At over 200 tables crammed into every open space beneath the mall skylight, players sit, dressed in an assortment of chainmail, velvet cloaks, fur capes, leather armor, pirate garb, tailcoats, and steampunk goggles and gadgets. They bend their heads, adorned with horns, elven ears, fae headdresses and tricorn hats, over charts and character sheets. Beings of all shades (including blue, green and red) roll dice to determine the fate of a kingdom.
In 2023, Andrew Ashby and his mother and brother, owners of the game store We Geek Together, set out to host the largest Dungeons & Dragons game in the world. They contacted Provo Towne Centre’s property managers and got permission to turn the mall into an imaginary battlefield.
They didn’t have much money for advertising, so the store owners told Utah gamers who told their friends who told their friends until 1,227 players showed up — setting an official Guinness World Record for most people playing Dungeons & Dragons. In May of this year, We Geek Together beat their own record with 1,475 players.
The call to action
The game store is one of a handful of small local businesses creating a geek haven in the mall. Most of the stores got their start as vendors at Evermore Park, which closed earlier this year.
Jason Hodges, now CEO and owner of The Nerdy Wolf, first heard about Evermore from his wife years ago. At the time, he and a friend made intricate steampunk cowboy cosplay costumes and drove all the way from their homes in Wyoming to visit the park only to arrive just as Evermore closed for the season.
When the park reopened, Hodges and his friend designed even more elaborate costumes, including glowing necklaces and potion bottles.
“People thought we were part of the act, but we told them that we were just two geeks from Wyoming. I walked out in jeans and a T-shirt because I sold everything off my back,” Hodges says.
The Evermore actors started commissioning pieces from Hodges. He became the park’s first vendor and went on to run the vendor program.
“At first, it wasn’t uncommon to sell $5,000 to $6,000 of stuff a night. Then COVID-19 hit. That really took the wind out of Evermore sales for eight months, and they never fully recovered,” Hodges says.
In the end, he says vendors “saw the writing on the wall.” Many decided to change their business strategies.
Rediscovering community at the Provo Towne Center Mall
Fellow vendor Kaitlund Zupanic mentioned to Hodges that there were vacant store spaces for good rates at the Provo Towne Centre Mall. A brick-and-mortar store made sense to Hodges; his products are made of leather, glass or wood, which are better appreciated in person than online.
Hodges’s The Nerdy Wolf and Zupanic’s Drawn to Dragons were the first of the nerdy stores to open up shop in the mall. Two and a half years ago, they held a grand opening — a makers’ market for local artisans to sell handmade products from every genre of fandom. Soon, other former Evermore vendors started doing business in the mall, too.
Malls in the United States used to be the epicenters of teenage hangouts and shopping sprees. According to Nick Egelanian, president of retail consulting firm SiteWorks, there were over 2,500 malls in the U.S. in the 1980s. That number has dwindled to 700. Egelanian predicted that there would only be 150 malls left by 2032.
When Hodges and Zupanic first recommended the mall to Ashby, he wasn’t quite sold.
“Provo Towne Centre has a stigma of being a dead mall,” he says.
But Ashby was interested once he understood the mall’s unique benefits: 24-hour security, giant parking structures, a food court and even a marketing budget for tenants. He also heard the mall was extremely supportive of its small businesses, especially when they hosted events.
“We love to do events, and we’re inventive and creative about the type of events that we do,” says Lori Carter, assistant general manager of JLL, the property management company for Provo Towne Centre.
In fact, with the support of the mall’s landlord, Brixton Capital, Provo Town Centre has put on events that other malls have said no to, like a massive game of Dungeons & Dragons and a pro skating demonstration complete with a halfpipe inside the mall.
“We invite our tenants, when they come up with events, to try to think of a way for us to say no. Almost nothing is too crazy, and the landlord is completely onboard with that,” she continues.
Carter notes that We Geek Together grew quickly by hosting events like tabletop games and character paint nights almost every day. This has drawn in many regulars and, in turn, lots of business.
“The businesses we have here are the reason people come here. They don’t come here for the skylight or the benches,” Carter says. “We get inquiries about renting space and holding events here every single day.”
Now, you can hardly go into the mall without seeing patrons perusing nerdy wares, dressing up in cosplay, playing tabletop games, drinking nonalcoholic mead or LARPing (live-action roleplaying).
“Nerd stores have really brought a ton of people into the mall again,” Ashby says. “There’s quite a hub of activity in the mall because of the events local businesses are putting on. It’s definitely becoming a center to do things.”
Making dreams a reality
That doesn’t necessarily mean that the store owners are making a massive profit, but owners can make a living out of their nerdy passions, which is a dream for many.
“I’m certainly not a millionaire, but I love what I do. I will probably die at my production desk, and I will die happy,” Hodges says.
And this creation of a safe, communal space has been particularly meaningful for the geek community.
“In a lot of senses, they feel like outcasts. Finding a group of like-minded individuals can be daunting,” Hodges says. “But once they find their people, they’re very, very loyal.”
Ashby explains that finding someone who loves the same things you do creates an instant bond. And he speaks from personal experience.
He and his wife met at FanX almost 10 years ago, dressed in cosplay as characters from the same show — “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
“She’s from Uruguay and didn’t speak very much English, so the chances of us ever meeting were one in a million,” he says. A decade later, they’re creating a community where others can make that same kind of connection.
If you want to participate in the next great battle or come to one of We Geek Together’s many events, check out their events calendar for more details.
