It’s a recent afternoon at Imperial Outpost Games in Glendale, and owner Darren Johnson is posted up behind the counter like a veteran NPC. A customer strolls up with a purchase and hits him with the question he’s heard many times recently:
“So why are you guys closing?”
Johnson doesn’t flinch. He’s been fielding that one a lot since announcing last week that the store will close its doors at the end of August, capping off a 27-year campaign. Not even rolling a nat 20 could change Imperial Outpost’s fate.
“It’s just time to move on,” he says sadly.
A laidback gaming and geek hub
Imperial Outpost has been a mainstay of metro Phoenix’s gaming scene. Located near Thunderbird Road and 51st Avenue, the 5,800-square-foot emporium is a one-stop shop for all things tabletop.
One room features floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with a wide range of board and tabletop gaming titles, as well as rulebooks, dice, paints and other gear. A larger side room is pure hangout territory, a laidback space where multiple tables have become battlefields for “Warhammer 40,000” clashes, RPG campaigns or crafting zones for miniature-painting and terrain-building pursuits.
As local gaming writer Meeple Lady described Imperial Outpost in 2018, the “vibe is chill and very friendly.”
That’s exactly how Johnson, a native of Montana and lifelong gamer, has run things for nearly three decades. Imperial Outpost first opened in August 1998 near Cactus Road and 49th Avenue, before moving up to its current home in 2002.
Local tabletop gamers Daniel Ready, left, and Lesli Hampton paint minaiatures at Imperial Outpost Games in Glendale.
Benjamin Leatherman
The store expanded over the years, gaining another 2,200 square feet with the addition of a second room for gaming and growing to its current square footage in the 2010s.
“I’ve always just enjoyed having a place where people can come and enjoy gaming,” Johnson says.
As for the name? Johnson says it’s nerdy by design, but isn’t tied to any specific empire from pop culture or geekdom.
“A lot of fantasy and sci-fi has some kind of empire, like ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Warhammer 40,000,’” he says. “We wanted something that also nodded to history, like imperial Rome or imperial China. I thought it was a good fit that represented many fandoms.”
Ending the campaign
Johnson says he decided earlier this year to close Imperial Outpost after nearly three decades for multiple reasons, including health issues.
“It’s not one thing. It’s a combination of 30 different things. I had a stroke last year and I’m fortunately recovering very well from it, but I want to get the stress out of my life,” Johnson says. “And in a small business such as this, it’s just constant stress.”
Economic factors and shifts in the gaming industry also played a role in Johnson’s decision to close. Tabletop games and RPGs are thriving, but stores like his that focus strictly on board games and minis, are getting squeezed. Competition from online retailers like Amazon doesn’t help and newer local shops have carved up his customer base.
“It’s very, very difficult to make plans and have any foresight (because) the current economic conditions are so questionable,” he says. “There’s so many new stores in the Valley right now that the customer base is getting just fragmented all over the place.”
“Unless you have a base of ‘Magic’ or ‘Pokemon,’ it’s hard to survive,” Johnson says. “And we just don’t have the capabilities to do that stuff. I don’t have expertise and I don’t have the staff that has the expertise. We’d have to reinvent the entire store from the ground up.”
Johnson plans to move back to Montana after Imperial Outpost closes at the end of August. In the meantime, everything in the store is available for a 25% discount.
“I’m full of melancholy over the whole thing,” he says. “I’m looking forward to a new chapter in my life. I’m not looking forward to having something I’ve poured my entire identity into not being around any longer.”
Johnson says turnout at Imperial Outpost has been “huge” as news of its closure has spread. While fighting back tears, the owner says he’s been “blown away” by the response and by how local gamers have told him they’ll miss the store.
“People coming in and saying me how much this place has meant to them has been staggering and hard to deal with,” Johnson says. “I have friends going, ‘Your store is important to people,’ but to hear people come in and say it has just been (astounding). It’s been hard to reconcile, but I appreciate it.”