The Match Slip

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...

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 a...

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...

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. Befo...

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 ma...

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 invo...

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...

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 t...

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 sto...

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 dec...

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 o...

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...

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 Go...

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, &...

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 beco...

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 f...

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 t...

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 w...

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 t...

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 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 ex...

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 distributio...

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 re...

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-a...

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 clo...