Board and card game retailer Zatu Games has announced it is opening a new store in a Norwich shopping centre moving from its current premises in Taverham.
Zatu has moved into the Bowthorpe shopping centre with the expansion creating up to 15 new jobs at the business.
The company is run by husband and wife team Simon and Treena Budd, who launched the business in 2016.
Mr Budd said: 'We are currently recruiting two people to run the shop initially but will definitely have to upscale this once we understand the demand. We expect to employ another three to five people pretty much as soon as we launch in the next couple of months.'
The Budds hope the new site will provide more opportunities to host tournaments and board game nights, adding: 'We're hoping to serve food and drinks and gather a crowd once we're up and running.
'We're also looking for one or two dedicated events managers who will run our tournaments, trade shows and board game nights.'
He added the location was well-placed to make the most of university traffic coming past its doors: 'The board-gaming community are so passionate but in recent years, with the rise of tablets and smart phones, have been a bit overshadowed.
'We're helping those two worlds will collide, by allowing tabletop gaming and online gaming to gather speed together. Playing board games is no longer just a family event at Christmas. It's year round. It's online. It's strangers coming together for one reason – games.'
The team are hoping to grow their bricks-and-mortar sales to the same level as their online sales.
Mr Budd said: 'We're currently predominantly an online retailer and ship all over the world but it's so important to remember where you came from – and that is Norwich.
'The dream is to expand our physical business to the extent of our online business – worldwide – and we're so excited that we're moving in the right direction to achieve this.'
The company is hoping to open two or three more shops in the near future – with the aim being to have one in Norwich city centre at some point.
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