Whether you are a longtime gamer, a parent looking for a diversion for your child, or friends looking to start a board game tournament, Ryan Garringer, manager at BatCave Games, can help you find what you’re looking for. A matchmaker of sorts, Garringer enjoys talking to customers to see what they like, what kinds of interactions they value. “At the end of the day I just like people to have the cool things they want and have fun with them.”
Name: Ryan Garringer
Neighborhood: Marrion
Employer: BatCave Games
Business address: 13215 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd., Suite C9, Vancouver; 360-980-8138; batcavegames.com
Hours of operation: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., 7 days a week.
Age: 30
Educational/professional background: I was born in Long Beach, Calif. and moved here with my family when I was 5. I struggled a lot in high school and dropped out of Fort Vancouver High School in 2005 but earned my GED. Then I moved to Roseburg, Ore., and went to Umpqua Community College for a year, then enlisted in the Air Force. I got hurt in basic training, so after being in the service for five months, I got sent back home. I got a job at Plaid Pantry where I worked until I was hired at BatCave Games.
How — and when — you got started in your business: On my 12th birthday my older sister took me to go pick up a “Magic: The Gathering” starter deck because I had some friends playing and wanted to be able to play with them, too. I went to BatCave Games at a former location and talked to an older gentleman named Mike about wanting to get into the game. He recommended a starter deck and that more or less sparked my love for board and card games. It wasn’t long after that you would find me at the store every day playing with friends and on Friday night playing in tournaments if I could afford the entry fee.
Once I got out of the Air Force I had some friends who had just gotten back into the game, so I picked up some random product to be able to play and it wasn’t long before I was back at BatCave Games. From there, I got to know owner Matt Parker, and it wasn’t long before I convinced him to let me help him out. It wasn’t a year before I was working for him full time.
Personal/business philosophy: To me BatCave Games has always existed as that “third place” in people’s lives and that’s something I think is important to keep focus on. People should be able to come in whenever they want and be able to meet people to play their favorite games with. We provide a social space where they can meet other people without the stress of home or work, where they can enjoy what they like to enjoy.
Most rewarding part of job: My absolute favorite part of working is when I get to step around the counter and help someone find that new game to bring home to their friends or family. Customers often know what they like, but don’t know all the games on the shelves. I can at least recommend a game they can buy online even if we don’t have it in the store. It’s good for the scene, for the community, to think about the customer. At the end of the day, I just like people to have the cool things they want and have fun with it.
Most challenging part of job: The most challenging part of my job is balancing my time. It’s pretty difficult for me to stay ahead of all the work I have to get done every week, especially when my job is to sell something I really enjoy.
Something surprising about your work: A lot of people — myself included– first think working at a hobby store is just sitting around and hanging out with customers while they shop around. It turns out it’s mostly sitting around taking inventory of thousands and thousands of playing cards.
Best feature of my Clark County community: There’s a lot of people out there with good hearts. Whether it’s the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, Friends of the Carpenter, schools, or something else, it constantly seems like people are going out of their way to help out those who need it.
What would make your community a better place? More services or more funding for current services to help those in need.
What is your favorite travel destination and type: This is probably surprising to some people who know me, but I absolutely love road trips.
Favorite restaurant/pub/coffee shop/store: I’m pretty fond of Seize the Bagel.
Hobbies: I play a lot of board, card, and video games. I also love reading but don’t really find as much time to do it as I’d like.
Most enjoyable book/play/movie/arts event in past 12 months: I’m a huge horror movie junkie so I’d have to say my favorite movie I’ve seen in the last year was “It Follows.”
Something you’d like to do this year/within five years: This year I’d like to get more community events going on at BatCave Games. In the next five years I’d definitely like to go back to school and get a degree in physical therapy. In basic training for the Air Force, I injured my feet and had to do physical therapy. I came away thinking it’s a stable wage-earning job where I could do good and help people. That’s what I enjoy doing.
One word to describe yourself: Lucky. I don’t think it’s just skill, perseverance, or anything else that got me where I am today.
Person you’d most like to meet: I’d like to sit down with Adam Koebel (co-designer of tabletop role-playing game, “Dungeon World”) and have a talk about game theory with him.
