On Tuesday evening, the line outside the new flagship Nintendo store stretched past the entirety of Powell Street between Geary and Post. As tourists and downtown workers passed by gawking and taking photos, I was among the gamers and geeks waiting to get in.
Nothing else in recent memory has gotten locals to wait an hour to shop anywhere in downtown San Francisco.
"It's a new San Francisco storefront," one passerby said dryly. "There you go."
"I never thought that this would be here," a Nintendo store worker told me as I entered, a mix of relief and glee in her voice.
If this were any other city, it would be an exciting new opening; in San Francisco, the Nintendo store is nothing short of miraculous. People are back in downtown shopping! Early media coverage of the shop has been effusive: CNET said it was a “retail extravaganza,” while SFGate called it a “retail savior.”
The hopes of the Union Square business community — nay, the entirety of downtown San Francisco — seemingly rest on the shoulders of one mustachioed plumber. Mayor Daniel Lurie was joined by Mario himself (or a very sweaty employee in a costume with an oversized head) at the ribbon cutting last Thursday, two hopeful avatars in a crossover of City Hall and commerce. District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter told Gazetteer last month that flagship shops like Nintendo “have a big role to play in Union Square’s retail recovery.”
That’s a lot of responsibility for Nintendo. The store is not just a place to buy tchotchkes of Isabelle or Link or Kirby, it’s an Instagram-ready attraction that can save San Francisco from half a decade of dreadful PR. Hey, tourists: You don't have to trek to New York or Tokyo or Universal Studios to experience Nintendo IRL. Come to San Francisco, spend some money, and maybe tell your friends it’s not so bad here!
As strategies go, it’s not a bad idea, but eventually, Nintendo’s sheen will fade. The store will eventually blend in with the other shops in downtown San Francisco just like the Apple Store or the Boba Guys or countless others did. The Union Square Macy's was a destination once; now it’s an eight-story vessel for The Cheesecake Factory. So was the San Francisco Centre in its Westfield glory days. Even the Market Street Ikea and its dining hub Saluhall art noticeably emptier now than it was at launch a year ago. As we’ve learned, a big, shiny shop does not necessarily translate to longevity, especially in the still-fragile downtown retail ecosystem.
But I have a cheat code that I’m more than willing to share.
The second floor of the Nintendo store should be a Pokémon Center. I'm not just saying this as a Pokémon enthusiast, but as someone invested in the longterm success of San Francisco.
While it’s perhaps not as popular in America as it is elsewhere, Pokémon attracts fans who are dedicated (read: obsessed). They are global and represent all ages. They — OK, we — also love to spend money. Loads of it. A designated Pokémon store would be literally the only one of its kind in the Western Hemisphere since the only Pokémon shops outside of Japan are in Singapore and Taiwan. Tourists would flock to Union Square from the four corners of the globe to find their favorite Pokémon merchandise. Those people might even want to go to Saluhall for lunch, may even decide to visit Alcatraz, buy some T-shirts, or rent a bike and ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. Catch my drift?
The appetite for it is here. The Pokémon Trading Card Game is still riding a post-pandemic high. The Pokémon World Championship is coming to San Francisco next year. The Nintendo store needs to ride this out to draw even more nerds, children, and the parents of said children to the heart of downtown.
The most effective case study is the Nintendo shop in Tokyo, which I visited in February. (Not to be that guy who won't shut up about going to Japan once, but let me tell you about the time I went to Japan once.)
This Nintendo store is located in the Shibuya PARCO mall on its sixth floor, called Cyberspace Shibuya — a certified great name. It’s a big shop, though it feels smaller because it is on one floor instead of San Francisco’s two. But an equally big draw was the Pokémon Center directly across from it, which features walls of Pokémon plushies and an incredible display of the legendary Mewtwo. It felt like a natural extension of the Nintendo store, even though it is (from my understanding) a separate entity.
People went into the Pokémon store with Nintendo bags in tow, and vice versa. It wasn't a competitor; it was a complement. The one-two punch of Nintendo and Pokémon is a certifiable tourist draw even in a place like Tokyo, where there is no shortage of things to do. (Trust me, I went there once.) San Francisco can create that same draw once the media coverage dies down and the lines eventually shorten at the Nintendo store.
So, to Nintendo CEO Doug Bowser (that’s really his name, yes) or Lurie or the person inside the Mario head, I implore you: give Pikachu a chance. The future of Union Square — and San Francisco — may depend on it.
