This week signals the opening of the second official Nintendo Store in the United States. Nintendo New York opened in 2001 as a Pokémon Center before being converted to Nintendo World in 2005, then rebranded as Nintendo New York in 2016. Since then, Nintendo has opened first-party stores in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, Japan, but outside of the employees-only store in Nintendo of America’s headquarters, the New York location has been the only US-based store.
The two-story shop features exclusive merchandise, hard-to-find Amiibo figures, various statues of iconic Nintendo characters, and the ability to build a custom Nintendo Switch. You’ll find dedicated sections to Nintendo and its biggest franchises throughout the storefront. On the main floor, you’ll spot areas devoted to Mario (including Mario Kart), Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong, and a section dedicated to Nintendo San Francisco merchandise. If you walk down the stairs in the middle of the store, you can descend to the bottom floor, which includes Zelda, Splatoon, Metroid, Kirby, Pikmin, and Pokémon sections. Additionally, each floor features dedicated gaming areas, with loads of Switch games, a few playable Switch kiosks, and an absolutely loaded wall of Amiibo figures.
Game Informer recently attended an invite-only media day for Nintendo San Francisco, which opens today for those with Warp Pipe reservations. However, for everyone else, Nintendo San Francisco opens on Monday, May 19. You can see what shoppers can expect when they step through the doors of the brand-new Nintendo San Francisco below.
You enter the store through the Powell St. entrance. Along the front and side windows, various Nintendo characters are depicted walking towards the entrance.
The front section of the store includes mostly Nintendo San Francisco merchandise, as well as exclusive items to official Nintendo Stores.
Statues of characters like Mario and Link are found throughout the store, and if you want to take a miniature version home of your favorite statue, Nintendo San Francisco has replicas on its shelves.
This is an often-used design on exclusive merch throughout the store. It can be found on bags, shirts, and other items.
Near the front, you’ll find the Donkey Kong section.
A huge Mario statue welcomes you to the Mario section of the store. Here, you can find all kinds of merch from Mario’s long history, including this dish set that was originally only for sale at the Japanese Nintendo Stores.
If you’re looking to start a Mario plushie or Lego collection, this store has you covered.
Similar to the Mario section, the Animal Crossing section is hard to miss. Here, you can shop from various home items ripped straight from your island getaway.
Since the Animal Crossing section relies heavily on home items, The Roost line lets you put an Animal Crossing touch on your at-home coffee station.
If you’d prefer to show off your Animal Crossing love through apparel instead of home decor, you also have plenty of options.
Right next to the main floor registers, you have another chance to pick up some of the exclusive Nintendo San Francisco merchandise.
One of the coolest sections of Nintendo San Francisco lets you use tablets to build a custom Nintendo Switch. You can select different Joy-Cons, straps, and docks. Once you place your order, your Switch will be ready for pickup the same day.
If you’re just visiting the Nintendo Store to pick up the latest game or a title you missed out on, you can select from a wide range of Switch titles.
Though you normally need to go to the Nintendo website and have a Switch Online subscription to purchase the Nintendo Switch Online classic controllers, you can grab them in-person (and without a paid subscription) at the Nintendo Store.
Yes, you can get Alarmo at Nintendo San Francisco.
You can look over a railing from the main floor to see the massive gaming screen on the bottom floor.
A staircase in the middle of the store takes you to the bottom floor.
The first section you’re greeted by on the bottom floor is the Legend of Zelda area.
The Zelda collection is geared towards a more mature audience, with items like messenger bags, replica swords, notebooks, wine glasses, and more.
Across from the Zelda section, you can find a ton of colorful Splatoon merchandise.
The giant screen you could spot from the main floor is playable on the bottom floor. After the store tour, a few invitees fired up a round of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
If you’d rather check games out on a smaller, more personal screen, the back corner of the bottom floor has kiosks for you to test out some games or watch some trailers.
The bottom floor has more games for you to peruse.
The back wall features an impressive display of Amiibo figures, including several difficult-to-find figures.
Pikmin and Mario share some space on the back wall. Some of the Pikmin apparel includes fun instances of the Pikmin carrying away items like the pocket on a T-shirt or a button from a dress shirt.
The Pokémon section features a ton of plushies and apparel from the Pokémon Center.
Though I didn’t spot any Pikachu plushies exclusive to this particular store, Nintendo San Francisco has several of the Nintendo Store-exclusive plushies.
In addition to the sections highlighted in this photo tour, you can also find smaller sections featuring franchises like Kirby and Metroid.