Fredericton Board Game Cafe Helps You Unplug
FREDERICTON–It’s nearly impossible to get a group of friends or family to sit down for a conversation without someone texting, Instagramming, Facebooking or Tindering. Fredericton’s board game cafe, Unplugged, has made a space where that’s not only possible but probable.
Travis Grant, co-founder of Unplugged, set out to create the atmosphere its name suggests: a place where friends and family can disconnect from their phones and connect with each other.
When he can find a free moment, Grant likes to stand at the back of the cafe during the busiest hours and watch a full house of all ages laugh and interact with each other without looking at their phones. He believes this is the best proof that he’s been able to accomplish what he set out to.
“We’ve reached a point with technology where we’re always on it and we’re always checking Facebook,” Grant said. “There’s nothing wrong with that but at a certain point you want to put it down and have a face-to-face conversation with someone.”
Nearly a year after opening, and just after the opening of a franchise location in Riverview, Grant feels safe enough to call the business a success.
Like many small businesses, the first year hasn’t been without its challenges though.
“When we first started, a lot of business owners were giving us advice on when the slow time was, when the busy time was and that we’d need a patio in the summer or we’re not going to have business,” Grant said. “Our business model is not the same as anyone else’s business model.”
With food and drink service along with help from game experts, Unplugged faces challenges unique to this area. Grant explains that he’s had to balance different types of business in one setting, but that the one-stop-shop nature of Unplugged has helped them grow.
Grant has combined both passion and skill into the cafe to create a space for nearly everyone to enjoy. With a background in the hospitality business, and experience as a filmmaker, he knows how to entertain while running the business smoothly.
As a city with a smaller population than places where board game cafes tend to thrive, Fredericton posed unique challenges for Grant. But setting up shop in a smaller city like Fredericton also means that other sources of entertainment are limited.
“I think it works well here in Fredericton specifically because as far as entertainment is concerned … that’s sorely lacking in Fredericton,” Grant said. “I think we were a hit at the right time as far as being a place where people can go and have fun. We’ve got people that are out of that bar scene who aren’t interested in going to the bars anymore and young couples, young families coming in and playing.”
Grant has built a diverse network of Unplugged fans both through word of mouth and by taking full advantage of social media. He points out the irony of running a business that’s meant to help people unplug by constantly staying in online contact with these same people.
“I live, breathe, eat and sleep social media now,” Grant said. “We have more (Facebook) likes than any restaurant in all of Fredericton … My goal is to grow that page and get as many people on there as possible and become the place where people go from saying ‘Unplugged? What’s that?’ to ‘Hey let’s go to Unplugged’ and everyone just knows what that is.”
Grant says he’s still learning exactly how to provide something for everyone and reach more challenging demographics.
There are plans in the works now for Unplugged Presents: No Escape, an escape room that will be run in the space above the Unplugged cafe. Grant says that the choice to incorporate an escape room makes sense for them since they already have the infrastructure and the staff in place to make it work.
Grant also hopes to continue opening franchise locations similar to the one in Riverview. He says their goal is to spread out and have Unplugged in every city in the province. He plans to grow by sending a clear message to the public about what Unplugged is all about.
Grant says the most common thing he hears from people not interested in coming to the cafe is that they don’t understand the five dollar cover fee.
“You’re not paying five bucks for the board game. You’re paying to come in. There’s 600 board games here, games that I guarantee you’ll never see at Toys R Us or Chapters or at a friend’s house,” Grant said. “There a games expert here who can teach you how to play that game.”
“That five bucks goes towards service from not just the server but a guy whose job it is to know every single one of those games.”