Nintendo‘s London Pop-Up Store opened its doors this week and VGamingNews headed to the Westfield Centre to see what was on offer!
To manage the inevitable avalanche of people looking to head over and shop, entry to the store on opening week was by ticket only. Tickets were restricted to those with an official Nintendo account, and perhaps controversially, if you wanted to bring someone with you, they had to be on the same Nintendo Switch Online Family membership. More sensibly, to try and minimise the impact of scalpers on the limited-time only merchandise, the store sets a maximum purchase of three of the same item per customer.
After a checking in and waiting in a short queue, you’re given the opportunity for a free photo with the Mario Bros! Staff are more than happy to snap you with Mario and Luigi on your phone before you head inside to begin your shopping. (Being a grown up journalist with the highest levels of professionalism*, I took a pass on the photo op, though it was super cute watching all the kiddos excited to meet the plumber duo.)
Once inside, you realise that the store isn’t especially large, but the vibes are incredibly high. It’s packed wall-to-wall with colourful merchandise from all Nintendo‘s flagship franchises, and a plethora of well known jingles play over the speakers to really get you into the Nintendo-verse headspace. (I particularly remember grooving to a few different Splatoon tracks and the Isle Delfino theme from Super Mario Sunshine, which criminally, isn’t available on the Nintendo Music App yet.)
The entrance throws back to the Nintendo store’s legacy as a Japanese exclusive. With a striking circular display of Nintendo Tokyo and Osaka tees front and centre, UK patrons have the chance to take home a souvenir that would otherwise be unavailable outside Japan.
Perhaps based on its location immediately inside the store, the Legend of Zelda merch was getting particularly heavy foot traffic. There’s some exclusive apparel on offer, including a Twilight Princess sweatshirt, a Japanese Tears of the Kingdom tee, and a very cute Echoes of Wisdom tee. There’s also as all manner of other Zelda trinkets and collectables – some highlights were a rupee wallet themed side bag, a lovely Navi glass tumbler, and a cool heat-reactive heart gauge mug.
For the more tactile among you, there’s a range of plushies on offer too, including Link, Zelda, a collection of Koroks, and even Tingle! I’m entirely in love with the lil forest spirits and couldn’t help but bring a trio of Koroks home with me, which I’ll likely hide away in playful places around our gaming room.
As expected, Super Mario is very well represented, with tonnes of items and plushies of Mario donning his different outfits from throughout the years. It would take all day to list the various Mario goodies available, but I was a particular fan of the IKEA Kallax boxes in the style of question mark, brick, and POW blocks, and a lovely collection showing off artwork inspired by Super Mario 3.
There’s a good sized display dedicated to the villagers of Animal Crossing, with a huge variety of more obscure characters available. Franchise mascots Tom Nook and K. K. Slider are available, as well as the loveable Dom, the hot-headed Mr Resetti, and lesser known residents like Gulliver, Cyrus, and Raymond. We came home with an adorable New Horizons beach towel and n very sweet figurine of Isabelle, Timmy, and Tommy Nook all stood together. (Just where we’ll find room for it is yet to be seen!)
I was very excited for the Pikmin merchandise, which is a little on the niche side to find outside of official stores. There’s a selection of tees celebrating the franchise, and an amazing hoodie range that allows you to dress up as your favourite Pikmin from the original game! Of course, all of the loveable plant critters are also available to take home as tiny plushies and pin badges too. I could easily have blown my entire budget on just Pikmin stuff but managed to hold myself (relatively!) in check!
Also available (albeit with any photos) is Kirby, Donkey Kong, and Splatoon merch. Of the three, the little pink puffball has the best selection of products on offer, with plushies depicting Kirby in various transformations, as well as a roster of enemies, like Wispy Woods and Meta Knight. While it’s represented, I was disappointed at the limited range of Splatoon goodies available. I know there’s an incredible line of stuff available exclusively to Japanese audiences and had hoped to get my hands on some, though it seems the team splat-’em-up may not be popular enough on UK shores to warrant a lot of wall space. Hardcore DK fans may have the most to gripe about though, as there’s only a smattering of stuff available, and all of it depicts the ‘leader of the bunch’ in his old, Rare-inspired style!
I’ll be honest, I had expected the pricing to be entirely eye-watering, but things are pretty reasonable for a time-limited boutique store. T-shirts are in the £20-£25 range and larger items (like hoodies/onesies) are priced at around £50. Character plushies will mostly cost you in the area of £12 to £15 each, with some particularly large ones (like the 1-up mushrooms) scaling up from there. Switch 2 units, accessories, and games are also available at RRP, as expected.
If anything, it’s the pricing on smaller items that feel somewhat exploitative of the time-limited pop-up model. With tiny things like washi tape and notepad stickers costing a minimum of £5, and keyrings/badges ranging between £8 and £13, it’s incredibly easy to rack up a huge bill with stuff that would barely fill an overnight washbag. Perhaps the most egregious item I saw was a set of Splatoon themed paperclips. Bent into the outline of inklings and octolings, a set of (at most) 20 is priced at a staggering £8! They’re undoubtedly a cool idea, and while I was keen to rep Inkopolis at the office, I declined, as it’d cost me a good chunk of my paycheque to keep all my paperwork together!
Patrons of the official My Nintendo Store can bag a free 100 Platinum Points by checking in with a member of staff at the store, and there’s an extra treat for Pikmin Bloom players too. Just login to the game as you approach the store and a Spot Expedition will activate! The expedition requires you to walk 3000 steps, and once complete, you’ll be rewarded with a golden planter that grows into a Photo Button Badge Pikmin! The Photo Button Pikmin proudly sports a red badge on his head that’s decorated with the stores details.
As a Nintendo lifer, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to the London Pop-Up store, and could have easily have spent three times as much money with more time to save! I’d like to shout out to the staff at the store, who were incredibly friendly and welcoming, despite running around like crazy to keep the shelves well stocked.
The Nintendo Pop-Up Store London can be found in the opposite the LEGO Store in the Westfield Shopping Centre, Ariel Way, Shepherd’s Bush, W12 7GF. The store is open for general entry from Monday 27th October 2025 until Sunday 16th November 2025, Monday – Saturday: 10am – 9pm, Sunday: 12pm – 6pm. Be aware that a queuing system is in effect. See the Nintendo website for more information.
* I may be a journalist (true) and a grown up (questionable), but I wasn’t about to turn down the chance to get a photo with Mario and Luigi! Also pictured, own entire haul from our trip
