Ready to play?
Rory Veronda hopes so.
The Albuquerque entrepreneur and board game enthusiast is preparing to launch a new board game library and cafe in Nob Hill, to be called Empire Board Game Library.
It will offer a catalog of more than 600 board games, “from Monopoly to games you’ve never heard of,” Veronda said. Customers purchase a game pass to play. The shop will also sell board games as well as coffee, soda and snacks for players.
Veronda says the board game cafe model is already popular in bigger cities. He cites Canadian versions like The Hexagon Board Game Cafe in Edmonton and Snakes & Lattes in Toronto as prime examples.
The trend “really been picking up a lot of steam over the last couple of years,” he said.
Empire Board Game Library will move into 3503 Central NE near the intersection with Amherst, a space last occupied by No. 13 Boutique. The windows are currently papered over and feature a somewhat cryptic message spelled out with a game piece and a cup of coffee.
Veronda said the business is in the “staging” process. Architect Treveston Elliott has finished the design but now it must go out for permitting. Veronda hopes to open in May.
