2026 starts now. Here’s how smart game stores are leveling up.

Hey ,

The holidays are over.
2025 is in the books.

Some customers are still spending their Grandma money, but for most stores the dust has settled.
The numbers are (mostly) in.
And for the first time in months, there’s finally room to think.

So here’s the real question:

How are you going to make 2026 your year?

There’s an old joke in this industry:
“How do you make a million dollars in the games business? Start with two million.”

That joke doesn’t really hold up anymore.

The tabletop industry has fundamentally changed, and for the better.

More people play tabletop games than ever before.
Pop culture embraced the hobby in a way no one predicted ten years ago (thank you Stranger Things and Henry Cavill).
And game stores are no longer niche boutiques serving a tiny slice of “hardcore gamers.”

Today, million-dollar game stores aren’t rare outliers.
They’re real businesses quietly operating all over the world.

Over the last few years, I’ve talked with hundreds of game store owners. And the pattern is always the same:

You’re doing a lot right.
You have a solid product mix.
You care deeply about your local community.
You work hard.

But most owners are still running their store alone. Making decisions about marketing, ads, events, websites, email, and growth without a sounding board, a roadmap, or other operators to learn from.

That’s exactly why I built The Game Store Mastermind.

This isn’t a course.
It’s not theory.
And it’s definitely not “guru” marketing.

It’s a working group for store owners who want to run better, more resilient, more profitable game stores in 2026 and beyond.

What you get as a member:

Weekly Lunch & Learn Sessions
Short, tactical live sessions focused on the actual mechanics of running a modern game store: ads, email, SEO, automation, websites, events, and what’s working right now.
Bring real questions. Get real answers.

Monthly Q&A + Hot Seats
Deeper problem-solving sessions where we break down real stores, real challenges, and real decisions.
Hot seats rotate so members get focused feedback on their store, while everyone learns from the discussion.

Expert Sessions (Industry-Relevant Only)
Publishers, distributors, and specialists who actually understand how this industry works, not generic ecommerce advice.

A Serious Peer Group
No noise. No posturing. No armchair experts.
Just store owners who are actively building, improving, and comparing notes.

If you’ve ever thought:

This is that place.

Membership is $297/month. Cancel anytime.
Join for a month. Get value. Stay only if it’s helping your store.

👉 Join here: The Game Store Mastermind

January is when good stores catch their breath.
It’s also when great stores quietly set themselves up to win the year.

Tom