Installed over two floors and 280 m2, Manga Factory will be offering a wide range of products around manga and anime culture starting 2 May. More than 150 m2 will be devoted entirely to figurines, from the must-have Dragon Ball, Naruto and One Piece to more recent licences and limited collections.
But the range doesn’t stop there: mugs, 3D posters, cuddly toys, trading cards, key rings... Every nook and cranny has been designed to delight collectors and the curious alike. And to extend the experience, snacks from Asia and the United States will complete the immersive world of the shop.
“There is a real demand in Luxembourg, but not many places to meet it,” explains manager Kadir Bektas. “You rarely see this type of shop empty: it’s a growth market, and here, there’s still room.”
A two-minute walk from the station, the shop benefits from a central location in a district undergoing major transformation. A team of four people will be on hand for the opening, with a festive event planned shortly after the official inauguration.
The shop is intended to complement--rather than compete with--established names. “For the time being, we won’t be offering paper manga. The Fnac, Réservoir and Ernster already do this very well, and I don’t want to enter into direct competition with them. My aim is to offer something different: a lively, warm place, centred on objects, the collection and the experience.”
What if paper manga join the shelves one day? “Why not? But only if it’s part of the natural evolution of the shop, and not to do what everyone else is doing.”
Behind this project is Bektas, a 42-year-old Belgian entrepreneur. Formerly a bookseller in Brussels, he’s been based in Luxembourg for four years. A fan of manga since childhood and now the father of two daughters who are also anime fans, he says he took the plunge almost naturally.
“Back home, we talk manga morning, noon and night. Every time we pass a miniature shop, it’s impossible not to go in. So I said to myself: ‘Why not me?’” It wasn’t profitability that motivated him, but the desire to build a place of pleasure, where visitors come because they want to--not because they need to.
Bektas sees this project as a way of building a bridge between generations: the “big kids” who, like himself, grew up with Ken the Survivor and Dragon Ball, whilst younger people are fans of Demon Slayer or My Hero Academia. “I hope that this shop will encourage people to talk to each other, to share things. And who knows? Maybe one day I’ll pass it on to my daughters.”
An online shop is planned for the coming months, to reach a wider cross-border audience. And if the response is positive, a second address could be opened, again in Luxembourg.
This article was originally published in .