More in Store

I heard from DK yesterday that the shop in Kingston where we all used to play, and where I learned to play, could be closing its doors forever in the coming months.

There are a lot of reasons for this decision, by the sound of things, but it's still something of a shock. I'll admit, it's been more than three years since I've set foot in the place, but that shop is the standard by which I measure all others. They had a lounge area, where anyone could just come in and play video games, lots of table space, a good selection of product. The place was clean, run by genuinely good people, and a lot of effort was made to support local artists and attract people involved in the comic book industry to the shop.

I've never found another shop quite like it.

I had to move in 2011, to a city about as far as you can get from Kingston while remaining in Canada. The stores in my locale are very much hit and miss. One is quite consistently good, if occasionally smelly. I go there 3-4 times a week, and play in their weekly Commander Night. They're right downtown, so it's maybe 8 minutes away by bus. It's probably the best store in the area.

The other two stores are pretty bad. The one that's been around longer largely caters to Yu-Gi-Oh, is in a rough part of town, and smells awful. The owner often overcharges, and will ignore you for 15-20 minutes while trying to trade kids out of valuable YGO cards. I go there very, very rarely, and only if they might have something I can't find anywhere else.

The last store in the area opened this past summer, in June. We found it on online, and decided to go check it out, since it's only a 5 minute drive away. It was a promising store; the owner is ex-Navy, and while his plan was to deal primarily in sports memorbilia, he figured Magic would help keep him afloat. I donated almost all of my bulk commons and uncommons, which he mostly just gave kids to get them into the game. He was doing things right, at the start; for packs and most other things, he was the cheapest place in town.

But he experienced too much success too quickly. Soon, he became the most expensive place in town for deck boxes, sleeves, and singles. He ordered the new Commander decks, and promptly charged at least $45 dollars each, more for the red and white ones. Not surprisingly, most of them are still on his shelf. It's a damn shame, but when I can get my dollar to go further elsewhere, I'm going to. And anyone that knows me knows that I'm not afraid to spend money on this hobby.

My point in elaborating on all of this is that the store in Kingston, where it all began, did everything right. And they still might not make it.

It's saddening, and hopefully they can be saved.