Meet Dustin Staats | Owner of BGE’s Tabletop

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dustin Staats and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dustin, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
BGE’s Tabletop started as a podcast in Taiwan. We started our podcasting adventure with Board Gaming with English in October of 2017. At that time two of us hosted the show, Dustin and Rich. We were both teachers and we often talked about board games, video games, movies, TV shows, and all sorts of fun things. Another thing we often talked a lot about is our classes, students, and education. Both of us were very passionate about adapting ways to make learning more engaging and fun. We were constantly thinking of ways to implement creative methods into our teaching.

So, the podcast was born. The gears in our head started turning and we started brainstorming and talking about different games that could be used for language instruction. The list seemed to be endless. With Dustin’s strong background in English language education and some online business experience and with Rich’s background is in history and international educational experience the podcast was born!

The podcast shifted gears in December of 2018. We noticed a lot of educators outside of language education tuned into the show. We wanted to extend our content to listeners in the field of education. We provided great content related to the fields of board games, game-based learning, and gamification.

Dustin knew he had plans to move back to the States, so he started to consider ways to create a US-based business with his experience in education and tabletop gaming. He started to create a community of board gamers by hosting weekly events in a creative space he rented out. Unfortunately, the pandemic loomed just around the corner. Dustin completely switched gears and started an e-commerce store. The first titles BGE’s Tabletop carried were educational-based games from publishers such as Genius Games and Looney Labs. With any game we sold on our website we included complimentary learning resources like lesson plans, at-home learning guides, and activities.

And along came another shift to the business model. Dustin realized that a niche market of games for learning was too narrow for a strong business model. The approach he decided to take was to turn to a more traditional hobby store model by expanding their product line to trading card games, roleplaying games, and expanding their board game selection. As the online store continued to grow, BGE’s Tabletop started showing up at physical locations during the pandemic by selling at different markets, night markets, or other popup events.

Finally, the brick-and-mortar business model was developed by creating a unique value proposition by honing in on gateway gamers– gamers new to the hobby and youth. Almost all of our events are geared toward a beginner-friendly, casual gamer. We also lean heavy into the our youth programming by offering summer camps, Youth Dungeons & Dragons on the weekends, and afterschool programming like our Pokémon Trade and Play Meet Up!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
BGE’s Tabletop is a tabletop game store that sets itself apart from other traditional hobby game stores by doing two things:
1. Every decision we make as a store when it comes to carrying products, running events, and interacting with guests in the store focuses on ensuring we meet the guests wherever they may be in their tabletop gaming journey. This especially includes a focus on new tabletop gamers.
2. We have a heavy focus on youth and offering programs such as summer camps, Youth D&D, and Pokémon after school.

Our summer camps is the number one choice for kids who come to our store, and we often hear that the one thing some kids look forward to during the week is our Youth Dungeons & Dragons games.

Our ability to be a community that serves our customers is something I am very proud of since we’ve opened BGE’s Tabletop. Our success as a business is attributed to our staff, DMs, and others involved in the growth of our store.

Is running a game store easy? Is it all fun and games? No, not all. As much as I am passionate about what I am doing, I really try to focus on my “why.” And unfortunately, my “why” for running a game store isn’t too play games, but rather share the joy of tabletop gaming with others. Whether it was designing my own haunted house or creating games for family and friends even as a young kid, I loved creating experiences for people.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a best friend was visiting for a week I think a few :

1. If they were my friend they would probably share in some of the same hobbies as I do, so we’d likely hit up Game N’ Grounds board game cafe and play a board game or two. We’d probably hit up some other game stores as well. If they shared in the same hobby of poker as me, we may even visit one of the local casinos for a game of poker.
2. If they are runners like me, I’d probably bring them on a run along some of the amazing trails in LA including all the hiking spots around the Hollywood Sign.
3. I’d also take them to a show in LA. There are so many options to choose from which is absolutely amazing coming from and growing up in Omaha. If they enjoy some of the same music as me, we would go so a concert. If they liked comedy, we could likely choose any night of the week and find a show we would both enjoy.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife Grace is a pillar of support on my path as a human and business owner. She helps to bring out the positive aspects of myself and is a moral support when the challenges of running a business inevitably surface. She is also an amazing support with helping with things behind the scenes and my first point of advice when it comes to making any changes in the business. Her feedback is something I always rely on and she is great at helping me consider things I may not have done myself.

Website: https://www.bgetabletop.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bge_tabletop/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustin-staats/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bgetabletop

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BoardGamingwithEducation