DreadPirateMurphy
Explorer
I'm going to be relocating to Cleveland, and I was wondering what's in that area in terms of gaming stores. Here in Northern Virginia, there are at least 3 different gaming stores within 40 minutes of my place.
Gaming stores in Cleveland
- Thread starter DreadPirateMurphy
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physicscarp
Explorer
I just moved here myself (literally, this past weekend) and I was wondering the same thing. After asking on the Yahoo Cleveland Gamers group, I was pointed toward the Gamer's Haven. I swung by a few days ago and I was suitably impressed. They have a full selection of rpg's, board games, random and standard minis, plus a half dozen great big gaming tables for folks to play at. In addition, the place was clean, well lit and the owner was friendly. I guarantee that any of my future purchases will be made there.
Here's a link to their site: Gamer's Haven.
Also, if you're looking for a game, I'm starting to put out feelers for a group. Drop me a notice if you are interested.
Here's a link to their site: Gamer's Haven.
Also, if you're looking for a game, I'm starting to put out feelers for a group. Drop me a notice if you are interested.
vonmolkew
Explorer
I moved to Chicago from Cleveland a year ago. There were two places I went to: one on the East side and one on the West side (Clevelanders are VERY particular about "their" side of town BTW)
East: Warzone Matrix on Rocky River Drive in Cleveland near the airport
West: Comic Heaven on Robin Hood in Willoughby
Warzone has tons of Warhammer miniatures, pretty good on Reaper minatures. Store is kind of disorganized but pretty good. Has a lot of used stuff too.
Comic Heaven is split between games, comics, anime, figurines and miniatures. Always has q pretty good sale once a year. Very well organized store
There used to be a big place in Parma that relocated closer to town that I can't remember the name of.....used to carry a lot of movie posters as well as comics and cards. They were all right, but never seemed to have a lot of the new stuff.
Then there's Akron.....might be a bit of a drive, but that's where a lot of gamers are in the area. Can't remember the store name.....someone on ENWorld has to be from the area and can tell you the name and location.
East: Warzone Matrix on Rocky River Drive in Cleveland near the airport
West: Comic Heaven on Robin Hood in Willoughby
Warzone has tons of Warhammer miniatures, pretty good on Reaper minatures. Store is kind of disorganized but pretty good. Has a lot of used stuff too.
Comic Heaven is split between games, comics, anime, figurines and miniatures. Always has q pretty good sale once a year. Very well organized store
There used to be a big place in Parma that relocated closer to town that I can't remember the name of.....used to carry a lot of movie posters as well as comics and cards. They were all right, but never seemed to have a lot of the new stuff.
Then there's Akron.....might be a bit of a drive, but that's where a lot of gamers are in the area. Can't remember the store name.....someone on ENWorld has to be from the area and can tell you the name and location.
ColonelHardisson
What? Me Worry?
vonmolkew said:
You have that backward - Willoughby is East Side, Rocky River is West Side.
vonmolkew said:
That was Collectors Warehouse. It was my favorite all-purpose game and comic shop for decades - I'd been going there since the mid 80s. They had everything - games, comics, cards, collectibles, movie posters and scripts, sports memorabilia. Last I heard, they moved to Lakewood, and I have no idea what's become of them since. They're still in business, it seems, but I can't seem to find a website for them.
Wings Hobby Shop is also in Lakewood, and I went there for years. It's actually more a model and train shop, but it had a good selection of RPGs at one time. The last time I was there, though, was at least 5 years ago.
There is Recess, which I think is the same store called Reality Recess that I went to before I moved from Cleveland. It's in North Olmsted. It used to be near Great Northern Mall, but may actually be located in the Mall, now. It was OK, but it was focused more on LAN parties and the like last time I was there.
My favorite game shop, Matrix Games and Diversions in Sheffield Lake, closed down last year. However, there is a place in Oberlin called Matrix Games which I think was sort of an offshot of that shop. I've never been there, but Oberlin is a college town, so a game shop there may be pretty well-stocked and staffed.
Cullyn
First Post
I'll add my two cents as well. Keep in mind some of the observations here are personal experience and heavily opinionated. 
Gamer's Haven: I've visited once and it is very nicely organized and seems to be a well run store. The staff wasn't very personable when I was there (though that could just be a fluke) and I put a lot of weight in customer service (considering that's my trade
) I'd go to this store more often, but it's a bit out of the way for me.
Warzone Matrix: Well, I'm going to have a heavy bias for this one because I manage thier website over at http://www.warzonematrix.com. However, I will agree with the previous poster, it is a bit on the disorganized side of things. However, the owner of the store, Chris Wilson, knows what he has and where it is generally. He's also doubled the space he previously had so there's both a reasonably large retail area as well as a seperated gaming area. He does have a lot of mini type games (Warhammer (all types), WARMACHINE/HORDES, D&D Minis, Star Wars Minis, etc.) as well as a substantial selection of RPG games, card games, and so on. Additionally, even before I started managing the store's site, I would ask him to order those "oddball" indie RPG items for me, and they'd generally come in pretty quick.
Matrix Games and Diversions which used to be in Sheffield Lake has indeed closed. I actually looked into purchasing the store from Jack Palur, the owner and would have loved to. However, the wife nixed that one.
Anyway, he closed the store simply because he wanted to move on. However, related to that is the Matrix Games in Oberlin. This is a smallish store in a small college town, but the owners are very personable and happy to help you out. The selection is a bit limited due to space issues, but otherwise an excellent game store.
Then, you come to the almost last store, Recess Games. I'm going to state up front that I have no love and a reasonably long history with the owner of this store. Originally opened as The Keep of Comics and Games in Amherst, the store was a very nicely run and personable comic shop that slowly spread into gaming as time went on. After awhile they opened up another store in the North Olmsted mall. After a period of time, they decided that the Amherst store didn't make enough money and closed up that one preferring to keep the N. Olmsted store open. After awhile that didn't work, so that store closed up and they moved out of the mall itself into an outlet nearby and renamed themselves to Reality Recess. At this point they added LAN gaming to the mix. After that was open a few years they closed that up, moved back in to the mall, where they are presently and are now called Recess Games. The store itself is highly organized and clean, so there's certainly no fault there. However, I do not enjoy going there at all because the staff tends to be very rude. Additionally, it always irks me when a store offers a discount card, then has many items with a higher than listed MSRP to make up for it. However, keep in mind that I've not been there for about a year or so, so these things may have changed.
The final store that I can think of is also in the North Olmsted mall and is directly across from Recess Games, called I'm Game. This store is also clean and organized (don't think you could be in a mall without that) and tends to focus more on board and non-collectible card games. They usually have a decent discount on RPG books, but a very limited selection. The same with mini games, generally clicky types or other collectible type mini games. They also have several tables that you can play at. Overall a nice little store, but with a limited selection.
Gamer's Haven: I've visited once and it is very nicely organized and seems to be a well run store. The staff wasn't very personable when I was there (though that could just be a fluke) and I put a lot of weight in customer service (considering that's my trade
) I'd go to this store more often, but it's a bit out of the way for me.Warzone Matrix: Well, I'm going to have a heavy bias for this one because I manage thier website over at http://www.warzonematrix.com. However, I will agree with the previous poster, it is a bit on the disorganized side of things. However, the owner of the store, Chris Wilson, knows what he has and where it is generally. He's also doubled the space he previously had so there's both a reasonably large retail area as well as a seperated gaming area. He does have a lot of mini type games (Warhammer (all types), WARMACHINE/HORDES, D&D Minis, Star Wars Minis, etc.) as well as a substantial selection of RPG games, card games, and so on. Additionally, even before I started managing the store's site, I would ask him to order those "oddball" indie RPG items for me, and they'd generally come in pretty quick.
Matrix Games and Diversions which used to be in Sheffield Lake has indeed closed. I actually looked into purchasing the store from Jack Palur, the owner and would have loved to. However, the wife nixed that one.
Anyway, he closed the store simply because he wanted to move on. However, related to that is the Matrix Games in Oberlin. This is a smallish store in a small college town, but the owners are very personable and happy to help you out. The selection is a bit limited due to space issues, but otherwise an excellent game store.Then, you come to the almost last store, Recess Games. I'm going to state up front that I have no love and a reasonably long history with the owner of this store. Originally opened as The Keep of Comics and Games in Amherst, the store was a very nicely run and personable comic shop that slowly spread into gaming as time went on. After awhile they opened up another store in the North Olmsted mall. After a period of time, they decided that the Amherst store didn't make enough money and closed up that one preferring to keep the N. Olmsted store open. After awhile that didn't work, so that store closed up and they moved out of the mall itself into an outlet nearby and renamed themselves to Reality Recess. At this point they added LAN gaming to the mix. After that was open a few years they closed that up, moved back in to the mall, where they are presently and are now called Recess Games. The store itself is highly organized and clean, so there's certainly no fault there. However, I do not enjoy going there at all because the staff tends to be very rude. Additionally, it always irks me when a store offers a discount card, then has many items with a higher than listed MSRP to make up for it. However, keep in mind that I've not been there for about a year or so, so these things may have changed.
The final store that I can think of is also in the North Olmsted mall and is directly across from Recess Games, called I'm Game. This store is also clean and organized (don't think you could be in a mall without that) and tends to focus more on board and non-collectible card games. They usually have a decent discount on RPG books, but a very limited selection. The same with mini games, generally clicky types or other collectible type mini games. They also have several tables that you can play at. Overall a nice little store, but with a limited selection.
ColonelHardisson
What? Me Worry?
vonmolkew said:You're right! I lived there 16 years and could never get Strongsville and Painesville straight. Grew up in Chicago.....I'm used to North Side and South Side
I was born and raised in the Cleveland area. I moved away in late 2003. So it's kinda ingrained in me.
DreadPirateMurphy
Explorer
Well, more than a month later, I'm in Cleveland and I checked out Warzone Matrix today. Um...the place is a LITTLE disorganized? I admit to being an A-type organization freak, but my apartment is more organized than that place, and I just unpacked everything yesterday.
Having said that, there was quite a bit of stuff there. I think I counted no fewer than eight first-edition Monster Manuals, not to mention the Alternity rules from WotC circa 1999, and a horde of other materials from almost every company dating back to the publication of 1E.
I'm more of a browser (and I'm admittedly an order freak), so I think I'm going to check out some of the other stores...but I'll keep WM in mind if I'm looking for anything out-of-print. The place was not dirty, per se, just very cluttered.
P.S.: Thanks to everybody who posted responses.
Having said that, there was quite a bit of stuff there. I think I counted no fewer than eight first-edition Monster Manuals, not to mention the Alternity rules from WotC circa 1999, and a horde of other materials from almost every company dating back to the publication of 1E.
I'm more of a browser (and I'm admittedly an order freak), so I think I'm going to check out some of the other stores...but I'll keep WM in mind if I'm looking for anything out-of-print. The place was not dirty, per se, just very cluttered.
P.S.: Thanks to everybody who posted responses.
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