We've been asked a lot "how things are going with the business?" lately and decided to do an update.
Now as much as we personally do not like the statement "living with Covid-19" this is the position we all find ourselves in, and we will admit, it's tough. We, ourselves included, are still worried about the idea of catching Covid-19, and though we wear masks and mitigate as much as possible there is still a risk. And with this risk comes the drop in bookings and walk-ins, especially when numbers rise and the news reports about new variants.
With no more Government support, living with Covid-19 seems impossible, as costs keep rising, and wages remain stagnant for many of us. We do not want to raise our prices, though this is inevitable at least with regards to our food menu due to our suppliers increasing prices. We do everything possible to keep our costs down, and some of you may have noticed that some nights we close early when we do not have bookings, and the city is quiet. We do not do this because we are lazy, or do not want to work, but because we are trying to save money wherever we can.
As booking numbers drop, we find ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock is Covid-19, and the hard place is the cost of living crisis which both lead to a drop in customers in the cafe. Leaving us to feel we should run more events again and the worrying cycle of not wanting to add to the local Covid-19 cases, but needing to find a solution to the problems we are facing.
We also haven't touched on the mental strain this places on ourselves, as this is our livelihood.
Things are not completely doom and gloom, we are not in a position where we may close down and everything is out of our control, which was sadly the case for 15 other games stores in the UK over the last 6 months (that we know of). But, we are struggling. We had hoped by this point, after almost 4 years of business, we would have hired staff, have an alcohol license and looking to relocate to a bigger venue. This sadly isn't the case anymore, and for the foreseeable, it will be just Drew and I (Rhi) running the business for as long as we can. We love what we do, and would not want to change it, but there comes a time when you have to accept things need to change, and we need to change something soon to survive.
So, if you are wondering how can I support my local games store, even if I cannot afford to come down myself, well here are a few things you can do that cost nothing, and will really help us long term:
Share our social media posts, wherever and whenever you can, or just engage with a reaction
Review us on Google or Facebook
Recommend us to your friends or family when they are looking for something different to do in the city
With that all said, we are likely bringing back our Social Gaming event, as well as Roleplaying Games soon, so please check our social media for announcements. We will also be changing the menu soon to streamline it, and adding some new items for the summer.
Take care everyone,
Rhiannon & Drew