The Game MD continues to live on after last year’s break-in

It’s been almost a year since over $70,000 in merchandise was stolen from a local video game store and the business continues to live on.

On Monday, November 4, 2013 a break in left The Game MD to pick up the pieces. It was just a week away until the release of Call of Duty: Ghosts, one of the most anticipated games of that year. Even after a massive loss the business is still going strong, with owner Roy McLean, giving thanks to his loyal customer base.

“The community really came in, I had people come in that were offering to give me video games for free to get me back on my feet, we didn’t take them for free we bought them and now we have more video games than we had last year,” said McLean.
The story received media attention from a variety of different news sources. Gamespot Australia even wrote a story on the break-in. Sledgehammer games, a division of Activision, the team behind Call of Duty: Ghosts sent a care package to the store with signed copies of the games after hearing the news.

The store opened two and a half years ago, with McLean saying the reason for opening up the store was because gaming was a passion for him. The business offers video game repairs for a variety of different video game systems. With October designated “small business month” in Windsor, McLean said as of right now he doesn’t have anything planned.
“Actually this is the first time hearing of it, only because I’m here all day and we focus on have everything in stock for the customers,” said McLean.

McLean said to open up a small business you need to have the customer base and that his store worked because Windsor is a strong gaming community. He also enjoys being his own boss. The idea of opening up The Game MD came from McLean’s wife Dawn.

“I brought it up to him, that as a couple, we could take the risk and jump into it the retail end of it and grow the business,” said Dawn.

According to Dawn the first year was very difficult and required them to have savings because they made no profit. But Dawn also said the reaction to the store has been great and working with her husband has been fantastic.

When the break-in happened, Dawn said that she was devastated but found the response from the community to be unbelievable. Dawn also said she appreciates the creators of Ghosts taking the time to send the care package last year. Because of the upcoming release of Ghosts at the time, they had to bounce back immediately after the break-in.

“It was a hard year, but we’re back and I’m hoping something like that doesn’t happen again,” said Dawn.