What was the first Pokémon Center store location?

The first Pokémon Center store opened in Nihonbashi, Tokyo.

Pokémon Center Co. Ltd. was founded on April 23, 1998, by Nintendo, Creatures, and Game Freak. The company was created to manage specialized Pokémon merchandise stores, and its first location opened in Nihonbashi on July 18, 1998.

The stores became physical destinations for games, toys, cards, clothing, and other Pokémon products. The original company later underwent restructuring and was officially renamed The Pokémon Company in October 2000, helping centralize management of the expanding franchise.

The first store is sometimes confused with the former Pokémon Center New York, which opened in Manhattan in 2001. That American location was later remodeled into Nintendo World and eventually renamed Nintendo New York, so it was not the franchise’s first Pokémon Center.