Pokémon Center (store)

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Exterior of the Tokyo Pokémon Center

Pokémon Centers are retail stores that sell 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

From east to west:

Sapporo

  • Open:
    • July 1, 2005 - October 2, 2005
    • July 1, 2006 - October 29, 2006
    • from March 6, 2008
  • 北海道札幌市中央区北3条西1-2-9 札幌全日空ホテル内1階
  • Sapporo ANA Hotel 1F, West 1-2-9 Kita-3-jō, Chūō Ward, Sapporo City, Hokkaido Prefecture, Hokkaido Region
  • Phone: 0120-049-725 (Pokémon Customer Support Center)

Tohoku

Pokémon Center Tohoku logo.png
  • Opened December 4, 2011
  • Third floor, Aer building, 1-3-1 Chūō, Aoba Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Tohoku Region
  • Opened as a part of the "Pokémon with You" campaign

Tokyo

Pokémon Center Tokyo logo.png
  • Opened July 16, 2007
  • 東京都港区海岸1-2-3 汐留芝離宮ビルディング2F
  • Second floor, Shiodome-Shiba Rikyū building, Kaigan 1-2-3, Minato Ward, Tokyo City, Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region

Yokohama

  • Opened March 5, 2005
  • 神奈川県横浜市西区みなとみらい2-2-1 ランドマークプラザ4F
  • Landmark Plaza 4F, 2-2-1 Minato-Mirai, Nishi Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanto Region
  • Phone: 045-222-5533

Nagoya

  • Opened October 22, 2002
  • 愛知県名古屋市東区東桜1丁目11番地1号 オアシス21
  • Oasis 21, 1-11-1 Higashi-Sakura, Higashi Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Chubu Region
  • Phone: 052-950-0758

Osaka

Pokémon Center Osaka logo.png
  • Opened November 26, 2010
  • 大阪府大阪市北区梅田3-1-1 大丸梅田店13F
  • Daimaru Umeda 13F, 3-1-1 Umeda, Kita Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, Kansai Region
  • Phone: 06-6346-6002

Fukuoka

  • Opened November 1, 2003
  • 福岡県福岡市博多区住吉1-2-22 キャナルシティオーパB1Fラブーン
  • Canal City OPA B1F Labūn, 1-2-22 Sumiyoshi, Hakata Ward, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu Region
  • Phone: 092-282-7733

USA

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.

Alderwood Mall
  • Opened November 2010
  • 3000 184th Street SW, Lynnwood, Washington, 98037

This shop is the larger of the two Seattle-area shops, but it is still in the mall common area and limited in size. It features a larger vending machine kiosk, a tower of Poké Dolls and DX Poké Dolls, and The Pokémon Company International employees who answer questions and ring up sales.

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 watched and operated by one to two The Pokémon Company International employees, who help make sure the machines are running alright, answer questions, and ring up the sales of merchandise located outside of the vending machines.

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 collectables. 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

  • Opened April 25, 1998
  • Closed July 16, 2007
  • 東京都中央区日本橋3-2-5 川崎定徳ビル別館1F
  • Kawasaki Teitoku Building Annex 1F, 3-2-5 Nihombashi, Chūō Ward, Tōkyō Metropolis
  • Phone: 03-5200-0707

Osaka

  • Opened November 14, 1998
  • Closed November 23, 2010
  • 大阪府大阪市北区中崎西2-4-12 梅田センタービルB1F
  • Umeda Center Building B1F, 2-4-12 Nakazaki-Nishi, Kita Ward, Ōsaka City, Ōsaka Prefecture
  • Phone: 06-6373-8080

Temporary Stores

Japan

Central Japan International Airport

  • Will open December 26th, 2011
  • Will close January 5th 2011
  • Central Japan International airport 4F, Tokoname, Aichi, Japan

This store will sell original Pokèmon merchandise and play bingo games.

Online

The Pokémon Center North America site the day before closing

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.

Trivia