On May 15, 2025, the Nintendo Store opened its doors in the city of San Francisco at 331 Powell Street in Union Square. We now have a second Nintendo store in the U.S, with the first one being in New York, and the only other one in Japan.
The reason for opening this store in S.F. is to appeal to more tourists because Nintendo has a huge following.
I myself am excited about the store. I ‘ve always been a gamer, playing classics such as Sonic, Klonoa, Pacman, Crash Bandicoot, Zelda, and many more games. Nintendo and their mascot, Mario, is no exception. I always played their games as a young kid and I still do as a young adult.
We have had so many different fun stores in Union Square throughout the years, though sadly many of them have closed. There have been the Warner Bros. Store, the Disney Store, the LEGO Store, which have all shut down. I am hoping the Nintendo Store will last.
According to the site California.com, the San Francisco store is similar to Tokyo’s with its layout, and it has unique services from Japan that the NYC store doesn’t have, such as testing out new game systems. Exclusive merchandise and talking pictures with character statues such as Mario or Link
It’s very expensive to travel to either Tokyo or New York . The new San Francisco location will make it more convenient for not just me, but other gamers in the entire West Coast and around the world. Hopefully everyone can enjoy this store, such as me.
People interviewed around Powell Street had mixed feelings. Some said they weren’t sure the store would survive.
“I’m going to to try to find a quiet time to visit. But that’s probably when all the adults will go too,” said Hena Branner, junior.
Hena became a Nintendo fan when she started playing with her Wii-U at age six or seven in 2012. Since then, she’s played the Nintendo Switch and enjoyed games like Sponge Bob and Monster High.
One thing I’m wondering is if this new Nintendo store will be impacted by the tariffs. Originally Nintendo was going to release its latest console, the Nintendo Switch 2, but after hearing that Trump’s Tariffs were going to have their hands on the project, they delayed it from April 2 to June 5. Countries such as Vietnam and China are having hard manufacturing these systems because of the tariffs making their products more expensive in the U.S.
Hena is thinking of buying the Switch 2, but is worried about the costs and the costs of the games. Also, her current Switch still works perfectly even after 10 years.
Nintendo is a game company that has made everyone around happy with its characters, stories and games. Since it’s so popular in San Francisco, it’s no wonder why they built one here in this city. Hopefully, it can bring in an audience and make people here happy.
