Maerdwyn
First Post
Grodog asked anout mine in Teflon Billy's San Francisco thread, but I thought I'd try to avoid hijacking and start this one.
Anyway, My favorite local game store is Gator Games, in San Mateo, CA.
Gator Games is big (for an urban store) and bright inside and has lots of free parking. The staff is knowledgeable and all are gamers - a few are younger kids from the area, and they mostly handle the younger CCG crowd. The older ones handle the RPGs and Miniatures Games (My only complaint is that they don't really have a board games expert, despite the large boardgame section. The selection is excellent (better than Gamescape's IMO, especially for miniatures and older RPGs), and there is a different sale every week, usually 20% off all CCG's or all RPG or all miniatures and miniatures games, etc. This week (as well as the week of any holiday), the entire store is 20% off. Special orders and pre-orders are always 10%off. Finally, there is usuaully some sort of demo going on in the front of the store, usually being run by a customer, who gets store credit in return for running the demo. Finally, twice a week, the store sponsors gaming at a local pizza place, and during the summer, these nmini-cons have drawn over 100 people a night. My current gaming group started off at one of these nights.
The owner, Jean Seaborg, is also a really high quality person, which is another reason I really like the store. Last month, for example, she gave away product in exchange for customer donations to the local food drive - donating 2 $.80 cans of soup got you a $3.25 LOTR or Harry Potter CCG booster pack.
BTW, My three year old son has a standing job offer from her when he's old enough. For now, she just gives him free Pokemon cards when he goes in.
Anyway, My favorite local game store is Gator Games, in San Mateo, CA.
Gator Games is big (for an urban store) and bright inside and has lots of free parking. The staff is knowledgeable and all are gamers - a few are younger kids from the area, and they mostly handle the younger CCG crowd. The older ones handle the RPGs and Miniatures Games (My only complaint is that they don't really have a board games expert, despite the large boardgame section. The selection is excellent (better than Gamescape's IMO, especially for miniatures and older RPGs), and there is a different sale every week, usually 20% off all CCG's or all RPG or all miniatures and miniatures games, etc. This week (as well as the week of any holiday), the entire store is 20% off. Special orders and pre-orders are always 10%off. Finally, there is usuaully some sort of demo going on in the front of the store, usually being run by a customer, who gets store credit in return for running the demo. Finally, twice a week, the store sponsors gaming at a local pizza place, and during the summer, these nmini-cons have drawn over 100 people a night. My current gaming group started off at one of these nights.
The owner, Jean Seaborg, is also a really high quality person, which is another reason I really like the store. Last month, for example, she gave away product in exchange for customer donations to the local food drive - donating 2 $.80 cans of soup got you a $3.25 LOTR or Harry Potter CCG booster pack.
BTW, My three year old son has a standing job offer from her when he's old enough. For now, she just gives him free Pokemon cards when he goes in.
