Loot & XP is a business a few guys are starting up in Norman that is planning on opening Oklahoma's first "gaming cafe". This concept has done well in other states; it's basically one-third tabletop gaming retail store, one-third cafe, and one-third gaming space. If you want to use the gaming tables, there's a $5 "game pass" fee and that buys you use of the table as well as access to the store's 300-game library. You wouldn't have to pay the game pass fee to just purchase a game or order from the cafe, though. The store's focus is on traditional tabletop gaming: board games, card games, roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, and things of that nature.

They've gotten quite a bit of positive feedback from the community: they hosted several successful events at the Norman Public Library over the summer and managed to raise $15,575 on Kickstarter. They don't have a location nailed down yet, but I understand the space they're looking at is located near the Sam's Club on Main Street, in the shopping area directly to the south of the Mattress Firm and west of the Burger King. Opening is planned for October.


Kickstarter page (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/407413201/loot-and-xp-the-game-hub-of-norman/)
Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheGameOfHubOfNorman)
Norman Transcript article (http://www.normantranscript.com/ntown/game-on-the-birth-of-norman-s-first-ever-board/article_fb96978a-7143-5441-afc3-4bb34e969f76.html)
KOKH-25 story (http://www.okcfox.com/story/29796196/group-in-norman-wants-to-create-caf-centered-around-gaming)


(Full disclosure: the guys running this are friends of mine, and they're going to be stocking my business's products, so obviously, I want them to do well, but I'd think this was really cool even if I had no connection to the place. I think it will fit really well in Norman.)

They don't have a location nailed down yet, but I understand the space they're looking at is located near the Sam's Club on Main Street, in the shopping area directly to the south of the Mattress Firm and west of the Burger King.
That's got to be the saddest phrase ever written on this board.

I'm sure it will do well. Wish it could be in OKC. A ton of uco kids that can't afford rent in Edmond live around 23rd. Plus the ocu kids that can afford to live anywhere they want, which is close to school. Don't forget about the hipsters in paseo either. If they can afford whole foods they can afford Pokemon. A few of my friends in their 30's play magic on Wednesday, D&D on Thursday, and tournaments on Friday lol. I'm even making a return to table top 20 years after I left game HQ and the south side behind. I hear wizards is up to version 5 or something :eek:

Yes, that location isn't really the best one, but the way I understand it, a lot of the prime real estate in Norman is either above their budget, is too small a space (they're planning on around 1200 square feet), or the landlord simply won't rent to startup companies. I don't think it will hurt them much; even with the cafe the target market is still sort of a niche one and I doubt too much impulse walk-in traffic is to be expected. Most of their customers will have heard of them and head there as their destination. If they do well they can always move to a nicer location later, of course. I think in an ideal world they'd really like to be downtown or on Campus Corner, but the rent just can't be justified at this point.

I didn't mean to poke fun at the location I just meant the words "Main Street, mattress firm, sams club, and burger king" in one sentence was so sad.

You might pick the brain of the empire strikes guy in the Mesta park place building. He runs a seemingly successful comic book shop in a high profile space.

I wish them the best of luck.... I owned a game store for 6 years and it's a tough business but Game HQ has been around forever and seems to be doing well in their new location and DZ Comics in Moore just moved into a bigger location and appears to be doing well also.

They will have Wizards Asylum to compete with in Norman but the one time I was in there it looked like their gaming space was limited.

We sold our old dining room table to these guys as they were looking for stuff for this back in April, seemed like great guys and I wish them luck.

I think it'll be a fun place to spend a night with friends and try out new games.

OU Daily—Norman gamers finally have a home at forthcoming Loot & XP (http://m.oudaily.com/news/norman-gamers-finally-have-a-home-at-forthcoming-loot-xp/article_932f6f26-51ab-11e5-808b-f77bbc0827d4.html?mode=jqm)

OU Daily—Norman gamers finally have a home at forthcoming Loot & XP (http://m.oudaily.com/news/norman-gamers-finally-have-a-home-at-forthcoming-loot-xp/article_932f6f26-51ab-11e5-808b-f77bbc0827d4.html?mode=jqm)

What a horrible headline. Once you read the story, you find out:

"Loot & XP: The Game Hub of Norman, location still uncertain, will include numerous games from Monopoly to designer games such as Settlers of Catan, along with a café offering coffee, pastries and craft beer."

Turns out that "location still uncertain" was a good call after all—they signed a lease at a different location than the one I described above. The lease they were offered came in faster, was cheaper, and the guys felt it was a better location than the location near Sam's.

Loot & XP will be going in at the Normandy Creek shopping center on the southeast corner of Main Street and 24th Avenue SW, near Hastings, Gilliam Music, and Panera Bread. The space they are taking was once occupied by a clothing store called Ritzy Rags. Buildout is starting soon; opening is projected for early November.

http://i.imgur.com/qHNabkV.jpg

I always thought a combination comic book store/mail order bride service would do really well.


;)

I always thought a combination comic book store/mail order bride service would do really well.

Why would you want to taint the sanctity of a comic book store with marriage??? ;)

this seems like a way better location to me... -M

Being by the hastings should be good. People will do combined trips. Years ago I looked seriously into relocating my comic shop next to game HQ. Couldn't make the financials work, but I think it would have been a good thing.

Being by the hastings should be good.

Could be bad too... As a former hobby game store owner... I constantly had to deal with gamers coming to my store to use the free gaming space but purchasing all their product at the big box stores.

Some of that will be offset by the proposed table fees but those same fees might be an issue when gamers are accustomed to having free gaming areas at every other game store in town.

I'm interested in seeing how it works out for them because it's an option I considered a few times.

They're getting pretty close to opening. I dropped in to visit the owners on Tuesday and they were in the middle of interviews and their appliances were coming in. Should be open before Christmas. They had hoped to be open the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but the inspection process set them back a bit.

Announcement on FB yesterday:

"LOOT & XP IS OPENING ON SATURDAY THE 12TH AT 11AM!"

Very excited to check this place out. Should be a lot of fun.

They had a private pre-opening party for their Kickstarter backers yesterday, which I dropped in on toward the end. Unfortunately, they're still missing a few key approvals to be able to serve food (though they expect that to be taken care of in the next week or so), but the retail portion, most beverages, and the game library are up and running. The library is mind-blowingly huge, with games on upwards of a dozen shelves, most of which I've never even heard of before.

I was sick today so I didn't get a chance to visit them on their first day of actual business, but I hear that it was pretty busy and most of the tables were occupied for a good chunk of the day. The staff are having a lot of fun and I know that it's a dream come true for the owners.

They had a private pre-opening party for their Kickstarter backers yesterday, which I dropped in on toward the end. Unfortunately, they're still missing a few key approvals to be able to serve food (though they expect that to be taken care of in the next week or so), but the retail portion, most beverages, and the game library are up and running. The library is mind-blowingly huge, with games on upwards of a dozen shelves, most of which I've never even heard of before.

I was sick today so I didn't get a chance to visit them on their first day of actual business, but I hear that it was pretty busy and most of the tables were occupied for a good chunk of the day. The staff are having a lot of fun and I know that it's a dream come true for the owners.