A permanent Pokémon Store is coming to London

Forget Paris, New York or Berlin — London is going to be the first place outside of Asia to get a permanent Pokémon store.

This follows a handful of pop-ups, including one going on right now. There’s a Pokémon tie-in with the European Space Agency at the Science Museum right now, a “gift shop.”

The bad news is the London Pokémon store isn’t coming any time soon, and we don’t have all that much in the way of concrete details yet.

It’s planned to open “by 2029,” pretty much confirming it won’t launch next year. And the exact location for the store is yet to be announced.

“We are always exploring new opportunities that help us create unique and memorable experiences for our fans. This new London store will give visitors the chance to step into the world of Pokémon, whether they’re discovering the brand for the first time or have been Trainers for years,” says Gaku Susai, the Pokémon Company’s chief product officer.

The London store is planned to be the first of several “outside of Asia,” suggesting we’re likely to hear of plans for ones in other major cities before too long.

One obvious place for the Pokémon store would be around Leicester Square, where today you can visit the LEGO store and M&M’s London.

Or with Oxford Street currently amid its pedestrianisation, that could also be a top spot for some Pokémon action — and a newly suitable area for some Pokémon Go fun too.

However, as is always the case with these pricey, high-demand zones, where the Pokémon Store can live will depend on what leases are available.

Unsurprisingly, Japan is the true hot spot of Pokémon stores. There are “Pokémon Centers” in Sapporo, Tohoku, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Kagawa, Fukuoka and Okinawa, as well as a handful of them in Tokyo. Proper spoilt over there.

A bunch of London stores are already affiliated with Pokémon, though, including Forbidden Planet, Mythic Goblin, Spellbound Games and Bad Moon Cafe, although thanks to competitive gaming rather than straight-up Pokémon plushies.

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