A growing national business that brings specialist experiences to the traditional retail environment has landed new premises in Rotherham.
Geek Retreat is a “geek culture” retailer, gaming cafe, and events hub rolled into one.
Work is well underway to transform a unit on Howard Street into a vibrant store that offers something for geeks and non-geeks alike.
In 2013, Geek Retreat’s founder, Stephen Walsh, opened the doors of the first store in Glasgow, it was only supposed to be a fun place to play ‘geeky’ games and grab a milkshake, but it quickly turned into something far more meaningful. Growing through a franchise model, there are now nearly 30 stores with plans for 60 shops by the end of this year.
The property in Rotherham taken on by the franchisees was previously used by bookmakers William Hill, a charity shop, and before that, outdoor equipment retailer, Millets. The property sold at auction earlier this year for £150,000.
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The family-friendly site is set to be home to a gaming café offering an extensive menu of tasty comfort food, and a shop section focusing on geek culture merchandise and games. Creating a safe, community space, the gaming side will offer free to play board games and video games and will host games such as Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer and Yu-Gi-Oh!
A spokesperson for Geek Retreat explained: "We believe the future of town and city centres lies in creating destination, experience stores. There is real demand in this type of offering as demonstrated by industry research, rate of successful Geek Retreat store openings, revenue growth and customer feedback.
"Over the next couple of years, we aim to open 200 stores in the UK and look to European expansion – everything we are building now will be scalable for our future.
"We are on a mission to become the friendliest place to meet, eat, shop and game in vibrant venues, with comfort eats and milkshakes made your way."
An opening event for the new Rotherham venue is scheduled for December 11.
Geek Retreat website
Images: Geek Retreat
Geek Retreat is a “geek culture” retailer, gaming cafe, and events hub rolled into one.
Work is well underway to transform a unit on Howard Street into a vibrant store that offers something for geeks and non-geeks alike.
In 2013, Geek Retreat’s founder, Stephen Walsh, opened the doors of the first store in Glasgow, it was only supposed to be a fun place to play ‘geeky’ games and grab a milkshake, but it quickly turned into something far more meaningful. Growing through a franchise model, there are now nearly 30 stores with plans for 60 shops by the end of this year.
The property in Rotherham taken on by the franchisees was previously used by bookmakers William Hill, a charity shop, and before that, outdoor equipment retailer, Millets. The property sold at auction earlier this year for £150,000.
Advertisement
The family-friendly site is set to be home to a gaming café offering an extensive menu of tasty comfort food, and a shop section focusing on geek culture merchandise and games. Creating a safe, community space, the gaming side will offer free to play board games and video games and will host games such as Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer and Yu-Gi-Oh!
A spokesperson for Geek Retreat explained: "We believe the future of town and city centres lies in creating destination, experience stores. There is real demand in this type of offering as demonstrated by industry research, rate of successful Geek Retreat store openings, revenue growth and customer feedback.
"Over the next couple of years, we aim to open 200 stores in the UK and look to European expansion – everything we are building now will be scalable for our future.
"We are on a mission to become the friendliest place to meet, eat, shop and game in vibrant venues, with comfort eats and milkshakes made your way."
An opening event for the new Rotherham venue is scheduled for December 11.
Geek Retreat website
Images: Geek Retreat