Welcome to our brand new Meet the Retailer blog series! We will be highlighting our valued retail shops, cafés, and online sites.
This week, the spotlight shines brightly on Gamers’ Emporium. Introducing Simon!
Let’s get to know you. Can you tell us about yourself and your position at the Gamers’ Emporium?
I’m Simon Kendrick, and I’m the owner of The Gamers’ Emporium
We’d love to know the background on Gamers’ Emporium. How was the name chosen?
We’re an FLGS (friendly local gaming store) located in the centre of Swansea, Wales. We’ve got a large shop floor, with two floors of play space, seating up to 100 people above it.
The name was chosen without too much research (if I’d done more, I would have found how many other shops use Emporium in the name), but the apostrophe is important! It’s not an Emporium belonging to a gamer (although technically it is that too), but an Emporium serving all gamers.
We pride ourselves on the lovely, inclusive community atmosphere that has grown around the shop.
How long has Gamers’ Emporium been open?
We opened in February 2013 so have been open 9 years now and we’ve outgrown one shop already. We moved to our current premises in 2016.
Why board games?
Partly because I enjoy playing board games myself and partly because we aim to be a broad church of gaming. Catering to board gamers, card gamers, role-players and wargamers in equal measure.
What is your most popular product and why?
It changes all the time. At the moment TCG’s like Pokemon and YuGiOh! are head and shoulders above everything else we sell, but we’ve had periods where it was Warhammer 40000, and other times when the latest-hotness in boardgames ruled the roost.
I’ve given up trying to predict it!
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three games would be your saviour?
If I had people to play with, Caverna, Twilight Imperium and Sushi Go (although I’d also probably start a Role Playing Game with them.)
If I was on my own, then Ascension, Charterstone (with a stack of recharge packs) and Gloomhaven.
What are your plans for 2022 and beyond?
We’re still in post-covid recovery mode at the moment, so we don’t have any “big” plans, although we’ve had a pretty good start to the year. We attended the Swansea Comic and Gaming Convention in April, it was great to get back to a live event.
Next year is the store’s 10th Birthday, so we’ll have to have a celebration of some kind for that and longer term we need to decide whether we’re going to stay put in our current location or whether we level-up to an even bigger premises… watch this space!
How can we keep in touch?
You can find the store online here;
https://www.facebook.com/thegamersemporiumswansea/
https://www.instagram.com/the_gamers_emporium/
You can come see us in person at Swansea Comic and Gaming Convention (https://scgc.org.uk) on 9th &10th April 2022, or at 8 High Street, Swansea, SA1 1LE any time
Thanks for sharing Simon! If you are in Swansea, drop by this friendly local gaming store to enjoy some fantastic games.
