ROMAN GAMES
WHERE: 4051 Pleasant Ave., Hamilton
MORE INFO: 513-546-8626 or "Like" them on Facebook
A video gaming and electronics store plans to expand its presence in the city’s Lindenwald neighborhood.
Norman Sippel, 43, runs Roman Games, which carries arcade games as well as consoles and games for almost every gaming system from vintage to present. His store has been housed since 2003 in the Lindenwald Plaza on Pleasant Avenue. Now, Roman Games is getting ready to move into an even bigger Pleasant Avenue location.
Four out of five households in the country contain a device used to play video games, according to the Entertainment Software Association. Video games, according to the group, have evolved into a mass medium with 42 percent of Americans playing games at least three hours each week — whether that’s a game on their smartphone or through online or console games.
“Video games are ingrained in our culture,” said ESA president and CEO Michael Gallagher in the group’s 2015 annual report, which cited that the average gamer is 35 years old.
Video games are also a strong engine for economic growth, according to the ESA. In 2014, the industry sold over 135 million games and generated more than $22 billion in revenue. Fifty two percent of total game sales were generated by purchases of digital content, including mobile applications and social networking games.
Keeping up with the gaming world has required a lot of changes to his business, Sippel said.
“I’ve had this business in my head since 2001 and started out being an online store on some of the major websites for three or four years,” he said.
“When you are online you get people who want to return stuff and they don’t send back what you sold them,” Sippel said. “I was making $3,000 a month on EBay but only was making a two percent profit.”
Later, he opened a store at Trader’s World and transitioned out of the online business.
“I was a flea market store for eight years and also at Treasure Isles in Monroe,” he said.
Being a storefront has its advantages because customers can try out games before buying, according to Sippel and his wife, Theresa, who also works at the store.
“We have people that walk in that door and they are very impressed with the games we have,” Theresa Sippel said. “We absolutely love what we do.”
With the multiple gaming systems stuffed in his store, Norman Sippel is glad to be in the buy, sell and trade video and electronics business.
“We want to be complementary to other video stores. We want to be like what Jungle Jim’s is to Walmart,” Norman Sippel said.
James Brown, of the Lindenwald PROTOCOL group, helps local businesses maintain their social media presence. He said Sippel has been successful in battling big box stores in the area.
“When Norman moved into the Lindenwald Plaza it was sold soon after and he was worried what was to become of him and his business,” Brown said. “Apparently the new owner granted them a stay of rent to help him make renovations and build his business at the plaza. Over the next couple of years he was able to move into a bigger building and has recently procured the third and by far the largest buildings in the plaza.”
And for the PROTOCOL group, Roman Games is something of an accomplishment for the Lindenwald neighborhood.
“I am hoping that he (Sippel) can become a permanent fixture in our local neighborhood, prosper, and bring a family friendly business to our little corner of Hamilton,” Brown said.
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