by Thomas Traplin | Dec 22, 2022 | Podcasts
I've got D from Versus Games in San Francisco with me on today and one of the most consistent threads in our conversation on what makes Versus Games successful is marketing. We kept coming back to how much D's marketing background shaped the business from the start... 
by Thomas Traplin | Nov 22, 2022 | Podcasts
We're going across the pond to talk to Patrick ten Hoorn, the owner of Spellenhuis in the Netherlands! Patrick talks about his journey of taking his dream to open a stylish game cafe and turning it into a reality, navigating the choppy waters of the hobby industry,... 
by Thomas Traplin | Nov 1, 2022 | Podcasts
Today we're talking with Pat Fuge. Pat is the Head Gnome of Gnome Games, Wisconsin’s Family Game store, with locations across the Fox Valley for customers to shop and play in. Pat talks about the early days of Gnome Games and how his approach to planning has helped... 
by Thomas Traplin | Oct 24, 2022 | Podcasts
Today we're talking with Rob Gruber, aka The Elf King. Rob is the owner of Good Times Games in Prince Rupert, British Columbia and he's built an incredible business by becoming somewhat of a local celebrity and personality. Rob plays the game store game a little bit... 
by Thomas Traplin | Oct 15, 2022 | Podcasts
Here's what we know If you've been active in the game store owner groups on Facebook you've probably seen the posts recently about game stores and publishers being targeted by a law firm in New York and being sued for lack of ADA compliance. Digital accessibility... 
by Thomas Traplin | Oct 7, 2022 | Podcasts
New round table episode! Wizard's new $999 Beta booster pack product, The future of the friendly local game store, Are game cafes the natural evolution of the FLGS? What separates good retail from bad, And more. Matthew Vercant and Pat Fuge join me to discuss the... 
by Thomas Traplin | Sep 20, 2022 | Podcasts
Today we're talking with Jason Garvin. Jason is the manager of Total Escape Games, a premium retailer of tabletop games, carrying a vast array of role-playing games, card games, miniatures games, board games, and more in Broomfield Colorado. Jason is going to give us... 
by Thomas Traplin | Sep 16, 2022 | Podcasts
Hey, welcome back to the Manaverse Podcast! I'm your host Tom Traplin and this is the podcast where we explore what it takes to build a successful friendly local game store. Before we jump into things, Q4 is coming and I'm looking for more game store owners to feature... 
by Thomas Traplin | Mar 4, 2022 | Marketing, Podcasts
Jake Tanner is the owner Unplugged Gaming in Manlius New York. Jake came into the tabletop gaming business from a different angle than most of the game store owners that have been featured on the podcast. Before launching Unplugged Gaming, Jake, along with his... 
by Thomas Traplin | Feb 21, 2022 | Marketing, Podcasts, Tech
For most game store owners, SEO is techno jargon. Something that only the biggest ecommerce businesses need to think about. I've also heard variations of the sentiment that it’s impossible to compete with the big players like BGG and Amazon in the search engines....