by Thomas Traplin | Jul 28, 2020 | Podcasts
Shannon Ebbitt is the co-owner with husband Vince, of the Mana Boardgame Tavern in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, a steampunk inspired venue offering a variety of adult beverages combined with a library of board games for their patrons to enjoy. The Mana Boardgame Tavern... 
by Thomas Traplin | Jul 12, 2020 | Podcasts
Wizards of the Coast made an announcement recently on the WPN site detailing the changes to the program and what it takes for local game stores to qualify for WPN Premium status. So let's dig into the announcement and talk about the three major changes to the program... 
by Thomas Traplin | Apr 12, 2020 | Podcasts
If you're in the planning stages of your future game store or were about to launch, you should put everything on hiatus right now. Hold off on opening your doors or making any major purchases in the near future because the circumstances in which you would be operating... 
by Thomas Traplin | Apr 3, 2020 | Community, Fundamentals, Mindset, Podcasts, Tools
The situation is changing day by day and for many game store owners, business is anything but the usual. Social distancing and isolation have made the traditional model for local game stores unfeasible if not impossible. Hosting events is no longer an option and... 
by Thomas Traplin | Mar 29, 2020 | Marketing, Podcasts, Tech
Joe Masilotti is on the show to talk about how WeTabletop can help game store owners get in front of more customers and fill up their events more consistently. WeTabletop allows players looking for games to connect with store owners hosting those games, and they're... 
by Thomas Traplin | Mar 21, 2020 | Articles, Community, Marketing, Mindset
Covid-19 is the new reality game stores are going to have to deal with for the next 6-12 months, maybe longer, hopefully less. That means no events, no organized play, restrictions on the number of people allowed in a building at once, or being completely closed down... 
by Thomas Traplin | Mar 12, 2020 | Community, Fundamentals, Podcasts
Do you think the coronavirus isn’t as bad as the flu? I disagree, and maybe at the end of this podcast you might think differently. But at this point it doesn’t matter, the panic and fear is real. Governments are taking this seriously. Coronavirus is going... 
by Thomas Traplin | Apr 22, 2019 | Podcasts
For those who haven’t heard the tale, Pat’s Games was robbed a little over three years ago and the bad guys made off with over $60,000 worth of high value Magic cards. The story of the burglary went far and wide, ending up on magazines and news stories all around... 
by Thomas Traplin | Apr 16, 2019 | Articles, Marketing
You may have heard one particular nugget of wisdom before, it’s one I and my guests have articulated in various ways on the podcast multiple times. It goes a little something like this: Nobody buys on price. We know this is true based on our on personal... 
by Thomas Traplin | Apr 5, 2019 | Articles, Community, Tom's Blog
Pat’s Games has won their legal battle against the individual accused of stealing $65,000 worth of Magic: the Gathering cards from the business. According to security footage, the culprits broke into the shop during the night of January 4, 2016 and stole three...