The Match Slip

If you're considering starting a game store business, Matt, owner of Just Games Rochester, recommends building a store "for the life you're looking to have when your store is successful."

How many local game stores get a second shot after the first store closes down? A $15,000 fundraiser wasn't enough to save Family Fun Hobbies, but it bought enough time for an investor to come around and bring a second opportunity and the birth of Round 2 Gaming. General Manager Miranda has worked at both stores and is helping spearhead the growth of Round 2 Gaming. Moreover, she has a genius idea for generating more money per sale while saving the customer money!

Magic: The Gathering and MSRP have always been debated amongst consumers, but how does a game store owner view it? Nathan, owner of Riftgate in Salt Lake City, Utah, is heavily involved in selling Magic cards, which he did not anticipate when starting the store.

Travis, owner of the largest game store, Millennium Games, takes on the role of General Manager for Gamezenter in Roseville, Minnesota, which Travis denotes as the largest game store in the midwest.

One of the boons Travis sees with the store is its custom-developed add-on, which integrates directly with Shopify. He views this as a product that can be sold to other stores at some point.

While the store has a lot of inventory, there aren't enough employees. It's a main area of focus. Travis notes that high-level sales knowledge is needed to help elevate the store. Furthermore, bringing on people with experience in the gaming industry is necessary for product knowledge and custom service. Moreover, Travis has taken over ordering products due to his vast knowledge of industry expertise and his relationships with manufacturers.

The event space has growth potential and not just for gaming. 60% of the 22,000 sq. ft. is dedicated to gaming space. They've been able to host comedy events, and in addition to having their liquor license, it's drawn in crowds that maybe aren't into gaming. However, Travis has had to reduce some gaming space as he notes that more retail space is needed to facilitate sales.

In this episode, Sean, the owner of Brute Force Games in San Diego, California, joins us on the podcast.

Initially, Sean started an online venture selling card collections for additional income and turned that into a 4,800 sq. ft. game store. Having loved Magic: The Gathering since 1994, it's no wonder the game is also most popular at his store. Like most stores, Commander is the most popular format; however, unlike other stores, they only offer open play. There are no points for wins, as it's 100% casual.

From a competitive standpoint, Sean doesn't dabble in that realm often. However, during the RCQ season, he tries to hold a limited event as it is his favorite format to play. At the time of recording, Brute Force Games has been a WPN Premium store for 4-5 years. Moreover, the store has been Sean's full-time job for over 10 years and has ten employees.

These days, Sean's primary responsibility is looking at the bigger picture. However, he still likes to be involved with the store as he doesn't want to be too removed from the industry. He does share that he's not happy about the store's online presence and has hired a marketing team to address those issues. Furthermore, he says he should attend conventions to get the store's name out there.

Overall, Sean loves being around people. It's one of the benefits the store has brought him and something he didn't expect. From a big-picture standpoint, he's always had the idea of having a mini-mall where he is the landlord, but all the businesses support nerd and gaming culture. However, the idea of being a landlord has always created pause.

A visit from a Pokemon collector, Deep Pocket Monster, would prove to be an amazing opportunity for Tabletop Tavern's store owner, Jimmy. The popular Pokemon YouTuber attended a Pokemon trade night hosted at the store that brought more community to Jimmy's store and showcased the great things this store is doing.

Jimmy's store is located in Chula Vista, California. He's been a fan of Magic: The Gathering since the early 90s, and now running a game store with his older brother is a dream come true. The store has ~1,000 sq. ft. of play space and ~750 sq. ft. of retail space. He has the luxury of having three buildings - only two are in use. The third building, Jimmy says, will be used to bring back Tabletop Tasty's, a burger and fries offering that was put aside after a sewer pipe break. After an 8-9 month process, it's nearing relaunch.

Jimmy's full-time job is as an educator, and running a game store is purely a labor of love. He takes no money out of the store and instead reinvests back into it. That reinvestment includes plans for corn hole and bonfire pit. Giving back to the community is of most importance to Jimmy.

While the game store is a joy, one of his passions is escape rooms. He originally thought he would open one himself, but the manual labor involved appeared daunting. However, due to circumstances, he was able to acquire Steal and Escape.

As he looks towards the future, a second location in National City, California, is on the horizon.

In this episode, we're talking with Lexx, owner of Chicagoland Games: Dice Dojo in Chicago, Illinois. This episode was recorded live at Dragon Con 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.

The store was born in 2008 after a store Lexx worked at called Gamers Paradise went out of business. He's been a gamer since youth, with his first love being Dungeons & Dragons. The store sports 3,000 board games in their lending library for free, with 50% of the store occupied by tables and chairs.

Chicagoland Games: Dice Dojo is more than just board games. According to Lexx, they cater to all the giant fandoms. For example, we're told that they sell as much Warhammer 40,000 as they do Magic: The Gathering. However, EDH is their biggest night in terms of gaming. Moreover, they provide weekly open play and "learn how to play" nights for various games.

Conventions are another aspect of the business and something Lexx enjoys going to. He says it's his way of re-engaging why you do what you do. This is evident by his more than a decade of attendance at Dragon Con. 2024 marks his twelfth year vending.

While he has ten employees and two managers, Lexx concedes that "staffing is hard." Employees specialize, but with the volume of online orders incoming, everyone needs to do a little of everything. Scaling is challenging when factoring in the number of products that come in a year and deciding what to buy. This is where Lexx says you "read the room" and pay attention to what your audience wants.

In addition to dealing with shipments as his primary responsibility, Lexx holds events at breweries and libraries and hosts Dungeons & Dragons birthday parties, all to help facilitate the growth of gaming.

In this episode, we're talking with Dan, the operator of Walt's Cards and Games. While Dan is not the store owner, Walt allows Dan to operate the store as he sees fit. Walt is away from the store often and works more with his travel service.

Dan has been working for Walt since 1994. His career started at a store called Cards For You, where he worked for one year. When Dan began working for Walt, sports cards were the main seller. The switch to Magic started in the 90s as "missing the boat" with this game was the fear at the time, Dan says.

Dan's favorite thing about running a game store is bringing joy to others. While he is the only true employee of the store, he credits Omar and Peggy for helping out. As the buyer of products for the store, Dan feels a shortcoming is not knowing when to cut a product. His passion for collecting adds to the challenge and the potential of an item selling for $300 on eBay.

One of the things he's learned is to not buy "heavy" into any product. The driving factor to purchasing a product is if he believes someone will like it. Dan says that Lorcana was one of those games he guessed right on. Having the opportunity to make young kids visit the store and fall in love with a game is a driving force for why he's in the business of games.

Conventions are an enjoyable part of the job for Dan. He says seeing friends draws him to attend and as well as introduce customers to the products he carries.

We're chatting with Van's Comics and Games store owner, Travis.

The store is located in Ridgeland, Mississippi, and was originally owned by Van, hence the name. Van is a family friend of Travis and owned the store for 20 years before passing the torch. At the time, the focus was on comics. There are currently 80-100,000 unique back issues. When the reigns were passed, Travis kept the store name to recognize the legacy Van had built. With 8+ years under his belt, Travis's store is 28 years old and counting.

Originally from Toronto, Canada, Travis has a passion for Warhammer 40,000 and also enjoys Magic: The Gathering. With 1,500-2,000 sq. ft. of play space, the former supports 10 6x4 full-size wooden tables for players. Overall, the store is 6,000 sq. ft. The store supports 100 people for card games and can expand the space to 300-400 people for major tournaments.

In addition to gaming, Travis and his wife's family own all the Papa John's restaurants in the area, so there's always free pizza for events. Moreover, the store has a full bar so customers can grab a drink between games. Should players have their fill at the game store, Travis also owns a restaurant called Black Axes, where customers can go to grab food and a drink or partake in axe throwing.

With 6 employees, excluding the owners, Travis and the team always think of unique ideas for the store. For example, this year (2024), they're holding a carnival in the store's parking lot.

While he never looks to throw the same party twice, Travis is always marinating new plans. For example, he's looking to expand the store to 12,000 sq. ft.

In this episode, we talk with Brenton and Nugget, two of The Deck Box's three owners in Fletcher, North Carolina.

Early on, there were plans to run a comic book store, having started as a backpack trader. When the switch to having a game store began 16 years ago, it originated in a flea market with 1,100 sq. ft. The store slowly grew with its community for 6 months before a prime opportunity arose to buy a dedicated shop.

The Deck Box has a large selection of games totaling 12 - 13. However, there are plans to add more in the future. The most popular game at the store is Magic: The Gathering. However, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokémon had to be moved to two separate days. Both games experience large attendance numbers. From a financial perspective, One Piece is best for the store due to scarcity and collectibility.

In addition to the three owners, the store employs seven full-timers and one part-timer. They have a front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house operation for retail and gaming, respectively. All employees are cross-trained in multiple aspects of the store, but back-of-the-house employees tend to stick to handling online orders and pulling cards.

Marketing the store consists of billboards, print, and attending conventions. The goal when attending conventions is to draw people back to their store rather than sales. This has been a successful venture, but both owners say acquiring high-end products their customers want can be difficult as those sell off quickly.

Looking to the future, the hope is for a second store. However, the biggest takeaway is they love their job and running the store. It's fun for them and their community building is the store's strength.