Mon, March 31, 2025

Zia Comics With Store Owner, Troy

We know that game stores with multiple locations exist. Zia Games in New Mexico is one of them. However, have you heard of a store owner who also owns conventions? Yes, conventions, as in more than one. Store owner Troy owns three conventions in New Mexico. He shares how he finds store locations and his methods for building a successful convention. He's also willing to pivot when something is or isn't working.

Mon, March 17, 2025

Duke City Games with General Manager, Alexandra

Have you ever been to a store that runs Magic: The Gathering Commander tournaments every night of the week? Not only does General Manager Alexandra do exactly that, but she'll run an event for any smaller niche game that may only turn out four players. Duke City Games operates four stores in New Mexico with its largest location supporting 100 players.

Sat, March 01, 2025

Finch and Sparrow Games, With Store Owner, Michael

Michael, the owner of the Finch and Sparrow Games store, tells us that Magic: The Gathering is different from how it was five to ten years ago. As a game store owner, he specializes in card games, where Magic: The Gathering is 95% of his business. Michael believes in doing one thing well rather than being OK at multiple things, hence card games.

Sat, February 15, 2025

E4 Cards & More With Store Owner, Steve

Most game stores offer a variety of games, including board games, Warhammer 40,000, and collectible card games. Steve, the owner of E4 Cards & More, has explored other games like Warhammer 40,000, but he mentions that they have a "different vibe, different focus." He wanted to concentrate on one aspect and excel at it: collectible card games, all while creating a store people enjoy visiting.

Sat, February 01, 2025

Silver Dragon Games With Store Owner, Scott

Scott and his family set out to create a game store that cares about its customers. Scott learned from his son that "Silver Dragon" is the "caring" meaning behind the store's name. Moreover, the family sought to build a store women would want to visit, so Scott enlisted his wife as the interior designer.

Sat, January 18, 2025

Just Games Rochester With Store Owner, Matt

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."

Mon, December 23, 2024

Round 2 Gaming with General Manager, Miranda

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!

Mon, December 09, 2024

Riftgate With Store Owner, Nathan

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.

Fri, November 29, 2024

Gamezenter With General Manager, Travis

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. Travis sees many opportunities for Gamezenter to improve its operations. His goal is to revitalize the store. Travis views the opportunity as a challenge for himself. Travis and his relationship with Chris Petersen - the owner of Ghost Galaxy , Gamezenter , and Strange Stars -allow him to run the store through his vision, for the most part.

Mon, November 18, 2024

Brute Force Games With Store Owner, Sean

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.

Mon, October 28, 2024

Tabletop Tavern With Store Owner, Jimmy

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.

Mon, October 14, 2024

Chicagoland Games: Dice Dojo With Store Owner, Lexx

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.

Mon, September 30, 2024

Walt's Cards and Games With Store Operator, Dan

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.

Mon, September 16, 2024

Van's Comics and Games With Store Owner, Travis

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.

Mon, September 02, 2024

The Deck Box With Owners Brenton & Nugget

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.

Mon, August 19, 2024

Player 1 Services With Co-Owner, Ben

In this episode, we're talking with Ben, co-owner of Player 1 Services in Kensington, Maryland. Ben is a big-time Pokémon collector. In fact, according to Guinness World Records , he has the largest Pokémon card collection at 50,000 cards which he expects to exceed by the end of 2024. A unique aspect of Ben and co-owner Rose's store is they specialize in Pokémon . They take special orders for products like Lorcana , Magic: The Gathering , and One Piece , however, their retail space is all Pokémon . The demand to play Pokémon at the store is high. Events will max out at 50 players resulting in Ben's desire for more gaming space. He would love to have sanctioned events that could support hundreds of people, but finding the same to do so is no easy task. He'd like to purchase the space from three businesses that occupy the same building. While Ben is hopeful, only time will tell if those businesses move locations. Ben and Rose employ a very knowledgeable staff. They all know how to play multiple Pokémon formats. The staff holds events every Wednesday teaching kids and adults how to play the game. Rose spearheads these teaching events through the "Pokémon Club". With 2 million Pokémon cards in store, Ben wants to make it easy for his customers to acquire the cards they desire.

Mon, August 05, 2024

Level Up Games With Store Owner, Luke

In this episode, we're talking with Luke, owner of Level Up Games in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Luke started his journey into gaming at the age of 6. The first game he ever played was Pokémon. However, he took a hiatus from card games until he was 16. As time progressed, Luke realized he enjoyed buying and selling cards more than playing the game; which he didn't feel he was very good at. Before launching the store in 2021, Luke had worked vending for a company on the Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix circuit. During this time, he never envisioned opening a brick-and-mortar store. He was hesitant about varying factors doing so compared to selling online. However, he was aware of the larger inventory that could be had with a physical location. Luke is down on sealed products due to the low margins, but he says that Level Up Games sports the deepest and broadest collection of single cards. He maintains a philosophy of always buying more cards whether from locals or when attending conventions. Luke is always buying due to the number of enfranchised players in the Glen Burnie area. He says those players don't necessarily purchase sealed products as much as they buy singles. Luke states that a benefit of his store location is brand loyalty. The physical location he's in previously was the location of a store called, MTG First . This store was very well-known to those in the area. The location has existed for about 10 years, he says. Luke operates under the business philosophy of being comfortable with risk and moving on when something doesn't work out. One venture he wants to explore is attending conventions that aren't Magic: The Gathering focused. For example, he's looking at conventions geared towards sports cards and collectibles.

Mon, July 22, 2024

Everything Games With Owner, Cody Romano

In this episode, we're talking with Cody Romano, owner of Everything Games in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Cody opened the store with his dad over 12 years ago. Since that time, the store has seen accelerated success. While they started the store online, Cody soon realized that having a brick-and-mortar presence would be key to acquiring products. The store has always remained in the same strip mall but has moved to larger spaces. For example, the store started with a little over 800 sq. ft. Within two years they've moved into a space with about 2,400 sq. ft. Finally, 8 years later, they have a little over 5,000 sq. ft. Cody says they need to expand again but may prefer a second location as the current location has been very profitable. Many stores rely heavily on selling singles. However, Everything Games sells a lot of sealed products. Cody attributes this to the very causal environment cultivated at his store with Commander events seeing 30-40 people in attendance every Wednesday. Commander events are also held on Friday, however, Cody says that One Piece is the most popular game at his store. Cody handles product ordering, chasing contracts, and putting his employees in the best position to succeed as part of his day-to-day responsibilities. With 10 employees on board, each is cross-trained on running events, however, employees are also given roles within departments like in a traditional corporate structure. The store is broad in its product offerings keeping on brand with the store's name. During COVID, Everything Games branched out into video games, for example. Moreover, Beyblade and Barbies have been a very successful addition to the store. Toys have been successful in providing options for families and happy kids. 60% of sales are in-store, Cody says. Accessories provide the largest profit margin. Overall, sales have increased 10-fold, according to Cody, since the move to the space with a little over 5,000 sq. ft. One of Cody's 10-15-year future goals is to buy a hotel that has an Everything Games inside to host events.

Mon, July 08, 2024

Twenty Sided Store With Owner, Lauren Bilanko

In this episode, we're talking with Lauren Bilano, owner of Twenty Sided Store . The store is located in Brooklyn, New York; Williamsburg in particular. The store has been open for 13+ years and is currently in its second location - one block from its previous location. Lauren, who has a background in photography, is a storyteller by trade. Initially, she wasn't expected to be heavily involved in the store. However, once it was realized that running events were requested in high demand, Lauren became heavily involved. Her primary responsibilities include marketing, managing the store's website, and operations. Her business partner, Luis, is the store's buyer of products for the store. Lauren's family has a background in the restaurant and cafe business. Those experiences have taught her the importance of starting small and simple when starting a business. She feels her "superhero power" requires incorporating many SKUs within a small space: 1,200 - 1,500 sq. ft. Overall, Lauren does a lot for the store. She is always looking to create new experiences in the store, in addition to supporting independent and local creators. In conjunction with Mystic Aether, a world created by Lauren, she has developed 9 RPGs and hosts a radio show every other Thursday on Newtown Radio .

Mon, June 24, 2024

Kingslayer Games With Store Owner, Travis

In this episode, we're talking with Travis, owner of Kingslayer Games . The store spans three locations in California: Fountain Valley, Oceanside, and Lake Forest. Travis started his foray into retail in 2015. Having gone to school for business, a storefront was a "front", as Travis calls it, to enable more product purchases from distributors. Initial plans were for the store to be a comic book store. However, after one week, customers asked to play Magic: The Gathering . Three weeks later, Travis was hosting his first Magic: The Gathering Pre-Release event. With three stores to oversee, Travis employs 19 employees: an Operations Manager, three Store Managers, a Warehouse Manager, and an Organized Play Manager. Regarding hiring, Travis' two requirements are kindness and obsessiveness. The latter refers to an obsession with a particular game, he says. Moreover, he's also able to provide health benefits to his employees. Travis' day-to-day duties involve managing cash flow for each store, creating content to help scale the business, and staying on top of his calendar, email, and to-do lists. He says the latter is one of the things he's always looking to improve upon. With three stores, Travis doesn't always get the opportunity to meet his customers. That said, he streams events twice weekly on Twitch to engage with his customers. Moreover, he'll also make it a point to play in events with his customers. The engagement with his customers allows him to receive instant feedback. To deliver the products his customers want, he leverages the onboarding process of Discord by allowing customers to select their favorite games upon joining. The customer segmentation by "roles" is based on the games they've chosen. Travis can use these "roles" and market products only to customers who seek out a game they've said they are interested in.

Mon, June 10, 2024

Final Boss Games With Store Owner, Remington

In this episode, we talk with Final Boss Games store owner Remington in Springdale, Arkansas. Remington and his two business partners, Bennett and Trevor, started the store in February 2024. As a collective, launching the store has been a long time coming. While they always talked about opening a store, during COVID they put the building blocks in place to make it a reality. The store focuses on the competitive side of gaming. This ethos stems from Remington's engagement with Magic: The Gathering qualifier tournaments before becoming a store owner. The three owners employ two hourly associates which has lessened the immense number of hours the owners were putting in. When Remington decided his competitive playing days were concluding, he knew he wanted his store to serve that same joy and competitive dream for others. Bennett and Remington service the Magic: The Gathering side of the store while Trevor handles everything Pokémon . However, Remington's main role is managing large-scale tournaments - the defacto tournament organizer at the store. With 4,500 sq. ft of space and 4,000 sq. ft dedicated to play space, Remington believes in providing as much space as possible to the community to grow and expand amongst the games offered. To facilitate community engagement, 100% of the tournament entry fee goes directly to prize support. He notes that the store doesn't make money off events, but it's a way to get customers in the door. The store can support up to 120 players in total. For the owners, when finding a store location this was a must. To support this number of players, they checked out 10+ locations in person and even more online before settling on Springdale. Remington notes that certification to hold events across multiple games is a tedious process. However, he's now looking to be approved by Wizards of the Coast as a WPN Premium Store.

Mon, May 27, 2024

Gamers Haunt With Store Owner, Charla

In today's episode, we're talking with Charla, owner of Gamers Haunt in Asheville, North Carolina. Charla purchased the store from her friend in 2019 and has been running the business for 5+ years. The store specializes in Magic: The Gathering and a little Dungeons and Dragons; one of Charla's favorite games. Charla notes that the community has brought her joy since taking over the store. Her store specializes in casual play while the Modern format is reserved for competitive play. While her store receives solid turnout for Standard and Commander, she doesn't recommend those new to Magic to start with Commander. With the number of cards a player has to memorize in Commander, Charla feels it's a better option to introduce Standard to new players due to being a 60-card format with duplicate cards included in a deck. Due to having a small staff with one part-time and one full-time employee, Charla can offer free Friday Night Magic events. While she has recently introduced a "pay what you can" concept, she can afford to do this because of her large selection of singles. Singles are where she makes the bulk of her revenue. Additionally, she doesn't sell singles online as she prefers to reserve those cards for her local players. She's noticed that if it's easy to get players in the door, they'll be more likely to purchase singles. With a willingness to try new things at her store, Charla will create events like "Standard Skirmishes". 6-8 week-long events with prize support. Again, she offers the ability for free entry or "pay what you can". She even offers $5 rental decks for players who want to try the format before committing. Furthermore, the store hosts summer camps for different experience levels, and after attending GAMA for the first time, she wants to carry more independent games. Moreover, she'll be participating in Free RPG Day for the first time. Looking to the future, she hopes to have a place with more space and the option to rent out Dungeons and Dragons miniatures, and she's in the planning stages of a weekend convention for Magic. Moreover, she would like to work with other stores in the area to create a "scavenger hunt" gaming concept so that the stores can support one another.

Mon, May 13, 2024

Brothers Grim Games With Store Owner, Gil

In this episode, we're talking with Gil, owner of Brother's Grim Games at the Long Island Tabletop Gaming Expo. Gil's store is located on Long Island in Selden, NY. In 2007, he bought the store, originally named Monkey Head . As a store owner, one of his biggest challenges is knowing how much product to buy. This incorporates recognizing when a product has plateaued and is about to decline. There are no restocks after the initial order when purchasing a product from a distributor. While competing with Amazon is challenging, Gil says customer loyalty is the best way to overcome that. That loyalty has resulted in a few thousand regular customers. Moreover, new games entering the market bring in new players. Nowadays, he's seeing customers bring friends, families, and parents. Furthermore, sets like Universes Beyond from Magic: The Gathering also have brought new players in. Gil always strives to make his store nicer. Over the years, he's expanded units to increase the square footage. He's also open seven days a week with four employees. In the early days, Gil would work 100 hours per week but is now down to 30 hours a week. His focus is the store's financials, purchasing, and insurance. To continue getting word out about the store, Gil attends conventions. He used to travel outside New York attending conventions in about 20 states. The networking opportunities with those in the industry were valuable to him. He still attends local conventions.

Mon, April 29, 2024

Meta-Games Unlimited With Store Owner, Allan Reid

In this episode, we're talking with Alan Reid, owner of Meta-Games Unlimited . In addition to running the game store, Alan also has a full-time job. His desire to open a game store stems from his previous background in competitive Magic. While being a competitive player from 1994-1996 had its enjoyment, as time went on he wished to be near family and friends. This would lead to the beginning of his store in 1997. While the store has been around for 27 years and counting, Alan credits his friends with whom he had played competitively for helping make the store what it is today. He initially started with a 750 sq. ft. store and would later expand to 3,200 sq. ft. However, today, the store is 10,000 sq. ft. culminating as its fourth location since its opening. Moreover, Alan notes this could be considered the store's fifth location when the expansions are factored in. With 9 employees total, some of whom have been with Alan for over 20 years, Alan stresses the importance and appreciation for his staff whom he relies on for helping build the store's foundation. With an open free-to-play space, pinball tournaments, Games Workshop events, RPG events, and Magic: The Gathering events, Alan's store boasts many opportunities to accommodate his customers and hold multiple events per day. These days Alan mostly plays board games while focusing on relationship-building with vendors, stocking up on products, and providing his customers a great place to play.

Mon, April 15, 2024

The Enchanted Deck With Store Owner, Jon

Editor’s Note: The store owner, Jon, has told us The Enchanted Deck is no longer running. However, he says he would like to have it up and running again at some point in the future. We’ll be sure to let you know if we receive any updates. In this episode, we’re talking with Jon, owner of The Enchanted Deck - an online-only store. However, he does hope to have a brick-and-mortar store in the future; potentially within the next couple of years. In July of 2023, Jon would stream on Twitch with a “rip and ship” concept selling packs of cards Pokemon cards. However, in January of 2024, The Enchanted Deck was born as an online store, but now he was selling various TCGs. Having worked as a salesman for Best Buy for 10 years, Jon feels he has the experience required to acquire customers and learn what they want. While Jon doesn’t face the overhead a brick-and-mortar store would, he does face the difficulty of acquiring products from distributors. Because he’s an online-only store, Jon says that acquiring said products is limited. Initially, he was only able to buy Pokemon products. While distributors have asked when he will open a store, Jon said they he wants to do it the right way when it becomes a reality. One of those things he wants is to make sure his store would be WPN-ready from the get-go. Being a new dad and having a full-time job, in addition to running The Enchanted Deck makes it difficult to consider opening a brick-and-mortar store at the current time. However, Jon does participate in conventions that he can afford to go to, to get the name out there regarding his business. He’s also noticed that online “buy, sell, and trade” Facebook groups have been a great way to attract new customers and build relationships.  Additionally, Jon utilizes online ads to grow the business and is constantly updating his website to make it as easy to use as possible for his customers.

Mon, April 01, 2024

Game Goblins With Store Owner, Josh Wilhelmi

In this episode, we're talking with Josh Wilhelmi, owner of Game Goblins . With two locations in both Little Rock, Arkansas, and Conway, Arkansas, Josh hopes to open five stores in total with plans to franchise the brand afterward. Josh started buying and selling singles from dealers at events to pay for his travel. He built up enough income from this venture which led to a game store. Game Goblins started in 2012 with 2,000 sq. ft. of space. This would become a limitation, and the store would relocate to a location with 6,000 sq. ft. of space. As of this writing, the store has been at this location for the past nine years. Furthermore, the store is WPN Premium - the only game store in Little Rock. The store in Conway - also a WPN Premium store - is the Game Goblin's second location. While the store is smaller in square footage and staff, Josh employs a full-time team leader who manages the day-to-day operations. Overall, he has 15 employees between his two stores. As the owner, Josh focuses on the direction of the company. Such decisions include product lines to carry, new events, and ordering. Moreover, Game Goblins is not the only company that Josh runs. As such, he passes along his philosophy for the company to his employees to implement. The company generates about 3 million in revenue per year. The revenue encompasses the two stores and TCG Player . 50-60% of that revenue is in products sold. Josh notes that the company is very data-driven when ordering products. With a background in computer engineering, they have created internal utilities that they iterate over consistently to help improve buying decisions. As he pursues a third store, Josh focuses on a few requirements before doing so: The store must be in a city with at least 50,000 people. The space he purchases must be at least 4,000 sq. ft. The store must generate 1 million in revenue after the first two years. The store cannot be hard for people to find.

Mon, March 18, 2024

OC Geeks & Games With Store Owner, La Donna

In this episode, store owner, La Donna of OC Geeks & Games owner joins us to discuss her store in Oregon City, Oregon. While not a gamer herself, her husband is. While La Donna was in the military, La Donna's husband had wanted to start a game store focused on families. The family concept of the store is their most unique selling point. It is further emphasized by La Donna when she says, "When someone comes into my store, it's like you're coming into my living room." La Donna handles the managerial aspect of the store, learns the games, and hires the right people to help facilitate those games. Her husband handles the Games Workshop and miniatures side of the business. With three current employees, La Donna emphasizes the wonderful and impactful contribution of her late best friend, Anna, to the business. Anna helped grow the Pokemon community, embodied the family spirit that La Donna and her husband were aiming for, and as La Donna puts it - she was the reason people were coming to the store. Her loss is still a difficult loss for everyone to this day. In the spirit of what Anna brought to the store, La Donna loves that parents look to come into the store and play games with their kids. Both Dungeons & Dragons and Pokemon are huge with families at her store. The "Learn-To-Play" concept is working well to draw in new customers. La Donna is very active in the community including being a foster parent to two kids and her involvement in the Oregon City Chamber of Commerce. Although active, La Donna notes that it's still a challenge getting people to know that her store exists along with the financials that are involved with running a game store. La Donna grew up on a farm and her family did not have much money. However, she never lacked love from her family and friends. She parlays that richness in love to the customers in her store today and treats them as if they're her kids. Looking to the future, La Donna would love to open another store with more square footage.

Mon, March 04, 2024

Dragon's Hoard With Store Owners Sherri and Zack

In this episode, we're talking with Sherri and Zack of Dragon's Hoard , located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Celebrating its 1st anniversary as a game store, Dragon's Hoard originally started as a hobby shop / collectible store. When Sherri's husband recommended they bring Magic: The Gathering to the store, it changed the direction of the business. The store would officially become a game store from that moment forward. Both Sherri and Zack have full-time jobs outside of the game store. Sherri works in the corporate world and Zack is a commercial real estate broker. Furthermore, Zack was the property manager of the space where Dragon's Hoard now resides as he was looking for someone to take over the lease that was recently vacated. With a desire to open a board game cafe, Zack asked Sherri if they could be partners together on this venture. The pair currently have two employees: Justin and Steven - the latter of whom ran the store in the beginning 6 days a week. With some help in hand, Sherri says Steven has two days a week off. One of the things Sherri likes doing in the early years to get the store's name out there is attending conventions. Even if money is lost by doing so, Sherri believes in the motto, "Be everywhere." Sherri shares that the store name comes from the various vendors who would sell products in their store. Moreover, she's looking to highlight the vendors through various means - like raffles - as part of the store's 1st-anniversary celebration. Attending the conventions was a great networking opportunity to invite those vendors to sell in her store, Sherri shares. With 3,500 sq ft. of space, Sherri and Zack can hold multiple events simultaneously. To help alleviate some of this work for Justin and Steven, they hope to bring on more employees in year 2. The long-term goal is to open a second store and make Dragon's Hoard their full-time gig in 5-10 years.

Mon, February 19, 2024

Dice City Games With Store Owner, Jimmy Cooney

In episode 23, we're talking with Jimmy Cooney, owner of Dice City Games . Originally from Montgomery County, Maryland, now living in Fairfax, Virginia - Jimmy first got involved in gaming at seven years old. It was at that young age he bought his first Warhammer miniature. Although he quit gaming in his teenage years, he would find himself working in restaurants, grocery stores, retail, and filmmaking. However, that gaming spark would be reignited after a meetup with some friends to play board games and Magic: The Gathering . In 2015, Jimmy would write a business plan for Dice City Games . The store name would become a moniker representing the Washington D.C. area even though the store's location is in Silver Springs, Maryland - a D.C. suburb. Before the store's official location was launched, he spent 2015-2016 with pop-up stores. Jimmy estimates that the store is 1/5 Washington D.C. players and 4/5 Marylanders. However, the store has attracted visitors from Sweden, Lithuania, Peru, and Japan. With a global appeal and a passion for branding, Jimmy sponsors competitive players in the Magic: The Gathering scene. Additionally, his store attends conventions such as SCG Con where he features a "Show & Tell" concept - like bringing large Magic: The Gathering cards - to make an impression on the players in attendance. To facilitate his operation, Jimmy has an Inventory Manager, a Buyer, and a Magic: The Gathering Sales & Inventory representative. He also has 12 part-timers who assist with conventions and events, however, no more than 10 employees are working at the store. Jimmy aspires to expand the brand of Dice City Games in the future while doing large off-site events emulated after the "North American Old School Cup" which runs every Thursday night leading into Eternal Weekend.

Mon, February 05, 2024

Gamers Geekery & Tavern With Store Owner, Lance Shrader

In episode 22 of the podcast, we're talking with Lance Shrader, owner of Gamers Geekery & Tavern in Cary, North Carolina. Growing up in the mountains in Virginia, Lance didn't have a game store to go to. However, being a board game fan, Lance found himself wanting to build a game store. In Cary, a game store featuring what Gamers Geekery & Tavern didn't exist and Lance wanted to change that. In 2014, his friend's wife was looking for something to do, so they partnered up and opened a retail space. However, Lance knew he wanted a bar, but couldn't do so within the confines of his first lease. Fast forward to today, the store in Cary features a 12-tap line bar as well as serves food. His business partner handles the game store end while he focuses on the restaurant. Lance currently has 14-15 employees servicing both the game store and restaurant. Since the 2021 COVID pandemic, staffing has been the most difficult challenge. However, Lance notes after 2-3 years later things are feeling better on that front. Customers on the other hand are not a struggle for the store. Additionally, there are times when Lance will have to, unfortunately, turn people away due to being at capacity. This while both good and bad can occur on Tuesdays and Saturday nights. It's one of the reasons why Lance is having an extension built across the street from his store. The majority of the business sales is about 53% food and drink and 47% retail. One of the luxuries afforded to Lance is that he hosts team-building corporate events about once a week which has been a boon for the business. With about 620 board games available to choose from and a unique appearance that doesn't just appeal to gamers, Lance has built an establishment that has people coming back along with repeat business from corporate events. His goal is to create a comfortable and hospital place for anyone walking through his doors.

Mon, January 22, 2024

Dragon's Lair With Founder & Franchisor, David Wheeler

In episode 21 of the podcast, we're talking with David Wheeler, the founder and franchisor of Dragon's Lair . Dragon's Lair in Austin, Texas is the original store location dating back to 1986. It is 10,700 sq. ft. After selling ownership of this location in 2015, David decided he wanted to help people open stores and utilize his contacts in the industry to help others succeed. With a wide variety of interests and not wanting to remain a game store owner forever - having done so for more than 20 years - David intentionally wanted to change professions. In taking steps to become a franchisor, he didn't think he could simultaneously be a game store owner. However, he wanted to help prospective game store owners find locations, negotiate with landlords for leasing agreements, build out store design/layouts, and build a culture. As of the release of this episode, Dragon's Lair has locations in Columbus, Ohio, Houston, Texas, two locations in San Antonio, Texas, along with the original Austin, Texas store. Additionally, David is working on opening a store in San Marcos, Texas. As long as the prospective franchisee is qualified, David is willing to open two new stores a year at most. Each store averages about 10 employees except for the Austin store which has 18. A unique touch of each store is what David calls a "Lair Beast" .

Mon, January 08, 2024

Decks & Dice With Store Owner, Jared McKenzie

In episode 20, we're interviewing store owner, Jared McKenzie, of Decks & Dice located in Seneca, South Carolina, outside of Clemson. After selling the land he owned, Jared opened his store and immediately implemented a family-like environment. Operations are conducted less rigidly at Decks & Dice . Customers can haggle and even go behind the checkout counter to browse the binders of trading card games. Jared always wanted to open a shop. Growing up, going to his local game store and playing games was a way to escape the negativity at home. He saw the game store as an escape and wanted his store to be the same escape for someone going through similar circumstances. When Jared first opened the store, he was working 80-85 hours a week. This consisted of a full-time job and Decks & Dice . Before the help of his cousin and two customers volunteering their time, Jared handled all aspects of the store. Now he only works a part-time job in addition to running the store cutting down those hours significantly. From a business standpoint, he likes to try and price match for his customers where possible as long as he's not losing money on the sale. Jared enjoys creating fun videos for the store's YouTube channel with topics like "Ramblings of an LGS Owner" and "Cards After Dark" . He also allows customers to create videos for the channel if they wish. In addition to the videos, Jared used Facebook Ads and word-of-mouth to get the name out of the store. One of the most successful ventures he's participated in is the "Welcome Back Students" event at Clemson University. This has brought a lot of foot traffic to his store. Additionally, Jared would like to bring Commander League Fridays to Clemson. He aspires to one day be able to bring a satellite shop to Clemson as well.

Wed, December 27, 2023

Atomic Empire With Store Owner, Jennifer Bedell

Episode 19 of The Match Slip podcast features store owner, Jennifer Bedell, of Atomic Empire in Durham, North Carolina. Before the existence of a retail store, Jennifer and her boyfriend, Mark, at the time would sell duplicate comics he owned on eBay. Eventually, they switched to selling on their e-commerce site. Both have a background in full-stack web development leading to the creation of their in-house point-of-sale system. Currently, Atomic Empire is at its second location where the store's rebranded name was born. Jennifer has been running the store out of its current location where her current role involves collaborating with employees to solve problems. With 30 employees and multiple departments, the store encompasses a total of 12,000 sq. ft. with 2,500 sq. ft. dedicated to gaming space and 2,500-4000 sq. ft dedicated to the warehouse. With a focus on improving communication through transparency, Jennifer feels this is the best way to explain the realities of the economics as it pertains to a game store with her customers. With a predominantly casual player base, Games Workshop and Geek Garage Sale are the two most popular events the store runs. With draft beer on tap for its players, Jennifer hopes to eventually become a WPN Premium Store.

Mon, December 11, 2023

Games And Stuff With Store Owner, Paul Butler

In episode 18 of The Match Slip podcast, store owner, Paul Butler, of Games And Stuff joins us fresh off his move to his new location in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Glen Burnie is the store's third location in its lifetime with the latest sporting a 14,000 sq. ft. sales floor. Now having the space available for more products, Paul, with a background in retail and a passion for merchandising, can experiment with additional product lines. While the store is three and a half sizes larger than the previous location, it's worth noting that Paul was not the original owner of the store. In the early, he was brought on by the previous owner as a part-time board game specialist. While Paul has always thoroughly enjoyed board games since he was a kid, working part-time in the store he saw major growth opportunities. The owner negotiated a salary that allowed Paul to quit his other job and work for Games And Stuff full-time. In 2010, he became the store manager, made several changes, and tripled sales. Additionally, Paul took a "big swing" as he put it with the game Ascension in its infancy. With 18 copies in tow, he was already restocking in week two after selling out the first batch. As the store was growing, the original store owner did not intend to run an operation of this magnitude which would lead to Paul buying the store and becoming the new owner. These days, Paul focuses on product buying and vision for the business. His girlfriend assists in the marketing endeavors for the e-commerce site and branding. Overall, he has 26-27 employees which include a Store Manager, Assistant Managers, and Director of Operations. One of the goals Paul has for the store is growing the customer base nationwide. He wants to build on his reputation of being the store that has hard-to-find products. With foot traffic for the first time in the game store's history, Paul is looking to bring in more kids' games and books. He now has two private game rooms that customers can reserve for a full or half-day, and a warehouse and loading dock for handling new product arrivals. While dealing with the supply and flow of products is one of the challenges of the new store, Paul does not lack innovative ideas. He has purchased a full-size bust of Sauron from Lord of the Rings that stands at 9.5 ft. tall to add to the center of the store as well as door knockers from Jim Henson's Labyrinth . His vision is to create a place that exudes the "wow" factor.

Mon, November 27, 2023

Bill & Ogre's Games With Co-Owner, "Ogre"

In episode 17 of The Match Slip podcast, we're talking with "Ogre" of Bill & Ogre's Games located in Murphy, North Carolina. The store is two hours north of Atlanta, Georgia. Along with his Co-Owner, Travis, Bill & Ogre's Games did not start off as a traditional storefront. Instead, the storefront came later with the primary focus on wholesale-to-wholesale distribution. It wasn't until a storefront was requested that the owners agreed to do so. The storefront is only 8% of the business. Travis and "Ogre" aren't in the store often as they have a manager - 4 employees total - who manages the store. At its peak, the store had 12 employees. Travis is primarily working out of the warehouse - which they have three of - facilitating big sales in addition to some travel. The majority of the travel is handled by "Ogre" where he ventures throughout the midwest buying and selling collections of bulk cards. Additionally, during the summer of COVID, they bought five game stores in the span of two months. Prior to the current store, "Ogre", had other stores he owned. His foray into the business started with selling a Timewalk Magic: The Gathering card for $50 after buying it for $25. It was at that point he decided he wanted to do this as often as he could. When it comes to the player base, Dungeons & Dragons events can fill the store. In fact, "Ogre" would like to create a unique Dungeons & Dragons experience for players that will feel "like walking in old tavern". As for trading card games, Magic: The Gathering is the most popular at the store with Commander and Draft the predominant formats.

Mon, November 13, 2023

Warpstorm Games & Lounge With Co-Owner, Antonio

In episode 16 of The Match Slip podcast, we're talking with Co-Owner, Antonio, of Warpstorm Games & Lounge . Antonio is one of the five owners of the business which is located in Greenfield, Wisconsin. All owners of the store are friends who each bring a specialty background to the store where they operate their departments individually. Before being a store owner, Antonio had worked in retail for six years followed by three additional years working at Games Workshop . Given his background, Antonio specializes in the retail side of the business along with his experience in painting miniatures. He's parlayed this experience by offering free one-on-one classes to customers through the Warpstorm Gaming Academy. With 5,200 sq ft. of space, the store also sports the Boba Cafe which is the lounge portion of the business run by Liz. On the gaming side, Quinn handles the carding gaming which involves buying, selling, and trading. Alex Muhich and Alex Karr deal with inventory and systems management. When all five friends joined forces, Antonio, with a background in graphic design worked with a designer to have a new logo created and update the color palette for the store's branding. While the store doesn't have any employees outside of the five owners at this time, Antonio looks forward to the day when this can be a possibility. With a focus on offering a premium experience to customers, Antonio notes that he feels the current retail front location concept is antiquated. Instead, both he and his partners believe in experiential retail. An example of this is a centrally placed 55-inch screen TV for Dungeons & Dragons nights. The store has an active community for those into Role Playing Games, Miniatures, and Card Games. Antonio had always wanted to be a tabletop game designer and so a goal of the store is to create games to sell to customers.

Mon, October 30, 2023

Anubis Games & Hobby With Store Owner, Darnel Sonnier

In episode 15 of The Match Slip podcast, we're talking with store owner, Darnel Sonnier, of Anubis Games & Hobby located in Lafayette, Louisiana. A former welder, Darnel's store, Anubis Games & Hobby , began online selling on eBay and in flea markets. The inspiration to launch a store originated with the affinity he had for a store in Georgia. In the initial 7 months of opening his brick-and-mortar store, Darnel was there 7 days a week. Along with his wife, Darnel shares that he had to learn the business of running a game store. He found himself sleeping at the store and putting all the money made back into the business. While he regrets not paying himself in those first 7 months, he decided to see the store through due to the people. He wanted to see the store's success for his customers. In the early days, he did everything, but these days he handles the bills. He credits the team he's built for carrying out the vision of Anubis Games & Hobby with special recognition for his store manager. Overall, he wants his employees to feel a sense of ownership in the store which includes ceding some control. The location he's in now covers all the requirements that Darnel was looking for including foot traffic, existing anchor stores, and being located off a busy street. The first location didn't have everything he was looking for. Additionally, the rent was very high so he moved the store's location to where it resides now. Encapsulated with an Egyptian theme, Darnel's WPN Premium store provides its customers with a free space to play. Due to the long-term lease structure he negotiated, he could offer this amenity to his players. One of Darnel's desires would be to one day have the space to add a LAN center. He also envisioned a small micro-center offering computer and 3D printing products.

Mon, October 16, 2023

Magnolia Gaming With Store Owner, Spencer Thomas

In episode 14 of The Match Slip , we're talking with store owner, Spencer Thomas of Magnolia Gaming . The store has two locations located in Troy, Alabama, and Huntsville, Alabama. However, there are plans for a third store that will serve as the headquarters with a 40,000 sq. ft. warehouse. Spencer originally bought the store for $0 and took on $5,700 in debt when it was three weeks away from closing. He currently has 52 employees with a manager at both locations, so his involvement these days in the day-to-day operations is mostly hands-off. Both stores are WPN premium with a casual player base consisting of mostly Commander players. Although, the store does sport one of the largest Flesh & Blood stores in America. An obstacle is the four-year turnover of players considering the store is based in a college town. Most of Spencer's time these days is spent with his other business which includes a liquor business and media company. The former is the most time-consuming and he spends 20-25 hours (80 hours total) a week with each of his businesses. In addition to his businesses, conventions are a big part of the game store business. 30-45 conventions are attended a year to acquire collections to later sell online. While the costs can be expensive to attend conventions, Spencer says it's all factored into the marketing budget. The biggest challenge, he says, is finding profitable products. A future goal of Spencer's is to possibly open a store with one of his existing businesses on the West Coast.

Mon, October 02, 2023

The Gathering Place With Store Owner, Josh Goodsell

In episode 13 of The Match Slip podcast, we're talking with Josh Goodsell, Owner of The Gathering Place located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This live episode was recorded in person with Josh at SCG Con in Columbus, Ohio. Located in a college town, The Gathering Place has its core returning customers but also has the luxury of new incoming players every four years when new students enter the fray. A unique aspect of his store is a dive bar, "specializing in local craft beer & vintage MTG!", as noted on their Facebook page . Employees not only sell their customers Magic: The Gathering products but also have knowledge of various beers that they can discuss with customers. With Modern being popular amongst players in North Carolina, The Gathering Place features a casual-competitive crowd. Not only is Modern highly played at the store but Legacy also has its mainstay of players on Friday nights. Josh spends a lot of his time on the road at conventions and views his time at these shows as good branding opportunities. While the costs of attending and vending are high, he feels that if he's getting the store's name out there into the community and more people know about the store it can lead to more brand loyalty.

Mon, September 18, 2023

Star City Games With Owner, Pete Hoefling

In episode 12 of The Match Slip podcast, we talk with store owner, Pete Hoefling, of Star City Games in Roanoke, Virginia. Having entered the industry with a love of comic books, Pete's journey in the business started 30 years ago and has been based in the same town since its inception. As someone who enjoyed attending one-day comic conventions as a kid, Pete would soon find himself vending at these events on the weekends while he was in high school. Later in life, he would run the largest single-day comic book conventions in 7-8 cities at a time throughout the United States. However, an early interaction with four kids visiting his store would change the trajectory of his business forever. With continued requests for Magic: The Gathering products, Pete would eventually budge and purchase products he had never sold initially. Doing so became a great decision as more and more people would show up to his store looking for Magic: The Gathering products where Pete would make the transition and turn Star City Games into a full-blown game store. With 130-140 total employees across the entire business (6-8 employees in the brick-and-mortar store), Star City Games is probably best known for its big events such as the SCG Tour of years past to current, SCG Con. Today, about 10 SCG Conventions are held a year in the United States with a focus on promoting the store's website.

Mon, September 04, 2023

Millennium Games With Store Owner, Travis

In episode 11 of The Match Slip podcast, we're talking with store owner, Travis, of Millennium Games in Rochester, NY. It's the birthplace of the Rochester Draft format for Magic: The Gathering and is the "largest game store in the country", as dubbed by Travis himself with no disputes to the sentiment thus far. Travis, who originally went to college to become a teacher, has owned the store for 17 years after purchasing it from the previous owner on February 20, 2007. Prior to that, he was an online poker player, but the daily grind lost its luster over time. Travis also has a background in mortgages, which helped him negotiate payments to pay off the store's debt accrued from previous ownership. By paying off the store's debt, he's seen the business grow at a rapid pace with 36 employees and plans to hire more. In addition to the game store, Travis owns Free RPG Day , he's a co-designer of Dungeons & Dragons Onslaught Miniatures Game, and he also serves as a consultant. His primary role with Millennium Games involves purchasing, employee development, scouting for talent, and planning events. He's always wanted to work at a game store as board games were something that brought his family together growing up. With the unique addition of used board games in the store, Travis also allows the opportunity for customers to play games before purchasing them so they can determine if it's right for them. Within the play space area, it can accommodate up to 320 players with 120 players seen on average for Commander on Saturday nights. When it comes to the games themselves, Travis tends to allocate more of his time to learning new games that his employees aren't already enfranchised in. While the majority of marketing for the store is word of mouth, Travis has also seen growth attributed to coverage in the local press after their move to their new location, as well as TikTok reels posted to Facebook which appears to draw the most traffic to the store.

Mon, August 21, 2023

Cardboard Shuffle With Store Owner, Mark

In episode 10 of The Match Slip podcast, we're talking with store owner, Mark of Cardboard Shuffle located in Kingsport, Tennessee. Based in a factory town, the store originally started at Mark's house where he was only selling singles. As time went on the amount of single cards he was collecting to sell exceeded the space in his house. At that moment, Mark realized a retail location would be needed. Cardboard Shuffle has been in business since 2019, however, the retail store didn't come to exist until its second year. With sales quadrupling every year since opening, Mark has been able to employ five full-time employees. His employees are guaranteed two consecutive days off a week and each specializes in a particular area of expertise further bringing value to the store. While being a store owner requires a lot of time and attention, Mark is also a school teacher. After teaching, he normally will head straight to the store afterward. These two endeavors consume a good chunk of Mark's time so his days of being a Magic: The Gathering grinder for 8 years in the SCG tournament circuit are behind him. However, he still enjoys playing the Pauper format as well as Modern for fun. With a store full of players that foster a positive play group, Mark is recognizing that a bigger space to accommodate those players and their product offerings is needed. However, he maintains that the store will remain in the area the current location is in.

Mon, August 07, 2023

Treasure Coast Magic With Owners Don & Jen

In episode 9 of The Match Slip podcast, we're talking with Don and Jen, owners of Treasure Coast Magic in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Originally customers at the store's first location, Don and Jen purchased the store from the original owner in 2018. They stayed at the previous place for two years before moving and now aspire to move to a larger space. However, they plan to remain in Port St. Lucie where they are currently the only store in the area. Don handles product orders at the store and oversees events for Magic: The Gathering , Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh. Jen handles the events for the satellite games from brands such as Bandai and Lorcana . Both have made it a priority to create a casual play environment at the store. With word-of-mouth being a major asset in attracting new players, diversifying the games they support has been beneficial to the business overall. Even after moving from their first location, Don and Jen recognized familiarity would make their customers feel comfortable. So, they designed the layout of the new location to be nearly identical to the first. With plans of changing the store name to more accurately reflect their offering, to bringing in more female players, Treasure Coast Magic puts an emphasis on fun and providing all players prize support if they stay for the entire event duration (i.e. Magic: The Gathering pre-releases).

Mon, July 24, 2023

Gamers Guild AZ With Majority Owner Aaron C.

In episode 8 of The Match Slip podcast, we're interviewing Aaron C. of Gamers Guild AZ located in Tempe, Arizona. Gamers Guild AZ opened on June 1st, 2021. Aaron, Justin, and Erik founded it. Ryan, the initial investor in the company would later be brought on as the fourth owner of the store. Aaron is the one owner in this venture who is not unfamiliar with owning a game store as he previously owned one earlier in his life. While admittedly Aaron considered himself not mature enough for running the initial store, the lessons learned would prove to be invaluable with the launch of Gamers Guild AZ. He's a natural businessman who also owns a construction company that served as the gateway for opening the store. While he couldn't persuade angel investors in 2015 to fund a game store, he was asked to launch a construction company and did so in 2016. Aaron was able to use this business as a springboard for Gamers Guild AZ in 2021. With a strong focus on community and a premium offering in everything he does, Aaron has helped build a successful and ever-growing business with plans on expanding to further metro areas within the next 20 years. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing.

Mon, July 10, 2023

Adam Bowles of Owl Central Games

In episode 7 of The Match Slip podcast, we're talking with Adam Bowles of Owl Central Games located in Millersville, Pennsylvania. Adam is the former General Manager of the store who now focuses on the technical aspects like managing the store's website. The website is very engaging and very easy to navigate and find whatever you may be looking for. Another interesting aspect of Adam's job is the in-house application he developed that is used for pricing cards the store sells on TCG Player . Owl Central Games places a heavy focus on their employees to which Adam has nothing but good things to say about all of them. The acknowledgment of new employees showcased on the store's Facebook page helps immediately establish that comradery amongst the team. In order to help get formats off the ground - like Pauper for Magic: The Gathering - Adam took the time to build popular decks to have on hand at the store to enable interested players to try out the format without having to invest the money. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing .

Thu, June 29, 2023

Gnome Games With Store Owner, Pat Fuge

In episode 6 of The Match Slip , we're speaking with Pat Fuge, Store Owner and Head Gnome of Gnome Games in Wisconsin. With four locations throughout Wisconsin and each store having its own unique feel - a traditional retail space at one spot and a board game café at another - Pat has built a successful business that puts his employees in positions to succeed. Pat makes sure parents are comfortable with their kids visiting and playing in the store while focusing on teaching both kids and new players various games in a casual environment. Pat also looks to help out in his community in ways outside of gaming. Not only does he give back but he also helps establish the brand of the store as a supportive business of others throughout the Wisconsin community. Understanding that he cannot run the store forever, Pat is looking to transition the store from an LLC to an S-Corporation to allow his employees to take ownership of the store when he retires. If you enjoy this episode,  please consider subscribing .

Mon, June 05, 2023

Blade Gaming With General Manager, Mike Hall

In episode 5 of The Match Slip , we're interviewing the General Manager of Blade Gaming , Mike Hall. Blade Gaming is located in downtown Roanoke, Virginia. In addition to offering players the opportunity to play various tradeable card games and Dungeons & Dragons, they also offer Disc Golf to their players - a unique selling point to the store. With various blades adorned on the walls of the store to custom art by Mike's wife, the store offers a unique experience to new and returning customers. Mike is the lead buyer of products for the store. His full-time job as a supply chain manager has aided him when it comes to having enough products that customers are looking for. Mike, a former professional Magic: The Gathering player, opts to play casual Commander games these days with his family and when time allows he'll play the occasional competitive event. Blade Gaming hosts multiple games concurrently each day. Mike credits this feat to the scheduling prowess of his co-worker, Drew, who makes it seamless for players looking to engage with the games they enjoy. With fellow co-worker, Tim Furrow, handling online sales, each employee of Blade Gaming has a specialty resulting in a successful small business that players enjoy coming back to. If you enjoy this episode,  please consider subscribing .

Mon, May 29, 2023

Atlas Games With Joey - Owner, Rick Chong's Right Hand Man

In the fourth episode of The Match Slip , we talk with Joey from Atlas Games located in City of Industry, California based at Frank and Sons . Owner, Rick Chong, described Joey to me as his right-hand man who handles most of the business. Joey has been with Rick from the beginning and handles the Magic: The Gathering card buys and sales. He also builds a lot of Commander decks for customers. While Atlas Games is not a traditional game store in the sense that they don't have events, they still have a large inventory of Magic: The Gathering cards and have access to almost any card you could need. The store which is located at Booth #438 at Frank and Sons is only open three days a week. However, this is not a decision of Atlas Games and rather when Frank and Sons is open to the public. To compensate, Atlas Games also sells online through TCG Player . Joey and his fellow employees are all part-time workers and he notes to me that everyone is a utility player at Atlas Games . While Joey has another full-time job, he's been able to utilize his experience with his full-time job and apply it when working at Atlas Games . Being located in Southern California has led to celebrity interactions with fans and fellow players of the game like Post Malone and Cassius Marsh. If you enjoy this episode,  please consider subscribing .

Mon, May 15, 2023

Zulus Games With Owner, Matt Zaremba and Food and Beverage Director, Tony Jutt

In the third installment of The Match Slip , we had the pleasure of speaking with the Owner of Zulus Games , Matt Zaremba, and the Food and Beverage Director, Tony Jutt. From store theming to a full-fledged restaurant, Zulus Games has a unique selling proposition for the customer base in Bothell, Washington. In the spirit of The Hobbit, Matt knew what the store's theme had to be the moment he walked into the prospective property. He used YouTube to learn how to build the store and bootstrap his business while on a budget. The vision of a board game cafe was achieved and it can host 200 players for events. Matt has three current buildings: the warehouse, the game store, and the events center. If this wasn't enough, they also have a summer camp for kids! When Tony joined Zulus Games, he expanded the food side of the business. From a player and customer of the store to an employee, Tony enjoys being a part of the Zulus Games family. From chicken strips to burgers to beer - the restaurant is as big of a component of Zulus Games as the game store itself; feeding its players while keeping them entertained in between events. Going from 6 sauces to 23, they have exceeded the food offerings of what you'd expect to find at a local game store. They even have their own hot sauce called Worldfire! Originally from the Midwest in Indiana, Tony sports a culinary background, and the combination of him and Matt provides a unique and expansive experience for customers of Washington state. If you enjoy this episode, please consider subscribing .

Sun, April 30, 2023

The Comic Dimension With Co-Owner, Chris Gordon

In the second episode of The Match Slip podcast we're speaking with Co-Owner, Chris Gordon, of The Comic Dimension located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Chris' passion for starting a local game store began with his love of comics. From that point forward, after a discussion with his good friend and Co-Owner Neil, they both decided to open the store. With a focus on the community and putting everything they earn back into the store, The Comic Dimension focuses on quality and serving the customer. While costs play a role in these decisions, Chris shares that his desire to make the store the best it can be. Located in a college town, this Wizards Play Network Premium store is one that is always willing to try something new: whether it is adding new tabletop games for players, expanding upon the 50,000 back-issue comics that are available, or helping out his customer base in ways that extend beyond the store.

Sat, April 15, 2023

The Meta Gaming and Esports With Co-Owner, Christopher Fitzpatrick

Editor's Note: The Meta Gaming & Esports closed during the summer of 2023 with plans to open a bigger location. However, we are not aware of any new location having been opened at this time. If new information is available, we will provide an update. In the inaugural (relaunch) episode of The Match Slip podcast, we talk with Christopher Fitzpatrick, Co-Owner of The Meta Gaming and Esports (The Meta) located in St. James, NY. The Meta is my local game store (LGS) and has revitalized my desire to frequently play Magic: The Gathering in person again. While I have played at other LGSs in the past, this is the first LGS that has rekindled that spirit of what it was like playing when I was a teenager.In this episode, we'll learn about the beginnings of The Meta, their plans for growth, and how they plan their events.

Trailer · Fri, April 14, 2023

The Match Slip (Trailer)