Northern Colorado gaming stores grapple with lost business and distant communities

Gaming stores in northern Colorado struggle as stay-at-home orders go on. Photo by Joshua Polson.

By Gabe LLanas

At first, the looming threat of stay-at-home orders seemed like it might actually boost business for some gaming stores across northern Colorado. When you have to stay inside, buying a couple new board games seems like a good idea.

Jason Keen, owner of Grand Slam Sports Cards and Comics in Greeley and Loveland, said business was good in March.

“March was actually on track to be one of my best months on record at my Loveland Store in 27 years of business,” Keen said.

But then Gov. Jared Polis issued the stay-at-home order to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

Despite offering much-needed entertainment during social distancing, many of the local comic and gaming stores, including Grand Slam, The Nerd Store in Greeley, The Digital Dungeon in Greeley, and Gryphon Games and Comics had to change how they did business.

“Our plan was to not plan too far ahead, to avoid being caught out in a situation,” said Ed Davis, owner of Digital Dungeon, the oldest gaming store in Greeley.

Like other local gaming stores, Davis noticed a surge in sales before the statewide shut down.

Travis Perry, owner of The Nerd Store in Greeley, noticed it too.  

“We saw people stocking up on activities to survive quarantine with...it was great to see the community support us leading up to the inevitable,” Perry said.  

Many local game and comic stores make money on more than sales alone. Customers also attend events such as The Nerd Store’s Star Wars X-Wing miniatures league or Magic: The Gathering games.

Some stores are still trying to foster that community and game play.

Keen, with Grand Slam, is encouraging players of Magic: The Gathering, a popular collectable card game, to participate in tournaments online. Some groups, Keen said, like Wizards of the Coast, are using digital platforms such as Magic Arena Online to support local game stores as much as they can, offering digital codes for their games.

But business is still hard.

Curbside pickup and deliveries are options for essential services, such as restaurants, but that’s not the case for game stores. Game stores, after all, aren’t considered essential businesses.

“I personally expected to have the ability to run curbside pickup or local delivery during our shut down, but those both ended up being illegal,” Perry said.

According to The Nerd Store’s Facebook page, the store plans to start selling gift cards online in the future.

Sherman Sanders, Gryphon Games and Comics, said, “my entire business model has been based on being a community center, and that's gone. Our little store is a sandcastle on the beach with an approaching tsunami.”

Game store owners – and the rest of the community – agree the future is uncertain.

Some, like Keen, think the economy will take time to recover. Others, like Sanders, don’t think things will ever go back to normal for their businesses.

In the meantime, many game store owners are doing what they can to keep busy.

Keen lives a blocks away from his shop and finds himself organizing the back room and sorting cards every night while he indulges in Tiger King episodes.

Perry paints Dungeons and Dragons miniatures when he can. He also started a new Warhammer game and Dungeons and Dragons campaign with his kids.

Davis likes to play dice games. Though he doesn’t sell comics at his store, he’s using the time to reread Watchmen.

The good news is those who live in the world of comics and gaming know exactly what to do with their spare time. But that doesn’t change the circumstance.

“I'm hoping it is just a bad couple of months, but it honestly depends on what happens with my customers gainful employment,” Keen said.