June 7, 2022

Game Chest will close at the end of this week and reopen later this month in a new location.

The business, which was founded by Amanda and Ben Wermers in late 2017, is moving to the Southway Center at 2115 S. Minnesota Ave. Game Chest sells a wide variety of games and offers space for customers to play them.

It will close at 5 p.m. Saturday in the location at 409 S. Second Ave., a building that is being redeveloped as a downtown mixed-use development.

“We wanted to stay downtown; however, with the unique needs of our business, both retail and event space, the options had become more limited,” Amanda Wermers said.

The Southway space had been vacant for nearly a year and most recently was Teacher’s Helper.

“It is the perfect size and shape for what we need, plenty of room for retail and a large space for events,” Wermers said. “We will still have the two private gaming rooms available to reserve for parties, game nights or just a great meeting space, so people don’t need to clean their house just to have friends over.”

The plan is to move from June 11-17, participate in community Pride and Juneteenth events that weekend and then do a soft open in the new location June 22-24, with hours for those dates to be determined.

A grand opening is scheduled for 11 a.m. June 25.

“This is also an event we participate in annually called Free RPG Day, where people can come and participate in tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons,” Wermers said. “There are a ton of promotional items that we give away for free that day.”

The store also will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 26 and then start regular hours.

“We will resume weekly events in July actively and start bringing back some of our more unique events as well after the move,” Wermers said.

“Not to mention the great local food options nearby with Boss’ Pizza & Chicken, Hagere Ethiopian, Ramen Fuji and Pizza di Paolo.”

Game Chest began as a holiday pop-up downtown in 2017 before moving to multiple spaces in the Jones421 Building, followed by its most recent location on the south end of downtown.

In the new location, retail and event hours will be separate. The business will be closed Monday and Tuesday. Retail hours will be 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Event hours will be 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Event hours include access to the store’s rental library as well as snacks and drinks for purchase.