Anthony S.
Yelp
I'll start with the good. The store is full of everything. Old, new, discontinued, they have lots. It isn't super overpriced either, which is great. Good luck finding what you need, but it's there. And this is why I'll absolutely never shop here again. The minute I walked in, the lady who works here/owns the store had eyes on me like a hawk. Dirty, accusatory look. Looked me up and down to see what I was carrying, and judged me wholeheartedly. I've never felt so profiled in my entire life. She watched me as I browsed the store. I started getting a little bit of a headache because there was just so much clutter that I couldn't really focus long enough to look around - the walkway is think and the games/books are stacked super high. At one point I just got overwhelmed with it and wanted to just get out - but was looking for some particular things and stayed to look as much as I could.
Then the lady saw me trying to put a book back, the shelf was stuffed and because I was carrying a lot, I didn't make it look seamless. She yelled to me while selling something to someone, "Just put the book back on top." I said, sorry, I was just trying to put the book back for you on the shelf and not leave it out." She said, "You're going to end up shoving it in... and damaging the cover, and that would be bad". So I just flat out put the books on the top shelf and was done with that. I was so uncomfortable with her at this point that I just decided to purchase my stuff and leave. She was not friendly in the slightest at the register either just took my stuff without a word. The only thing she said was, "You can insert your card now," and "want a bag?". Left.
I'm not one to call racism or stereotyping in the slightest, but this interaction left me extremely uncomfortable and offended. It's sad, because this type of store is my favorite thing in the world, and NYC has pretty much no others. But I'm sorry, I'm going to make it my mission to tell people to Amazon their board games and rpg stuff rather than shop here, because no one should be made to feel this way while shopping. I also know of a franchise that needs to seriously be in this city that would be a better, more organized experience with a wonderful accepting team, and after this I'm going to let them know about the lack of competition out here....because just no. =\ Not going to be cool with this, and not going to ever come in again. Not when she has her little seat right in the front door and can look you up and down the minute you enter.
Ugh, just....no. First time ever, and this is the last time I hold my tongue to someone. And the store is cluttered and confusing....so....just order your stuff unless you're bored, want to find random items, and be discriminated against while you're at it.