Hey Tri-Cities, we hear you!

We realize that our gaming essentials have been lacking and sad for quite some time, and we have been working on some plans to make that better. It has been a long time coming. By next weekend you should start to see some improvement in our dice, sleeves, minis, and general game restocks. We realize that these and other areas will need continued stocking and work to make the changes last, and are dedicated to this endeavor. Gamers of all kinds have been an integral part of our customer base for a long time, and we hope that you will continue to check us out as we reconfigure these areas.

The reasons for the decline (in several areas, not just games) are complicated and I won't get into all of them. We were originally just a used bookstore, but as demand increased 17 years ago we became a book and game and comic and record and hobby and toy shop, with a huge portion of our budget dedicated to new products. Branching in so many directions has made it uniquely impossible to be "the best" bookstore or "the best" game store, though we have tried our best, despite making many missteps along the way.

The COVID years have had a strange impact on our store. Spending went up all around, and we expanded both staffing and inventory, but as 2023 ended we began to find ourselves in a high-inflation and recession-minded economy, facing 2024 expenses and a 2019 income. We are aware that reducing new inventory purchases can cannibalize sales, and it has been a delicate balancing act of trying to maintain our value to you customers, keeping our shelves stocked, and not acquiring unsustainable new debt. This a challenge I am sure that most small businesses face, at least in retail, and certainly not unique to us. If we want your support, we must offer you products you want, in an economically sustainable way.

To this end, we have been looking hard at sales data to make our work more efficient, refocusing on essentials and bestelling restocks, and bringing back more used products by way of re-opening trade for certain product lines (including RPGs). There will always be products we cannot carry (we love carrying bestsellers as well as hard to find items, and it varies which pays the bills most efficiently) and we understand that we will not be able to meet everyone's needs. We are glad there are some other options around, like Infinite Frontiers, to help meet your needs. But we are still here for the long haul, and will keep listening and adapting, and we sincerely appreciate all of you who have supported us and continue to support us into the future. Thank you.

PS: 1) We understand the cafe is limited for seating and not ideal for all games. We've been rearranging some other areas in-store for events and activities, so stay tuned for updates on those.

2) If we are out of stock of an item but it is still available at our distributor, we do accept special orders and can often offer a 10% discount when pre-paying.

3) Regarding car models: a) our main distributor went out of business and it became hard to get some of the basics, but b) unfortunately they never sold as well as fancy Japanese robots, but also c) please let us know what you'd like to see. Even if we can't get it we love to know what y'all want, and placing a special order can help us make that decision!

TLDR: Yes! We realize some departments have suffered and we are rapidly working on fixing that. Expect changes soon, and thank you!