The Match Slip

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.

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:

1. The store must be in a city with at least 50,000 people.
2. The space he purchases must be at least 4,000 sq. ft.
3. The store must generate 1 million in revenue after the first two years.
4. The store cannot be hard for people to find.

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.

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.

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.

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".

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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