What? Gaming Giant is evolving!
The Fairfax City gaming shop Gaming Giant celebrated its grand reopening last Friday (Aug. 22) in a new, larger space in the Old Town Plaza shopping center, right in the heart of the City of Fairfax and around the corner from a previous location.
The shop focuses primarily on trading card games like Pokémon and One Piece. Manager Eric Vu says the new space allows the shop to offer more play space to properly host community events.
“Now we provide a lot more food and alcohol, and we have more play space for hosting tournaments and not being so congested,” Vu said. “We host trading card game tournaments, from casual tournaments up to more regional-level tournaments.”
Vu said the shop’s main focus is the aforementioned Pokemon and One Piece card games, which are its big sellers. But there’s a variety of different trading card games set up around the shop, including a lot of merchandise from Bandai — a Japanese toy retailer — and a focus more on card games from Asia.
The shop was busy for its opening day at 3925 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 201, drawing a mix of returning regulars from the previous location on University Drive and newcomers stopping in with their kids, according to Vu.
“It’s been very supportive so far,” said Vu. “A lot of people have been coming by and congratulating us. Others are just glancing in and seeing what kind of store we are.”
Several of the younger shoppers eagerly looked over the art on the card decks, and Vu said passing on that love of trading card games to younger generations is one of his favorite parts of the job.
“I love the people here,” Vu said. “I especially love interacting with the kids and providing them the experiences that I had as a kid.”
