In episode 20, we're interviewing store owner, Jared McKenzie, of Decks & Dice located in Seneca, South Carolina, outside of Clemson.
After selling the land he owned, Jared opened his store and immediately implemented a family-like environment. Operations are conducted less rigidly at Decks & Dice. Customers can haggle and even go behind the checkout counter to browse the binders of trading card games.
Jared always wanted to open a shop. Growing up, going to his local game store and playing games was a way to escape the negativity at home. He saw the game store as an escape and wanted his store to be the same escape for someone going through similar circumstances.
When Jared first opened the store, he was working 80-85 hours a week. This consisted of a full-time job and Decks & Dice. Before the help of his cousin and two customers volunteering their time, Jared handled all aspects of the store. Now he only works a part-time job in addition to running the store cutting down those hours significantly. From a business standpoint, he likes to try and price match for his customers where possible as long as he's not losing money on the sale.
Jared enjoys creating fun videos for the store's YouTube channel with topics like "Ramblings of an LGS Owner" and "Cards After Dark". He also allows customers to create videos for the channel if they wish. In addition to the videos, Jared used Facebook Ads and word-of-mouth to get the name out of the store. One of the most successful ventures he's participated in is the "Welcome Back Students" event at Clemson University. This has brought a lot of foot traffic to his store.
Additionally, Jared would like to bring Commander League Fridays to Clemson. He aspires to one day be able to bring a satellite shop to Clemson as well.
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