The Deck Box: The Lone Store In Fletcher, NC
Before the switch to a brick-and-mortar store 16 years ago, they occupied 1,100 sq ft. in a flea market. The store slowly grew with its community for six months before a prime opportunity arose to buy a dedicated shop. The Deck Box is the only store in Fletcher, according to Wizards of the Coast Store & Events Locator.
Early on, there were plans to run a comic book store, with Co-Owner, Brent, starting as a backpack trader. Fast forward to today, The Deck Box has a selection of 12 – 13 games with plans to add more. Brent, a fan of X-Men, switched to playing Magic: The Gathering when the comic book market crashed. Before Magic: The Gathering, Brent played the board game Overpower. Additionally, he played 7th Sea, Dragon Dice, and Wheel of Time. In terms of games played at the store, Magic: The Gathering is the most popular. It also happens to be Co-Owner, Nugget’s first game he got into. However, due to demand, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokémon run on two different days. Both games experience large attendance numbers. However, from a financial perspective, One Piece is best for the store due to scarcity and collectibility.
Responsibilities & Marketing Efforts of The Deck Box
In addition to three owners – the third serving as a silent partner – the store employs seven full-timers and one part-timer. They have a front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house operation for retail and gaming, respectively. Moreover, they cross-train employees in all facets of the store. Although, back-of-the-house employees tend to stick to handling online orders and pulling cards. Nugget handles selling to customers and playing games. However, in 2004, Brent had to decide whether to keep playing cards or make money. The latter was the decision.
Marketing the store consists of billboards, print, and attending conventions. The goal when attending conventions is to draw people back to their store rather than sales. When at conventions, The Deck Box duo has developed a moniker as the “dice people”. However, they do miss the days of traveling to events on the Grand Prix circuit. In general, attending events has proven successful. However, both owners say acquiring high-end products their customers want can be difficult as those sell off quickly. Having less Magic: The Gathering SKUs, however, are welcome by Brent and Nugget. Play Boosters and Collector Boosters have been a good thing, Brent says. The reason is it satisfies those who want to draft and those who want to collect cards.
Outside of events along the East Coast, they’re looking to do more email marketing and increase sales from their website. However, Brent makes a definitive point about their business: they’re here for the community, not themselves. Being in business for as long as they have, Brent and Nugget would stop if it was no longer fun. The Match Slip can confirm it’s never reached that point, per Brent.
A New Location Coupled With Camaraderie Amongst NC Stores
Looking to the future, the hope is for a second store. There are several stores in North Carolina overall, but Brent notes that they all get along. They’ll send business to each other when one has products that the other doesn’t. He credits the plethora of stores in North Carolina to fewer available activities, thus drawing people to game stores. However, the biggest takeaway is they love running the store. It’s fun for them. Brent credits community building as the store’s strength and he likes going to work every day.
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