The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck made its way to Albuquerque on March 3rd, at the ABQ Uptown Shops.
The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck was stationed in between Frost Gelato and the California Pizza Kitchen. People were lined up since before the 10am opening, ready to purchase merchandise and food from the truck. Attendees were dressed up in their cutest Hello Kitty themed outfits.
Attendees were filled with excitement to see what the truck had to offer.
Hello Kitty Cafe Truck Employee, Jenny Avila, shown selling merchandise. Photo taken by Courtney Salinger.
Hello Kitty Truck Cafe Attendee, Shirley Hill, standing in line to purchase merchandise. Photo taken by Courtney Salinger.
“I want to buy whatever they have left, I’ve heard that they sold out of a lot of stuff… This is how I regularly dress, so I just like went into my closet and got my favorite dress… I was super excited for this event… I’ve been like stalking it on the internet for like ever now and I’ve just been planning on traveling to go see it, but it came here,” said Shirley Hill, Hello Kitty Cafe Truck attendee.
The truck offered Hello Kitty themed food and merchandise.
Items from the truck ranged between $3.00 to $36.00. The food menu consisted of a Hello Kitty bow shaped water bottle, petit fours, macaroons, a cookie set, and a pocket pie. Merchandise items included; a t-shirt, a bow handle mug, a keychain, a bunny bow, a 32 ounce stainless steel thermal bottle, and an 18 ounce stainless steel thermal bottle.
“I think it’s pretty cool, I’ve never seen anything like this before, so the opportunity presented itself to just help them out and I thought it was cool… I love Hello Kitty,” said Jenny Avila, a Hello Kitty Cafe Truck employee.
The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck is an extension of the Hello Kitty Cafes located in southern California.
So far, there are two locations, a third cafe is on the way. According to the Hello Kitty Cafe Truck website, the first truck launched at the Hello Kitty Con 2014. Now, there are two trucks that roam the country.
UNM student and Hello Kitty Cafe Truck attendee, Alli Thompson, showing off her Hello Kitty themed outfit for the occasion. Photo taken by Courtney Salinger.
“I’m really, really excited… I’m a huge fan of Hello Kitty… I’m also here for the J-Fashion meet, which is a meet-up of people who are interested in Japanese fashion,” said Alli Thompson, a UNM student and Hello Kitty Cafe Truck attendee.
Rabbit + Hare set up a Facebook event page, concerning a J-fashion meet up at the Hello Kitty Cafe Truck.
A J-fashion meet up is when people convene and dress up as their favorite japanese characters. Rabbit+Hare is an Albuquerque based wig company, that specializes in cosplay and fashion. Cosplay is dressing up as one’s favorite character from a video game or movie.
The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck is trademarked by Sanrio.
Sanrio is a Japanese based company that specializes in the production of Hello Kitty and similar Japanese characters. Hello Kitty was created in 1974. In 2014, Hello Kitty celebrated its 40th anniversary with the production of the Hello Kitty Cafe trucks. Since then, the Hello Kitty Cafe Trucks have been wandering around the United States, spreading joy to all the boys and girls, and adults everywhere.
The truck stayed in Albuquerque until 8pm, selling out of everything.
For upcoming locations and more information about the truck, follow The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
