Limited Run Games is opening an ’80s-themed physical game store

polygon.com:

Since 2015, Limited Run has made a business out of publishing physical versions of digital games — often by selling them with low print runs directly to customers, rather than putting them into traditional retail distribution. The company does more than that these days, but it’s been a business built around cutting out the middleman, avoiding many of the costs that come with overproducing games, letting them sit on store shelves, and paying a cut to everyone involved in that process.

Now, as the company recently announced, it’s now taking a small step towards becoming that middleman itself by opening a retail store in North Carolina. Intending to open the store in April, Limited Run has been building out a space in the MacGregor Village shopping center in Cary, with an ’80s-themed appearance and an approximately nine-hour custom soundtrack.

With plans for staff picks, midnight launches, and an extensive trading card section, there’s a lot going on here, so we sent Limited Run CEO Josh Fairhurst some questions to find out more.

Polygon: So this is weird, right? What’s your big picture vision for the store?

Josh Fairhurst: We started Limited Run Games back in 2015 because physical media was dying, and it pained us as collectors to see that happening. Something else that has pained us just as long is the death of physical game stores. There [are] certainly stores left, but it’s nothing like the glory days of having a Babbage’s, Software Etc, FuncoLand, and Electronics Boutique in every town. It’s always been a dream to try our hand at a physical store.

Looking at the photos you’ve posted on Twitter, my first reaction was it looks more like a video store than a game store. That probably has something to do with the shelves