Rally Point Gaming opens in West Lafayette, focusing on tabletop gaming
WEST LAFAYETTE − James Elliott has long been a gamer and wanted to share that love with others, especially the next generation, so he opened Rally Point Gaming in West Lafayette.
The store recently opened at 316 W. Main St., the former home of Dale Gress Real Estate. It sells various tabletop games, card games, role playing games, collectibles and more. This includes Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer and others.
The shop also has several game tables with specific rooms set up with custom tables for Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer. Elliott said many stores like his just have open tables for people to come in and play, but he wants to also have specific campaigns and gaming events.
Other items sold include Funko Pops and Squishmallows. Elliott wants to expand to other types of collectibles in the future like comic books, figures and even Christmas ornaments and other crafts that could be done in-store. He also want to take trade-ins at some point.
"It's a gaming store, but we want it to be for hobbying too," he said. "We want to appeal to all ages with it. So, smaller crafts for kids and more complex crafts for adults. I'm trying to get diamond art in, because I know that's pretty popular right now and you have to travel pretty far to find that stuff."
Elliott has been a gamer most of his life and he has a group of friends that participate in various role playing and tabletop games at his house regularly.
"I always thought it would be cool to have a location to advertise to others to come play with us, just try to build a larger community of people," he said. "It's an untapped market here."
He said the next closest such store to his is The Oddbox in Newcomerstown, but many gamers wind up going to Zanesville or further for games, accessories or just to find people to play with. The store has one official employee in Matt Ellis and Elliott is getting assistance from family.
"A lot of people are really happy a store like this exists here locally. I've had quite a few regulars already," he said. "I've had a big range of age come in and express interest in playing D&D, but they've never really done it."
Elliott wants to reach out to Ridgewood Local Schools, where he graduated from, and seeing about visiting students and encouraging them to give gaming a chance. He's also open to letting the store be a space for already established school groups, like the chess club.
"I just want to give kids something to do after school," he said.
Rally Point Gaming is closed Monday to Wednesday and open from 2 to 8 p.m. Thursdays, 2 to 10 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. Days and hours might expand in the future. For more information, call 740-693-4333 or find the store on Facebook.
Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @llhayhurst.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: D&D, Warhammer, Pokémon and more offered by new West Lafayette shop
