THE owners of a store in Glasgow have been left “saddened” after thieves allegedly broke into their warehouse ahead of the highly anticipated release of the Pokémon 30th anniversary set.
Customers of Card Vault, based in the city centre, have been left “shocked” at the “awful” news that the store's warehouse was broken into in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The store had communicated with customers on Tuesday that it was waiting for its shipment of the anticipated release of Pokémon’s 30th anniversary card set for its in-store launch on Friday.
Although the set, which has seen thousands of fans of the Japanese anime queue outside stores across the country for its release, came out on Wednesday, Card Vault had pushed its launch until Friday due to a delay with its distributor.
However, in a shock statement on the shop's social media on Thursday, staff at the store confirmed the shop was closed due to their warehouse being broken into.
The statement did not specify what had been taken, but added that they would be notifying customers who have been affected.
It read: “We’re saddened to share that our warehouse was broken into at around 3am this morning.
“We’re currently assessing the situation with our team, and are carrying out the necessary checks today to establish whether any customer orders have been affected.
“If your order is affected, we’ll contact you directly with further information and the next steps.
“Our Gaming Centre will unfortunately not be opening today as we're still dealing with the situation.
“We plan to continue to open as normal on Friday.
“Thank you for your patience, understanding and continued support during this difficult time. We will keep you updated when we have more information.”
Pokémon has become one of the most recognisable brands in the world, with its fictional monsters appearing in video games and on shop shelves across the globe.
The collectable cards from the franchise have soared in value in recent years as the franchise's popularity has continued to grow.
With the cards becoming more highly sought after, collectors have resorted to queuing for hours outside stores for the opportunity to buy packs of cards.
On the messaging service Discord, Card Shop customers have rallied behind the store to show their support following the news.
One person wrote: “That's absolutely shocking! Fingers crossed whoever is responsible is caught.”
A second said: “That’s awful! I hope you guys are doing ok and the thieves will be found.”
A third added: “So sad to see something so crap happen to the loveliest bunch of folk who run such a great little place.
“So sorry this has happened and hope that things can get back on track for you fairly soon.”
Meanwhile, others speculated the warehouse was targeted for its stock of the highly coveted Pokémon set.
One person said: “I’m guessing most were Pokémon cards. I saw a report about an increase of theft over those cards above all.”
