About Here Be Books & Games
last update: 9 November, 2011

about the owners | game night | history | mission

Mission Statement

Our mission is to provide quality used books and new games to casual readers, book lovers, collectors and gamers in Summerville, South Carolina and the surrounding Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester-county area. We are dedicated to maintaining and enhancing our customers' satisfaction by leveraging technology and providing exceptional service in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere where customers can shop at leisure.

“Looking for a book or game? Let us help.”

About The Owners

Here Be Books & Games is owned and operated by Tim and Tina McDuffie. We both love to read, of course, and play games: board games, card games, and the occassional roleplaying game. You can often find us playing a game in the store around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Want to join us? Just drop by around four. There are lots more games for three or more players than for just two.

History

Since our earliest days as a couple (we got together in 1987), Tim and I (Tina) have always dreamed of owning a used-book and game store. Then in April 2005, Tim was finishing up with H & R Block and looking for something else to do; Tim's retired Navy. I happened to visit The Book Outlet in Summerville looking for a Sara Paretsky novel. The owner had a sign up indicating he wasn't taking trades after some date. I asked if he was going out of business, he said yes, we talked some more. When I got home, I excitedly told Tim, "You know how you're looking for something new to do now that tax season is over? Let's open a bookstore!"

So, we did some research. We put together a business plan. And we decided to go for it - the bookstore portion of our dream, that is. We bought The Book Outlet's stock and immediately began computerizing our inventory. When The Stamp and Book Outlet closed in mid-July, we commenced a two-week stint of non-stop painting, carpeting, cleaning and organizing. We made the place ours.

We opened on August 2, 2005 with about 30,000 books stuffed on our shelves, only a small percentage of which were recorded in our computerized inventory. Now everything in our store is inventoried. (I wish I could say the same for the books in our storage unit.) It took over a year to get all 40,000+ titles entered what with trades coming in, too. (We began accepting trades about 2 months after we opened.)

We've tried to create the kind of store we'd want to shop: with comfy chairs for relaxing and reading, friendly staff who are always willing to help you, but don't hover when you just want to browse, a good selection of books in a variety of categories with hardbacks, old books, roleplaying games, and boardgames, too. Basically, we wanted to build a store with a friendly, inviting atmosphere and service-oriented staff. I think we've succeeeded, but you be the judge.

One of nice things about running a small business is that we can experiment. We've hosted a variety of events and invited the community to attend, including: book signings, story telling, Talk Like a Pirate Day celebrations, wizard rock concerts, Dungeon & Dragon Game Days, Free RPG Days, and monthly Game Nights (just for the fun of it).

Game Night at Here Be Books & Games and Expansion into Board Games

We began holding monthly game nights (the first Saturday of every month) in November 2007. We enjoyed our D & D Game Day and Free RPG Game Days so much, we wanted to make playing games at the store a regular thing. So, with encouragement from our customers, we did just that. Now a few years later, Game Night is goin' strong.

Towards the end of 2008, we branched into board games and card games, fulfilling our initial dream of a book and game store. We also began purchasing games to use for demonstrations and our gaming events, too. Our game library now has more than 300 games so we can teach you how to play.

We often take a break in the afternoon to play games and host the above-mentioned Game Nights on the first Saturday of every month. But you don't have to wait for Game Night to try out a game: we'll teach you how to play anytime. Just ask.

Recent Additions

When we learned that metaphysics books and tarot cards were hard to find in the area, we expanded our metaphysics section to include new books as well as used. We also increased our tarot card selection to provide our customers with more choices.

Most recently, we set up a fundraising program to help local schools, youth organizations, and the like to raise money by selling educational games.

What's next? Hopefully an expansion of the store. We could use some more room!

About Sam, The "Official Greeter"

Sam, our always-cheerful and adorable "Official Greeter" sadly passed away June 22, 2009. He was 17 1/2 years old and lived a long and happy life (February 1, 1992 to June 22, 2009). We very much miss our furry friend, as do our customers who knew him. Thank you all for your kind condolences.

Fine Art Prints in the Store

The fine art photographic prints displayed in the store and used on many of our bookmarks are by the late Philip James Filia, Tina's long-time friend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web site design and development by WebWoman (Tina McDuffie).

In the Oakbrook Plaza Shopping Center ~ corner of Ladson & Dorchester
Here Be Books & Games • 4650 Ladson Road, Suite I • Summerville, SC 29485
(843) 695-1498 • info@herebebooks.com

Copyright © 2011 Here Be Books, LLC. All rights reserved.
A WebWoman web design.