He works hard to make sure 'geeks' have a safe space in the city
A Leeds man spends more than £60,000 a year and works hard to ensure 'geeks' have a safe space in the city.
The business came about after Andy decided to ditch his previous job in IT, after the stress of it was “killing him”. He’s said running his own business has been just as stressful - he frets over his staff's well-being, cash-flow and thieves - but it fills him with a sense of pride that he can provide a “community space” to fellow geeks.
Andy said: “A lot of people who are geeks and nerds are often ostracized. They’re not social butterflies and are on the spectrum, in some degree. Or they struggle with social situations. One of the things that helps people to build those social connections is a shared interest. Andy says he swells with pride when he sees new people discovering Geek Retreat and getting excited and when he sees people bonding, creating friendships over a game. He says his shop doesn’t only cater for people who geek-out on games, comics and collectibles, he also has a community of knitters who attend on a regular basis.
The former IT man says he stresses over paying the bills – he currently owes his landlord alone “tens of thousands”, which he cut a deal to pay back over a longer a period – making sure his six members of staff are looked after and meeting deadlines. Andy said the shop has to have a reserve of £15,000 liquid cash at all times to make sure he can afford new products which drop, and this requires planning to cover all the new ranges and sets his customers will want to get their hands on.
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