For Daniel and Darcy Leech, their business Mind Sculpt Games is about community – not just the close-knit community of game enthusiasts, but the community as a whole. It also about sharing their love for games of all kinds. 

“We do what we love and get the chance to share our favorite hobbies with our community,” Darcy said. “We love giving people the chance to find more face-to-face fun with a board game or events, and have seen a lot of friendships start in our building that we are happy to see make life a little better for people here, especially people that just move to town. Healthy hobbies help people enjoy life, feel more secure and connected, and give an easy outlet for relaxation and friendship. 

Daniel and Darcy Leech met in a game store in Salina, and they know at least one married couple that first met in the store. 

Their business, located at 4908 10th St. in Great Bend, has been in business for nearly seven years now. Their hours are Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday 1-10 p.m. The phone number is 620-603-8462.

Darcy addressed what their business means to them and those they serve:

Describe what your business does?

Mind Sculpt Games is a family game store built for fun. We sell board games, video games, sports cards, card games, miniatures, paints, puzzles, Lego, Beanie Babies, science kits and more, with over 500 different board games in store! We also host events for face-to-face play for games like Pokemon, Warhammer, Dungeons and Dragons, and Magic: the Gathering.

How did you wind up locating your business here?

We moved to Great Bend for jobs in the school district in 2015, and as soon as we were at the Title Company signing on our new home, we started asking about commercial property in town. There wasn’t a game store for a miles drive when we moved here, and we knew there would be plenty of people in our new community who would enjoy one if we could build it. Seven years later, we have a 5,000-square-foot store with plenty of traveling visitors who drop by every time they visit grandma from New York or Texas or wherever they traveled from. 

In what ways are you engaged with the community - contributing to charities, taking part in civic events, other sponsorships?

We have a great relationship with USD 428 and have hosted and attend multiple family game nights with school district programs and helped a chess club get started. We have also helped several churches through the years host family game nights or youth group game nights to build stronger connections. 

Also a few local libraries have worked with us to set up Pokemon nights or Lego build days for the communities. We have also been a drop box location for toy drives and hosted Girl Scouts during cookie sale season. 

In years past, we have also teamed up with the Great Bend Recreation Commission to host events that give kids good brain-building activities to do, especially on days off of school. In our own building, we host Pokemon club, Digimon night, Yugioh OTS tournaments, Friday Night Magic, Warhammer League, Dungeons and Dragons and various special events. 

Do you feel this sort of involvement is necessary?

When we started Mind Sculpt Games, our whole brick-and-mortar model centered on helping people connect and engage with people who had similar interests, seeking to help them build better relationships and find more happiness where they live. It’s part of our purpose – helping people connect to others through healthy hobbies. It makes the hard parts of running a business more worthwhile knowing we help people connect over face-to-face games and events, and we are happy to help other like-minded organizations build relationships with their outreach too.

Getting people to shop locally is important. What does this mean to your business?

We wouldn’t succeed without our community support. We are always grateful when people choose to shop locally with us, as each bit of support allows us to try to build a place here that helps brighten more days and bring more smiles. When a grandparent chooses to shop for a birthday with us, that support might mean we can expand our selection or offerings to some new kid mowing lawns saving up to grow their Lego mini-figure collection.

By people choosing to shop with us, we have sustainability not only to provide a fun retail shopping experience unique to Great Bend, but we also get the continued resources to teach people how to play Pokemon or to host tournaments people look forward to seeing their gaming friends at. Shopping at Mind Sculpt Games helps us build community through games right here in Great Bend. 

It might even mean your out-of-town family visits Great Bend more often because the kids love going to the toy store so much that they beg to come back to town ... We like to think Mind Sculpt Games makes life in Barton County a little better for a lot of people, and shopping here not only supports our family business employees, but helps us make Great Bend a better place.

What keeps you here and what is unique/special about this community/area? 

We plan to raise our family in Great Bend at least through our kids going off to college. We moved to Great Bend and didn’t know anyone, but we built a business that shared our passion for games and gave people an outlet to find so many more people who shared those kinds of passions. The great thing is, seven years from when we started our business, we have game communities going for games we don’t personally play, meaning people are building their own communities at Mind Sculpt Games within the framework we set up to build relationships and have fun in sustainable ways for the economics of the business.

Running end-of-year data, for the first time last year we pass the $50,000 mark on things we bought from people who walked in our door (Mind Sculpt also buys used games). It also feels nice knowing our business provides some economic stimulus for people who have old gaming systems their kids outgrew or a way to get extra store credit and pick up the next game to learn. 

We have a mutually symbiotic relationship with our community and the support of this area has been THE reason we are able to do what we do. We are trying to build Mind Sculpt Games to be around for 20 years, and we get excited thinking about turning local families into board game families who sit down and play together twice a month – and then one day selling their kid, who is 8 years old now, the first game they buy for their own kid one day. 

This community treats us well, and we are trying to do our best to serve our community well with a unique and fun retail shopping experience, relationship building events, and outreach with local organizations that enhance so many lives. We aren’t meant to live and play in isolation, and a local toy and game store done well can help a lot of people live better.

It’s been fun building Mind Sculpt Games as a family. Thanks for letting us move to town and build our dream here with great community support. We couldn’t do this without our community! 

How would you sell this area to others?

We live in a community where if you do the math and create a sustainable business plan, if you take care of them, they will take care of you. We love raising our family here and Great Bend is our home without any question. If you are authentic, honest, and passionate about what you do, people here see it and care to support the American dream if that dream is built to make lives here better.

When we got started building our business plan, we worked with the Kansas Small Business Development Center through Fort Hays State University and that was an invaluable resource, connecting us to demographic and spending data that helped us determine viability and location. The Great Bend Chamber of Commerce has connected us to other professionals and improved our marketing reach and is an asset to our business growth. There are a lot of resources in this area, and if you are willing to be both brave and diligent, business can be built here that stand the test of time and have lots of local community support. 

Any particular story/stories you would like to share?

One day Chipper Jones, a first draft pick, first ballot Hall of Famer of the Atlanta Braves, came in to our store on purpose and his first words were “Man, this place is off the hook.” Darcy is a lifelong Braves fan, and that day Chipper Jones signed rookie cards she had since childhood, waited in store for the rest of the family to arrive, and took the Braves hat off Eli’s head when he walked in and signed it without being asked.

It made all the hard parts of business more worthwhile for a lifelong Braves hero to come in and appreciate the business on purpose. That was a special day! Chipper Jones has liked our area for years too thanks to Triple Creek Outfitters being a quality local business attracting tourists to the area. We have a lot of local businesses here giving their best to make our community better. Jackie Stiles, 2001 WNBA Rookie of the Year, also has been in the store a few times and autographed a card for Darcy. Jackie Styles operates basketball camps in the local area that help build skill, confidence and community too!

Read more about Mind Sculpt Games here and here

Business Insights is a regular feature of the Great Bend Tribune, showcasing locally owned businesses and encouraging folks to shop local. Contact news@gbtribune.com for more information.