Pokémon Center (store): Difference between revisions

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Pokémon Center and Pokémon Store logos

Exterior of the old Tokyo Pokémon Center

A Pokémon Center (Japanese: ポケモンセンター Pokémon Center) is a retail store that sells official Pokémon merchandise. Japanese stores are operated by The Pokémon Company, while mall kiosks in the Seattle, Washington, area of the United States are run by The Pokémon Company International.

Products

Pokémon Center stores sell many kinds of Pokémon merchandise. This includes Pokémon games, TCG cards, anime videos and DVDs, manga volumes, CDs, and a wide array of products such as clothes, accessories, bedding, sporting equipment, dishes, musical instruments, and toys. For a gallery of merchandise, see Bulbagarden Archives.

Current stores

Japan

Pokémon Centers

From east to west:

Sapporo

• Open:
  • July 1, 2005 - October 2, 2005
  • July 1, 2006 - October 29, 2006
  • from March 6, 2008
• Sapporo ESTA 9F, Kita 5 jo 2 chome Chuo-ku, Sapporo-shi, 060-0005
• Phone: 011-232-3200

Tohoku

• Opened December 4, 2011
• Shop and Wander AER, 3F, 3-1, Chuo 1-chome, Aoba, Sendai,980-6103
• Opened as a part of the Pokémon with You campaign
• Phone: 022-716-6870

Mega Tokyo

• Opened December 11, 2014
• Sunshine City alpa 2F, 3-1-2 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, 170-6002
• Phone: 03-5927-9290

Tokyo Bay

• Opened November 22, 2013
• Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport TOKYO-BAY West Wing 2F, 2-1-1 Hama-cho, Funabashi, Chiba 273-8530
• Phone: 047-421-7757

Yokohama

• Opened March 5, 2005
• Landmark Plaza 4F, 2-2-1 Minato Mirai Nishi ku, Yokohama, 220-8172
• Phone: 045-222-5533

Nagoya

• Opened October 22, 2002
• Matsuzakaya Main Building 5F, 3-16-1, Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi, 460-8430
• Phone: 052-264-2727

Osaka

• Opened November 26, 2010
• Daimaru Umeda Store 13F, 3-1-1, Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, 530-8202
• Phone: 06-6346-6002

Hiroshima

• Opened June 26, 2015
• Sogo Hiroshima main building 6F, 6-27, Moto-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima, 730-8501
• Phone: 082-846-5093

Fukuoka

• Opened November 1, 2003
• Amu Plaza, JR Hakata City 8F, 1-1, Hakataekichuogai, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka, 812-0012
• Phone: 092-413-5185

Pokémon Stores

Logo

Another logo

The Pokémon Store (Japanese: ポケモンストア Pokémon Store) is as described on the official site, a casual Pokémon shop. Pokémon Stores are smaller than Pokémon Centers, and sell some Pokémon Center products as well as exclusive products not sold at Pokémon Centers.

Tokyo Station

• 1-9-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-0005, Tokyo Character Street on First Avenues Tokyo Station B1F
• Phone: 03-5224-6121

Kansai Airport

• 1 Senshu-Kuko Naka, Tajiri-chou, Sennan-gun, Osaka, 549-0011, 2F, Terminal 2 Building at Kansai International Airport
• Phone: 072-456-6528

New Chitose

• 987 Bibi, Chitose, Hokkaido, 066-0012, New Chitose Airport Domestic Terminal Building 2F
• Phone: 0123-45-5865

Amu Plaza Kagoshima

• 1-1 Chuuo-cho, Kagoshima, Kagoshima, 890-0053, Amu Plaza Kagoshima Main Building 4F
• Phone: 099-812-7287

United States

Seattle, Washington

The Pokémon Company International is headquartered in Bellevue, a city that neighbors Seattle.

Northgate Mall

Pokémon Center kiosk in the Northgate Mall in October 2010

• Opened summer 2010
• 401 NE Northgate Way, Seattle, Washington, 98125

This standalone kiosk in the mall's common area is a vending machine that sells five types of Poké Dolls, several Monster Collection figures, trading cards, and Nintendo DS games. It also features interactive games and a Pokédex for visitors to play with. The tags on the Pokédolls from this machine have unique North-West tags that are yellow, blue, and square in shape.

Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma Mall

• Opened ???
• 4502 S Steele St # 1177, Tacoma, WA 98409

This shop is located in the mall common area. It features two vending machines, each offering a selection of up to ten Poké Dolls, the five Nintendo DS Pokémon games, thirteen miniature Monster Collection figures, seven different packs of trading cards, and five full decks of trading cards. The stand also includes two large displays of Poké Dolls, varying in sizes from 6" to 12", as well as a variety of other Pokémon merchandise. Each of the machines are also equipped with several interactive games as well as a touch-screen Pokédex for visitors to enjoy. The stand is no longer watched and operated by The Pokémon Company International employees (who helped make sure the machines were running alright, answered questions, and rang up the sales of merchandise located outside of the vending machines). The tags on the Pokédolls from this machine have unique North-West tags that are yellow, blue, and square in shape.

New York, New York

New York (Nintendo World Store)

• Opened November 16, 2001
• 10 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, 10020
• Phone: (212) 307-0900

In January 2005, Pokémon Center New York closed for remodeling. It reopened as a general Nintendo store called Nintendo World on May 14, 2005, no longer as a Pokémon-exclusive store. However, there is a section on the ground floor devoted to the franchise, where there is a large selection of Pokémon video games, trading cards, dolls (which are either imports from Japan or old dolls from the old Pokémon Center), figures, DVDs, clothes and apparel, and other merchandise. Sometimes there might be Pokémon candies or edible foods available. On December 19, 2010, near Christmas time, there was a larger selection of Pokédolls and other collectibles. An event was held at the Nintendo World Store to celebrate the releases of Pokémon Black and White Versions. It also had Pokémon Black and White pre-orders available.

On the floor above is the merchandise of other Nintendo franchises; such as Mario, Kirby, and the Legend of Zelda; including t-shirts and exclusive Nintendo World collectibles. The store also sells video game strategy guides and issues of Nintendo Power. There are game stations where visitors may demo Wii, DS, and 3DS games, including demos of some of the Pokémon games.

Previous stores

Japan

Tokyo (first)

• Opened April 25, 1998
• Closed July 16, 2007
• 1F Kawasaki Teitoku Building Annex, 3-2-5 Nihombashi, Chūō Ward, Tōkyō Metropolis
• Phone: 03-5200-0707

Tokyo (second)

• Opened July 16, 2007
• Closed December 7, 2014
• 2F Shiodome-Shiba Rikyū building, Kaigan 1-2-3, Minato Ward, Tokyo City, Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region

Osaka

• Opened November 14, 1998
• Closed November 23, 2010
• B1F Umeda Center Building, 2-4-12 Nakazaki-Nishi, Kita Ward, Ōsaka City, Ōsaka Prefecture
• Phone: 06-6373-8080

United States

Alderwood Mall

• Opened November 2010
• Closed July 2012
• 3000 184th Street SW, Lynnwood, Washington, 98037

This shop was the larger of the two Seattle-area shops, but it was still in the mall common area and limited in size. It featured a larger vending machine kiosk, a tower of Poké Dolls and DX Poké Dolls, and The Pokémon Company International employees who answered questions and rang up sales. It closed in July 2012, due to leasing issues.

Temporary stores

Japan

Chūbu Centrair International Airport

• Opened December 26, 2011
• Closed January 5, 2012
• 4F Chūbu Centrair International Airport, Tokoname, Aichi, Japan

This store sold original Pokémon merchandise and bingo games to play.

Tokyo Character Street

• Opened October 10, 2012
• Closed November 5, 2012
• Number One Plaza, First Avenue Tokyo Station, Chiyoda and Chūō, Tokyo Metropolis

Haneda International Airport International Terminal

• Opened August 4, 2012
• Closed August 19, 2012
• International Terminal, Haneda International Airport, Ōta, Tokyo Metropolis

This store sold original Pokémon merchandise and bingo games to play.

Pokémon Game Show

• Opened August 17, 2013
• Closed August 18, 2013
• Tokyo Big Sight, Odaiba, Tokyo Bay, Tokyo Metropolis

This store was run at the Pokémon Game Show. It had a capsule-toy vending machine selling Pokémon Rumble U NFC figures; special Black Kyurem and White Kyurem figures exclusive to the event were available here.

France

Pokémon Center Paris

• Opened June 4, 2014
• Closed after June 21, 2014
• Crémerie de Paris (Hôtel de Villeroy), 11-15, rue des Halles – angle 9, rue des Déchargeurs 75001 Paris / France

A temporary Pokémon Center store was scheduled to open in Paris, France from June 4 through June 21, 2014. The store featured an exhibition of illustrations from the Pokémon games, interactive events for fans, and the opportunity to purchase merchandise brought over from the Japanese Pokémon Center shops.

Online

The old site the day before closing

The current and former site logo

Online stores were available for Japan and North America, as well as an online store which is currently accessible via mobile phones in Japan. Around mid-January 2008, the Pokémon Center online store in North America displayed a closing message, encouraging shoppers to take advantage of closing sales, because the store would be closing at the end of the month. The store did close effective February 1st, but kept a Q & A site in place of the actual store. The reason given for the closing was: "Pokémon USA, Inc. (now part of The Pokémon Company International) has decided to sell Pokémon merchandise exclusively through its retail partners." The site continued to accept product returns that met their product return standards and were postmarked by February 21st of that year. If one visited pokemoncenter.com, it would redirect to the Pokémon website. On July 2, 2014, the website featured a countdown clock for the grand opening of the Pokémon Center online store and three different items avaliable for early-access purchase.

On August 6, 2014, the Pokémon Center online store reopened for customers in the United States at the same URL. Some fans were given advance access via mail, where they could access the Pokémon Center website starting July 2, 2014. These fans were given some special gifts from The Pokémon Company alongside the invitation: an iPhone 5 case, a notebook, a canteen, and a plush Special Delivery Pikachu.

Trivia

• Every logo uses at least one starter Pokémon, and the franchise mascot, Pikachu.
• The internal data of the core series games from Generation IV onwards contain location indices for all of the Pokémon Centers at the time.
  • The Japanese and Korean version of the Generation IV games still refer to the Nintendo World Store as PC New York (Japanese: ＰＣニューヨーク, Korean: PC뉴욕), even though they were released after the remodeling. The Generation V and VI games do not have a location index for the Nintendo World Store.

See also

• Japanese Pokémon Center collections
• English Pokémon Center collections

External links

• Official site for the Japanese Pokémon Centers (Japanese)
  • Official site for the Japanese Pokémon Centers (English)
  • Official site for the Japanese Pokémon Stores (English)
• Official site for Pokémon Center Online