I just saw that geek chic, makers of beautiful gaming furniture, went out of business. I figured I would own one if their tables one day, but not to be. I will genuinely miss them in the dealers hall, it was my favorite visit. Best wishes, folks, I hope your next thing is as interesting.
I wonder who gets their booth. I can't imagine Gen Con will stand for an empty booth or let the opportunity to resell the space go unseized, even if it is last minute.
I'm sure they have a waiting list for people who couldn't get a booth this year.
It will be interesting to stop by booth 449 to find out who drew the lucky straw!
I cannot remember another time a vendor has gone out of business in the period between buying a booth and the convention going down (not, of course, that it has likely not happened, but doubtfully in such a dramatic fashion). Knowing how much interia and momentum is involved in convention planning, I wonder if it is somehow too late for them to replace the space, and it will just end up being empty?
____________________________________________________
Alec Usticke, Unofficial Gen Con Indy Facebook Discussion Group
Most shows demand that vendors maintain a full booth/inventory (or at least the appearance thereof) so not everyone may have enough inventory to make it the full four days.
IF they can't get new exhibitors to fill the space, I have a suggestion to generate good will in the community: give some random exhibitors in Entrepreneur's Alley a free upgrade to premium floor space.
I say put a full service bar there. Drunk people spend better.
Wow.. That royally bites.. I hope no one here is in limbo waiting for word on if/when their product they already paid for will arrive or if they will get a refund..
____________________________________________________
Alec Usticke, Unofficial Gen Con Indy Facebook Discussion Group
I've noticed that on the interactive map, there's just a blank space where Geek Chic was originally. Very sad. :(
Huh, I thought they were sharing a space with some costume hat maker before. I suppose the hat maker can't really fill that much space herself.
Maybe they'll break the space up into smaller spaces for other companies.
Sorry to hear about Geek going out of business. They built some nice furniture and the owner seemed like a good guy.
On the interactive map, there's now a booth space in that spot for Lightseekers.
https://www.lightseekers.com/
The system works!
They basically had nothing left. $300 in cash. Millions owed in debt. And this is Chapter 7, so there's no coming back. It sounds like they had very little finished inventory, but even if they do, it will be liquidated.
If you had a deposit in, your credit card company is your only hope. I can't believe there will be anything left once the major debtors are paid, and they're certainly not going to be made whole.
True, in darn near all cases, Major companies (internet providers/security experts, suppliers and the like) get paid off first.. US consumers, get paid of last, IF at all..
Are there people who were on the waiting list for Geek Chic that are still looking for a new table? I'm working on building one for my family with the intention of selling them as well. Coming to GenCon this year to see what people are looking for in a table and show the prototype progress as well as some renderings of the finished product.
Curious what the alternatives are - I saw BoardGameTables.com had a booth this year, but wasn't able to stop by.
As a tangent: Rathskellers is Germany based (and BTW, don't be thrown off by it's name echoing a restaurant - The Rathskeller - in Indianapolis. The last one in that list is indeed a gaming table manufacturer). I don't actually know what that distance means as far as shipping to the US, but it certainly can't help any! It'd obviously be a good option for European gamers, though.
