TOLEDO, Ohio — Days after Family Video said they are closing all their remaining stores, the pandemic is contributing to the closing of another longtime business in the Toledo area.
After being open for nearly 21 years, Video Game Underground will close its doors on Jan. 24.
The owner, Mike Piddock, said the decision to close up shop was a difficult one.
Video Game Underground, located on Central Ave. near McCord, has been open since 2000 and has served at least two generations of gamers.
“Back then mail ordering and ordering on line wasn’t really a thing. People were still scared to use their credit cards online,” said Piddock. “At the time, Japanese imports were a really big thing, and that’s what we opened up specialized doing.”
Video Game Underground sells video games for new and classic game systems, as well as the systems themselves.
For the last year however, foot traffic at brick and mortar stores like Video Game Underground has been reduced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Video Game Underground faced other pressures as well. Not least of which was the way players access the games.
“The industry’s changing, kind of more like digital, kind of like the movie industry, where people go on like the streaming services,” said Piddock.
The store is planning to move their products online to vgug.com as well as sell items on other online outlets.
For Piddock there is one thing he might miss the most.
“Meeting the customers face to face and actually seeing the smiles on people when they do get that game that they want or find that gem that they’ve been looking for for years.”