Meet Edgar Garcia and Israel Roldan of World-8

Today we’d like to introduce you to Edgar Garcia and Israel Roldan.

Edgar and Israel, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It really happened by chance, we’d always collected and traded games but in 2011 we came across the retail space on Vermont after the previous business closed in the middle of their lease, we agreed to take over and with minimal changes and set up shop. We both had the idea that this was a temporary thing, but as we gained more customers and trades our inventory grew.

We also started local tournaments. Then came the request so we ventured into new games and consoles.

Six years later we’re still here and very happy to be serving the local gaming community.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s a constant struggle. although we don’t have the same problems we did when we first opened the constantly changing industry makes it difficult to stay competitive. With our competitors being huge chains like Gamestop, Best Buy, and Amazon we’ve had to find more creative ways of getting people to come into the store. It helps that we try to be involved with the community as well as participating at every convention that caters to our demographic. You’ll usually find world-8 at Anime Expo, Comikaze, L.A. and Long Beach Pride. Wherever they’ll let us set up.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about World-8 – what should we know?
World-8 is a video game store first. That being the least lucrative part of the business.

We’ve since began repair services, event hosting, and importing collectibles.

We’re very proud and often surprised when we have tourist from Europe, Asia, and Latin America come to the store because they’ve read articles or simply googling “best video game store in Los Angeles”

I’m especially proud of the many stories our customers tell us about the golden age of video game stores and how happy they are we’re trying to keep a dying industry alive.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
So many people have contributed, from the friend who helped us name the store while I was still working at a local coffee shop, to our sister Monse who ran the store while Izzy and I were at our “day jobs”

Our landlord who has been very patient with the rent checks. Our parents whose garage served as a stock room for the first couple of years, and our neighbors. I still recall the evening I was home when I got a Facebook notification from a neighbor saying they’d heard glass shatter. Without hesitation, I rushed over and on my way got a call from the alarm company.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1057 S. Vermont Ave.,
  Los Angeles, CA 90006
• Website: world-8.com
• Phone: 213-389-5212
• Email: info@world-8.com
• Instagram: world8_la
• Facebook: world8la
• Twitter: world8_

Image Credit:
Polygon.com
Thingstodoinla

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