Griffons Lair Game Shop, LLC

The CCG half of a two-storefront operation on West 26th — Magic singles, Friday Night Magic, One Piece and Digimon, with free table time.

Griffons Lair got big enough that it split itself in two. The company runs adjacent storefronts on the same block of West 26th Street: 1645 is the miniatures house, with twelve gaming tables in 4x4 and 4x6 configurations, a dedicated hobby building and painting section, and on-site lockers for storing supplies. Next door at 1651 is where the card players go — Magic: The Gathering, One Piece, Digimon, Pokemon sealed, plus RPGs and board games. Splitting the two meant neither community has to compete with the other for floor space.

1651 is a Wizards Play Network store and hosts Friday Night Magic with capacity for thirty players, alongside pre-releases, drafts and casual Commander. Thursday is board game night. Regular Digimon and One Piece events fill out the calendar, and the shop runs Games Workshop Warhammer Underworlds tournaments with free demos aimed squarely at people who've never played. An RPG Club with dedicated GMs runs on a set schedule, and there's a reservable side room at fifteen dollars for a three-and-a-half-hour block.

Two policies get called out by customers more than the inventory does: gaming tables and terrain are free to use, and there are no minimum orders and no credit card surcharges. Special orders for anything not in stock typically land within the same week. For a shop competing against online singles pricing, those are the levers that actually matter.

The store's footprint reaches well past its own walls. Griffons Lair founded InfernoCon NE, a tabletop convention that outgrew its original venue, and presents the Bayfront Wargaming Expo at the Erie Maritime Museum. Staff vend at eight or more conventions a season, and the company has since opened a third location on Babcock Boulevard in Pittsburgh.

Plan around the schedule, because it's evening-weighted: closed Monday, 4pm to 10pm Tuesday through Friday, noon to 10pm Saturday, and noon to 5pm Sunday. Sunday afternoon is the only daylight-friendly window. One caveat worth flagging — the shop's own website hasn't been refreshed in a few years and lists older, shorter hours, so the Google listing is the more reliable source. If you're making a long drive, call 814-449-3284 first.