Nintendo opens new warehouse in Kirkland

Video game giant Nintendo became the latest high tech company to expand to Kirkland when it opened a new warehouse in Totem Lake last month.

The new building, which opened June 9, consists of 17,000 square feet of office and 115,000 square feet of warehouse. It will allow Nintendo to consolidate divisions from separate locations on the main Nintendo of America campus in Redmond into one space, a spokesperson said.

“Nintendo of America is in the midst of aggressive growth and change. We recognized that our Redmond facilities would be unable to accommodate this near-term growth, therefore, this spring we relocated supply chain services (materials management) and technical services to a new operations center,” said Don James, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of operations.

The departments are responsible for parts, dealer kits, bundle pack outs and consumer and retail returns. The move is a step toward giving the company increased efficiency, James said.

“The relocation provides much needed office space on the main campus for continued growth and expansion of our Redmond workforce,” James said.

Nintendo would not comment directly on how many workers the development will employ or if it has any further expansions planned in the city.

“Nintendo of America continues to grow, and our headquarters will remain in Redmond,” was all Murray Weir, Nintendo’s Senior Director -- Planning and Analysis, would say through an e-mail.

Numbers provided by the city show Nintendo employed 515 workers in Kirkland last month.

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