Times Square Hello Kitty Store Reopens

Attention parents of girls: Times Square’s Hello Kitty store is revamped and back in business. And selling…upscale luxury items…? It’s an interesting retail choice in these times, to say the least. But hey, who are we to question the motives of a company that’s been wildly successful for almost 50 years, I guess.

The store, which was reopened two weeks ago, is the company’s first Sanrio Luxe boutique, which includes collections of clothing and accessories from well-known international designers, as well as a hodgepodge of collectibles from Japan. The company chose Times Square to test its latest retail strategy because of the range of young and old New Yorkers and tourists who troll the street with money to spend.

Full disclosure: despite living in NYC for nearly 10 years, I have actually never been in this store. So, I’m sorry I have no idea what you can expect to find there — most likely something like the below item, which I hope is buried in a time capsule somewhere so that it can completely confound future humans.

Anyway, I fully expect to make my first visit to the Sanrio store in the next few years when The Squirt™ reaches early consumer maturity. We’ll see how that goes.