The Match Slip

In this interview, we discuss the "dream" of creating a space where you never have to "play hungry" and how a store owner's lifelong dream was realized, if not for some unexpected costs along the way.

This is the story of Underhill Gaming and how its store owner, Jason, overcame adversity with the support of his wife to build a community of players who bring him much joy.

Herbie, owner of Reality A Games, is a lover of games, with MTG Commander and video games being his favorite. Owning a game store, which has always been a dream of his, says every day is different at the shop. The most recent example: a customer offering boxes of MTG Revised at $11,000 per box. Not only is Herbie a game store owner, he is also a game developer, having built an RPG called Reality A. Moreover, he's now working on his own TCG.

As a former competitive Magic: The Gathering player who finished 12th in the Journey Into Nyx Pro Tour, Stu is now the owner of The Vault game store in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. As a competitive person, he always strives to be the best in everything he does, applying his competitive instinct to become the best game store owner he can be.

There are many lucrative job fields, but Jonathan shares that being a game store General Manager is not one of them. So what keeps him doing so to this day? How does he manage 9 employees and $250,000 in inventory while generating $1.5 million in sales?

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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 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.