The Shoppe is run by the husband and wife duo of Kevin and Laura Martin, assisted by their son Elias, and Kevin was kind enough to sit down for a bit of a chat regarding TWD, which opened in July of 2012. When I asked what compelled the Martins to open the store he replied, “As a family we had a great time playing these games. We played at home and started going to stores playing games and demos. We liked meeting new people playing games and having a blast.”
Martin sees table top gaming in terms of the tremendously positive social and community aspects of the hobby, “We love the very welcoming and family friendly side of gaming. If there’s a way for us to help grow that, we’re all for it.”
The TWD approach to dealing with customer inquiries is a breath of fresh air as well. Whereas I’ve witnessed quite a few staff members respond to an inquiry with a sardonic look or snide remark at other stores, Martin responded to questions from various potential buyers both knowledgably and honestly. It was also heartening to see plenty of moms and dads, alongside their kids, scoping out all the gaming goodies.
I’m certain plenty of readers will note their favorite gaming store shares a lot of the great qualities as I’ve mentioned about The Wandering Dragon; I’m sure there are loads of stores (and store staffs) out there who are going above and beyond the call to promote and grow our hobby. Sad to say I just haven’t been lucky enough to run across those sorts of places in my travels. Which makes discovering TWD pretty exciting for myself and has me looking forward to learning more about, and becoming involved in, their growing gaming community.
