ICv2’s latest Vibe Check is courtesy of Tucson Games & Gadgets, chain of mall stores in Arizona run by CEO Mark Kadow. Their stores feature tons of tabletop products, private game rooms, and lots of open space to play games. They sell both new and used games, which include TCGs, party games, board games, miniatures, and more. One of their stores has a bar in it, the Short Rest Tavern, that offers up a selection of local beers. This Vibe Check includes comments gathered from all four of their stores.
Tuscon Games & Gadgets’ Current Vibe
Locations: Tuscon Mall Store: 4500 N Oracle Rd #253, Tucson, AZ 85705
Park Place Store: 5870 E Broadway Blvd #409, Tucson, AZ 85711
Premium Outlets Store: 6401 Marana Center Blvd #920, Tucson, AZ 85742
Mesa Outpost: 6555 E Southern Ave #1104, Mesa, AZ 85206
Store Specialties: TCGs, party games, and board games.
Tuscon Games & Gadgets’ Current Hotness: Party and card games are hot here. Festoon, Smug Owls, Punish Me Daddy, LotR deck builders, and Night Cage are a few of the games that sell well. The bigger board games are slowing down at their stores.
Games That Are Growing Playgroups: CookieRun and Ward are growing at this store; Riftbound and Gundam CG are also gaining momentum. are new and performing well. Their Dragonball Fusion World community is also showing signs of growth.
Buying Mood of Customer Base: Neutral to positive; customers are buying as much if not more than they normally do. TCG burnout seems to be on the rise due to companies rapidly releasing sets; the store is also keeping watch on the Pokemon TCG flipper bubble.
External Factors Influencing Customers: The rising cost of living in Arizona is influencing customers’ buying habits. Store communities are still growing despite the regional socioeconomic climate.
Pick Hits for Q2 into Q3: They are looking forward to the releases of Magic: The Gathering – The Hobbit, Invincible RPG, MYLP TCG, Starcraft Miniatures Game, Naruto TCG, and Root: Homelands.
Additional Commentary: “The high volume of production across the game industry is causing the heavy players to being to burnout, so they are becoming more selective in what board games they are buying. This includes the current trend with TCGs expanding into so many other Ips. We’ve noticed some communities splitting at the release of a new IP (prime example when Gundam CG dropped a large number of One Piece CG players migrated over), so maybe not every IP really needs its own TCG.” – John “Jay-El” Lotspeich, Tuscon Games and Gadgets.
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Source: ICV2
