Okaaaaay then. The first-half list for 2020 is short, of course, owing to no particular disruptive events across the industry or our economy.
If only that were true. What a first half of the year we've all had, and somehow the second half has not started off especially better. Small businesses have taken it on the chin, and we are here to mark the passage of some that took that blow and did not get back up.
New to this post or to The Backstage Pass? Here's what we're doing. These store closure posts are among the highest-read and highest-shared articles I write, and one would think some more official source like GAMA would take up the mantle of tracking this, but I guess not so far.
Today's list has a tag of "COVID" for stores that cite specifically the pandemic disruption as their cause of closure, or which closed during state shutdowns and were discovered not to have reopened. Obviously a store that was already in trouble might use COVID-19 as an excuse for why they failed, but for the purpose of this article, I am taking it at face value. The situation was bad for everyone except the mass market, and I see no need to flog a corpse. Moreover, stores not closing specifically due to COVID surely were done no favors by the gigantic worldwide mess the pandemic caused.
New to this post or to The Backstage Pass? Here's what we're doing. These store closure posts are among the highest-read and highest-shared articles I write, and one would think some more official source like GAMA would take up the mantle of tracking this, but I guess not so far.
Today's list has a tag of "COVID" for stores that cite specifically the pandemic disruption as their cause of closure, or which closed during state shutdowns and were discovered not to have reopened. Obviously a store that was already in trouble might use COVID-19 as an excuse for why they failed, but for the purpose of this article, I am taking it at face value. The situation was bad for everyone except the mass market, and I see no need to flog a corpse. Moreover, stores not closing specifically due to COVID surely were done no favors by the gigantic worldwide mess the pandemic caused.
AND NOW THE LIST.
Announced or Discovered Closed:
- Chain: GAME (40 stores in UK closing out of ~260)
- 1000 Lives Gaming (Hartsville, SC)
- 2nd Chance Games (Milton, WV) COVID
- 42 Ale House (St Francis, WI)
- ABC and Toy Zone (Chanhassen, MN) COVID
- Action Toys & Collectibles (Jacksonville, FL)
- Advantage Games (Northglenn, CO) COVID
- Aero Hobbies & Games (Santa Monica, CA)
- AK Comics (Beloit, WI)
- All About Books and Comics (Phoenix, AZ)
- Apache Comics (Mesa, AZ)
- Apex Gaming Center (Irving, TX)
- Baxter's Tempe SAK Gaming (Tempe, AZ) COVID
- Big Rapids Hobby Shop (Big Rapids, MI)
- Board Game Barrister (Greenfield, WI) Other locations remain open
- Boards & Beans (Regina, SK, Canada) COVID
- Boardwalk Hobby Shop (Mount Lookout, OH)
- Bobe's Hobby House (Pensacola, FL)
- Bonanza Books and Comics (Modesto, CA)
- CCG-Singles.com (Portland, OR)
- ChronoCade (Kalamazoo, MI)
- Coffee With Comics (Glendale, AZ)
- Collector's Edition (North Little Rock, AR)
- Comic Book ER (Cadillac, MI)
- The Comic Book Store (Little Rock, AR)
- Comics Dungeon (Seattle, WA) COVID
- Connected Gaming (Phoenix, AZ)
- Corner Comics (Kirkland, WA) COVID
- Critical Strike Games (Edmonds, WA)
- Dice Bag Games (Duncan, BC, Canada) COVID
- Dice & Donuts (Preston, Lancashire, UK)
- The Dragon and Meeple (Los Angeles, CA)
- Dragon's Keep Gaming and Miniatures (Portland, OR) COVID
- Dragon's Lair WarGames and Hobby Supplies (Shreveport, LA)
- Emerald Phoenix Comics (Aldergrove, BC, Canada) COVID
- Empire Collectibles (San Diego, CA) COVID
- Ever Green Game and Hobby (Missoula, MT) COVID
- Fables of Calhoun (Calhoun, GA) COVID
- Family Game Night (Orlando, FL)
- Fanatix (Dothan, AL) COVID
- Fight or Flight Comics (Raleigh, NC)
- Freaks & Geeks (Denton, TX) COVID
- G33k Out (Ocala, FL)
- Galaxy Comics (Somerset, KY)
- Game Empire (Pasadena, CA)
- Game Essentials (Superior, WI)
- Game Hunters (Frederick, MD)
- Game Kastle (Mountain View, CA) chain location
- Game Quest Games (St Croix Falls, WI)
- Game Quest Inc (Radford, VA)
- Gamer's Cache (Mountain Home, ID) COVID
- Gamer's Gambit (Danbury, CT)
- Gamers Vault (Montgomeryville, PA)
- Game Rules (Portland, OR)
- GameStreet (Mississauga, ON, Canada)
- Games N Go (Roseville, MN)
- The Gaming Keep (Hastings, MI) COVID
- Gaming on Grand (Escondido, CA)
- Gathering Games (Tampa, FL)
- G Cubed (Bunbury, Western Australia)
- Geekygami's (Bartlesville, OK)
- Geeky Villain (Everett, WA)
- Gerard's Gaming & LAN Center (Webster, TX)
- Hellbent 4 Cardboard (St Petersburg, FL)
- Henchmans Games (Swaffham, UK)
- Heroes 4 Sale (Southbury, CT)
- Hieroglyphic Games (Cincinnati, OH)
- Hidden Treasures Collectibles & Comics (Alexandria, MN) entire plaza destroyed by fire
- Hillside Games and Comics (Asheville, NC)
- Hobby Knights (West Bend, WI)
- Hungry Hippo Board Game Cafe (Decatur, IL)
- Hyperspace (Lakewood, CO)
- Imagine! Hobbies & Games (Sherwood, AR)
- Inconceivable Toys and Games (Monument, CO) COVID
- JJGames dot com (Englewood, CO)
- Joe Garage Games & More (Suwanee, GA)
- Kapow Comics (Cumming, GA)
- Killer Rabbit Comics & Games (Williston, VT)
- Lee's Comics (Mountain View, CA) COVID
- Mad Reads (Brighton, CO)
- Magic Mike's (Portland, OR)
- MaximuM Comics (Henderson, NV)
- Nerdcore Toys and Collectibles (Ellensburg, WA)
- Netherworld (Warrington, England, UK)
- The Nexus 419 (Rossford, OH)
- Now Playing Movies and Games (Tylertown, MS)
- NuGames (Eureka, CA) COVID
- Oblivion Games Inc (Mansfield, TX)
- OOP Games & Hobby (Lynnwood, WA)
- PlayLIVE Nation (Mission Viejo, CA) COVID, chain
- The Portland Game Store (Portland, OR) COVID
- Prime Time Gaming (Macon, GA)
- Purple Turtle Comics (Vallejo, CA)
- The Raven's Nest (Marietta, GA)
- Realms Comics & Games (North Richland Hills, TX)
- Revolution Video Games & Movies LLC (Tampa, FL)
- Rocket's Hideout (Baton Rouge, LA) COVID
- Rockhead's Comics & Games (Kenosha, WI)
- Rogue Nation Games (Richmond, BC Canada)
- Ronin Games (Castro Valley, CA)
- San Diego Comics (San Diego, CA) COVID
- Seann's Anime and Comics (Sylvania, OH)
- Sho'Nuff Comics (Tuscaloosa, AL) COVID
- Silver Key Lounge (Mesa, AZ) COVID, indefinite
- Skol Games (Eagan, MN)
- Splat! Gaming (Burleson, TX)
- The Storm Crow Tavern (Vancouver, BC, Canada) COVID
- Table Top Cafe (Edmonton, AB, Canada) COVID, consolidating into remaining location
- Teahouse Comics (Sandy Springs, GA)
- Tolly's Game Store & Lounge (West Jefferson, NC)
- Toys Cubed (Toronto, ON, Canada) Erin Mills Town Centre location
- Toys Cubed (Toronto, ON, Canada) Oshawa Centre location
- Toys Cubed (Toronto, ON, Canada) Scarborough Town Centre location
- Toys Cubed (Toronto, ON, Canada) Square One Centre location
- Toys Cubed (Toronto, ON, Canada) Vaughan Mills location
- Video Game Trader (Calgary, AB, Canada) COVID, 2 locations closing and 1 remains open
- Video Game Trader (Forest Lawn, AB, Canada) COVID, 2 locations closing and 1 remains open
- Vigilante Gastropub & Games (Austin, TX) COVID
- Villains Comics & Collectibles (Monroe, LA) COVID
- Wandering Havoc Games (Marysville, WA)
- Warcraft Games (Mission, BC, Canada)
- Weekend Warlords (Loughborough, England, UK)
- Weird Realms (Cleveland, OH) COVID
- Wizards Keep Games (Renton, WA)
- Yellow Jacket Comics (Tempe, AZ)
[End of list]
At the time of publication, the list had 123 entries representing 162 stores, totaling chains and multi-location closures as noted in their respective entries. Typically after these articles go up, I receive emails and messages about stores I missed, which I do appreciate as it helps make these articles as useful as they can be in terms of reference.
The overwhelming lesson of this industry through almost half a year of COVID disruption has got to be something like "You can never assume general business conditions will remain as they are." I can tell you right now that DSG has suffered for not being able to employ our single biggest marketing draw, which is organized play. What happens to a store that has little else in its toolbox? It probably ends up on a list like the one in this article.
When you realize our industry has had to deal with the sudden near-total elimination of organized play and constant supply chain chaos, both factors completely upending even the most prudently planned square footage deployment (generally the most expensive and least changeable part of a store), it is not difficult to see how even a reasonably stable comic, video game, or hobby game store could find itself suddenly scratching the cloth. And in that unexpected time of peril, resources to weather the downturn may or may not be ready. DSG had a gigantic inventory to lean on. What if we didn't? What about any store that doesn't have a strategic reserve of some kind, whether it's cash, assets, favors to call in, some mixture of those, or what have you?
I have now seen enough evidentiary performance out of stores of different kinds and places that it has become fairly clear how a comic, video game, or hobby game store experiences wild success to where there is not only no danger, but considerable income for stakeholders. The answer to that question, which so many of us are so avidly chasing, is of course highly dependent on that store's specific physical, financial, and competitive circumstances! But once configured for maximum compatibility with those factors, things get somewhat more straightforward. The operational imperatives crystallize. Don't leave money on the table without getting something to make up for it. Don't spend good money chasing after bad. Don't let yourself get rolled by people who are out to gain at your expense. Get your home situation right. Most importantly, get your head right, because the action follows the thought, and the result follows the action. You will reap what you sow.
Get on with it.
When you realize our industry has had to deal with the sudden near-total elimination of organized play and constant supply chain chaos, both factors completely upending even the most prudently planned square footage deployment (generally the most expensive and least changeable part of a store), it is not difficult to see how even a reasonably stable comic, video game, or hobby game store could find itself suddenly scratching the cloth. And in that unexpected time of peril, resources to weather the downturn may or may not be ready. DSG had a gigantic inventory to lean on. What if we didn't? What about any store that doesn't have a strategic reserve of some kind, whether it's cash, assets, favors to call in, some mixture of those, or what have you?
I have now seen enough evidentiary performance out of stores of different kinds and places that it has become fairly clear how a comic, video game, or hobby game store experiences wild success to where there is not only no danger, but considerable income for stakeholders. The answer to that question, which so many of us are so avidly chasing, is of course highly dependent on that store's specific physical, financial, and competitive circumstances! But once configured for maximum compatibility with those factors, things get somewhat more straightforward. The operational imperatives crystallize. Don't leave money on the table without getting something to make up for it. Don't spend good money chasing after bad. Don't let yourself get rolled by people who are out to gain at your expense. Get your home situation right. Most importantly, get your head right, because the action follows the thought, and the result follows the action. You will reap what you sow.
Get on with it.
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