Today we’d like to introduce you to Russell Nibarger.
Russell, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was one of those kids growing up that could sell just about anything, I graduated with a Bachelors in Entrepreneurship in 2011. Moved to DFW area from Wichita, KS where I grew up after college, Worked in mortgage banking & the financial sector til January of 2014. On the side throughout the course of my life I have always enjoyed trading Magic the Gathering cards with others I would always see it as not only a challenge to trade into more valuable cards but also found it enjoyable in just the act of trading and gaining value within my collection. I have for the longest time since I was 16 wanted to run my own business but had never had the finances or opportunity to do so until I stopped working in January. I had a regular I traded with at another hobby store that liked that I was so committed to trading that he offered to have me run a hobby business in the other side of his and his dads store which would have been in McKinney alongside Order 66 (A specialty shop dealing in Star Wars) but his father was very abrasive and was not keen on the idea, when in fact it was his sons idea! I went home and stopped by my local gaming store LGS which at the time was ran by Terry Black (Black 7 Comics) and I vented a little about how much a waste of time it was to go to McKinney and how good of an opportunity it could have been. Ten days later, I receive a call from Terry stating “I have been trying to get a hold of you, I thought you were interested in buying my store” Whhhhhaaaattt I thought to myself and quickly started to work out a deal with him. I had all of the money to buy the store but not enough to restock it with product to sell so I called up all my friends with the line “Hey what do I want most out of life” of which 90% of them answered “To run your own business” and with that I proceeded to acquire micro loans and donations between $50 – $1000 from multiple friends willing to help me get to the realization of my dream. It doesn’t matter if I am rich or poor I still want to do the same thing, run my own business. I am not sure who/if it is a quote from someone but 1 Success is 99 failures all you have to do is keep at it.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
More than any other existing shop in the DFW area that is still operating today I have for the last 3 years done nothing but see my business in a “Fight Arena” if you will. I have had 3 competitors less than a mile away, two of which no longer exist. Previous competition has spread lies about my business, another one wanted to work with me but being so close in proximity I felt it would only give them an advantage that would hurt my business and the current person that considers himself my competition use to be a regular of my store that decided to try and advertise his business while at my store. I told him that he could not be at my store if he was going to continue with this behavior. Now he has set out on a path of revenge to do nothing but try and hurt my business but besides poaching a couple of play groups has been largely unsuccessful. I have had a decline of business since May & July of 2016 because my landlord “of whom I have a lawsuit currently against” has violated the lease by taking down my sign to do construction for over a year. We will be moving the Lewisville location in June.
Chronicles Games, Toys & Comics – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Chronicles is the place to go if you’re looking for a community of gamers. We have card games (Magic the Gathering, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Cardfight Vanguard), board games, roleplaying (Pathfinder, Dungeons and Dragons) comics, toys, action figures. Our number one rule in our stores is “No bullying allowed” and we have banned players for repeated offences. My motto is if you like what you see tell your friends, if you don’t let me know and I will do everything I can to fix it. We have weekly tournaments for card games, a bordgame group that is free and open to everyone to come and participate and a large DDAL group (Dungeons and Dragons Adventure League). We are known for having a large selection of card singles across many games. I am most proud of the employees that make Chronicles a wonderful place to be. I am also proud that we are the largest provider of Bushiroad products in Texas and Top 5 in the United States. What also sets us apart is that we are not just a gaming, toys or comics but a variety store we do our best to carry something for everyone.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Growth, and by growth I mean both financial and from within my team is constantly improving, developing and growing. Most of my employees are like a second family we all know so much about one another. In an environment such as DFW it is over saturated with hobby stores, the last time I checked there were 68 stores, that is insane! Among all the competition, the struggle to obtain and keep clientele, removing problem players, Chronicles is still here and is going nowhere. March 1st, 2014 is the first day of business for Chronicles by May 2015 we expanded from 1225 sq. ft. to 2825 sq. ft. November 25th 2016 (Black Friday). We opened our second location 5201 S. Colony Blvd, The Colony, TX.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1110 w. Main St, Lewisville, TX 75067
5201 s. Colony Blvd, The Colony, TX 75056 - Website: www.chroniclesgtc.com
- Phone: 316 208 9225
- Email: ChroniclesGTC@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chroniclesgtc/
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/Chroniclesinthecolony/
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
