By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The new digs for Black Swamp Games at 175 N. Main St. in downtown Bowling Green puts the shop right where owner Dustin Shammo wanted it in the first place and with enough space to serve the gaming community.
In early 2020. Shammo and his friend Joe Busch, who the operated Stacked Deck, wanted to open a game shop and they had an eye on the open space on North Main. But banks were leery, and then the pandemic and its restrictions set in.
Their dream was deferred, but it was for the best. Having bank financing and not being able to operate would have torpedoed the venture.
Shammo, who’d lost his job as a manager with AVI Foodsystems in January, 2020, had started selling cards at vendor shows, flee markets , and the BG Farmers Market. He did well enough he never had to collect unemployment insurance, and when the pandemic restrictions were lifted in 2021, he was in position with the help of friends to open Black Swamp Games.
But the preferred space was under contract, so he opened Black Swamp Games in a former martial arts studio on West Wooster Street.
Within three months though, he’d outgrown that space. A crucial part of operating a game store is having people in to play the games.
He was talking to a veteran retailer who expressed surprise he didn’t pack the place with product.
“That’s not the game store motif,” Shammo said. “We’ve got to have a place for people to play games. We host tournaments and have game nights. Nerds don’t leave the house unless it’s to play games. They’ll come out and play games with other nerds and that’s their whole interaction for a month.”
In late November, just in time for Black Friday, Black Swamp Games moved into the 175 N. Main Space. The new shop has more than four times the floor space. The rent is 50 percent more, but Shammo said he’d trade the higher rent for the increase in space “any day of the week.”
Now he and Busch, who merged his shop with Shammo’s about two years ago and serves as manager, can easily move around without bumping into each other. And Shammo can empty out the two storage units where he stored merchandise.
The new shop has a large second floor space that will serve as a game room. “Now we’ll have space so we can play the games and stretch and not bump into each other,” he said.
That will include Warhammer.
Shammo and Busch each have their own expertise. Busch’s knowledge of Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, and Magic the Gathering has been crucial, adding to Shammo’s expertise in Pokemon and Lorcana. Paul Willis has also joined them part-time. He adds his knowledge of board games.
Shammo, 45, got into gaming early, playing video games, Oregon Trail and Myst, and then getting into Magic. He both played the game and started trafficking in cards.
He moved 13 times before he graduated high school as his mother got new and better jobs and gaming helped him stay grounded. He joined the Army, working as a parachute rigger right out of high school. It was in the Army that he started playing Pokemon, and buying and selling cards.
After two years in the Army, he moved to the Chicago area and sold part of his collection to buy a used car. He has worked in a cement factory but mostly in the food service business as a line cook, server, bartender, shift manager, finally joining AVI.
He maintained his interest in both the playing side and business side of gaming.
The shop stocks the range of gaming products — role playing, table top, card, and board games as well as hosting tournament and game nights. Friday is devoted to Magic with other tournaments on Saturday and Sunday.
The shop has a treasure chest with 50 pounds of dice for purchase. “It’s amazing how many dice goblins there are in our area,” Shammo said. “They love their shiny math rocks.”
The shop is open seven days a week: Monday noon to 8 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday noon to 9 p.m., and Sunday noon to 6 p.m. “Every time I look to close on a slow day,” Shammo said, “they come in and spend money.”
