Retrograde Shop Rescue and Relocation

Hi everyone.

I was told by quite literally dozens and dozens of people to start one of these when we were fighting the fight with our landlord and frankly- I’m embarrassed.

Somber news, but we're trying to maintain a degree of 'it is what it is' about the situation.

Due to the losses we’ve taken from the retail business being forced to close over and over again— and us having to completely disregard a core pillar of our business (in-store events), it’s looking more and more like we are going to have to shutter our retail location for an insanely stupid reason.

Context: For the past year, we've been locked in a non-stop argument with our landlord/property manager about repairing the damages caused by the leaking roof. We initially reported the leaking in August 2020, and it was never resolved. We got brickwalled every time we tried to solve it, so we had ended up just dealing with it. Then in February of 2023, it became hazardous and started destroying equipment and product. We have spent the past year dealing with trying to operate a store while hemorrhaging money and losing days and days of operation due to recurring nonsense.

As opposed to doing the right thing at any point in the process, they have decided to not allow us to renew our lease instead of fix the problems.

Thus far, while the roof has been fixed, the ceiling tiles, lights, drywall, etc., have been left to languish, grow mold and fester/smell and we cannot afford to fix these ourselves or risk the increase to our insurance premiums. This has affected our ability to get back into scheduling our events, tabletop games, and generally made the store feel miserable and unwelcoming, and has the added effect of rendering some previous product we did have unsellable.

And now we don't even have the option to improve the store's vibe— or even just ride it out as a bad situation.

Pursuing legal action is going to cost more than what it’s worth to rescue it, and frankly- I'm tired of pursuing action. I'm miserable and I'm over the daily chaos of dealing with passionless, greedy people who put profits over integrity.

I don't get to spend my time taking cool pictures of new product, or geeking out with our amazing community about the fun items we get traded in or restore.

It's no longer allowed to be about community and camaraderie- or even gaming.

While I feel like we cannot rely on the kindness of the community to lift us up, nor can we rely on the compassion of a corporation to compel them to fix their mistakes— we also don’t want to give up on the community that’s always had our backs. And the thought of asking for help makes me want to cringe into the floor like I’m watching The Office (S06E12) but I also think the dinkie store and all its amazing customers and welcoming elements are bigger (and more important) than my exceedingly fragile ego.

I would love to move the store to a new spot, but we simply don't have the budget to accommodate that right now. I wasn’t planning on an 11th Hour jump into aggressive relocation. I just wanted the stuff in the lease to be fixed and it hasn’t been.

And as such, we're probably stuck being finished as a gathering spot, but I’d rather at least try to save the store before it’s gone for good.

We've had a good run and we'd outlasted COVID lockdowns, mental health crises, economic hardship, and the negligence of others. But now we're further behind than where we started, and trying to rebuild yet again in a new space and lowkey under duress is incredibly daunting.

I’m sorry for anyone who may be upset by this news, and to the community we've come to cherish as dear friends. I love you all and I’m really sorry.

Simply put- this sucks. And asking for help goes against every belief I’ve held for years.

But too many dear friends and amazing customers have made me feel like this stupid little shop is important. At least important enough to try and find a path to rescuing it.

I hate asking for help. I’d rather give something directly for it, or some pound of flesh to make the exchange a bit more… equivalent.

But these costs start to quickly runneth over— especially when unprepared to have to handle things in a hurry.

If you do end up donating, and I absolutely would rather you not do it because I feel so stinking terrible about it— it’s going towards the following:

I can’t ask anyone to do this.

And I’m sorry if you think less of me for posting this at all. But I’m quickly running out of options and this is the last life preserver I’ve really got.

If we can’t rescue it, then well— we tried.

And we didn't succeed.

But then it is what it is.

- Alex K // RGC