Growing up, Sherman Sanders would always go to his local comic book store and check its bulletin board.

Tacked with cards filled with names and numbers, the paper messages were the best way to find people who shared his interest in comic books and games — specifically Magic: The Gathering, a collectible card game that was released in 1993, the year after Sanders graduated high school.

"A lot of my good friends, I found them on a message board," said Sanders, who co-founded Fort Collins' Gryphon Games & Comics with his wife, Liana, in 2005. "That was pre-Internet, of course."

Now things are different. With shops like Sherman's facing competition from online retailers, many are struggling to stay afloat, he said.

Earlier this month — facing an imminent sale or closure — Gryphon's board of directors voted to move the business to a cooperative, or co-op, model to keep it open.

The final decision came just a few months after Dungeons & Drafts, a medieval-themed gaming tavern and popular gathering place for Fort Collins' geek community, closed over unpaid back taxes.

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'It's never been an easy business'

Only two dedicated game- and geek-centric gathering spots remain in Fort Collins: Haunted Game Cafe and Gryphon Games & Comics.

"There's a lot of stuff going on in our industry," Sanders said of competition from Amazon, which inked a direct partnership deal last year with Wizards of the Coast, the Hasbro subsidiary that sells Magic: The Gathering.

"It's never been an easy business. There's never been a ton of money in games and comics," Sanders said. "But I think we have a lot of other stuff to offer. We obviously have something else that we've beat (Amazon) on."

Gryphon is located in a deceptively large retail space near the intersection of Drake Road and Shields Street. In addition to an expansive shop lined with comic books and stacked with games, it also houses the cozy Purple Cup Cafe and a network of rentable rooms where groups can gather.

"I think it’s a pillar of people’s lives ... where they can meet new people, they can hang out with friends, they can go see the same faces," Sanders said. "We have a lot of people who don’t necessarily get out much. Some of our customers ... this might be the only social interaction they have for the day.

"I think that’s important to have," he added. "To have a place where they can come in and feel comfortable."

The shop's customers seemed to agree.

Community steps up to prevent closure

With Gryphon eyeing a possible closure, roughly 180 customers stepped up and bought in to the business's new model as co-op members. Memberships range from a "Lion" membership, with a $100 buy-in, to an "Eagle" membership, with a $5,000 buy-in.

Another 80 customers bought investor shares in the business, Sanders said.

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Once the deal is formalized, Sherman and Liana Sanders will go from co-owners to board members as Sherman continues managing the shop.

"We could have tried to sell the store, but what I really wanted to do was maintain the culture here, and I thought the best way to do that was to get the community involved," he added. "I'd love to see the store here another 20 years, and I think the co-op model has a better chance of surviving."

The community response to Gryphon's co-op idea was similar to the one that came after Dungeons & Drafts announced its closure this summer. After hearing from shocked customers, the tavern's owner put up a GoFundMe campaign that raised about $35,000 in donations.

Ultimately, it wasn't enough to cover its more than $50,000 tax debt, and the tavern never reopened.

'The most generous community that I've ever seen'

"(Dungeons & Drafts) was a common hub, for sure," said Nick Armstrong, one of the co-creators of Fort Collins Comic Con.

While many gamers can easily play at home with their friends, the tavern offered a place where they could meet new people and play a game over beer.

Armstrong, alongside Nate Scott and Poudre River Public Library District's Paula Watson-Lakamp, conceived the idea of Fort Collins Comic Con five years ago, putting on the first ever local "con" in 2015.

"We knew there were geeks up here because they came out for things like the Zombie Crawl," Armstrong said of the now-defunct Old Town Halloween tradition.

Roughly 500 people were expected at Fort Collins Comic Con that first year, Armstrong recalled. About 1,800 attendees showed up.

Fort Collins Comic Con just celebrated its fifth annual event this summer. In total, it has raised $120,000 for the Poudre River Public Library District.

"The geek community in Fort Collins is the most generous community that I’ve ever seen, and it’s cross collaborative. It’s across every industry, it intersects race, gender, sexual identity ..." Armstrong said.

"It wasn’t the beer that brought people to (Dungeons & Drafts) in the first place," he added. "It rallied the community around a thing. Each of the stores have their own crowd, but (Dungeons & Drafts) brought those all together."

With Gryphon Games & Comics remaining open as a co-op and The Haunted Game Cafe recently acquiring a license to sell beer and wine, members of Fort Collins' geek community have options.

But if that ever changes, Armstrong said he thinks the community will compensate and find a place to game and congregate.

"Somebody would decide to pick up the reins," Armstrong said. "Ultimately, it's up to the community to rally and find someone to carry that torch."

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