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Sept. 18, 2019

Game Chest has outgrown its location again.

The popular game business is moving out of the Jones421 Building, where it has occupied two different spaces since 2018. Its new home will be at 409 S. Second Ave., which will allow it to expand its offerings and inventory.

“We have outgrown our space because we’ve been so successful in the Jones building,” said Amanda Wermers, who owns the business with her husband, Ben.

The new 2,700-square-foot space allows them to remain downtown, have about 20 parking spaces accessible in the evening and have their own entrance, “which is pretty big for a destination business like ours,” Wermers said.

“And we really love that it’s built out in a way that already had offices, so we’re keeping that, and we’ll have a party room with three private gaming rooms, a tournament space and a casual board game space.”

They hope to apply for a license to sell beer before the end of the year, she added.

“We definitely see increasing inventory,” Wermers added. “The last year has been a lot of refining and figuring out what our community really likes, but our goal is to add a hobby rack – a full rack of paints and paint brushes and glue and all these things people use for the hobby of painting miniatures, which is really big in our community.”

While it won’t be coming right away, it’s among the goals for the business, she said. Other goals include adding murals inside the building, including in the private gaming rooms.

“We’re hoping to paint a mural on the outside wall next spring,” she added. “We’re hoping to turn it into a community project where people can come paint with us. Ben and I are artists, so we want to design it ourselves and have the community help us paint it.”

Game Chest will close Sept. 27 to be at the SiouxperCon convention and then open in the new space Oct. 5.

“We’re in full-steam-ahead mode,” Wermers said.

The space at Jones421, which is the largest in the first-floor marketplace, is available to lease.