Blackwell's urges Pokémon Go fans to 'catch 'em all' in store

Blackwell's is running a photo competition to celebrate the launch of Pokémon Go, a mobile game that allows users to catch Pokémon in real life using gps technology.

The game, which has seen shares in Japanese company Nintendo rise by 56% since its release, launched in the UK on Thursday (14th July).

Blackwell's is using the opportunity to entice customers into its bookshops. The academic book retailer has emailed customers to say it had already found Pokémon in its flagship Oxford bookshop and invited them to share their discoveries with the store on Twitter (@Blackwellbooks) and Facebook.

The best photo sent in will win a copy of the Pokemon: Deluxe Essential Handbook by Cris Silvestri (Scholastic US), a book promising "everything you ever wanted to know about every Pokémon - all in one place". A revised and updated edition of a 2008 bestseller, including stats and facts about 700 different Pokémon, its sales volume last week was its highest post-Christmas.

Other highlighted tomes include Pokémon Adventures (Viz Media), a collection of manga by Hidenori Kusaka.

Publishers Weekly reported the game, which encourages users to explore their neighbourhood and its public spaces, had increased footfall in US bookstores. While it said some booksellers were not convinced it would result in an uplift in sales, others were noticing a “slight uptick”.

The Official Pokemon Handbook (Scholastic), released in November 1999, has sold almost 300k copies to date and The Official Pokemon Collector’s Sticker Book (Scholastic) has sold almost 200k.