,000-square-foot tourist hot-spot for Nintendo fans, selling a wide variety of merch, hardware, and accessories over the past two decades.
Nintendo didn't reveal any further specifics about the forthcoming San Francisco store, including if the size will be comparable to the New York location. It's also worth noting that Nintendo does have some official stores at its theme parks, including one at Universal Studios Hollywood's Super Nintendo World, but this is still only the second standalone location in the U.S., and will most likely be much bigger than its theme park counterparts.
It'll also be a welcome boon for San Francisco's Union Square which, as local outlet Kron4 notes, has seen a number of big locations shutter over the past year, including a one-time flagship Nordstorm store at the San Francisco Centre mall.
Nintendo finally opened its first official store in Japan in 2019 with Nintendo Tokyo. It now has three locations in its home country, with subsequent stores having opened in Kyoto and Osaka.
Thumbnail credit: Eduardo MunozAlvarez/VIEWpress via Getty Images
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
