First Gundam Store in America Opens in Chicagoland Area

Fans of Gundam are overjoyed that the first American store dedicated to the popular figures has opened in the country. Those in the Tri-State area who fans of the Japanese products will also be happy to know that it's not a very far drive to experience the first-of-its-kind store in the States too!

For those unaware (I needed to be educated too, to be fair), Gundam is a long-running franchise involving anime robots. It has spanned multiple iterations of TV shows, movies, manga, novels, video games, and of course, action figures. It's been around since 1979.

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Gundam Has Landed in Rosemont:

The new Gundam Base store is now open in The Fashion Outlets of Chicago in Rosemont, IL, one of the premiere shopping districts in the Chicagoland area. Last Friday, people waited in line for hours prior to the store's official grand opening. The senior marketing manager for the Fashion Outlets of Chicago told ABC 7 Chicago about her excitement:

They have stores all over the world, but this is the first here and they chose fashion outlets to be their home, so we're really excited - Katie Walsh, senior marketing manager for the Fashion Outlets of Chicago, per ABC 7 Chicago

From trading cards to model kits, figurines to literature, The Gundam Base has a surplus of items from the long-running franchise. The franchise began to catch on in Japan in the 1980s, and with manga and Japanese culture ever-so popular in America, it's now become a global enterprise.

It's about the story of a machine and also a human who combine together and fight together and grow together. It's a long long history - Junko Fukamachi, general manager of IP business at Bandai Namco, per ABC 7 Chicago

Read more about The Gundam Base opening its first American store in Rosemont, IL on ABC 7 Chicago's website.