Hobby Comic and Game Store Closures, First Half of 2018

It's still a bloodbath out there.  Just as it was for late 2017, so it continues to be.

And this is just the stores we know about!  To add them to this list they have to be discovered closed or announce their closure firsthand on social media.  In a private retailer channel we've been collecting screenshots and photos, doing our diligence.  As I said in the original article linked above, my information is imperfect, but I am confident this list does not materially mischaracterize events.

So how many more closed beyond these?  Believe it or not, probably fewer than there were new stores opening.  The false lure of "being paid to play games all day" possesses a pull so fierce that heroin is shaking its head in awe muttering "damn, that's tempting!"

Gaze ye and despair:

1. Archangel Games (Clio, MI) 
2. Badlands Comics and Games (Dickinson, ND)
3. BattleZone Games (Marion, IA)
4. BC Comix (3 locations in Fenton, MI, Battle Creek, MI, and Brighton, MI, but opened one 9200sf combined location in Howell, MI)
5. Book and CD Hut (Somerset, KY)
6. Boxcar Cafe (Calgary, AB, Canada)
7. Break From Reality (Johnstown, CO)
8. Card Advantage Game Center (Athens, GA)
9. Cardboard Crowns (Dayton, OH)
10. Central City Comix (Surrey, BC, Canada)
11. Chinook & Hobby West (Calgary, AB, Canada)
12. Comikaze & Toys (Goodyear, AZ)
13. Conway Games (Vancouver, WA) reopened different owner/brand
14. The Comix Gallery (Wilmette, IL)
15. Discland (Bloomington, MN)
16. E&D Games (Port Richey, FL)
17. Epic Puzzles and Games (West Valley City, UT)
18. EXP Restaurant + Bar (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
19. Face Off Cards (Winnipeg, MB, Canada)
20. Frontrunner Comics (Dallas, TX)
21. Funagain Games (Amazon and online operations)
22. The Game Castle (Londonderry, NH)
23. Game Master (Laguna Hills, CA)
24. Game Paradise (Indianapolis, IN)
25. Gamers (3 locations in IA, still open in 3 locations in NE)
26. Gamestar (Multiple locations in Washington state)
27. The Game Warehouse (Greencastle, IN)
28. Get Your Game On (Ferndale, MI) other location remains open
29. Highlander Games (Minneapolis, MN)
30. Hobby Invasion (Selma, NC)
31. Jay St. Video Games (Saratoga Springs, NY) other locations remain open
32. Just By Chance Games (Waterloo, ON, Canada)
33. The Legendary Lotus (Garden Grove, CA)
34. Legends Comics & Games (Santa Clara, CA) other locations remain open
35. Mad Reads Comics (Brighton, CO)
36. McGuffin Games (Little Falls, MN)
37. Meltdown Comics (Los Angeles, CA)
38. Modern Myths (2 locations in Massachusetts)
39. Myth Games (Calgary, AB, Canada)
40. Mythic Game Store (Henderson, NV)
41. People Play Games (Chicago, IL)
42. Phyrexian Games (Fitchburg, MA)
43. Pips Board Game Cafe (Calgary, AB, Canada)
44. Play N Trade (Duncan, BC, Canada)
45. PlayersMTG (Lewisville, TX)
46. Radiant Rogue Games (Dawagiac, MI)
47. Revolution Games (Calgary, AB, Canada)
48. The Safehouse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
49. Save Point (Lemoyne, PA)
50. Silver Jem Games (Arlington, TX)
51. Silver Lime Cafe (Altrincham, Manchester, UK)
52. Star Port (Lynchburg, VA)
53. Super Michael Bros (Tampa, FL)
54. Tabletop Game Shoppe (Mesa, AZ)
55. Toys R Us (735 U.S. locations)
56. The Uncanny Comic Shop (Clermont, FL)
57. Unique Gifts and Games (Grayslake, IL)
58. Villainous Lair (San Diego, CA)
59. Wizards Retro Games (Southington, CT)

The list is a bit longer than last time, and of course there's that big one nestled in there right before the end.

Moreover, this isn't just a list of deadbeat stores.  While there are surely some that ought not to have opened to begin with, there are a pretty respectable number of very good businesses on that casualty list, and the reality is that business is pretty treacherous territory.  When you're in small specialty retail, you get close to zero shelter from laws and regulations meant for megacorps who can either afford compliance or can just push that cost onto their customers.  You get much less economy of scale than the big boxes and big shippers.  Ultimately every problem is yours and every cost comes right out of the owner's take home at the end of the day.  You can cheat, but eventually cheaters get caught and there is a risk of ruinous consequence.  Or you can play it straight, and be even further at a competitive disadvantage to the cheaters, as new ones spring up to replace those that get crushed.

Whatever the reason, the stores above have closed their doors.  The typical former customer who visits the empty husk that used to be that store will rattle the door handle for a few seconds, shrug, and walk away.  A tiny percentage will find a new waterin' hole among that store's surviving competitors, or even the inevitable new upstarts that will appear.  Slightly more will become storeless gamers playing mostly at home.  The largest percentage will simply quit the hobby.  That's the saddest part of all, because the mutual goal of all stores for the betterment of the entire industry is to get as many people as possible to engage.  When gamers disengage and become non-gamers, nobody wins.