Meet Charles Boyer | Manager of Sales, Service, Advertising, Personnel, and Purchasing

We had the good fortune of connecting with Charles Boyer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Charles, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The most important factor is customer service. 100%. We provide not just the products that people want, which in retail sales is important, but more importantly we provide a safe space for people of all ages, backgrounds, beliefs, and identities to come together, be themselves, and have fun. We have a diverse team that all individually have their own areas of expertise, giving virtually every customer someone to talk to about their specific Geek needs or interests. Every customer is treated like a friend, regulars are treated like family, and everyone is treated with respect.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The thing I am most proud about our business is what we have become in the community. Outside of bars or the park, Burleson has few places that are a safe place to just hang out. We give a clean, safe, fun environment for anyone to come in and be themselves. We charge nothing to come in, sit at a table, soak up the A/C, and enjoy the company of friends, old and new. We provide demo games alongside the product we sell. We keep a close watch on our game area to ensure a safe, non-hostile environment, as we will squash any issues as quickly as they arise. We encourage our players to be courteous of those around them to ensure all ages are welcome. People of all ages celebrate all sorts of things here, the local students take pictures by our front window TARDIS for graduation, senior prom, and homecoming, and our events our growing and becoming a bigger part of our community at large. We love the city of Burleson and are proud that they love us too. We have overcome a lot to get to this point. When we took the business over it had just taken over a space that used to be an antique mall, that was in desperate need of many improvements. Then a storm tore the roof off the building and destroyed 80% of our inventory. The following week Covid-19 shut everyone down. We were facing 2 disasters and had all but decided to give up. Leslie and Grace (our wives) would not let us give up and instead of using the insurance to break free and clear from it all, we doubled down and invested it into a complete rebrand and remodel. When the world opened back up, everyone needed somewhere to go. Despite a strict mask policy at the time, we were where they came. Every month it seemed like more and more people were coming, growing into the always hectic store and play space we are now. Our team grew from 4 people pre-covid, to 16 current employees. We learned that if you put the right people in the right positions, learn from mistakes, and refuse to give up, sometimes you can build something bigger than you imagined.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Burleson is a funny little city. If we were to name a few of our favorite spots to eat, many of them surround us here in the Old Town area. We regularly take our weekly business meeting/dinner right across the street at Old Texas Brewing Company (their TX Jambalaya is my personal favorite), as for Mexican food, Dos Juanito’s on Newton Street is the best in town. Pizza night, its off to Little Brother’s on Burleson Blvd. Best breakfast in town? Back to Old Town to The Porch on Wilson St. During crawfish season you’ll find us at Fish City Grill on Renfro at least once a week. As for drinks, Old Texas Brewing Company is a great choice, they have a great selection of their own beers if you are into the craft beer scene, and a rooftop area with live bands on the weekend. If you prefer a quieter smaller scene like myself, I recommend taking the short drive to Pour’d on N Crowley Rd. As for a hang out spot, if you don’t like bars and want to enjoy air conditioning, the best place to hang out is our store, or if you prefer video games over table top games, our neighbors Desh Gaming Lounge have a few dozen gaming stations from vintage to modern (including VR) video games. On the south side of town is the always fun Jellystone Park and we are less than 30 minutes from all the heavy hitters in Ft. Worth and Arlington like Six Flags, professional sports, etc.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Our wives, Leslie Hallgren and Grace Boyer, have supported us on this crazy journey. When we quit our “normal” jobs they each told us “if it makes you happy, go for it”. When we first came out of the gate and weren’t getting the traction we needed, they pushed us to not give up. When the store was demolished in a storm and we almost decided to just give up, they were our biggest cheerleaders to encourage us to rebuild, and they helped us design the rebranding and rebuilding of the store. Thanks to their encouragement and input during the rebuild, the store is now just as successful as we knew it could be. If it weren’t for our wives pushing us to keep going and make it better at every opportunity, we would have shut the doors years ago.

Website: GeekOutTX.com

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