In Tokyo, Mandarake is known as the place to buy used copies of the thousands of 'tankoubon' or paperback manga collections that have been published in Japan over the past forty years. The Japanese retailer, which has had an outlet in the U.S. for over a year, has decided to close its store in Santa Monica, California. When contacted by ICv2, a spokesperson for the store said that the company was planning a major new store in Osaka, Japan and wished to concentrate its efforts there. Mandarake's U.S. store, which was just relocated to Santa Monica in June of 2002, chalked up the majority of its sales in hentai (erotic manga) and vintage Japanese toys.
Mandarake Heads Back to Japan
Posted by ICv2 on January 3, 2003 @ 11:00 pm CT

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