Cardboard Shuffle With Store Owner, Mark

08/21/23 • 62 min

In episode 10 of The Match Slip podcast, we're talking with store owner, Mark of Cardboard Shuffle located in Kingsport, Tennessee. Based in a factory town, the store originally started at Mark's house where he was only selling singles. As time went on the amount of single cards he was collecting to sell exceeded the space in his house. At that moment, Mark realized a retail location would be needed.

Cardboard Shuffle has been in business since 2019, however, the retail store didn't come to exist until its second year. With sales quadrupling every year since opening, Mark has been able to employ five full-time employees. His employees are guaranteed two consecutive days off a week and each specializes in a particular area of expertise further bringing value to the store.

While being a store owner requires a lot of time and attention, Mark is also a school teacher. After teaching, he normally will head straight to the store afterward. These two endeavors consume a good chunk of Mark's time so his days of being a Magic: The Gathering grinder for 8 years in the SCG tournament circuit are behind him. However, he still enjoys playing the Pauper format as well as Modern for fun.

With a store full of players that foster a positive play group, Mark is recognizing that a bigger space to accommodate those players and their product offerings is needed. However, he maintains that the store will remain in the area the current location is in.

Previous Episode

Treasure Coast Magic With Owners Don & Jen

In episode 9 of The Match Slip podcast, we're talking with Don and Jen, owners of Treasure Coast Magic in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Originally customers at the store's first location, Don and Jen purchased the store from the original owner in 2018. They stayed at the previous place for two years before moving and now aspire to move to a larger space. However, they plan to remain in Port St. Lucie where they are currently the only store in the area.

Don handles product orders at the store and oversees events for Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh. Jen handles the events for the satellite games from brands such as Bandai and Lorcana. Both have made it a priority to create a casual play environment at the store.

With word-of-mouth being a major asset in attracting new players, diversifying the games they support has been beneficial to the business overall. Even after moving from their first location, Don and Jen recognized familiarity would make their customers feel comfortable. So, they designed the layout of the new location to be nearly identical to the first.

With plans of changing the store name to more accurately reflect their offering, to bringing in more female players, Treasure Coast Magic puts an emphasis on fun and providing all players prize support if they stay for the entire event duration (i.e. Magic: The Gathering pre-releases).

Next Episode

Millennium Games With Store Owner, Travis

In episode 11 of The Match Slip podcast, we're talking with store owner, Travis, of Millennium Games in Rochester, NY. It's the birthplace of the Rochester Draft format for Magic: The Gathering and is the "largest game store in the country", as dubbed by Travis himself with no disputes to the sentiment thus far.

Travis, who originally went to college to become a teacher, has owned the store for 17 years after purchasing it from the previous owner on February 20, 2007. Prior to that, he was an online poker player, but the daily grind lost its luster over time. Travis also has a background in mortgages, which helped him negotiate payments to pay off the store's debt accrued from previous ownership. By paying off the store's debt, he's seen the business grow at a rapid pace with 36 employees and plans to hire more.

In addition to the game store, Travis owns Free RPG Day, he's a co-designer of Dungeons & Dragons Onslaught Miniatures Game, and he also serves as a consultant. His primary role with Millennium Games involves purchasing, employee development, scouting for talent, and planning events. He's always wanted to work at a game store as board games were something that brought his family together growing up.

With the unique addition of used board games in the store, Travis also allows the opportunity for customers to play games before purchasing them so they can determine if it's right for them. Within the play space area, it can accommodate up to 320 players with 120 players seen on average for Commander on Saturday nights. When it comes to the games themselves, Travis tends to allocate more of his time to learning new games that his employees aren't already enfranchised in.

While the majority of marketing for the store is word of mouth, Travis has also seen growth attributed to coverage in the local press after their move to their new location, as well as TikTok reels posted to Facebook which appears to draw the most traffic to the store.