Due to "unprecedented demand," London's new pop-up Pokemon Center has been forced to take new measures to cope with the tidal wave of people looking to purchase a plush bowler-hat wearing Pikachu, among other London-themed Pokemon items.
The store, which is located at the Westfield London shopping centre, has reduced shop opening hours from 10 AM-10 PM to 10 AM-6 PM (Sunday 12 PM-6 PM), as well as tightening its limits on purchases. A week after the store opened, queue times still range somewhere between four and five hours on a typical weekday, according to the Pokemon Center London Updates Twitter account. Yesterday, queues were closed as early as 2pm to prevent them from growing even larger.
GameSpot was sent the following image of people queueing up outside Westfield London at 9am this morning.
Arriving early is key to getting into the store it seems, with some even opting to camp overnight to book their place at the front of the queue. However, Westfield has said that physically setting up camp is not permitted. "Customers wishing to queue overnight may have to wait outside," the shopping centre said. "You will not be permitted to bring camping bags or tents. Please make yourself known to a member of the security team upon your arrival."
The London Pikachu range has been limited to one item per customer since the Pokemon Center opened, but purchase limits throughout the rest of the store now extend to just six items. An FAQ thread from the official Twitter account says that this was done because it can no longer guarantee stock will be available until the store closes for good.
"We receive daily deliveries and endeavour to replenish stock as quickly as possible. However, due to unprecedented demand, some products may sell out before the end of the day," the shop now says. "Our team are working hard to restock daily. However, as interest in the store has been unprecedented, some products may sell out before the shop's closure on Friday 15th November."
There's clearly a demand for a permanent Pokemon Center in London, even if you look beyond the effect the store's limited lifespan has on heightening people's clamour to get in. There's already a petition to make the store a permanent fixture, and it makes sense when you consider the online US store doesn't even ship worldwide. If London can accommodate a three-story tall M&M store that actually makes money, a Pokemon Center shouldn't be too far behind.
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