Update (5th Aug, 10:50 BST): New information has revealed that the Pokémon Center will be a pop-up store that will be open to the public from 18th October until 15th November (dates are subject to change). It'll be located at Westfield London, Ariel Way, Shepherd’s Bush, W12 7GF and will include exclusive London-themed products not available anywhere else.
The pop-up store aims to celebrate the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield and its UK-themed setting, which launches on 15th November. A mock-up image has been released:
Original Article (5th Aug, 09:55 BST): While New York has its very own Nintendo Store and Japan has a small chain of Pokémon Centers, the poor, rainy UK has been left out in the cold in the world of official Nintendo shops. It seems that all of that is finally about to change, however, with the introduction of a new Pokémon Center store.
That's right, a Pokémon Center is headed to London, UK. The image below has been spotted in assets provided by the Pokémon Company International (thanks, Serebii) and the official Pokémon UK Twitter account is teasing the reveal as we speak. An official announcement hasn't actually been made just yet, but it'll no doubt arrive very soon indeed.
We'll make sure to update this article with any more information as and when it arrives. Hopefully we'll hear about when the store will open and what goodies we'll find inside.
Some members of the Nintendo Life team are getting a little too excited about this reveal. Are you based in the UK? Will you be checking out the store? Tell all below.
[source serebii.net, via twitter.com]
Comments (30)
Very cool. The Pokemon Centers are a lot of fun. I've been to the one in Osaka probably 20+ times. They rotate merchandise fairly often, so if you see something you like you really need to buy it then, cause if you think it'll still be there next month... not likely.
Unless it's a real generic thing like a plain stuffed Pikachu.
It could just be another pop up shop which they've done in the past.
Some people lose everything to drugs and/or gambling.
Behold my Kryptonite.
Hope it is there around November as I am over around then and would love to have a look round, even though I am not a fan of Pokemon
Edit: Yes I will be there, as I am in London on 7 Nov to see Tim Minchin
Don't you mean it'll be the first ever centre? ...eheh
Yay. Went to 3 when we went to Japan earlier this year. Hope they sell that Pikachu exclusively. I want to add him to my collection.
We also did the Café and it was amazing so it would be cool if they did that here too whilst keeping the cuisine.
Pika Rees-Mogg.
Finally! Me and my family are super hyped for this! Hopefully they ship orders too
The UK needs more actual Nintendo Stores, as does the rest of the world.
That’s fantastic. My kids will love the visit and guaranteed to empty the pocket
Finally a Pokemon centre in the Galar region.
The UK, making me poorer and poorer every year... And I'm not talking about Brexit this time.
Hope rest of Europe can order from UK store, until Brexit at least
So why didn't France get their own Poké Centre in Paris when XY came out then?? Probably because the UK will need all the foreign investment it needs right now with all this Brexit crap 🙄.
Also I'm guessing it might just be a minimalist shop somewhere in Leicester Square or Wardour Street. The rent will only increase to more ridiculous amounts so either TPC (The Pokémon Company) and Nintendo go the whole hog and make it the most significantly awesome pikatastic Pokémon Centre outside of Japan or it'll be a short-lived flash in the pan that'll last 18 months or so. Let's hope for the former....
@Roronoa11 because Pokemon Go came after, which made Pokemon more relevant again.
And all it took was a 20 year wait. You bet your Rapidash I'll be going to it!
In a way, I appreciate it's a temporary shop (means I won't spend all my money there for the rest of time), but I also wonder why they don't open a permanent shop. Surely it would be super profitable?
Such a shame it's only temporary, I'll probably not be able to check it out then.
How do you manage to open a pop up shop right when Brexit is due to happen?
Oh cool, I went to one in Japan and it was neat 👍
They would be wise to stock the UK one with exclusive items.
@Franklin Pokemon.
IT PRINTS MONEY.
Exciting stuff! I hope this means one day the UK will gets its very own permanent, physical official Nintendo / Pokémon shop (beyond the online one, of course).
It would have been even better if they'd changed the spelling to 'Pokémon Centre' to reflect British English.
Well this shop is going to be fairly close to where I live... It appears that I will have to check it out!!
What?!? I head off to Japan for summer to visit as many Pokemon Centers as I can and while I'm away they announce one for my home city. Pretty cool.
TPC used "Open UK Store!"
It was super effective against my money!
Very very hyped for this. Will have to save some money to pick a few things up for myself and my daughter (who is called Evie btw lol)
Wish it was a bit more permanent
@Moon Unfortunately not. Looks like they're using the US spelling.
I called it being a pop up!
It's never Canada.
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