While having your house designated as a Pokémon gym can be quite the awful experience, businesses have a lot to gain from such circumstances – and one shopping mall in the US has astutely picked up on this.
Colonie Center in Albany, New York decided to make the most of its location as a PokéGym and went on to convert its lobby into a designated Pokémon Go arena.
The mall has painted a huge Poké Ball in the center of its lobby to mark the improvised battle arena and possibly entice a bunch of Go-playing customers in stores nearby.
To make the arena even more authentic, the lobby is also decorated with Pokémon-themed posters and flags that will quickly catch the attention of avid Pokémon trainers.
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Colonie Center is not the only establishment to take advantage of the Pokémon craze. Crafty hustlers and brave business owners have already taken a similar approach – and have done so with a fair bit of success too.
The smash-hit mobile game caused a 10 percent spike in Nintendo’s stocks when it initially launched, but there were concerns about finding viable ways to monetize on its popularity.
Since then, reports have suggested that Pokémon Go creator Niantic and Nintendo are considering offering businesses a chance to lure customers in by becoming sponsored locations within the game. In fact, rumours speculate that a partnership with McDonald’s is already in the pipeline.
via Reddit
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