If it’s all geek to you, get down to new shop

Gamers in and around Loughborough will soon have a new place to meet.

Gaming shop and cafe Geek Retreat is set to open in Market Street in the town centre this week.

Fans of Marvel, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! Warhammer and Pokémon, along with traditional board games, will be able to indulge their interests and play to their heart’s content in the cafe.

Geek Retreat, which is described as a “geek culture retailer, gaming cafe and events venue rolled into one”, has franchised stores around the UK. The Loughborough store is being opened by Sen Fewkes.

Due to open on Saturday, February 12, it will become the second Geek Retreat in the county, following the opening of a Leicester city centre branch in April last year.

It is opening in the premises formerly occupied by Poundland. The unit was divided into two, and Geek Retreat will open in the right-hand side.

Sen hopes the store, which has created eight jobs, will offer a friendly environment where people can enjoy their shared interests.

He said: “We are delighted to bring Geek Retreat to the heart of the Loughborough community. It offers something very different on the high street – a place to play and have fun, but also somewhere safe, inclusive and where all people, regardless of whether they have a love of geek culture and games or not, can meet, make friends and importantly, have a space they can feel welcomed in.”

Geek Retreat began in 2013, when its founder, Stephen Walsh, opened the first store in Glasgow. The company is on track to open a total of 100 stores this year.