Retail Profile
Disbanding the Culture Club Geek Retreat is on a mission to rewrite the narrative around the geek culture space, taking its philosophy of accessible and inclusive fandom nationwide as it continues on its plans to open 60 stores in the UK this year alone. Here, ToyNews catches up with Geek Retreat CEO, Peter Dobson to find out more
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f ever a business did exactly what it says on the tin, then Geek Retreat is it. Fast spreading itself across the UK, cascading downwards from the Glaswegian underground scene, with tendrils growing across high streets from Harrogate to Portsmouth, Geek Retreat is more than a shop, but a philosophy, and a safe space for nerds, of any decree. The plan has been seven years in the making. First opened in Glasgow in 2013, Geek Retreat quickly set up a second destination in Newcastle the following year. Since then, its growth has been one of significant rapidity, tapping into the now ubiquitous nature of pop and geek culture, to deliver a comic book and board gaming store experience that has made no secret of its plans to be operating across 60 locations in the UK by the end of the year.
And it’s working. At the time of writing, Geek Retreat is “motoring along”, opening up in Portsmouth and Oxford, with new spots in Lincoln and Bedford in the coming week, along the way sharing a philosophy of accessibility and inclusivity amid a marketplace that has for so long, carried with it an ‘exclusive members club vibe.’ “We are all about making this geek culture as accessible and as easy going and approachable to new customers as possible,” Peter Dobson, chief executive of Geek Retreat tells ToyNews. “There’s an image that a lot of people have of gaming stores, that they can be cliquey. If you’re not into a certain type of game, people say they can be a bit unwelcoming. “But we are absolutely not about that. We are about making this pop culture -
which is everywhere today - welcoming and accessible for everyone, no matter what they are into.” The core value of Geek Retreat is, then, that it is a haven for the geek culture audience, no matter where they measure on the charts. A business built on the philosophy of broadening the audience as widely as possible, while fulfilling a childhood dream, Geek Retreat surely couldn’t have picked a better time to expand. “There’s a lot of people - especially throughout the pandemic - who have reassessed their careers and their lives, and have concluded that maybe they want to do a bit more of the things that they love,” says Dobson, noting the rise in the audience numbers around the kidult market and the demand for board gaming and hobby shops. Autumn/Winter 2021 | toy news | 31
