A NEW Pokémon shop in Worcester has been opened by a hobbyist with a real passion for the global phenomenon.
The Electric Mouse has opened in King Charles Place in St John’s, the brainchild of Connor Andrews, who developed a keen interest in Pokémon when he was a boy.
The 31-year-old said the shop was ‘entirely Pokémon’ and he explained how his own interest began in the early 2000s with video games providing the initial spark, beginning with Pokémon Blue on the Nintendo Game Boy. But his interest only deepened with Pokémon LeafGreen on the Game Boy Advance.
FRONT: The Electric Mouse is by the post office in King Charles Place, a shopping arcade opposite The Bull Baiters pub in St John’s, Worcester (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)
“I tried getting into the cards, but they were banned in schools,” he said.
Pokémon is a popular Japanese media franchise centred on fictional creatures called Pokémon that humans catch, train, and battle. The name is shorthand for “Pocket Monsters”, each with different powers. The most famous, a mascot for the franchise, is Pikachu, a small, yellow, mouse-like electric creature who inspired the name of the shop (‘The Electric Mouse’) which has opened in the shopping arcade, directly opposite The Bull Baiters pub.
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It’s just a coincidence that the shop has opened to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Pokémon, which has already seen record sales at Toys and Games of Worcester in Broad Street.
The Electric Mouse actually opened around seven weeks ago, and this was timed to coincide with the school holidays in August.
ENTRANCE: The Electric Mouse entrance in King Charles Place in St John’s, Worcester (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)
The shop stocks vintage and collectable trading cards, English Booster Boxes and Chinese and Japanese cards, including Japanese exclusives.
“Trading cards are the biggest driver,” he said. “We also sell singles, individual cards, not packs, so people can complete their collections or they can be used for playing games. There isn’t an age limit for customers. I have so many children interested in collecting the plushies. They often go for the cheaper cards.”
So we did he open the shop? Mr Andrews, who is originally from Cardiff but has lived in Worcester since 1999, said: “As a hobbyist myself, I was frustrated there was nowhere that had a regular supply of Pokémon stuff. There was nowhere that did singles as cards or had a trade binder with single cards, nowhere that did graded cards really. There’s nowhere else in Worcester you can go and do trades with people. I have a lot of repeat business.”