First Permanent Store Outside Asia by 2029: Pokémon Officially Announces Flagship London Retail Location
The Pokémon Company International has officially announced on October 21, 2026, that it will open a permanent physical Pokémon retail store in London, United Kingdom. Scheduled to open its doors by 2029, the upcoming venue will mark the very first permanent physical retail space exclusively dedicated to the Pokémon brand outside of Asia. Even better for Western fans, the company confirmed that the London flagship is just the first of several permanent Pokémon stores planned to launch globally outside the Asian market.
A First Outside Asia Since the Days of Pokémon Center New York
It took reaching the franchise's milestone 30th anniversary, following its original Japanese debut in 1996, for Western Trainers to finally secure a permanent standalone retail home. Until now, the brand's permanent physical retail network has been strictly confined to Asia, anchored by more than fifteen permanent Pokémon Center locations across Japan (starting with the original Tokyo store in 1998 and expanding to massive hubs in Ikebukuro, Shibuya, and Osaka), alongside permanent international branches in Singapore at Jewel Changi Airport (opened in April 2019) and Taipei in the Xinyi district (opened in December 2023).
Outside of Asia, only one historical precedent existed: Pokémon Center New York, which operated at 10 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan from November 2001 until May 2005, when it was remodeled into the broader Nintendo New York flagship where Pokémon merchandise now occupies only a dedicated section on the second floor. Interestingly, in its official announcement, The Pokémon Company International does not explicitly call the upcoming London venue a "Pokémon Center," instead describing it as a "permanent, physical Pokémon store" and retail destination featuring exclusive merchandise, one-of-a-kind interactive experiences, and a dedicated community hub at a time when the brand is also ramping up supply with high pull-rate Pokémon 30th Anniversary packs that are crushing scalpers.
Gaku Susai, Chief Product and Experience Officer at The Pokémon Company International, shared the vision behind the upcoming London location:
"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. We hope it becomes a place where everyone can come together, feel like part of a community and enjoy the magic of Pokémon in a whole new way."
Why London Leads a Broader Western Retail Rollout
Choosing the British capital as the beachhead for an expansion outside Asia makes complete logistical and cultural sense. London already serves as the European headquarters for The Pokémon Company International in Chiswick, and the United Kingdom has been one of the very few Western territories with its own dedicated Pokémon Center UK online store and local fulfillment center since 2022. While the exact street address and floor space of the permanent store have yet to be disclosed, London has repeatedly proven the massive appetite of European fans whenever temporary shops have appeared in the city.
Back in autumn 2019, the temporary pop-up store at Westfield London in Shepherd's Bush ahead of the launch of Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield drew queues lasting five to seven hours as fans lined up for the bowler-hat-wearing London City Pikachu plush. Since then, event pop-up stores hosted at ExCeL London during the 2022 Pokémon World Championships and the annual Pokémon Europe International Championships (EUIC), as well as the early 2026 collaboration with London's Natural History Museum, have seen their free online reservation slots sell out weeks in advance. As players gear up for the Nintendo Switch 2 edition of Pokémon Legends: Z-A packing the base game and Mega Dimension DLC onto one cartridge, The Pokémon Company International confirmed that London will serve as "the first of several permanent Pokémon stores that are planned to launch outside of Asia," paving the way for additional permanent locations across North America and continental Europe.
Check Availability for Pokémon Legends Z-A on Amazon→
My Perspective
Anyone who has ever tried to score an entry slot for the EUIC pop-up at ExCeL London or paid steep proxy shipping fees from Tokyo just to grab a single Sitting Cuties plush at retail price knows how overdue this decision is. Because the online Pokémon Center stores remain region-locked to the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, continental European collectors have spent years either dealing with resellers or hoping to catch a two-week pop-up window with five-hour lines. Waiting until 2029 certainly tests our patience, but having a permanent flagship store right in London, just a two-hour Eurostar ride from Paris and Brussels, with more Western locations officially in the pipeline, finally gives European Trainers the year-round gathering place they deserve.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
