Via Gia come the news that the VIZ center that we mentioned in 2007 is on track to open in August. She has a picture and a few more details:

The 20,000 square foot building is located in San Francisco's Japantown and features five floors. The basement floor will feature VIZ Cinema, which will show various Japanese films, particularly VIZ Pictures', I'm sure. The first floor features The Cafe, with bento boxes from San Francisco's Delica (which I've eaten at, it's awesome) and coffee from the Blue Bottle Coffee Company.

The next floor will have New People the Store, “home to all that is kawaii, fun, fabulous, and bizarre.” Basically it'll be a big Japanese toy shop. Next up is a floor with three shops: Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Black Peace Now, and 6%Dokidoki, all three of which are fashion boutiques: Gothic Lolita, goth/punk, and Harajuku styles, respectively.

And finally, the last floor feaures the Superfrog Gallery, which will, of course, be an art gallery-- its first exhibit hasn't been announced yet, but more details have been promised closer to the grand launch day.

I had no idea how tiny it was. It's pretty much an west-of-tracks Akihabara sized box of a store.

Also, no anime theme or substore. They want to capture mainstream, not filthy otaku.