? Who are you?

We are Stephen and Carina Walsh, husband and wife and owners of Geek Retreat

? What does your business do?

Geek Retreat is an entertainment retailer specialising in ‘geek culture’. We have bricks and mortar stores which sell merchandise, like comics, toys and games, and serve food and drinks like burgers and milkshakes. But we also specialise in holding events for our customers, like trading card games tournaments, comic book signings and video games release parties. The idea is that customers stop in, stay and play. So we stock a great selection of free-to-use graphic novels & video games too. We continue our community online, at www.geek-retreat.com, where we post the latest geek news and reviews, sell our products and offer online booking for our in-store events.

? Where are you based?

We opened our inaugural store in Glasgow city centre. It’s our home city and benefits from Glasgow’s burgeoning geek community. When this store proved successful we opened a second store in Newcastle. We wanted to test the English market and trial our model at distance, and knew that there is a strong geek market there too. With both these stores running successfully under managers, we developed an attractive franchise opportunity. We’ve had an overwhelming response to this and have three franchise stores opening across the UK later this year, with applications continuing to arrive for more.

How did you get started?

We bootstrapped Geek Retreat initially. With our first baby on the way, we re-mortgaged our home to afford our ‘cosy’ basement premises on Union Street. It was certainly a ‘fixer-upper’! But the location is ideal, so it was worth it.

We kept in employment as long as we could, with evenings and weekends given over to writing the business plan and getting the store ready. We even had to cancel staff interviews when Carina went into labour! The pressure was really on with a new baby to support, and the long hours required in the early days - the stores are open till 9pm most evenings - were particularly onerous. But it did mean that failure was not an option, which really focuses the mind.

What is your background?

Stephen has an Honours Degree in Business Economics and a working background running direct sales and recruitment companies. Carina’s degree is in Communications and Mass Media, after which she worked in television production and multimedia content production.

? What is your top tip?

Prepare to take action. Preparation and attention to detail is important, but at some point you need to take the plunge and just go for it, otherwise you risk missing the opportunity.

? How long has your business been running?

Three years. We opened on May the 4th, which is International Star Wars Day… May the 4th be with you!

? Has anyone helped you get started and how?

We’ve had invaluable support from Entrepreneurial Spark, to which we were accepted in August 2014, just as we were opening our Newcastle store. Because their focus is on growing businesses, they really encouraged us to explore the best ways for us to take Geek Retreat forward at scale. They’ve been crucial in our decision to franchise and continue to support us as we welcome our first franchisees on board.

We’ve also been supported with a Scottish EDGE award. They awarded us £30,000 in 2015 to develop our franchise opportunity, which has proven crucial to attracting our first franchisees.

? Who was/is your mentor/or inspiration?

We’ve recently begun being mentored by Tarak Ramzan, Managing Director of Quiz Clothing, who we were matched with via the Entrepreneurial Scotland Mentoring Programme. Tarak is a hugely experienced retailer and businessman who’s committed to helping young entrepreneurs. Even this early in our relationship we’re finding that his advice is revolutionising the way we look at our business, and how we communicate with staff and customers to achieve our goals for the business. It really feels like his input is taking Geek Retreat to the next level.

? Where do you plan your business to be in five years time?

In five years’ time, we’ll have 20-30 franchised Geek Retreat stores across the UK, with an online customer base in the millions. We’ll be opening flagship franchised Geek Retreat stores in key European territories too.

? Contact Details

info@geek-retreat.com