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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Amy Martin

Enter player two: After 10 years, Reload Bar and Games is up for sale

Reload Bar and Games is up for sale after 10 years. Picture supplied

It's a bar that has held the same spot - and expanded on it - for the past 10 years.

But now, Reload Bar and Games is up for sale.

Monday's announcement came as owners Ravi Sharma, Jim Andrews and Marc Brown are in the midst of the bar's 10th anniversary celebrations.

"It was a difficult decision to make and we spent a lot of time discussing it between ourselves. But 10 years is a while if you look at the average time someone spends in a particular job," Mr Sharma says.

"We've built it into an all-singing-and-dancing operation and it's time to step away.

"We run another business which is Active Gamers Australia, which is a school holiday program childcare business, which we have three centres in Canberra and we're now looking at ... opening in Wollongong and Campbelltown. So that's going to take us away, literally physically away. So we've just decided that after 10 years it's time to make that change."

Since it opened in 2014, Reload Bar and Games - which has since expanded to include Token Arcade and Kitchen, and 1Up Pool and Karaoke - has become a popular hub for gamers of all types, with video, board, pinball and arcade games on offer, and speciality nights for things such as Uno, Mario Kart and Warhammer.

Reload Bar and Games is up for sale after 10 years. Picture supplied

The current 10th-anniversary programming includes events such as Cosplay Showcase, a Mario Kart tournament, Uno Deathmatches, themed trivia, a K-Pop Party, a hotdog festival featuring the cutest costumed Dachshund contest, Chicken Wing Festival, the popular alternative night Oh My Goth, plus a massive reggae sound system in Verity Lane.

"We've got a real good momentum, a really good name, across Canberra. Most people have heard of Reload and we've got so many events and things going on," Mr Sharma says.

"So I think somebody could really take advantage of that and new energy would be great. A new operator would probably want to put their own touches onto it.

"But we'd love for it to go forward in a similar way to what it is now."

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