For those who are interested in merchandise of the rarer varieties, the chance to grab a bunch of Nintendo products that are usually unavailable outside of Japan might sound enticing.
The first ever Nintendo pop up store in the UK will arrive at Westfield London in Shepherd’s Bush. The store will run from the 22nd October through to the 16th November.
This will naturally be more difficult for people living further away from the capital, and additional hurdles are put in place by the fact that attendees will need a ticket reservation (tickets go live on October 7th) for the first week, with the purchase of tickets also requiring a Nintendo account.
Children under six won’t require a ticket but they’ll need to be accompanied by an adult with a ticket).
London Nintendo Pop Up Store
Full details of the store can be found here, which also includes information on what audiences can expect to find there, as well as where they can be made aware of operational updates such as ticket launches.
As per this information, the pop-up store will include merchandise from the most well-known and popular Nintendo franchises.
“The product offering will span some of Nintendo’s most iconic franchises, including Super Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, Pikmin, Splatoon and Kirby.”
Unless there’s something specific that you’re looking for from a franchise like Super Mario or Zelda, the bigger opportunity here might come from being able to find products from series that are (arguably) more popular in Japan, like Animal Crossing and Pikmin.
This comes alongside several other forays into non-gaming markets from Nintendo, at a time when there’s a lot of popular attention on their brand due to the record sales of the Nintendo Switch 2 in June.
This might have helped to popularise non-Mario and Zelda brands with general audiences, especially due to the release of Donkey Kong Bananza that helped to cement the mascot character as a brand in his own right.
Additionally, Nintendo has also recently announced its sequel to the Super Mario Movie – The Super Mario Galaxy Movie – and has a live-action film based on The Legend of Zelda in the works as well.
