Geek Retreat is a chain of franchised combined shops and
board game café
A board game café is a type of café in which patrons play board and card games while being served food and drink. Customers usually pay an entry fee or rent a table in order to access a large library of games and instruction from the staff on ho ...
s in the United Kingdom.
The venues offer food, drink, and have various items for sale, while also providing a space to play board games, console games and trading card games.
The venues also hold regular events.
History
The company opened its first venue in
Glasgow in 2013. Its second venue opened the following year in
Newcastle upon Tyne.
It joined the
British Franchise Association in 2021.
In June 2021, it had 27 venues. In late 2022, as part of a program of streamlining the corporate entities within Geek Retreat Group, one of the sub companies within the group was put into liquidation. This process had no effect on trading or the wider group.
In June 2022, the Attack of the 50ft Nerds Podcast began to perform their shows monthly out of the Warrington venue, with one show in the Liverpool venue taking place in November 2022.
Business model
The individual venues are franchised. Entry is free and guests are asked to purchase food and drink.
The list of closed suggest the model is ineffective with many venues closing in the first two years of operatio.
Open Locations
*
Addlestone, opened July 2023.
*
Aberdeen, opened February 2022
*
Bedford, opened August 2021
*
Blackburn, opened June 2021
*
Burton upon Trent, opened February 2022
*
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
, opened December 2020
*
Cardiff, opened November 2021
*
Chelmsford, opened August 2020
*
Coventry, opened March 2022
*
Dudley, opened June 2022
*
Glasgow, opened May 2013
*
Harlow
Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upp ...
, opened December 2022
*
Harrogate
*
Hartlepool
Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...
, opened April 2023
*
Ipswich, opened October 2021
*
Kettering, opened February 2022
*
Kidderminster, opened 2021
*
Newcastle upon Tyne, opened 2014
*
Newport
Newport most commonly refers to:
*Newport, Wales
*Newport, Rhode Island, US
Newport or New Port may also refer to:
Places Asia
*Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay
Europe
Ireland
*Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...
, opened April 2022
*
Stevenage
Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...
, opened June 2022
*
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
opened December 2021
*
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
, opened April 2021
*
Truro, opened May 2021
*
Warrington, opened April 2022
Closed Locations
*
Bangor, opened October 2022 (closed 9 July 2023)
*
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
, opened July 2022, closed 11 August 2023
*
Bristol, opened May 2022
*
Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
, opened October 2020
*
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
, opened 2019
*
Bridgend, opened April 2022, closed November 2023
*
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
, opened April 2022 closed January 2024
*
Cwmbran, opened June 2022, announced closure 31/08/2023
*
Daventry, opened October 2021
*
Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...
, opened July 2021
*Edinburgh
*
Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
, opened May 2021
*Galashiels
*
Greenock
Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...
, opened April 2022, closed 30 June 2023
*
Halifax, opened April 2022, closed June 2024
*
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
, opened 2021, closed 18 April 2023
*
Lancaster, opened October 2022 (closed 6 March 2023)
*
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
, opened April 2021(closed October 2023)
*
Leeds,
opened April 2018, closed 3rd June 2024
*
Lincoln, opened August 2021
*
Lisburn
Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...
, (Northern Ireland) opened 24 March 2021 (closed 10 July 2022, reopened under new management 1 October 2022, closed 18 April 2023)
*
Liverpool, opened April 2021 (closed 22 July 2024)
*
Llandudno
Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...
, opened March 2021 (closed 5 May 2023)
*
London Camberwell
*London Holloway, closed 15 September 2023
*London Sutton Opened January 2022 closed 28 March 2023
*
Loughborough, opened February 2022 (closed April 2022)
*
Middlesbrough, opened January 2020
*
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
, opened 2021, closed 2022
*
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
, opened November 2019, closing 20th June 2024
*
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
, opened October 2020
*
Northwich
{{Infobox UK place
, static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg
, static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church
, official_name = Northwich
, country ...
, opened August 2021, closed 12 August 2023
*
Nottingham, opened November 2020
*
Oxford, opened August 2021
*
Portsmouth, opened July 2021
*Reigate, opened March 2022
*
Rotherham, opened Dec 2021, closed 24 May 2023
*
Southampton, opened 2021, closed 7 August 2023
*
Stafford
Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
, opened November 2021, closed 21 June 2023
*
St Helens, opened October 2021
*Solihull
*
Southampton, opened 2021 (closed 7 August 2023)
*
Torquay, opened March 2022. Changed ownership December 2022, Closed July 2023
*
Wakefield, opened April 2021, closed 3rd June 2024
*
Wirral, opened 2019
[{{Cite web, date=2019-11-28, title=An autism friendly 'Geek Retreat' for comic and gaming fans trials in Merseyside, url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/in-your-area/autism-friendly-geek-retreat-comic-17330614, access-date=2021-11-04, website=Liverpool Echo, language=en, archive-date=2021-01-24, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124164028/https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/in-your-area/autism-friendly-geek-retreat-comic-17330614, url-status=live]
*
York, CLOSED DEC 2023
References
Retail companies of the United Kingdom
2013 establishments in Scotland
Board game cafés