Hobby Shop Welcomes Gaming Community Back For In-Store Play
/Local hobby store Dueling Grounds is open again for in-store play, welcoming its tight-knit community back together after a long separation due to COVID-19.
Wayne Mittelstaedt (pictured) opened Dueling Grounds in Toronto for over a decade before moving to Peterborough. The store had its grand opening in town on July 2, 2017. Photo by Angela O’Grady.
The store is located at 304 George St N Unit 200 and holds the largest selection of new and used tabletop games in Peterborough.
Since its opening in 2017, players have flocked to the store to play games such as Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game, Dungeons and Dragons, Magic the Gathering, Pokémon and Warhammer.
When the pandemic hit, owner Wayne Mittelstaedt closed the store and quickly shifted to curbside pickup and delivery only.
“My passion has always been to create a community, bring people together and to play games. That’s why I opened the store,” said Mittelstaedt. “To lose that part of the business was really disheartening. It was a real struggle just to stay open. We were just trying to survive.”
The store has ran several charity events such as food drives and cancer fundraisers. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
When restrictions lifted and he was able to reopen the store to shoppers, he was hesitant to invite gamers in for play. As someone who is immunocompromised, he was unsure how safe he felt re-opening.
“We’ve had some setbacks. We’re re-opening a lot later than a lot of other places,” he said. “ The space itself is working against us because we’re a unit inside of another so we don’t have windows we can open. We have to now rely on the AC units for airflow.”
Solomon Skuljicak (left) and Joshua Butcher (right) playing the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game at the store’s weekly tournaments. The store hosts several weekly events and tournaments for several card and tabletop games. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
