Sited on Church Crescent and providing five local jobs, it offers the community a safe, friendly environment where people can come and enjoy their shared interests. Fans of Marvel, Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! to Warhammer and Pokémon – and even traditional board games, are welcome at the store and can meet and play their hobbies in the café.

Customers can enjoy a high-quality menu with vegetarian, vegan and kid’s options, ensuring there’s something to suit everyone’s taste, which has been developed in partnership with leading food service firm, Booker.

Making sure that Geek Retreat provides an inclusive, welcoming, and social environment for its more vulnerable customers, like those on the autistic spectrum, or with mental health issues is also extremely important. It has a national partnership with the National Autistic Society, and locally supports The D&G Queerier, LIFT D&G, and Dumfries Gamers.

Samuel Glendinning, franchise owner at Geek Retreat Dumfries, said: “We are excited to have opened our doors and be bringing something new and different to the Dumfries Town center and to the local community. A safe and inclusive place to play, relax, have fun and make friends, where they can share their love of all things geeky from anime and manga to trading card games such as Pokemon and Magic:The Gathering!” 

Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, added: “The opening of the unique Geek Retreat store and café in Dumfries is great news. The store proposes to offer a safe, friendly environment where people can come and enjoy their shared gaming interests as well as traditional board games.

“It is also extremely welcome that Geek Retreat provides an inclusive, welcoming, and social environment for more vulnerable customers, like those with autistic spectrum or with mental health or anxiety issues. Geek Retreat has a national partnership with the National Autistic Society, and locally supports The D&G Queerier, LIFT D&G and Dumfries Gamers.

“I have no doubt that Geek Retreat will be an invaluable asset to Dumfries and I encourage all with gaming interests to pop in and see what it has to offer. I am looking forward to going along for myself in August.”

Geek Retreat is on track to open 60 of its planned 100 new stores on high streets by the end of 2021, creating 360 jobs around the UK. The franchise is on track to meet its previously announced target of a total of 100 new stores in 2022.

Its growth is echoed by the increasing popularity of boardgames, card trading and tabletop games which make up an industry worth £8 billion in the UK and is predicted to grow by 3.1% annually over the next three years.

Peter Dobson, chief executive of Geek Retreat, commented: “The success of the Dumfries store is another step in the growth of the Geek Retreat franchise. The Geek Retreat proposition and unique culture has proved particularly resilient during the pandemic and has shown us how important it is for people to have a safe please to visit and to share their interests with friends as part of a community.”