A Leeds man spends more than £60,000 a year and works hard to ensure 'geeks' have a safe space in the city.
Andy Morton-Foggon, 39, said he earns “a lot less than minimum wage” to ensure fellow-geeks have a place to socialise and build friendships in his gaming café Geek Retreat, in Grand Arcade in Leeds city centre.
He spends about £60,000 on rent alone and tens of thousands more on the latest products for the shop, which sells a vast array of games, collectibles and hosts events. The store also has a seating area, where customers can purchase food and drink.
Read more: Leeds man signs up to UC so he can concentrate on becoming a rapper
The 39-year-old, originally from Shawforth in Lancashire, owns the franchise store with his wife Sarah who he lives with in Beeston. They’ve had the shop for five years.
The business came about after Andy decided to ditch his previous job in IT, after the stress of it was “killing him”. He’s said running his own business has been just as stressful - he frets over his staff's well-being, cash-flow and thieves - but it fills him with a sense of pride that he can provide a “community space” to fellow geeks.
Andy says people often confuse ‘geeks’ with ‘nerds’ however, he says the latter are derided for their academic abilities and successes. Whereas the ‘geek’ identity stems from the idea people are “overly passionate” about a hobby or an interest. It’s these types of people he’s built his business to serve and cater for.
'Community spaces'
Leeds' Geek Retreat is one of about 50 franchise stores in the country, Andy says Leeds was the fourth when he opened the shop in 2018 and they're all run as "independent businesses" which merely share the brand name and certain elements to ensure a flow of consistency.
Andy said: “A lot of people who are geeks and nerds are often ostracized. They’re not social butterflies and are on the spectrum, in some degree. Or they struggle with social situations. One of the things that helps people to build those social connections is a shared interest.
“You can sit down with somebody, you don’t have to make small talk and you don’t have to worry about coming across as a ‘bit odd’, because you’ve got a game in front of you. If you’re quiet, people will just think you’re thinking about it rather than just being ‘rude’. That helps people who aren’t the most socially inclined.
“Community spaces are incredibly important. Not just for geeks but in general. We don’t care who you are, how you look, who you sleep with, whoever – our only rule is: be excellent to each other.”
Andy says he swells with pride when he sees new people discovering Geek Retreat and getting excited and when he sees people bonding, creating friendships over a game. He says his shop doesn’t only cater for people who geek-out on games, comics and collectibles, he also has a community of knitters who attend on a regular basis.
'I earn less than less than minimum wage'
With the joys of the shop also comes immense pressures for Andy, who says he frets over the cash flow, his staff and thieves who target the store. Andy said: “You don’t get into running a gaming café for the money. Effectively, with all the hours I put in, I work for a lot less than minimum wage. That’s the nature of getting your own business up and running.
“This place is really expensive, rent and service charge comes to over £60,000 a year. For central Leeds, it’s a lot cheaper than it could have been.”
The former IT man says he stresses over paying the bills – he currently owes his landlord alone “tens of thousands”, which he cut a deal to pay back over a longer a period – making sure his six members of staff are looked after and meeting deadlines. Andy said the shop has to have a reserve of £15,000 liquid cash at all times to make sure he can afford new products which drop, and this requires planning to cover all the new ranges and sets his customers will want to get their hands on.
“Dealing with the thieves, spice heads – the joys of having a shop in central Leeds!” has also been costing him “thousands”. He says he gets a mix of opportunists and “professional thieves who case the place”.
Andy says trading card booster packs are the main target for the thieves, like for Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh cards. These retail at £3.99 each, £125 for a box, and he’s said in one day alone about £1,500 worth of booster packs were nicked from the store.
To make an omelette, a few eggs must be cracked. In this spirit, the 39-year-old is putting the work in and making the necessary sacrifices, to make sure Leeds’s geek community has somewhere to grow.
“This is a community. Like anything else we’re building a community,” said Andy.
Read next:
- Leeds Kirkgate Market traders blast food village plans and say 'it will look like prison and attract drunks'
- Salute at The White Swan review: Leeds Italian restaurant serving up colossal portions
- 10 glamorous Leeds restaurants celebrities love to visit
- Family's heartbreaking tribute to 'gentle soul' Uroy Randal as police name victim of Leeds truck tragedy
- Tesco issues urgent 'do not eat warning' as popular cheese item pulled from shelves
