Gaming to fruition The Brazilian E-sport organization, Furia, has entered Wynwood with an enticing shopping and gaming experience

BY SARYN MOORE, STAFF WRITER

WYNWOOD HAS A PIECE OF Brazilian culture presented in the multifunctional store Furia, a Brazilian E-sport organization that specializes in fan-favorite games and hosting tournaments for passionate gamers around the world. The store encompasses two culture-praising trends: video games and fashionable streetwear clothing.

The surrounding walls of the store are engulfed in Wynwood artists’ personalized graffti art that smoothly transitions into the inside. Furia expresses itself with a vibrant color scheme that highlights its logo, a panther’s head, which is artistically spraypainted on the walls. Customers are met with sculptures of ceramic and glass panthers that are showcased alongside their streetwear collection.

Furia has divided their store into two main sections: clothing and computers. Furia’s clothing line is featured at the entrance of the store and the Personal Computer setups for gamers to reserve for free, towards the back.

The merchandise is chicly pronounced throughout the store on racks, containing common streetwear wardrobes, such as oversized Furia-themed jackets and customizable jean jackets. However, they are not typical pieces as they embrace a distinctive style towards their brand with trendy cuts and patterns as well as their well-crafted sweats with pronounced brand across the legs in vivid colors.

Most notably, Furia’s eccentric twist of PC stations changes the ordinary perception of its frst-glance clothing store. The E-sport company’s initial intention was to cross over its gamer culture into the heart of Wynwood for all to get a taste of the brand. The brand’s goal in establishing a presence in Miami is to further connect with its audience in a physical interactive setting rather than just digitally. The PC room is a dimmed-lit area with blue LED lights which creates a special setting for any game-loving local to reserve a PC and play for allotted periods of time with friends or simply individually.

“I have one [PC] at my house but it’s nowhere near as good as the ones in Furia and I wanted to try out their games and graphics that I wouldn’t be able to get at home,” junior Luciano Magaldi said.

Furia holds tournaments for anyone to join for an entry price of typically $5, but the actual reservations are $10 an hour and can be made on the website. Furia is located at 173 NW 23rd St, Miami, FL 33127 with the hours of operation from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. for the entire week.

With these late hours, Furia has a mini snack bar where one can purchase crunchy treats like Cheetos and Doritos while gaming. Customers can also watch others play on big screens when they hold tournaments at their store or watch other recorded tournaments involved with Furia’s organization.

Reclusive gamers who normally would not venture out for fear of not being accepted have a safe space where the common interest is to game allowing the lesser known gaming community to come together into something really special.

Whether it is from fulflling a shopping addiction and adding new staples to the closet or snacking while gaming with friends, Furia creates an environment where one can be at the edge of the seat competing or watching others compete. Regardless of one’s whereabouts in the store, one is bound to fnd something compelling that will leave them satisfed or yearning to come back.