Pokémon Trading Card Store Denies Giving Special Treatment to Celebrities, as Angry Customers Leave a Flood of Negative Reviews

A British Pokémon card store has denied giving celebrities special treatment during a 30th Anniversary Pokémon card launch that left customers who had queued for hours empty handed.

Geek Retreat Chelmsford, a gaming and collectible retailer in southern England, was one of the thousands of stores to hold a special opening yesterday, in order to sell the latest set of highly sought after Pokémon cards.

Alongside hundreds of average shoppers, however, were a pair of notable UK figures: Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash, a reality TV star couple seen on shows such as The X Factor, Dancing on Ice, and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

In a widely-shared video posted online, the situation outside Geek Retreat Chelmsford can be seen descending into chaos, as shoppers discover the store's stock has rapidly sold out. Numerous posts from customers via X/Twitter and Facebook claim that they had been told told by staff not to queue or park directly outside before opening in order to deter scalpers — but that this did not apply when Solomon and Swash turned up, and reported parked directly in front of the store.

"They parked right outside, skipped the queue and bought most of the stock, leaving about 10 items for the 200+ people still waiting," wrote WeLovePokémon, a fan account with more than 82,000 followers.

Worst 30th Celebration story I’ve seen.Geek Retreat Chelmsford told customers they weren’t allowed to queue until 30 mins before opening, they weren’t allowed to park outside the shop, and there would be a 1pp limit.All of that went out the window when two celebrities (Joe… pic.twitter.com/j72bNCaFS2— We Love Pokemon (@WeLovePokemon) September 17, 2026

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Worst 30th Celebration story I’ve seen.Geek Retreat Chelmsford told customers they weren’t allowed to queue until 30 mins before opening, they weren’t allowed to park outside the shop, and there would be a 1pp limit.All of that went out the window when two celebrities (Joe… pic.twitter.com/j72bNCaFS2

However, Geek Retreat Chelmsford has now issued a statement to contest this account, call for calm as its Facebook page is flooded with negative reviews, and ask that its customers' anger not be directed at employees.

"We would like to address some of the negativity and aggression we have received today," the store wrote. "Today we ran the release of the Pokémon 30th Anniversary set in a way that we genuinely believed would best support our customers, maintain fairness and help reduce scalping. Unfortunately, we were never going to have enough stock to meet the demand, and we understand that this was disappointing for people who were unable to get everything they wanted.

"What we cannot accept, however, is that this disappointment has been directed towards our staff. Our staff work incredibly hard to make the shop a welcoming place for everyone. We are always happy to listen to genuine feedback, but abuse, aggression or threats towards our team are not acceptable under any circumstances. Anyone who has threatened or abused a member of our staff will not be welcome in our store.

"We would also like to address the suggestion that certain people, including well-known individuals, were given special treatment today. This is simply not true. We did not know that any famous people were attending until we saw them outside. They were not allowed in early, they were not given extra stock, and they were subject to exactly the same one of each product per-person limits as everyone else. They happened to be second in the queue when we opened, and no member of our team allowed them to skip the queue."

Despite the statement, the negative reviews remain. "30th celebrations release was a joke, store ordered 25 ETBs, chased customers down the road to prevent queuing which we all respected and understood as a method to combat scalping etc, yet quickly changed their minds when Joe Swash turned up, parked outside the store (another thing they said publically we were not to do) and then allowed him with his wife and multiple children to jump the queue and buy the majority of the stock. Outrageous display of poor management and poor choices, staff should be ashamed," reads one comment.

"Breaks protocol to sell to 'celebrities' who only purchased product to flip on their whatnot site, then makes a sob story post as if they're the victims when customers notice," wrote another.

"Horrendous behavior," wrote a third. "Everyone was told to not queue before 11.30am and do not loiter around the front of the shop, even in your motors. Joe Swash and Stacey Solomon, along with three other people, got out of their van, parked directly outside the shop, walked straight in past everyone and came out with half of the stock. Around 10 customers then came out with stock, until we had to be told by a customer who received nothing, that they were now out of stock. Hundreds of customers have been let down by you and your staff today."

Geek Retreat Chelmsford said it did allow some regular customers to pre-order stock, but acknowledged that there was simply no way to avoid some disappointment "when demand massively exceeds supply." No comment was made on where Swash and Solomon parked, or how many cards they and their children bought overall.

Yesterday, we reported on the long queues and the phenomenon of "ghost chairs" outside stores in the U.K., France, and the U.S., as some fans waited in line for days ahead of the 30th Anniversary card set going on sale.

Pokémon cards have become a prime target for scalpers and thieves over the past few years due to their soaring popularity and the perceived value of rare cards. New card releases frequently sell out completely, and The Pokémon Company has appeared unable to keep up with demand — despite a staggering 10 billion cards printed last year alone.

Earlier this week, one millionaire Pokémon collector suggested that the cards will likely be used as currency following a global apocalypse. Looking to start your collection? We've also got a list of the 10 most expensive Pokémon cards of 2026 so far, and a first look at Mega Evolution's Delta Reign expansion, set to release in November this year.

Image credit: Kate Green/Getty Images.