Magnolia Gaming With Store Owner, Spencer Thomas

In episode 14 of The Match Slip, we're talking with store owner, Spencer Thomas of Magnolia Gaming. The store has two locations located in Troy, Alabama, and Huntsville, Alabama. However, there are plans for a third store that will serve as the headquarters with a 40,000 sq. ft. warehouse.

Spencer originally bought the store for $0 and took on $5,700 in debt when it was three weeks away from closing. He currently has 52 employees with a manager at both locations, so his involvement these days in the day-to-day operations is mostly hands-off. Both stores are WPN premium with a casual player base consisting of mostly Commander players. Although, the store does sport one of the largest Flesh & Blood stores in America. An obstacle is the four-year turnover of players considering the store is based in a college town.

Most of Spencer's time these days is spent with his other business which includes a liquor business and media company. The former is the most time-consuming and he spends 20-25 hours (80 hours total) a week with each of his businesses.

In addition to his businesses, conventions are a big part of the game store business. 30-45 conventions are attended a year to acquire collections to later sell online. While the costs can be expensive to attend conventions, Spencer says it's all factored into the marketing budget. The biggest challenge, he says, is finding profitable products.

A future goal of Spencer's is to possibly open a store with one of his existing businesses on the West Coast.

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