New Franklin store a retro gamer’s paradise

From new releases to titles from the ’80s, gamers can find their niche at a new Franklin store.

Every nook and cranny of A&A Games is stuffed with things to surprise and delight gamers of any taste: video games and consoles, board games, trading cards, tabletop RPG supplies, action figures, plushies, model kits and more.

Colin Bower moved the store to Franklin after about six and half years in Olney, Illinois. He moved to Franklin with his new wife and adult son Addison Bower, who helps run the store.

The store opened the weekend of July 4, and the business is starting to take root in the long-vacant former Radio Shack storefront at 1884 Northwood Plaza Drive in the Northwood Plaza shopping center.

“We’ve already had some pretty good crowds, especially on the weekend,” Bower said during a July 11 interview. “Lots of people are coming in to check it out for the first time and then some of them come back already.”

Bower opened the first store after years of working in management for chain retailers like Borders and Rural King.

“It is what I’ve always done, I’ve just done it for other people,” he said. “There comes a point when you decide I want to do this for me instead of somebody else.”

Bower packed up the Illinois store and came to Franklin with his existing stock including an eclectic mix of old and new video games, hobby items and toys. He also buys, sells and trades video games and consoles, with new stock coming in all the time, he said.

“The stuff that we carry in the store is stuff that we think is kind of cool and other people would too,” Bower said.

When coming into the store, people may first notice a long wall of video game titles starting with some of the oldest consoles including Atari and Sega Genesis and ending with the newest Xbox and PlayStation models. Nearby, there’s a section for games for handheld Nintendo games from the original Game Boy to the current Switch.

An ever-changing array of game systems are also for sale, along with controllers and accessories like fight sticks and adapters.

“We sell pretty much every system we can get our hands on. From Atari to the first Nintendo all the way up to the newest systems,” Bower said. “We don’t have them all in stock all the time. But, we’ve probably got the majority of them in stock most of the time.”

Hobby items include model kits and paintable figures for Dungeons and Dragons. The toys include action figures, plushies, vinyl figures representing a wide array of characters from video games, anime and movies.

“We’ve got video games, board games, role-playing games, card games. There’s a little bit of toys and other stuff, but it’s mostly games, games, games, games,” Bower said. “That’s what we intend to keep.”

With all the store offers, the most powerful product is nostalgia. Whether customers grew up in the 1980s, 1990s or 2010s, they’re bound to be something from their past that strikes a chord.

“You’re probably going to see something from your past. Something that makes you go ‘Oh, wow, I wish I would have kept that.’ Because that’s what you hear more often than not,” Bower said. “Now if they want it, they can get it again.”

As for the buy-sell-trade program, A&A Games isn’t as rigid with pricing as other retailers, Bower said. He doesn’t have a firm number in mind for any given product and is willing to negotiate.

“The first thing I ask customers is, what do you want for it? And if it’s reasonable, we work with that,” Bower said.

The store also added a loyalty program this month and is hiring for several part-time positions including an event host with trading card game experience, a video game tester, and a sales clerk, according to their Facebook page.

To join the program or apply for a position, visit the store.