Gundam Cafe gearing up to enter every major city across Japan
Arts & Culture ( 1 )
TOKYO —
The countdown is still ticking for Gundam Cafe’s third strike on Tokyo Station on Thursday. However, the execs at Bandai Namco Holdings have already leaked plans to target all major urban markets across Japan with their unique blend of coffee, pasta, and bipedal war machines.
So if you live in a major city such as Osaka, Nagoya, or Hiroshima, you might get your hands on a Haro latte sooner than you think.
The original Gundam Cafe opened in Akihabara, Tokyo, in April of 2010. Since then it has been hugely successful. That single shop attracts 400,000 yearly customers and generates well over 200 million yen in sales.
Their blend of mecha anime aesthetic and cuisine has earned them one (soon to be two) more locations in the metropolis at the rate of about one per year. According to Bandai Namco Holdings President Norio Ishikawa, “the Gundam fan base is nationwide, so there is a need to provide goods closer to wider groups of people.”
However, this strategy seems to be grander than simply giving more fans access to Gundam ice cube trays (available for 800 yen).
“Food is a part of entertainment” says Ishikawa. As such the company has pledged to give Gundam Cafe the same development and care as other businesses such as Namco Game Centers in Japan.
Their methodical plan is to target the most lucrative cities first after gathering the necessary intelligence. Then they will pick us off one by one – with delicious food and friendly service that is.
I for one salute Gundam Cafe and their fearless leaders. May their mobile suits descend on my city and liberate us from snooty cafes with jazz versions of Christmas carols. I got sick of those renditions after 10 minutes of sitting in a coffee shop the other day.
Source: Sankei Biz via Hachima Kiko (Japanese)
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Fadamor
LOL.
In English, a "third strike" is more likely to be interpreted as "striking out" (as in baseball) - meaning you've failed at whatever you were trying to do. They probably could have used "assault" in place of "strike" and still kept with the Gundam mecha theme in their choice of words.
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