Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Cron & Terry Chiu.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Robert. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Terry Chiu and I were both frustrated working in different aspects of the entertainment industry, and we were looking for some sort of change. We had been playing board and card games with friends for years, and had heard of this phenomena of “board game cafes” that had sprung up overseas and in Canada. We had the idea at the same time, and put our heads together to see if we could try to make it work out on paper.
We went through lots of different ideas and iterations; I think the business plan had over ten different drafts as we were piecing it all together. I know that our huge spreadsheet of numbers had fifteen different drafts between the first and our final opening. One of the owners of our bakery partner, Tasteful Cakes, was extremely helpful in those early stages – he had a good sense of what to look out for, what to worry about, what not to worry about, and all that. He was a great sounding board, since he had done it (i.e. created an up-and-running business) years before, though it was certainly a different economic climate when they were starting out, right before the recession. And as trite as it may sound, going to seminars with the SBA and SCORE was very helpful, too. There was a legal and labor law seminar that I went to that was an incredible resource; it helped me to draft the employee handbook and avoid a lot of pitfalls. And I think one of the most helpful resources was a two-night crash course in bookkeeping and accounting – something which I continue to use every day, as I do the books and liaise with the accountant and payroll guy.
The redevelopment office for the city of Glendale, where we ultimately settled, was also helpful once we found the space and negotiated the lease. I have to say that one often hears nightmare scenarios of building inspectors slowing everything to a halt, but we experienced very few bumps in the road; those bumps we did hit, we managed to navigate remarkably well. We were aiming for an October opening, and we were only delayed a month – which when you’re doing what is essentially a restaurant is “on time.”
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I don’t think I would ever quantify starting a small business as a “smooth road.” We had our bumps once we opened, as everyone probably does. In the beginning, you’re there ALL the time, because you HAVE TO BE. There’s no way around it. So you start to burn out; you’re always really tired and something is always happening to add to the to-do list.
And one of the things in going through the numbers and projections in the beginning that we really feared (me especially) was hemorrhaging money in payroll. Those hours add up, and those dollars add up, and on top of that you’re paying worker’s compensation insurance based on those hours, and you’re matching employee withholdings and sending to the state and the feds, so it’s more than just the money in the wage. So you burn the candle from both ends until there’s no candle left because hiring someone to do it is far more expensive than you doing it yourself, but you cannot sustain that, especially if you see growth. Thankfully we were able to expand and hire and promote based on that growth – but there are still moments even three years into this venture where I think, “I wish I could afford another set of hands right now,” or “two managers are better than one manager right now.”
One of the hardest parts has been hiring – and then retaining – staff. It’s Los Angeles, its 2017, and everyone has a side hustle going on. No one moves here saying they want to make decaf lattes all day long; they want to be the next Jim Morrison or Meryl Streep. So you get applicants who are either going to school part (or full) time, and can’t commit, or people looking for another job to supplement their hours from elsewhere, or whatnot, and then all of that becomes a part of the scheduling puzzle. Even getting people IN THE DOOR to interview is tough – there was a time last year where Terry called applicants on a Wednesday afternoon, set up five interviews for that Friday afternoon, and only one of them bothered to show up. That’s a 20% attendance rate, on appointments made less than 48 hours prior, with no phone calls or emails or anything to postpone or reschedule. We’ve had people do great in an interview, to whom we offered positions, who then suddenly disappear or fail to call back to accept; we’ve had people who accepted, and then they “mysteriously” get “another job offer” that they “somehow neglected to mention” in their interview, call to say they weren’t coming in two hours before their first shift; the whole deal. So even finding people can be a hassle – and then the ones who do come through the door, you pray that they aren’t serial killers.
But it’s not just finding them, it’s keeping them. The good ones never last as long as you’d like, and the lesser ones seem to linger on far too long than you need them. I wish we could pay the good ones better to incentivize their tenure, but if you’re an aspiring filmmaker who suddenly gets the chance to direct an indie movie, you don’t say, “sorry, I can’t, I need to be in at 8:30 on Tuesday morning at the café to clean under the espresso machine.” It’s the nature of the service industry in general, and Los Angeles in particular – there’s always a better situation just around the corner.
GameHaus – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We’re a board game café – for a flat per-person fee, you can sit down and play as many games as you’d like (in one sitting, no in-outs to eat elsewhere or come back hours later) and you can order food and drink from our café. We have a full espresso bar, as well as hot and cold sandwiches, soup of the day, homemade cookies and pies, as well as supplying sweet treats from our bakery partner Tasteful Cakes.
Food-wise, the pie is our signature – we often joke that pie was so important that we put it in our logo. Terry bakes pies fresh daily, and they usually sell out.
As far as what sets us apart, we are a strange hybrid of food service and play space; there are places in Los Angeles that have sweets, coffee, etc. but their focus is not games. Or if there are games at them, the games are an afterthought. And there are places that have games available, but there is no food – or the food there is Gatorade and Skittles and wrapped candy bars, that sort of thing. Nowhere in the area is there a café mixed with board games, and no one has a library our size that is available for public play. Our library is over 1400 different board and card games, and we started three years ago with only 650. (Only?!?) Ultimately we are a restaurant (in the eyes of the county health department, etc.) since we are in the business of food service, but a restaurant with a twist.
One of the things we are most proud of is the fact that so many people have enjoyed coming and playing here over the years; in fact, we had “regulars” in our first weekend we were opened, and some to them we still see on a regular basis. So many people have told us how special and unique this place is to them; they all share a common enthusiasm which floats through the air, and thought some people might consider this sort of niche hobby as geeky or nerdy, there is no judgment – everyone is here to enjoy the same thing, from all walks of life. We’re also proud of the fact that despite a lot of compromises and concessions and changes, the broad strokes and foundation and skeleton of what we wanted to create are here. The core essence was realized, and that’s a great feeling.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I think in this vein, success would be sustainability – and that’s something that we’re constantly wary of, particularly in this economic and political climate. A great fear in the beginning was that people wouldn’t “get it” when we opened – that it was too niche, or too offbeat, or that it would be a phase, or fad, or flash in the pan. The fact that we’ve not only survived, but have been adapting and growing, is in and of itself a successful feat. The trick is that it’s a very fine balance, especially because (as I’ve told people before) it never gets cheaper to do this; each year it gets more expensive. Rent goes up. Insurances go up. Wages go up. More hires mean more hours means more payroll money rolling out. So being able to afford those extra rises in expenses, as well as stuff that creeps up unexpectedly that you didn’t have a budget for that is a big deal.
Pricing:
- Per person gaming is $5.00
- $3.00 gaming per person on Tues through Thurs before 4:00 PM
- Reservations can be made (but never the same day) and on Fri through Sun, reserve seats are $10.00 each
Contact Info:
- Address: 1800 S. Brand Blvd., #107
Glendale, CA 91204We are in the Seeley Building, which is at the corner of Brand Blvd., and San Fernando Road. Our actual entrance is on the San Fernando side of the building, despite the Brand address… - Website: www.gamehauscafe.com
- Phone: (818) 937-9061
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gamehauscafe/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GameHausCafe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/GamehausCafe
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/game-haus-cafe-glendale
Image Credit:
Marcus Anthony Photography, LLC.
