The Offical "Mom and Pop" Video Game Stores Thread

[squall280]

This is for those that might be searching for local shops to purchase some great sega classics and other games.

Seeing as from time to time people ask where they could go to find vintage games, vintage movies, and ect.. locally without going to the big name stores, I decided that an official topic should be started as some sort of a database to help those who are interested in finding these stores.

Now these stores could sell many things but I would only like to list those that sells movies, games, and even music.

I hope this helps people discover local businesses.
Please only list stores you have personally visited.
Try and go along with my format so I could update the list easier.

Name / Location
Address
What they sell
Personal Perspective


---------------------------Arizona-----------------------------------

Bookmans Entertainment Exchange (Mesa,Phoenix)2 Locations
056 S Country Club Dr (Mesa)
8034 N 19th Ave (Phoenix)
{Good Deals sometimes}


Games Plus Video Game Exchange (Mesa)
1216 W University Dr
{AVOID}





---------------------------California----------------------------------

Games For Less (Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Moorpark)
3814 South Beach Street (Santa Ana)
7184 Edinger Ave (Huntington Beach)
12038 Hertz Ave (Moorpark)
*vintage gaming/current gaming*

Luna Video Games (San Diego)
4837 Voltaire St
??

Gamedude (North Hollywood)
12104 Sherman Way
*vintage gaming*

M & M Video Games (Victorville)
15407 Anacapa Rd
??

Brentwood Game Exchange.(Brentwood)
7351 Brentwood Blvd Ste E
*vinatage gaming*
{great prices}

------------------------------Georgia---------------------------------------

Play N Trade (Snellville)
2055 Scenic Highway
??


---------------------------Illinois-------------------------------------


Slackers CD's and Games (O'Fallon, Glen Carbon)2 Locations
1266 W US Highway 20 (O'Fallon)
300 Junction Dr #117 (Glen Carbon)
??

Video Games Etc. (Norridge)
4351 N. Harlem Ave.
??
{Great Selection, highly recommended}

Classic Toys & Games (Rockford)
4728 E. State St.
*vintage gaming*
{wide selection}

Gamerz Garage (Westmont)
6128 S Cass Ave
??
{so~so}

Half Price Books (Countryside)
14 Countryside Plaza
{okay store}

Dise Replay(Bolingbrook,Bloomingdale,Downers Grove,Rockford,Hoffman Estates,Orland Park,Crest Hill,Naperville,Skokie,West Dundee)12 Locations
261 N Weber Rd (Bolingbrook)
348 W Army Trail Rd #140 (Bloomingdale)
1418 Butterfield Rd (Downers Grove)
6403 E State St (Rockford)
13 W Golf Rd (Hoffman Estates)
15024 S LaGrange Rd (Orland Park)
1701 N Larkin Ave (Crest Hill)
556 S Rt 59 (Naperville)
5455 W Touhy Ave (Skokie)
852 W Main St (West Dundee)
*vintage gaming/current gaming*
{sizeable inventory}





---------------------------Indiana-------------------------------------

McVans Video Games (Fort Wayne, Fishers, Evansville)3 Locations
2211 Maplecrest Road (Fort Wayne)
8355 East 116th Street (Fishers)
3401 Green River Road (Evansville)
*vintage gaming*

Game Exchange (Kokomo)
3712 S Reed Rd.
*vintage gaming/current gaming*

Video Palace (Hobart)
??
??

Media Madhouse (Elkhart)
30879 Old US 20
*vintage gaming*

---------------------------Michigan------------------------------------

Tops Trade Center (St Joseph)
??
*vintage gaming/current gaming*

Treasure Quest (Kalamazoo)
2922 Lovers Ln
*vintage gaming*

Flipside Records (Clawson)
41 E 14 Mile Rd
*music/vintage gaming*




---------------------------Minnesota-------------------------------------

Discland (Minneapolis)
822 W 98th St.
??
{Great Selection}


----------------------------Missouri-----------------------------------

Game Trader (Saint Charles)
2 Hawks Nest Plz
*vintage gaming/imoprts*

Trade N Games (Fenton)
1049 Gravois Rd
??

------------------------------Nebraska----------------------------------------

Gamers (Omaha)3 Locations
72nd & Dodge
144 & Center
84th & Giles
*vintage gaming*
{Fair Prices}

--------------------------New York-------------------------------------

Phoenix Game Trade (Hamburg)
??
*vintage gaming*

Video Games New York(New York)
202 East 6th Street
*vintage/current gaming*
{high prices but some decent deals}

--------------------------New Jersey------------------------------------

Digital Press Video Games (Clifton)
387 Piaget Ave.
*vintage gaming/current gaming*
{Mecha for gamers on the east coast/good prices}

Play n Trade (Jackson)
21 S. Hope Chapel Rd.
*vintage gaming*
{highly recommended}


------------------------------Ohio-----------------------------------------

Video Games Express (Grove City)
3953 Hoover Rd
??

Play It Trade It (Columbus)
4316 N High St.
??


Game Swap (Cincinnati)
4601 Eastgate Bouleward
??


Video Game Connection (Cleveland)
4824 Memphis Ave.
??

----------------------------Oregon------------------------------------

Big City Gamin (Eugene)
1288 Willamette St
*vinatge gaming*

--------------------------Pennsylvania--------------------------------

Wayne's World (Pittston, Dallas)
30 S Main St. (Pittston)
419 Memorial Hwy (Dallas)
*music cds/vintage gaming/current gaming/movies*
{descent prices but they lean towards the high end}


The Video Game Store (Wilkes-Barre, Scranton) 2 Locations
28 S Main St (Wilkes Barre)
1150 S Main St (Scranton)
*vintage gaming/current gaming/movies*
{great prices on just about everything}


--------------------------South Carolina------------------------------

Software Seconds (Columbia)
4508 Saint Andrews Rd
*vintage gaming*

----------------------------Tennessee------------------------------------

Checkouts (Columbia)
??
*vintage gaming/current gaming/music cds/movies/cards*


---------------------------------Texas------------------------------------------------

Play Again Classic Video Games (Corpus Christi)
5301 Everhart #P
??
{High Prices}

--------------------------Washington-------------------------------------

Trade A Game Incorporated (Spokane)
6813 N Division St
??

Game Exchange (Spokane)
9323 N Division St
??


----------------------------Wisconsin-------------------------------------

Gamez (Wausau)
4416 Rib Mountain Drive
??
{Great Store, Excellent Prices}

Johnny Cee Cards (Wausau)
2005 Grand Avenue
??
{Big Selection, Prices are based on market}


------------------------AROUND THE WORLD------------------------------

------------------------------Canada------------------------------------------

Gamedeals Video Games (New Westminster)
407 Columbia St. BC, Canada
*vintage gaming*
{Good prices}


-----------------------------England--------------------------------------------

Console Connections
28 Church St
Shildon
Country Durham
England
DL4 1DX
*vintage to current gaming*
{great prices}

[genocide-superstar]

Great thread! Here's a chain of stores I frequent often that has a pretty sizable selection of games across all platforms. They're located all over Illinois, and some in Indiana.

http://www.discreplay.com/locations.html

I go to the Orland Park location about twice a month, along with Half-Price Books mentioned in the above post.

[InternalPrimate]

Squall, here's a link to my review/perspective of Luna Video Games in San Diego, CA.

It's a great shop with plenty of retro games both complete and incomplete.

[Tanegashima]

There is also an M & M video games in Upland California on Mountain Ave. But be warned:

They have a great selection, but extraordinarily high prices. On some stuff, they are simply outrageous.

[David J.]

I know of a few for NY, and the DC area, VA and MD.

Give me a few days and I'll get back to you.

[17daysolderthannes]

what does it take to count as "mom and pop"? Do franchises count? IMO locally owned should be all that is required, after all, the only difference between Play N Trade and a pure mom n pop is alot of owner resources like price guides and promotional help, but we still price/organize/carry what and how we want.

Pure mom n pop:

GameWare
Mall of Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

lots of import stuff most stores won't carry (games and soundtracks)
OK prices on newer stuff
TOTAL RIPOFF on retro ($40 for Metroid...loose with a worn label )

Tim's Used Computers
Verot School Rd. near the Ambassador intersection, next to Papa Johns
Lafayette, LA 70508

actually primarily a computer repair store and (like the name says) used computer store, they carry most games and systems. The selection of new 3rd party stuff is very hit and miss (and also in low stock, usually only 1 of each type of cord or controller). The game selection is usually pretty bad because all games are a flat price with a buy 2, get 1 free setup. NES and Genesis are $5, SNES is $6, PSX is $10, PS2, GC, and XBOX is $18, and last I was there they didn't have XBOX 360, PS3, or Wii. I used to buy alot of my stuff from there before the Lafayette Play N Trade opened, but now there isn't a big reason to go there anymore. It is run by some nice people though.

Locally owned franchise:
Play N Trade
Arnould Boulevard in the Brothers Shopping Center
Lafayette, LA, 70506

Where I do console repairs
I make sure shit gets done right, we don't sell systems with torn cords, we clean systems before we sell them, we keep all retro cables/accessories in stock (or I get pissed), most retro games are $3-$5 and we do buy 2, get one free on EVERYTHING USED except systems. We also have 10/10/10 membership cards which cost $10 and give you 10% off used stuff and 10% more on trade ins FOR LIFE. You can even stack buy 2 get one free with the 10/10/10 card. We also do Tax Free Tuesdays that give you an additional 8% off everything, though you can't stack it with buy 2 get one free. We resurface games, fix systems (almost anything, though anything older than PS2 costs more to fix than to buy another used one), and even buy broken systems to use for parts (especially XBOX 360s with good drives and PSPs with broken UMDs).



Play N Trade
New Iberia, LA
Next to the movie theater (only one in the town)

owned by a douchebag, prices OK sometimes, last I heard the staff was completely incompetent (haven't been there in about 6 months). They also do buy 2, get one free and resurface discs, so they are worth checking out, but definitely not the best store. I much preferred the Lafayette store even before I started working there.

[MrMatthews]

I guess this is a "mom and pop" store.

www.collectorscardsandgames.com

I first heard about this store on this site, and have bought probably about 20-25 games from them. Pretty good prices, although they have difficulty keeping up with their stock on their webpage and their descriptions are a little lacking.

[squall280]

i guess the definition for "mom and pop" would be stores that are not gamestop, ebgames, and stores like that. now i know there are stores in areas that might be a local chain so i will include them being that people from not around that area would possibly want to visit said stores if they were to visit that particular area. as long as the chain is within reason. like if there is a store that takes up half of the USA on like the east side of the country i wouldn't say that's a mom and pop.

[17daysolderthannes]

i guess the definition for "mom and pop" would be stores that are not gamestop, ebgames, and stores like that. now i know there are stores in areas that might be a local chain so i will include them being that people from not around that area would possibly want to visit said stores if they were to visit that particular area. as long as the chain is within reason. like if there is a store that takes up half of the USA on like the east side of the country i wouldn't say that's a mom and pop.

well, like I said, Play N Trade is a franchise. They have them all over the US but they are independently owned and therefore I think they should be treated individually as one could be awesome and another an overpriced piece of shit with terrible inventory.

[Sudo]

This site is a good resource.

[Iron Lizard]

Bookmans

1930 E. Grant Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85719

733 W. Ina Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85741

6230 E. Speedway Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85712

They sell video games, Dvds, random odds and ends, books

They are starting to lose the Mom and Pop feeling with overpriced games and an obsession with putting games in the glass case. (FIGHT THE $70 FFVII!!) Still one of the few places to go. Often the goons (not Tommy at Speedway. He kicks ass) who are working there are packing away the good stuff. They do manage to let some good games slip through their greedy little fingers from time to time.

[j_factor]

4Jays
519 W. Fourth Street
Antioch, CA 94509

Lots of classic console stuff, and also classic computers (especially Atari and Commodore).

[Tears of Ash]

--- Maryland ---

Pandora's Cube
8145L Baltimore Avenue
College Park, MD 20740
301-474-9711

Deals with imports, mostly. Semi-OK.

--Virginia--

Starland
3150 Spring St # B
Fairfax, VA 22031
(703) 941-1811‎

I haven't been to this exact location, but the location in Maryland seems to be shut down or something. I haven't been in Maryland for a while, so I wouldn't know. I can't speak for this particular branch, but Starland in general was a pretty good place. Relatively cheap prices, and a varied array of new and old games. I generally buy from their website estarland.com when I can.

-- Tennessee --

Game Trader
133 James Luscinski Dr., #101, Murfreesboro, TN‎ - (615) 217-7717‎
1767 Gallatin Pike N, Madison, TN‎ - (615) 612-0090‎

Pretty nice people. Generally fair prices. Good deals on GBA games. They always seem to have rare/hard-to-find games. They generally don't ask more than $50 for anything, and their prices on systems are reasonable as well. The only thing is that sometimes they like to bundle the systems together with the games that were traded in with it, and you might have to haggle a little bit to get them to sell you the game separate.

Digital Planet
215 Robert Rose Dr, Murfreesboro, TN‎ - (615) 895-3030‎

They have a decent selection of stuff. However, they are very barren on any Sega related stuff. Hardly any DC, SCD, 32x, or Saturn games. A decent Genesis title here and there.

Manager goes on eBay and types in item name into "see how much this item sells for" and sells it in store at highest price that ebay says. They sell on amazon, so they don't care about YOUR buck or YOUR needs.

Video Games ETC
203 N Anderson Ln, Hendersonville, TN‎ - (615) 824-4113‎

A pretty cool place. They are fairly adept at repairing systems, and have various sorts of gaming related stuff. Probably one of the better places on my list, next to Game Trader. I don't live in Hendersonville anymore, so I haven't been there in a while.

[David J.]

There must have been a Starland store in Maryland AGES ago.... The only one is in Fairfax. I go to there every so often. AWESOME!

I live like 30-mins from College Park, so i'll check that store out.