Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles America is expanding its retail footprint with a new storefront at the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Opening its doors at the end of the month, this marks Bandai Namco’s first long-term retail store in the west. It will prominently feature Bandai Hobby (model kits), Tamashii Nations (collectibles), Tamagotchi (digital pets) and Anime Heroes (toys) products, along with licensed SKUs from popular anime brands including One Piece, Dragon Ball, Naruto, Demon Slayer and Mobile Suit Gundam. Guests can also take photos of full-sized anime character statues in the store.
The three-million-square-foot American Dream shopping mall features an indoor theme park, water park and ski slope, as well as other retail outlets such as a new MINISO IP collection store, a LEGOLAND Discovery Center, a Nickelodeon Gift Shop and dedicated storefronts for Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us.
Bandai Namco opened a flagship store in New York last year using the same retail concept. And it also operates a Pop-up Stores business that tours select North American cities and conventions (including Fan Expo, Anime North, San Diego Comic-Con and C2E2) to attract new anime fans.