RED BANK: GAME SHOP LEVELS UP WITH MOVE TO BIGGER DIGS

Shore Gamers owner Gennaro Monaco needs a bigger dungeon. (photo by Brian Donohue)

By BRIAN DONOHUE

In late 2023, Gennaro and Jessica Monaco opened a board game lounge on Red Bank’s Monmouth Street with a goal that seemed as much a long shot as rolling a coveted “natural 20” on a 20-sided Dungeons and Dragons die: pulling kids off their devices and getting them to use their minds.

Less than two years later, the concept has proven so popular that the shop, Shore Gamers, is moving from 15 Monmouth Street to a new storefront twice the size of its current home – and a location in one of Broad Street’s most recognizable addresses.

The owners confirm they have signed a lease for the 3,000 square foot storefront at 40 Broad Street, a building recently restored to reveal the inlaid “Red Bank Register” facade touting the name of the newspaper that it was built to house. The space was previously home to Greene Street consignment and, before that, Funk & Standard.

40 Broad Street, the soon-to-be home of Shore Gamers. (photo by Brian Donohue)

It’s a move few real local estate observers – or screen-addicted parents of screen addicted kids – could have seen coming.

“I don’t think we expected it, the level that it has grown so quickly,” Jessica Monaco told videographer James Ketley, a Brookdale student who made a great Youtube video about the store. (See below.)

And Shore Gamers has become a place that appeals to more than just kids, a third space where young and old, men and women, home schoolers, biker dudes and even religious orthodox looking for a shidduch date night, come to play games alongside one another.

That translates into regular scenarios like last Thursday, when the regular adult Dungeons and Dragons game was scheduled for the back room. Gennaro was also expecting up to 16 people for a One Piece card game. Add in some of the usual off-the-street customers stopping in for a game of Catan or Deep Regrets, and the place gets crowded.

Oh, and to mention the weekend Pokemon leagues when the crush for space has the shop feeling more crowded than a Zubat Cave.

“Just the community has gotten so big,’ Gennaro Monaco told redbankgreen. “We have too many events to run in this space at one time.”

A packed house is a common site at Shore Gamers, 15 Monmouth Street. (photo courtesy Jessica Monaco)

Shore Gamers is hoping to open the new space by November 1, possibly with a one-day-late Halloween/grand opening party.

The move will double the available space from 1,400 square feet at 15 Monmouth to more than 3,000 square feet in the new space. It also opens up new realms for larger events and parties, better display of the games for sale on the shelves, and new attractions.

There are plans for a specially designed, semi-enclosed Dungeons and Dragons space with “cobblestone walls and all sorts of cool buildout” and slot car racing track. Gennaro predicts “a much more immersive experience” in the new space.

Besides the regular groups that meet to play in the space and party rentals, Shore Gamers will continue allowing customers to walk in off the street and play any game from the store’s selection of thousands, for ten bucks a person.

The Monacos and their customers reckon the shop has tapped into a number of trends: peoples’ post-pandemic yearning to reconnect, the surprising staying power of games like Pokemon, and parents desperate to get their kids into IRL fun.

“We’ve seen kids come out of their shells,” Gennaro Monaco said. “Community matters. People matter. Being face-to-face matters.”

redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.

David Zablocki