Carson City game shop in it to win it

A tight-knit family of gamers is behind a new game shop in east Carson City, offering board games, trading-card games, role-playing games, tabletop war gaming and accessories.

Dice-N-Duels at 1966 E. William St., also provides tables for people to play — something that drives and sustains business, according to co-owner Jenn Beeman.

“The only way to keep our kids off the streets from doing what we were doing when we were kids was to provide a location that was a safe environment, that was cool and the kids would be OK to do it,” Beeman said Nov. 15. “That is the reason we opened the store to begin with.”

The shop opened in July and has been going strong in “friendly competition” with its parent store in Fernley, which opened in 2017 and is operated by husband and business co-owner Tim Beeman. The couple, with five kids, has been living what Jenn Beeman called their own version of “the American Dream.”

“The community has shown us so much support in Fernley, and it’s been amazing, and now here in Carson City, the community has shown us so much support,” said Beeman. “I’m one of those people if the community is going to support me, I’m going to support them.”

Nov. 25 is Small Business Saturday and a chance to visit businesses like Dice-N-Duels. The U.S. Small Business Administration, co-sponsor of the day, said Small Business Saturday is a way “to celebrate and support small businesses and all they do for their communities.”

“Founded by American Express in 2010 and officially cosponsored by SBA since 2011, Small Business Saturday has become an important part of small businesses’ busiest shopping season,” states the SBA website. “Historically, reported projected spending among U.S. consumers who shopped at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday reached an estimated $17.9 billion according to the 2022 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey commissioned by American Express.”

Talking about the role of small business, Beeman pointed to her family.

“We always knew this was our business plan, to expand into other stores,” she said. “I have five kids. My saying is, ‘When I go, I need to have five stores to take care of my kids.’”

It’s not an easy feat. Beeman can list each game shop that has failed in Carson City in the last decade. She recalled working as a cake decorator at the Fernley Walmart and going to the couple’s new storefront after work to paint the interior and polish the floors. Tim was working as a welder at the time, commuting to Fallon.

“A lot of late nights because my husband had to go to sleep at like seven o’clock at night because he had to be up at two in the morning for work,” she said.

The couple’s “American Dream” started in Manitoba, where Jenn was born and raised. Tim grew up in Hawthorne. Like other kids in rural Nevada, he got into trouble, Jenn Beeman said. She was no angel herself, the way she tells it.

“I knew what I was doing growing up. He knew what he was doing growing up. And we did not want that for our kids,” she said.

Jenn and Tim were online gaming buddies before Jenn visited Hawthorne in 2011. She had lived in Houston but was returning to Canada.

“I actually drove from Canada to his front door,” she said.

After spending two weeks in the high desert, they both realized they wanted to stay together. With five kids among them, the family relocated to Fernley in 2015 for a fresh start. While Jenn had operated a bakery in Hawthorne, opening a game shop was Tim’s lifelong dream and something they dedicated themselves to pursuing.

If one were to graph the couple’s success from what Jenn Beeman told the Appeal, it would look like a flat line for the first few years of business, as the Fernley store made enough to sustain itself, a sharp dip during the first wave of closures in the COVID-19 pandemic, and then not only a bounce when the store reopened, but a sustained climb, leading to a new, larger storefront in Fernley in 2021 and the Carson location this year.

Tim was able to quit his job and run the Fernley store full-time, Beeman said.

“I couldn’t even have fathomed how good it is,” she said of the Carson store. “I’m giving Fernley a run for their money in sales.”

Competition between the two stores remains friendly.

“He’ll actually text me, ‘I’m outselling you. Better step up your game,’” Beeman said.

The spirt of friendly competition matches the new store. The long tables lined up inside tell a story of afternoon gameplay, evening and weekend tournaments and introductory classes for younger kids. Schedules are posted on Facebook and distributed in print to customers as well.

Beeman mentioned some favorite games like “Magic: The Gathering,” “Betrayal at House on the Hill” and “Gloomhaven.” Disney’s “Lorcana” is one of the more popular trading-card games this holiday season as well as “Pokémon,” she said.

Beeman noted customers range in age, “literally 8 to 80.”

“If you can read a card, you can play,” she said. “What I’ve noticed here is there are a lot of kids into Pokémon but don’t know how to play, so instead of running professional point leagues and stuff, we decided to revert back to where we started in Fernley, which is the kids. We will give them everything they need in order to start playing. We will teach them how to play.”

Beeman described how games have evolved since her own childhood.

“The types of the games that are out now are different than the types of games that were out when we were kids,” she said. “When we were kids, there was always ‘Monopoly,’ ‘Life,’ the games that pitted you against me or me against my mom. Those are not the games we have today.

“Today’s games are pitting us as a collective against the board itself. It allows parents to sit down and open up that line of communication and say, ‘Hey, how was your day today? Is there anything you want to talk about?’ It allows you to have a stronger relationship with your kids because you have that time. You’re showing them that you’re interested in them and you’re not just trying to whoop your kid’s butt playing a game.”

Beeman said while many products can be found online, she’s selling something different.

“The reason people come here is because Amazon, Walmart, they don’t give you a place to play,” she said. “That’s honestly what small businesses offer. We offer the passion. Any other place can give you the product. But we give you the passion.”

Ronni Hannaman, executive director of the Carson City Chamber of Commerce, distinguished between small business and big business by what the former can offer.

“Small businesses are the heart and soul of our community and offer unique and personal shopping experiences not found in the chain stores, or online,” she told the Appeal.

For the holiday season, Dice-N-Duels is offering free giftwrapping and deals for Small Business Saturday weekend.

“Just come and meet us,” Beeman said. “That’s really what we’re selling. I’m selling the environment. I’m selling myself. Come hang out with me. Come play.”

For information about Dice-N-Duels, call 775-461-3423 or visit https://www.facebook.com/DiceNDuelsCarson.

The store is closed Mondays.