Nintendo opens shop in John Lewis

Nintendo has opened its own shop at the heart of the UK’s busiest High Street.

The Nintendo shop at John Lewis Oxford Street is part of the retailer’s 4m revamp of its Children’s department. It opened this week, stocking games and hardware for DS, Wii and 3DS, with Gem handling the category management.

It’s the start in what John Lewis described as a ‘fundamental’ push to turn around its ailing games offer.

The firm says the days of disappointing suppliers is over, and is reaching out to publishers in a bid to become a major family games retailer.Alongside the Nintendo shop, John Lewis has this week introduced new title pre-orders for the first time.

Because of the challenges in the market, it has been difficult for John Lewis to carve out a niche for itself,” admitted games buyer Robert Hennessy.We offer something unique in the way we engage with the family.

How far we take what we have with Nintendo at Oxford Street will be based on the sales reaction we get. We have 30 stores that could house something similar to what we have today.

We are working with Gem. They are assisting us on a number of levels, such as through having games available to pre-order.

It is my aspiration that within the next three to six months we will offer all the key software titles – ahead of launch through pre-order, and on the day of launch.”