Bandai Namco will open a second "collection" of retail stores in London next week

Bandai Namco has announced it is expanding its retail presence across the UK with an additional London store and "more stores nationally".

From 14th November, there'll be a new "collection" of Bandai Namco Cross Store at London's Victoria Place which will "celebrate the physical nature of entertainment and Bandai Namco's rich brands", including Gashapon, Ichibankuji, and Sun-Star Stationery merchandise.

"As the popularity of Japanese culture, collectables, digital and physical experience continue to rise in the UK, these new stores offer a slice of those experiences adored throughout Japan by the Bandai Namco Group supporting a passionate community," the company said, but stopped short of clarifying what other locations fans will be able to find the newly-minted stores in the future.

"Once again, the Bandai Namco Group are expanding their physical experiences outside of Japan allowing our well-known brands to embrace UK communities, celebrating more fun and collections which continue to build passionate fans," said John McKenzie, MD of Bandai Namco Amusement Europe.

"As Japanese culture becomes more loved in the UK market with food, art, anime, gaming and collectables, we continue to embrace this, listen to our fans and deliver rich products as we expand into further parts of the UK."

Last month, Bandai Namco filed a new US trademark for the name "Sparking! Zero".

A Japanese lawyer representing Bandai Namco filed the trademark application at the United States Patent and Trademark Office on 26th September.

Whilst it may not sound like much, this is pretty much the only Dragon Ball Z-flavoured news we've had since the new Budokai Tenkaichi instalment – which is called Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! series in Japan – was announced back in March.