Wow, I am really bad at keeping this thing up to date. My only defense is that we’ve been working unbelievably hard on the store so we can get opened. Actually, we’re almost done! We have plumbing and electricity, floors and walls. We should even have air conditioning by Monday at the latest. (Thank goodness, because it’s HOT in there with all the windows.) All that’s left is the finish work (doors and baseboard and paper towels…that kind of stuff) and shelving. As a matter of fact, we’re hoping to be open by the end of next week. The official Grand Opening Gala is still scheduled for August 2nd, and I’m posting the schedule of events for that day and for the rest of August both here and in the forums pending the official calendar section of the site. For times, please see the forums. And as always, keep in mind that some things might have to be changed a bit as we get feedback (please give us feedback!).

Grand Opening

August 2, 2008

9:00am-Store opens

Mini Tournaments:

10:00am-Great Dalmuti

11:00am-Pick Two (kids)

12:00pm-World’s Most Difficult Puzzle

1:00pm-Settlers of Catan

2:00pm-Shut the Box (kids)

3:00pm-Ticket to Ride

4:00pm-Jishaku

5:00pm-Munchkin (kids)

6:00pm-Rolit

All winners of the mini tournaments will win a t-shirt of their choice and five entries into the grand prize drawing for a valuable gift bag. Anyone who participates in the mini tournaments receives one entry into the grand prize drawing.

2-5pm-Remote broadcast, KBull.

6:30-8pm-Pizza!

8:00pm-Grand Prize Drawing!

             August Calendar of Events

 Sun               Mon             Tue            Wed            Thu             Fri             Sat

Well, I recently got back from the ASTRA (American Specialty Toy Retailers Association) Conference at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut. I was afraid that the conference would be mostly toys and that the game selection would be sparse, but that turned out not to be the case. As a matter of fact, there were so many cool games and puzzles available that I spent more than twice my budget at the show. Besides just having a toy fair, though, ASTRA taught me some really great things about owning and running a successful business. I’m so excited to open and try these things out.

The schedule for the Grand Opening is nearly complete and will be posted here before the end of the week! Check it out later to discover all the great events and contests we’ll be holding that day. We’ll be running mini-tournaments every hour throughout grand opening day, with great prizes and a grand prize drawing that evening!

For the curious, the store now has sheetrock and paint and we are in the process of finishing the floor. The floor will be finished tomorrow, the ceiling will go up next week, and all the finish work will be completed fairly quickly after that. Best of all, the sign is being installed next Monday or Tuesday! Come on by and check us out any time. We’ll be happy to meet anyone who comes by.