Warpstorm Games & Lounge In Greenfield, Wisconsin
Warpstorm Games & Lounge is one of two game stores in Wisconsin located in the Greenfield area, according to the Wizards of the Coast Store & Event Locator. The business started in 2022, with each co-owner having a 20% stake. Antonio Alcazar is one of five owners, all of whom are friends. Each co-owner brings a specialty background and operates their departments individually.
Before running one of the game stores in Wisconsin, Antonio worked in retail for six years as a store manager for local cell phone retailers. This followed three additional years at Games Workshop. He believes this position came about due to his passion for Role Playing Games (i.e. Dungeons & Dragons). Given his background, Antonio manages the retail side of the business. Additionally, he has experience painting miniatures. He shares his knowledge via free one-on-one classes with customers through the Warpstorm Gaming Academy. While these one-on-one classes to learn games or paint miniatures receive positive feedback, it’s also led to repeat customers, Antonio notes:
Five Friends, One Game Store, One Vision
The four additional co-owners are Alex Muhich, Alex Karr, Quinn Kotecki, and Lizeth Zorrilla Sanchez.
With 5,200 sq ft. of space, the store sports the Boba Cafe – the lounge portion of the business run by Lizeth. On the gaming side, Quinn handles the card gaming side comprised of buying, selling, and trading. Alex Muhich and Alex Karr deal with inventory and systems management.
When all five friends joined forces, Antonio, with a background in graphic design worked with a designer to have a new logo created and update the color palette for the store’s branding. In the beginning, Antonio’s vision for the store was a focus on Dungeons & Dragons. He didn’t anticipate a lounge like they have now with Boba Cafe. Moreover, while the store doesn’t have any employees outside of the five owners at this time, Antonio looks forward to the day when this can be a possibility. All five friends in this partnership have a shared vision, Antonio says.
With a focus on a premium experience, Antonio regards the current retail front concept as antiquated. Instead, both he and his partners believe in experiential retail. An example is a centrally located 55-inch screen TV for Dungeons & Dragons nights. There’s also a dedicated Dungeons & Dragons room provided for customers.
Warpstorm Games & Lounge Provides A Premium Experience
The store has an active community for those into Role Playing Games, Miniatures, and Card Games. Antonio shares that Role Playing Game nights can see 50 people in attendance. For card games, the store has plenty of table space to run multiple events at once offering both 4×6 and 2×8 tables.
From a business standpoint, the store shoots for 20% year-over-year growth, according to Antonio. Both word-of-mouth and online ads are the primary forms of marketing to draw new customers to the store. Dungeons & Dragons brings in $200 per game, according to Antonio. Currently, he is the Dungeon Master (DM) for all games, but he hopes to hire someone in the future. When it comes to the business, Antonio believes the old retail storefront is an antiquated idea and instead, the focus should be on experiential retail. This is what he focuses on when building out the retail side of the store. When it comes to handling the store’s inventory, they contract out another company to do so.
As a premium location, operating costs factor into everything they sell. Moreover, MSRP is not sustainable when running a premium-level business. Additionally, a free play space cannot be provided under the same notion. As Antonio shares, customers have been receptive to this and the type of business Warpstorm Games & Lounge is aiming for. As per customer, Phill Klamm, on the Warpstorm Games & Lounge Facebook page:
“We had a great time at Warpstorm today! Amazing people, great selection, and world class customer service. This place is great for everyone! I give it my highest recommendation!”
Warpstorm Games & Lounge Customer, Phill Klamm
An aspiration of Antonio’s has always been to be a tabletop game designer. He would like to create games to sell in the store.
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