| SimplyUnlucky |
| 2307 Oakdale Rd Ste 703 Modesto, CA 95355 (209) 857-2805 |
| Website |
Welcome to 2020! We’re ringing in the new year with a Featured Official Tournament Store (OTS) that you may have heard of before! Their business as a game store may only be 5 months old, but their brand has been around for over 10 years as a popular YouTube channel, specializing in Yu-Gi-Oh! content, with over half a million subscribers! Coming from Modesto, California, our January 2020 Featured OTS is SimplyUnlucky!
SimplyUnlucky’s involvement with Yu-Gi-Oh! through its YouTube channel, created in the owner a real desire to become an OTS! “I always wanted my own store and we had a pretty good following, so I knew it was something that could last a long time,” says SimplyUnlucky’s owner, Roman Grothaus. So, he did some crowdfunding to open the store.
But mixing the YouTube channel with managing a business was more challenging than he initially thought. “Being a store owner is interesting because I was hoping to create content with SimplyUnlucky [the channel] while managing the store, but we couldn’t make videos for a few months and it was a bigger task than I first imagined! As I worked through it, the job is one of my favorite things. By recording content at the counter of the shop we’re able to get back into YouTube now that I’ve figured out how to manage my time!”
“It’s really cool to me, it lets me know that we’re making a difference in people’s lives.”
– Roman Grothaus, Owner
And it’s reaped its rewards as the audience from the SimplyUnlucky’s Youtube channel can also visit the SimplyUnlucky store! “We have some long-time viewers [as customers]. It’s really cool to me, it lets me know that we’re making a difference in people’s lives,” remarked Roman. Both game store owners and content creators would probably agree – having an impact in people’s lives is a satisfying goal!
And with any OTS, bringing new players into the game is important for keeping the player community active. Their channel has been instrumental in bringing in kids and the more casual player. Roman explained that he “really tries to make SimplyUnlucky a place where new players can learn. We keep them updated on new cards, so they know what cards they want to play. We [SimplyUnlucky staff] all have a good idea of how the game works. We know what level the players are at. We can push them in a direction on where to go. I try to bring them into a light where Yu-Gi-Oh! isn’t complicated and doesn’t have to be a game of chess.” Roman also mentioned that “the best way to introduce new players, and sometimes the parents too, to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME is with Speed Duel.” That method has proven so successful that families make up most of the store’s Speed Duel sales.
SimplyUnlucky also reaches out to the community at large to acquire new players, as well. They work with some after school programs and do Career Days at two local high schools! They have also worked with teachers who are looking for educational games for their students and are currently reaching out to the local library in the hopes of running some programs there.
Since SimplyUnlucky started as a Yu-Gi-Oh! YouTube channel, it only follows that the store would be centered around the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME, as well. “I had a customer say that they felt like a second-class citizen in other stores that center on other card games.” Their customers, and viewers alike are fortunate to have a place that focuses on their game of choice to play and shop at. About the player community, Roman said, “I think our Yu-Gi-Oh! community has been growing every day. We have new players, casual collectors, casual players and competitive players alike. Yu-Gi-Oh! players will always feel at home in our shop. We will push the boundaries for what a Yu-Gi-Oh! shop is capable of.”Congratulations to our Featured OTS for January 2020, SimplyUnlucky!
