Lake Stevens shop deals in nostalgia for all things 8-bit

LAKE STEVENS — The sign reads video games, trading cards and collectibles, but Joshua Jacobson says what he really sells are memories.

In December, he opened Stupid Geeks in Lake Stevens. Wedged in between a Papa John’s and a noodle house sits Jacobson’s childhood dream made real: a store specializing in “everything that is a geeky desire.”

“I’m still in the surreal stage,” Jacobson said. “This is my living now. This is what I do. It hasn’t really fully clicked in my brain.”

Decades-old video game controllers bought from garage sales, thrift stores and Facebook Marketplace hang repackaged from hooks. Games for the 1980’s Atari 2600 and today’s Playstation 5 both line shelves.

One corner, marked by an old Blockbuster sign, is dedicated to VHS tapes. Another corner has shelves filled with anime figures from Japan. At the counter is a snack rack and stocked mini-fridge that seemingly come standard with all game shops. It’s a space dedicated to Jacobson’s interests.

“The things that are in my store are the things that I’m passionate about,” Jacobson said.

Jacobson, 36, worked various jobs in the tech industry before opening Stupid Geeks. He’s done everything from designing websites to managing a Radio Shack. Most recently he worked as a technical implementation manager for a meter manufacturer.

He has always enjoyed video games, especially the ones from his youth. But he only actively started collecting them about a decade ago. His treasure search led him to venture through thrift stores and garage sales, or “The Wild” as he calls it, for hidden gems. Over time he found it easier to buy large lots of games from online listings.

Jacobson kept the few games he wanted from the batch and sold off the rest. Around 2016, he started selling his unwanted games, controllers and consoles at retro gaming conventions around Seattle and Portland. His hobby slowly evolved into a thriving business as sales grew.

Since age 12, Jacobson had fantasized about running his own store. But his vision for what kind of store changed over the years. About a decade ago, he and a friend came close to opening a shop specializing in the popular trading card game “Magic: The Gathering.”

But with the success of his convention booths, Jacobson found his focus. The only question was where to set up shop. He debated whether or not to open in Lake Stevens where he lives.

“I actually had asked friends, because I was trying to figure out if I was being lazy, or if I was being smart,” he said.

In the end, Jacobson went with a location in his hometown, partly because the space is only a mile away from his house. But the main reason was to bring something to the local community he felt was missing.

Jacobson doesn’t want Stupid Geeks just to be a store, but an experience. He wants it to be a hub where retro game enthusiasts can congregate in person. Since opening, he’s gotten a lot of positive feedback from fellow members of the Greater Seattle Area Retro Gamers Facebook group.

Jacobson also wants Stupid Geeks to be a place where people his age can introduce games from the 1980s and ‘90s to a younger generation. He set up two free-to-play arcade cabinets next to the front door. He also hooks up old consoles to a vintage TV for customers to play on. He said it’s fun to watch kids try out the games he enjoyed at their age.

“It’s been really fun to watch kids come in and see something from my childhood, and see older gamers teaching newer gamers what they used to play,” he said.

In a time when much of retail is moving online, Jacobson has taken the opposite approach. He used to have a virtual store on eBay and Etsy, but has since shuttered both. He said they felt impersonal. Online, there was never any indication of who was buying his stuff or why.

“I call it throwing things to the void. It doesn’t feel good,” he said.

He prefers face-to-face interactions with customers. The best part for him is seeing how excited a person gets when they finally find something they’ve been looking a long time for.

“You see the sparkle in their eyes,” he said. “That kind of interaction is what I feed off.”

Jacobson isn’t satisfied with the store just yet. Some items are missing price tags. Some things need to be moved around. And a lot of inventory is still at his house and two storage units. But Jacobson sees Stupid Geeks as something that will grow with time.

“I’m very particular. And so it’s not up to my standard. It looks fine. I just could do better.”

Stupid Geeks is located at 25 95th Drive NE in Lake Stevens and can be reached at 425-789-1572.

Eric Schucht: 425-339-3477; eric.schucht@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @EricSchucht.