Game Haven STL takes the G in LGS very seriously.
In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast, I talk with our featured guest Gabe Escobedo about Game Haven STL. Gabe is a study in conviction. We quickly find out that he works around 100 hours each week running his business and serving his customers.
Gabe runs a slightly different style of shop from the other entrepreneurs I've talked to on the podcast. In addition to the usual suspects of Magic: the Gathering, board games, collectibles, and other table top fare Game Haven STL also offers the digital variety. A man after my own heart, Gabe has a selection of vintage and retro game consoles to play in his store. For an hourly rate any customer can sit down and play MegaMan X on the Super Nintendo (some would say the best game on the system) and then switch it up and destroy their friends in a match of Super Smash Bros or Halo.
Gabe also gives us the lowdown on the beginning stages of opening a new game shop. Getting started can be the toughest time in an entrepreneur's life and creating an LGS from scratch can be very intimidating. If you find yourself in this position, this episode is one you won't want to miss.
Over the course of this episode we discuss:
- What it means to have a business loan when starting up.
- Common problems game store owners run into when buying Magic cards.
- The difficulty of classifying and explaining what a 'local game store" is to a layman.
- Learning from the mistakes of other shop owners.
- Being a role model to your younger customers.
- A new development in the future of miniatures games.
Next week, we are going to talk to Gordon Johansen. If you live in Calgary, Alberta that's probably a name you recognize. That's because Gordon owns Sentry Box, one of the largest game stores in the world. 13 000 square feet of games under one roof. Craziness.
If you haven't checked out the previous episode of the Manaverse Podcast you should. In MVP006 I interview one of the owners of Just by Chance Games, my local haunt. See you next week!