Guild House Games: A Game for Everyone

About three years ago, Danny Perez got an idea.

He was the manager of Radio Shack in Durango, and the company had recently filed for bankruptcy. Danny’s wife had mentioned that Durango needed a game store, so he started looking into it. He soon realized that this could be a viable new career path.

Danny’s first stop was the SBDC. They guided him through the business plan and loan application process, and in May of 2017, Guild House Games was born.

Guild House Games currently resides inside the historic Main Mall, and the business specializes in board games, collectible card games, collectible minis, miniatures, paints, puzzles, puzzle games, Ugears, and Legos. They really do have a game for everyone!

The game shop has a very diverse client base. They pride themselves in carrying products for everyone, from heavy gamers to those just looking for something to do on family night. They also have games for every genre including classic, mystery, adventure, RPG, miniature, and strategy games.

Before launching Guild House Games, Danny spent countless hours researching other game stores. “When I looked into why these types of stores fail, I found that many of them lacked diversity in their product mix and become stale. That meant that when the main product experienced a down period, they couldn’t recover.”

To counter this trend, Danny committed to creating an ever-evolving business model. Last year, they focused heavily on building their selection of children’s games. Now they have a good selection of games for kids ages three and up. This year, they added to their Ugears collection, bringing in more than 80% of that product line. They also added Lego to their product list.

The store is still in its infancy and has navigated an array of challenging situations over the past few years, from its first autumn to drought to fire to the pandemic. Through it all, Danny has worked hard to build a resilient business. He says, “We continue to look at the big and small stores to see what they are doing and get ideas on what we can do better.”

The store is currently experiencing a great highlight. They expanded their retail store into what was their large game room. This has provided positive responses and reactions from their customers! They have even started looking for larger locations to accommodate their new vision. In addition, they are currently working on a web store, so they can put their entire inventory at their customer’s fingertips for curbside and delivery.

Danny is quick to note that his new team members are another highlight. Kate has been with the company for more than a year and is thriving in the environment they have created together. Aidan has been with the company for almost a year, and his knowledge has been a big part of taking the business to new heights. Danny encourages other business owners, “Don’t be afraid to train your people to be you.”

One of the biggest challenges presented by the pandemic has been the cancellation of nightly events. Although the nightly events resumed in June, they were again canceled in November. Please follow Guild House Games on Facebook to get the most recent updates.

Through it all, Danny and the Guild House Games team are grateful for the steady support from SBDC. “Our local SBDC is always available when we have a question and need something explained to us. A great example is that I was able to stop by and ask Mary about the current loans, so I could determine if we needed to apply.”

Danny enjoys retail and gives this bit of advice: “Retail is a difficult business to be in. Margins are always shrinking, making it difficult to stay profitable. Have a plan and don’t be afraid to stick to it. Look ahead and be proactive when dealing with upcoming challenges. Do not be afraid of change, it is a constant in retail and the gaming industry. You have to be able to move with change and adapt.”

Gleason Bison: Raising Bison

In 2010, Sarah Gleason discovered that she wanted to raise bison. She was living in Durango and working as a marketing assistant for Zuke’s (yes, the dog treat company), and she became interested in agriculture and livestock. “I visited a bunch of bison operations,” she says, “and I was hooked.” Throughout the process, she discovered holistic management, which is a decision-making framework that works in sync with nature to raise animals in a way that

Read More »
MUNIRevs: Creating a Nexus

In 2011, Erin Neer had finally found a solution. Erin, who is a CPA, was working as a finance director for a municipality in Colorado. During her tenure, she began to see that many municipalities, cities, counties, and states throughout the country were struggling to streamline their tax collection and licensing processes for businesses within their communities. Most jurisdictions were using antiquated methods that involved manual calculations, paper coupons, extensive mail processing, and frequent runs

Read More »
Ignited Imagery

In 2006, La Plata County Sheriff’s Deputy Andy Wingerd received a simple gift. It was a six megapixel camera from his mother. Little did he know that it would change his life. He started taking photographs, and several of them sold in a gallery in Bisbee, Arizona. He became obsessed. For the next ten years, he continued taking photos and videos and practiced editing them. In 2014, Ignited Imagery was born. He worked at the

Read More »
Fast Signs

By Christine Rasmussen When Durango-based Fast Signs owner Laurie Sigillito asked SBDC Director Joe Keck if he could spare an hour to offer feedback on an upcoming sales presentation, Keck had a better idea: Why not have a panel of advisors from the Business Advisors Network listen to her pitch? The Business Advisors Network (BAN) is comprised of 25 business counselors with wide and varied areas of expertise. Clients can meet individually with an advisor

Read More »
Pagosa Verde

Pagosa Verde is the only Public/Private partnership in the State of Colorado for geothermal development. It involves Pagosa Verde, a privately owned business, the United States Department of Energy, the Colorado Energy Office, the Town of Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County. This unique collaboration also combines technical assistance and funding from the Southwest Colorado Small Business Development Center and Region 9 Economic Development District of SW Colorado coming together to assist in the development of

Read More »
Wily Carrot

Kellie Pettyjohn is the proud owner and founder of The Wily Carrot, an organic farm located in Mancos, CO. She came to the lovely Mancos Valley in 2010 via Washington, D.C., to pursue an idyllic lifestyle, work with her hands in the outdoors and become her own boss. Kellie first got her hands dirty when she tended to two acres of vegetables on Dave Banga’s farm in Montezuma County. She interned with him for a

Read More »
Skip to content