Now that we’ve celebrated our 1st anniversary, we’d like to introduce you to the entire Grayland team! Starting with none other than MVP Kyle himself. Why do we call him MVP you ask? Well it all started in 2022, on Nov 12th if you’d like to know, when Kyle was the sole attendee to a work day at the Grayland. After a few long hours of fantastic conversation, and filling up a dumpster with a literal half-ton of old flooring, we learned that Kyle is one of those people you don’t let get away. His encouraging heart and warm smile are unmatched. So we gave him an official title that very day and he’s been a part of The Guilded Grayland ever since!
Next up for introduction we have – Ethan! (If you attended our Halloween party last year, you may remember him as Weird Al!) He graduated OBU last spring and has been living life as a real adult ever since, which doesn’t keep him from a love for all things board games and nerdy (especially Lord of the Rings). He is also a fierce competitor in our thriving Flesh and Blood community, regularly stomping the competition. He’s a great asset to our team and we’re so thankful to have him! So if you find yourself with a hankering to play a game, converse about really cool LEGO sets, or to lose a FaB match, you know who to find!
Last but certainly not least of the new Grayland team members we have – Logan! He works hard and plays hard, especially when MtG is involved. He has made himself a valuable part of the team, working most of the daytime hours and learning all he can about the games and events we offer. His one and only flaw – he can’t stand Gary, our beloved mascot, and often calls him terrible names, like Scary Gary. But I digress. All in all, Logan is a great guy and a friend to all who know him. (Unless you’re a 3ft tall pink bunny.)
Now that you’ve met the guys behind the counter, you may have noticed there are some other faces you’ve seen around. Let’s meet the owners of The Guilded Grayland!
Madeline is so excited to be featured first. If you don’t know her, that was sarcasm. Madeline hates the spotlight, but she loves to make others shine. Case in point: She is adamant she is not a gamer, but here she is running a board game store with her husband and friends, because she loves them! And she is a key ingredient to keeping this plane in the air. If you have seen her at the store, you’ve most likely seen her with her four children scampering about, helping her behind the register, or sitting down to put together a puzzle with her – they may have even roped you into a puzzle or a game of Catan, Jr! Speaking of puzzles, if board games aren’t Madeline’s passion (yet! We haven’t given up!), puzzles certainly are! So while you may not be able to challenge her to a game of Risk, you could certainly ask her to piece together a jigsaw and she would happily oblige (in fact, if you’ve enjoyed our puzzle collection at all, you have her to thank for that!).
We’re so thankful for Madeline and the cheerful spirit she brings to the store regularly – you may not get much game advice from her, but you’re guaranteed to have walked out of our store with a smile if you interacted with Madeline! Thanks for managing our madness, Madeline!
Next up for owner introductions we have – Matthew! He works hard keeping our building ship-shape with his tech and handyman skills, and can often be seen around the Grayland working on his never ending to-do list.
His knowledge and love of TCGs has him frequently sorting and counting hundreds of cards and has unofficially made him “The Card Guy” for any and all questions regarding them. When he’s not patching the roof or counting cards, you’ll find him playing games with friends. His favorites being D&D, Star Wars Legion, Pokémon, and 3000 Scoundrels to name a few. Speaking of scoundrels, he’s been known to play the part when it comes to winning a game. Not downright dishonest, mind you, but meticulously plotting his next move, looking for any loopholes or ways to break the game. He also holds the world record for Longest Turn-Taker. (Don’t bother looking that up, you know it’s true.)
Matthew has dreamed of opening a game store for years, frequently hosting game nights and D&D campaigns from home for nearly twenty years now. When the opportunity arose to open a store alongside his friends he jumped right in with both feet. And now, with lots of blood, sweat, tears, (and maybe a few gray hairs) here he is – finally living that dream!
Our next owner post, introduced on her birthday no less, we have – Angela! She’s our very own Pepper Potts if you will, always running numbers and managing our finances, taxes, bills, etc… And is our ambassador to the various accountants and attorneys that come with owning a business. Very behind the scenes stuff, but very important nonetheless – no one wants to play board games with no electricity in the building!
Having an eye for numbers is helpful in her line of work, but she also has an eye for art and has added a few of her personal touches to our space. If you’ve enjoyed the mural in our party room or our “selfie wall” in the hallway, she’s the one behind it, spending hours planning and painting to make our place special. But wait! There’s more! Angela has also written several murder mystery stories (Minus the Murder) that we’ve used in our mystery parties. They’re always a hit, and we are quite impatiently waiting for the next one! (Coming this fall!)
Angela has a passion for games of all sorts. Card games or board games, simple or complex, hot-off-the-press or tried-and-true, she’ll play them all! (Except for Monopoly… never Monopoly.) Angela and her husband have hosted game nights from their home for many years, often outgrowing her dining room table, and never having enough time to play.
Opening a game store has had a place in her heart for ages, wanting a place for people of all walks, passions, and level of nerd-ness to be able to come together and make friends around the table. (Or many tables, depending on how big your group is!) We’re so glad she’s a part of our team, The Guilded Grayland would be a sad, dark place without her! (Literally and figuratively!)
Last but certainly not least of the owner introductions, we have – Philip! Our honorary software guru, Philip single handedly built the app we use for our board game library system and works hard, keeping our website running as smoothly as possible. He also manages all of our inventory and makes sure we have the right games at the right times, often placing orders months in advance to ensure we have everything we need by release date.
The nerd is strong with this one! His love for board games is almost outmatched by his love for Star Wars, and when those two worlds collide – perfection! (As long as the game designers get the lore correct!) He’s a rather strict rule-follower and can often be found huddled over the rule book, making sure a game is played correctly. Because after all, a world without rules is chaos!
He’s the one who headed up our Saturday morning Pokémon tournaments. Originally for his kids to have a place to play, it has quickly become well loved by our Pokémon community. Actually, his kids needing a place to play Pokémon is the tiny pebble that started this whole avalanche that we now know as The Guilded Grayland! Like his fellow Graylanders, opening a game store has been on his heart for ages, and then one day, something just clicked. He needed a safe, welcoming place for his kids, as well as other members of the gaming community, to be able to come together, and he needed it NOW. “That’s it! We’re opening a game store!” …And the rest is history.
We have one more member of the team we need to introduce! (If you notice this post is the longest by far, don’t tell the other Graylanders. We don’t want them to know this one’s our favorite!)
If you’ve been to The Grayland, you’ve probably seen his 3-ft, hot pink, paper mache self with his goofy grin and eyes that may or may not follow you around the room. And you might have wondered why he was there. Allow us to tell you the mysterious story of Gary the Grayland Bunny.
The building you now know as The Guilded Grayland is a collection of spaces, some dating back 120 years. The whole 50,000 (ish) sq ft space is full of stairways, hidden rooms, and even an entire bathroom we discovered after a month of owning the building! Exploring the space was a favorite past-time when we first moved in.
One day, Angela and Madeline were venturing up a tiny staircase whose only light shines through a small window at the top of the stairs. At the top was an abandoned storage room with a tiny crawl-through to an attic. Feeling adventurous, Angela wanted to see what was through that door, so out came her flashlight! As she crouched, poking her head through the small doorway, shining her flashlight across the dusty room, she saw ceiling tiles, old A/C units, piles of old bedding and decor, but when she turned her head to the right there was . . . a hot pink bunny! His sudden appearance gave her quite a start as he was just inside the door, inches away from her face! She erupted into a fit of laughter, declaring, “Madeline, you HAVE to see this!” While Angela almost lost her life in the treacherous attempt to retrieve the bunny from his hiding place, others in far corners of the building heard only bouts of screaming and laughter coming from the mysterious upstairs. They carried him downstairs, gave him the name Gary, and officially declared him part of the team.
He has since been known to be found hiding in bathrooms, peering through dark windows, or popping up in the odd closet, giving only one or two frightful surprises. We may never know how or why he was in that room, but it’s no question: his presence has brought significant joy to The Grayland.
