“The little tagline I came up with is 'Let's get nostalgic,'” said Steven Alexander, Game Swap's assistant manager. “That's what I want people to feel when they come here.”
When an arcade cabinet endlessly repeats the same three catchphrases as 8-bit-era chiptunes, or when a television plays well-worn VHS tapes (everything from “Power Rangers” to “Mystic Pizza”), people… can't help but recompose audio as a soundtrack. That's why Game Swap is a time-traveling Delorean to a Dayton storefront.
Evolving from the original concept of a video game swap shop (where cash for games was the only exchange), game swap manager Matt Brassfield quickly accepted toys, vintage collectibles, VHS, DVDs, and eventually It snowballed into Blu-ray. A modest shelf of laser discs and Betamax.
“We are one of the only places [in the area] We have such a large selection of movies,” Alexander said. “Here we have over 35,000 titles. That's just DVDs and Blu-rays.”
Kettering Game Swap opened in 2009. It also had locations in Cincinnati and Florence, Kentucky, before being rebranded as Mavericks or closing permanently. But Game Swap's sales have increased over the past five years, even as more people stream physical media and ship within two days, even if they haven't yet donated their collections.
“When streaming first started, it was a little shaky there,” Alexander said. “But now [users are] Understand that subscribing to everything at once will cost you hundreds of dollars.So people go back [physical media]”
Collecting, whether for posterity or resale, can be considered a niche activity. Often, it's a way of life championed in ever-narrowing circles, like the treasure trove of Game Swap.
The visionary documentary “The Last Blockbuster” was released in 2020, followed by the near-unexpected closing of the remaining Family Video stores in the Midwest in 2022, leaving the pizza parlor orphaned. An overwhelming sense of nostalgia spread through people's minds, including through partnerships with cannabis dispensaries. Rental stores have emerged even as the majority of movie lovers have gone digital. But respect for the simplicity and sentimentality of these stores is not lost among consumers and Game Swap employees.
“That guy sitting there, Garrison.” [Kane], previously worked at Blockbuster. “Our manager Matt used to work at Blockbuster,” Alexander said of the rental chain's influence on GameSwap's aesthetic. “And I was always shopping there. That influence is very much reflected in the stores.”
What is commonly forgotten about Blockbuster and Family Video (stores that ultimately fell victim to the next phase (i.e., Internet-based entertainment)) is that these stores were once the nemesis of all independent shops. That means it was. These corporate rental chains are now being defended because they were the only widely available option for many years.
The rental store model in the streaming world is doomed to failure. Game Swap picks up vacancies strictly as a buying and selling outlet for the occasional shopper who loves locally saddened physical media, and coincidentally scratches a nostalgic itch.
But if you visit another Dayton media store like Second Time Around, which has been temporarily closed since 2020, or peer through the locked sliding glass doors of a deserted mall, you'll find that shopping The fragility is obvious. It's here today and gone tomorrow.
Despite a few “out of order” signs on the arcade cabinet and a sun-faded theater poster in the window, Game Swap appears to be thriving. And while these are very specific shops, the balance between e-commerce and in-store merchandise on eBay (Game Swap Kettering) and his Etsy (Yeti's Treasure Chest) is certainly advantageous.
Although we sometimes sell new items, Game Swap primarily sells used items. Not only do we buy second-hand items, but we also have the experience of taking someone else's item and making it our own, of course by paying for it, but what kind of adventure did this item go through to get here? The question arises.
Perusing the shelves is a thrill of discovery, where experience takes precedence over convenience. If you squint, it could be 1998. This is not a video rental store, but in a sense it is.
You can browse, spend a quarter on a round of centipedes, or spend more on other things. No matter what you choose, Game Swap will transport you to another time, past and present.