6 Month's Later
WTF is Bootstrapping?!?
by Naief Medina-Castillo
estimated reading time: 3 mins
Can't believe that six months have passed since we decided to go full build-it & grow-it mode with the initially quiet and faint idea to open a LGS in Pawtucket, RI.
Since February, El Cardboard has grown to the point where we are getting ready to start hosting our 6th TCG in Union Arena, host our first multi-TCG tournament, and we now sell products on our very own website and in-person.
We've hosted "holy shit, we need more chairs & tables" events and we've hosted "it’s so quiet, I can hear my neighbors talking" locals. From learning how to place our orders with our "super-cool" 😉 distributors to finally meeting our UPS delivery man, it has been quite the adventure so far.
Hands down, the best part of it all has been the opportunity to connect with so many different players across all of the games we carry.
Interestingly, within the last couple weeks we've been noticing that the store name and reputation has been reaching further and further out across the NE area with players coming to visit us from CT and north of Boston. We love to see it and want to take our first chance here to thank all those who have visited and shared their experience with others.
Alright, so where is El Cardboard now, (August 16th) ...
Well, if you are reading this then you clearly know that our eStore is LIVE. All those locals that you saw my wife, Stefanie, and I sitting behind our computers, this is what we've been working on. Our goal with the eStore is to give you all more access to us because as you know we run things a little different than your traditional TCG shop. You'll now be able to ...
- Place Pre-Orders for Future Sets and Products
- Pre-Register for Events and Lock-In-Your-Spot, outside of all other apps
- Order Product for Pick-Up
- Be Able to Pay for Items w/ Shop (Pay Over 4 Payments)
- Gain First-to-See access to all of our Singles, Sealed Product and Events
So, yeah that's pretty cool and we are excited to continue iterating on what we've already done to make things even better for everyone.
Even MORE exciting news is that we are officially on-par with all incoming Bandai product releases.
When we opened up in February, we had missed putting in pre-orders for all Bandai games up until this group of incoming releases (OP08, BT17, FB03, etc.). This limited us heavily in what we could provide in terms of product selection, prizing and events. Now that we've made it through the desert phase 🏜️ of being a Bandai-heavy LGS we hope to turn this shop into the little oasis that I know many of you had hoped you found when you made your first visit.
Last little, BIG update ..
We have been talking about it for a while and we are excited to be actively working on promoting our first El Cardboard's TCG Village event. The first of these types of events will take place this Fall 2024 with several 48-128 player tournaments for various games along with a Vendor Village, full of anime-loving curators and great food. We are working hard to create a smoothly ran, fun experience for all who attend.
To be one of the first to get access when registration goes live, go ahead and create an account with us. This will put you on a Ghost Rare 👻 Cardboard list that will allow you to hear the first whispers of everything we do before anyone else.
The next edition of "the State of el Cardboard" will be released closer to the store’s very first holiday season.
We hope to bring more good news and offerings your way in the next one.
Again, thank you for taking the time to read this through all way to the end. Writing is one of the ways that I love to share, so I hope you enjoyed it.
We would not have been able to do anything without the support of all of our players, so again BIG, BIG thank you. Who knows maybe for the next one we turn this blog into a video and we do a rolling credit with all of your names because it's just been so much fun building this with you guys/gals.
For the Love of Cardboard,
Naief Medina-Castillo