{"id":7006,"date":"2026-07-15T12:56:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/?p=7006"},"modified":"2026-07-15T13:31:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T12:31:25","slug":"gama-seeks-hobby-shops-setting-the-standard-for-design-innovation-in-2027-power-retail-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/15\/gama-seeks-hobby-shops-setting-the-standard-for-design-innovation-in-2027-power-retail-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"GAMA seeks hobby shops setting the standard for design, innovation in 2027 Power Retail Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Tabletop gaming trade organisation\u00a0GAMA<\/a> has opened nominations for its 2027 Power Retail Awards<\/a>, inviting gamers and industry professionals from around the world to spotlight stores and caf\u00e9s they believe represent the industry’s best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annual awards, which have now been running for 17 years, aim to act as a showcase and celebration of business practices, community-building and operational innovations that other hobby retailers can learn from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 750 retailers were submitted for inclusion in last year\u2019s awards, with nominations coming from Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS) customers before being voted on by a GAMA committee of retailers and emeritus \u2018team retail\u2019 members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The awards cover four categories: Retailer of the Year, Innovation in Games (Retail), Outstanding Contribution to Games Industry (Retail) and Outstanding Store Design, with winners of each receiving a one year GAMA membership, recognition in its online database and in the Spring issue of its Around the Table magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That prize was reduced by GAMA last year, with retailer of the year having also previously receiving $1,000 and the other category winners $500 each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any tabletop retail business can be nominated regardless of country or GAMA membership status, although US-based businesses have heavily dominated the awards since they were launched in 2010, picking up 50 out of the 63 wins to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That total does not include the 2021 Retailer of the Year award, which was presented to every GAMA retailer member at the time to recognise and celebrate them having survived the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arizona-based\u00a0Silver Dragon Games<\/a>\u00a0scooped Retailer of the Year in the 2026 awards, adding to the Innovation In Games (Retail) and Outstanding Store Design titles it won at the same awards in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were joined this year by Illinois-based Fantasy Books and Games<\/a>, which won the Innovation in Games (Retail) award, Minnesota\u2019s The Gamers Den<\/a>, which sealed Outstanding Contribution to the Games Industry (Retail), and Wisconsin-based Oddwillow\u2019s Game Haven<\/a>, which won Outstanding Store Design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Team Members from Oddwillow\u2019s Game Haven, the winner of this years\u2019 Outstanding Store Design Power Retail Award || Photo Credit: GAMA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

UK retailer Eclectic Games remains the only non-US winner in the past two award cycles, having scooped Outstanding Contribution to the Games Industry in 2025, while Mexico City-based La Piramide is the only store from outside of the US, Canada or the UK to win an award, which it claimed during the inaugural contest in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nominations are open to stores that have been operating for at least one full year, while previous winners cannot win the same category twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone interested in nominating an outstanding hobby retailer can do so here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more stories like this direct to your email inbox, click here to sign up for BoardGameWire’s free email newsletter. \n\nAnd if you’ve found our reporting interesting or useful, please consider a paid subscription to help support our journalism!<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The annual awards, which have now been running for 17 years, aim to act as a showcase and celebration of business practices, community-building and operational innovations that other hobby retailers can learn from.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2518,6,1758,135,1982,11,2517,1398,499,266,819,7],"class_list":["post-7006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-2518","tag-board-game","tag-board-game-cafe","tag-board-games","tag-flgs","tag-gama","tag-hobby-store","tag-power-retail-awards","tag-retail","tag-retailer","tag-store","tag-tabletop"],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t