COVID-19 Update

NO IN-STORE GAMING NOV 27th 2020 - JAN 15th 2021TEMPORARY STORE HOURS REMAIN UNCHANGED

In late June we reopened our gaming tables for limited in-store gaming. Over the past 4 months there have been no serious compliance problems with anyone who participated in in-store gaming and no known spread of the virus among our in-store community. We wanted to thank all of our customers and gamers for their cooperation and compliance with our new COVID related gaming policies. However, despite the success of our limited in-store gaming we will be temporarily suspending our in-store gaming again. The final day for in-store gaming will be WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25th and limited gaming will tentatively resume FRIDAY JAN 15th 2021.

We are making this decision out of concern for our customers and community for three main reasons. First, the virus nationwide and in the local area continues to spread. More and more infections are reported daily, and hospitalizations continue to increase. As of the day of this post daily Coronavirus cases in Nebraska are 10x higher than they were when we reopened gaming in June. In fact, Governor Ricketts has imposed increased Directed Health Measures for Nebraska businesses effective today due to the increase in cases (our current gaming policies are still well within these new measures.) Secondly, we are entering flu season and of course “winter is coming”. Spending more time indoors due to the cold weather as well as the inherent sneezing and coughing caused by the regular cold and flu season increases the chance of the spread of coronavirus. Third, we are coming up on the holiday season. This is the primary concern with our current in-store gaming. Despite the pandemic we are still anticipating the significant increase in customers and sales that comes with holiday shopping. The increase in foot traffic in the store could potentially lead to greater risk of spread due to more individuals being in the store simultaneously and more shoppers who aren’t regular customers which is potentially hazardous for gamers. The increase in customers over the holidays will also make it more difficult to sanitize the gaming spaces after games while still being able to assist shoppers. In all honesty we are also concerned that in-store gaming might make some of the holiday shoppers who aren’t used to seeing people just hanging out in a store uncomfortable and we want everyone who shops with us to feel safe doing so. Additionally some folks may still choose to spend time during Thanksgiving and the holidays with their extended family and friends or attending holiday or New Year’s events. This also could potentially increase the chances of community spread.

The safety and comfort of everyone who enters our store is our top priority. We will continue to closely monitor the COVID-19 situation over the holiday break in gaming. We are hopeful that we will be able to resume our limited in-store gaming in mid January following a reasonable post-New Year’s waiting period. And with the advent of treatments and a newly announced incoming vaccine we are confident that our full gaming space and hours will resume sometime in 2021. We thank you all again for your continued support of the store and cooperation with our in-store gaming policies in these difficult times. We deeply appreciate and cherish each and every one of our customers and gamers. You are the reason we are able to live out our dreams of owning a fantastic game store and we don’t want to see anything bad happen to any of you. We hope everyone stays safe, stays healthy, and stays strong over the holiday season.

Sincerely,

Jason and Missie Kopecky

Owners, The Geek Room Hobbies and Games

Comments are closed.