Tatton's Pokémon Center New York Memories

The memories of a Pokémon fan called Tatton, and his visit to the Pokémon Center New York store, in July 2002

The Pokémon Center New York store opened on November 16th, 2001, and lasted until January 19th, 2005. At the time, it was the first store of its kind outside of Japan. It featured a huge range of Pokémon-themed merchandise, exclusive items, areas for play, and interactive elements. On July 22nd, 2002, a Pokémon fan named Tatton, along with two of his friends, visited the store on their first trip to NYC. In addition to sharing his fond memories of the trip, Tatton also took plenty of fantastic photographs, giving us a rare view of the store during its “Pikachu’s Vacation” event.

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A photograph of the Toys “R” Us Ferris wheel at their flagship store in Times Square, New York City, taken on July 20th, 2002

Back in 2002, I found out that one of my coworkers was also a big Puffy (AmiYumi) fan. When they announced their first US tour, New York City was the closest stop that lined up with our schedules. We grabbed tickets for their show at Irving Plaza and planned our first trip to NYC. We could only stay for a few days, so before we left, my friend, his girlfriend, and I each picked the one thing we wanted to do while we were up there. My pick was easy. I wanted to go to the Pokémon Center New York. I had been playing Pokémon games since Pokémon Yellow came out and was immediately hooked. The Pokémon Mini had been out for over 6 months in the US and the Pokémon Center was the only way to get one outside of resellers on eBay. I had my heart set on picking one up while we were there.

We drove overnight from Columbus, Ohio and arrived in New York City the morning of the day of the concert. After checking into the little hotel, we went to Times Square and I got a chance to explore the giant Toys “R” Us. I think it was like four or five floors. There was a huge Ferris wheel inside that had different cars representing different types of toys and characters. There was even a Pokémon car with Ash, Pikachu, and Charizard on it. After exploring Times Square some more, we made our way over to see Puffy at the Irving Plaza. It was amazing! We’d seen pictures of Puffy filling huge venues in Japan. At the Irving Plaza, we were like 60-70 feet away from them. We even got to meet them at the merch booth when we bought our autograph cards and shirts. Over the next couple days, we explored different parts of the city and checked off the rest of the places on our list.

Tatton’s friend outside of the Pokémon Center New York store on July 22nd, 2002. The window display has various plush toys, clothing, and a huge six-foot Charizard statue

The Pokémon Center was out of the way from the other places we were going, so we went on the last day and we had a limited amount of time to hang out there. As we approached from the outside, we were greeted by a bunch of giant Pokémon plushies and shirts that were visible from through the windows. We went inside and found the most Pokémon merchandise I’d ever seen in one place before. Throughout the store there were lots of statues of different Pokémon. According to the people who worked there, each of the statues were scaled to how big the Pokémon would be in real life. There was a giant Pokéball emblem laid into the tile floor right inside the door, and more Pokémon statues were on the shelves and attached to columns. Oh yeah, and there were two floors!

At the top of the second floor hung a giant animatronic Pokéball that would open up to display a light show on a periodic basis. I think it might have been hourly. The main thing I remember about the second floor were stations where you could play different Pokémon games and a Catch’em Station where you could get rare Pokémon sent to your GBA cart. Unfortunately there was quite a bit that wasn’t working. Several of the statues that were animatronic were motionless, and the Catch’em Station was down as well. Of course, throughout the store were tons of shelves of almost every type of product you could imagine at the time. There was clothing, figurines, toys, pins, etc... And plushies. Loads of plushies of all sizes.

A photograph of Pokémon Center New York’s checkout area on July 22nd, 2002. The store was decorated with palm trees, flower necklaces, and party hats to celebrate the store’s “Pikachu’s Vacation” event, described as an “In-Store Street Fair”

The time we had to spend quickly evaporated and I grabbed as many things as I could afford with the money I had left over. There was a bundle deal where you could get a Pokémon Mini with a bag, hand towel, charm, and two games. I got the Wooper one for myself and I think I grabbed a Chikorita bundle for one of my friends back home. I also bought two GBA cases (one for me and one for my friend) and three grand opening celebration pins (one for me, one for my friend, and one for my nephew). There was a small wall filled with motorized clocks. At a glance, they were a bit simple with a Pokéball in the middle and the hours in a ring around it. However, the two sides of the Pokéball would slide apart and reveal several Pokémon pictures in circles inside. It was originally $350 and they had them on sale for $150. I would have splurged on one if we had gone there earlier. Alas, on the last stop of the last day, it wasn’t meant to be.

The people who were working there were all wonderful and it was nice to get to nerd out with them a little. As I left, I couldn’t help but think about when I’d be able to make another trip back up there to visit the store again.

The whole trip was full of amazing experiences and wonderful memories. Pokémon has only gotten more and more popular since then. Even though we are lucky enough to currently have stores like Original 151 in Dayton that are full of Pokémon merchandise, there was something magical about that Pokémon Center in NYC that has been lost to time. Back then, I had no idea that this would be my only opportunity to visit an official Pokémon Center. I’m glad I made the effort to take a bunch of pictures while I was there, and I’m happy to have this opportunity to share them with other people who may not have had the chance to visit it when it was around. Over 20 years later, I still have everything I bought while I was there. I got each of the items back together and took pictures of them to share as well.

Additional photographs

The Scizor statue inside the store’s lower floor window display. It is decorated with flowers in celebration of the store’s “Pikachu’s Vacation” event

Several other Pokémon from the lower floor window display, featuring Diglett, Togepi, Pichu, Pikachu, Larvitar, and Snubbull

Another view of the lower floor window display, this time showing Vulpix and a huge Wobbuffet statue

“The Pokémon Trainer Gym”, a dedicated gaming area on the second floor, where children are playing Super Smash Bros. Melee on Nintendo GameCube

A photograph of The Pokémon Catch’em Station (a.k.a. The Pokémon Distribution Machine) located on the second floor, where customers could bring their copies of Pokémon Gold, Silver, or Crystal and receive a rare Pokémon

The Animatronic Poké Ball, located on the second floor

More life-sized Pokémon statues, located on the ground floor. In this photograph, we can see Phanpy, Wooper, Bellossom, and Rattata attached to a pillar

A close-up shot of Wooper’s statue from the ground floor. The store’s Caterpie statue is also slightly captured in this shot

A huge selection of Pokémon plush toys from Kanto and Johto could be purchased at the store

Another photo showing more Pokémon plush toys. Tatton’s other friend was blurred out of this photograph upon request

Even more plush toys could be found on the ground floor, including a gigantic Entei plush

The Pokémon Magical Clock, an item exclusively sold at the Pokémon Center New York store, was reduced from $349.95 to $149.95 when this photograph was taken

A close-up photo taken from outside the store of the Charizard statue from the window display

Another photograph of the window display taken from outside the store, showing a Heracross statue and various large plushies, including Lugia, Lapras, Suicune, Raikou, and Snorlax

A photograph taken inside the store, showing the window display from behind. Here, we can see even more plush toys, such as Meowth, and a Pikachu on top of Lugia’s back

A Ledyba animatronic attached to a conveyor belt on the lower floor. In the photo, we can also see a Pidgey animatronic and statues of Marill and Oddish attached to a pillar

A photograph of the lower floor, showing more Pokémon animatronics, including Horsea, Kakuna, Zubat, Hoppip, Qwilfish, and Koffing. Statues such as Cubone, Jigglypuff, and Eevee can also be seen. A huge range of merchandise, and Pokémon Center staff, are also present in the photograph

Another photograph of the lower floor, showing the statues and more merchandise. The store’s elevator can also be seen here, allowing visitors to reach areas such as the dedicated gaming area and the Pokémon Distribution Machine on the second floor

A close-up shot of the huge Entei plush toy that could be seen at the store. On the wall behind it, a schedule with events can be partially seen

A huge Poké Ball pattern was present on the lower floor of the store. This photograph also shows Pokémon deckchairs and bright yellow shopping baskets by the entrance

Tatton shared some of the items he still owns from his visit to the Pokémon Center New York store, including a Grand Opening pin badge (0293/3000), Game Boy Advance and Pokémon Mini protective cases, a Poké Ball towel, and a bag which still has its original tag

Tatton’s Pokémon Mini (Wooper Blue) and games, which include Pokémon Party Mini, Pokéball Pinball Mini, Pokémon Puzzle Collection, and Pokémon Zany Cards. The Pokémon Mini also has a Wooper key charm attached to it

A close up of Tatton’s Wooper key charm

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A huge thank you to Tatton for sharing his memories of his visit to the Pokémon Center New York store. The photographs provided are of exceptional quality and give us a clear view of what the store looked like back then, especially during one of its events, which would have run for a short amount of time.

For more information on the center, be sure to check out our interview with the Pokémon Center NY Historical Website that was conducted in March 2023, and our interview with its General Manager that was published in March 2024.

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