Meet George Caceres

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

Hi George, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I had always dreamed of opening a board game store ever since I was a teenager and was lucky enough to open one up in my early 50’s. My wife and I love to stop into board game stores whenever we travel and saw the board game cafe model for the first time in Seattle, Washington, a store named Meeples. It is a welcoming space with a small menu of food, serving beer and wine as well. The place is more about the game playing than the food and we really enjoyed the spot. In Philadelphia, we found a store called Board and Brew and they focus more on the food than the gaming, but had a large library of games to choose from. Skipping ahead a few years later, my wife found a neglected building in the Chatsworth area of California and we decided to open and run a board game cafe that fell somewhere between the two stores in Seattle and Philly. We did this as a passion project and the feedback and support from the community has been fantastic and heart warming since we have opened.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
When we first started I really thought it would be mostly gamers coming in to play games and maybe grab a bite to eat or get some coffee, but it has become much more than just a gaming space. It’s a place where people can come to connect through board gaming, good food, and great coffee 🙂 Where they can be themselves and feel included and welcomed. The thing that set us apart is that we try to be genuine and are interested in making connections just as much as our customers are. We love new players that come in and haven’t heard of modern games such as Settlers of Catan, Splendor, and Cascadia… and then to open them up to the board gaming world is such a joy! Board games have so many social benefits, that we are so excited to share the gaming world with our customers.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would, of course, take them to Game n’ Grounds to hang out with the board game meetup group that is there every Friday night. I would go to Hollyweird to show them the iconic spots such as the Chinese theater. Up to the Griffith Observatory, through the trails in Malibu State Park. I would head to Hippo, an amazing restaurant in Los Angeles, and mostly likely take them to Six Flags for some roller coaster fun. Id take them to other game stores as well, such as BGE Tabletop, Fire and Dice, and Geeky’ Teas.
My favorite restaurants Los Fuentes, Gus’s BBQ, and Cafe Sole.
I would also take them to Exposition Park, Topanga Social and all the shops around the Westend Chatsworth Arts District.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would start with my wife, Angharad. If it wasn’t for her support and vision for the store, it would not be what it is today. We wanted a welcoming space for gamers and non-gamers to connect and enjoy…because of Angharad’s design sense the store is open, welcoming and elegant. We also hired a great crew that got us started out on the right foot, from our kitchen menu, to the management of the store and setting up all the procedures and store policies, we were lucky to have a great starting crew of 7 that came together to help build the foundation for what the shop is today. And a big thank you to the community who has supported Game n’ Grounds for it’s first two years and continue to give their love and support for our store. They have been the reason we opened the doors in the first place and to see our customers connect and forge friendships because of the space is amazing!

Website: https://gamengrounds.com/

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

Other: https://discord.com/invite/kPPUASYBHm