Look inside a Modesto retro gaming store before its grand opening in Roseburg Square
A retro gaming store has quietly opened in Roseburg Square, marking the third new business to take residence in the shopping center and open within seven weeks of one another.
Laughing Crow Collectibles, at 819 W. Roseburg Ave. in Modesto, opened in late April without an announcement but with a number of eager customers.
“We decided to open the doors up (April 26) and just kind of see how it went while we figured out how to use our point of sale system and do all that kind of stuff,” said Jerod Pimentel, owner of Laughing Crow. “We ended up having a ton of people.”
For about a decade, Pimentel has been collecting retro video games and collectibles from places like flea markets, yard sales and conventions.
What makes an item retro?
“It’s a loose term, but anything that people are nostalgic for that isn’t currently being manufactured, I guess you could call retro,” Pimentel said.
His collection started taking over the garage at his Manteca home, and he needed to downsize.
At swaps, he started selling games he didn’t want for personal use. That turned into a side business to Pimentel’s full-time almond farming job. Eventually, Pimentel started thinking of opening a brick-and-mortar shop.
He was at The Divine Swine for a Stanislaus Pinball League meeting on a Tuesday evening when he saw an open space in the shopping center.
“I called the property manager on Wednesday,” Pimentel said. “On Thursday, we toured the property. On Friday, I submitted an application and — ‘Bob’s your uncle’ — here we are.”
The “great area” and “nice shopping center” are what made Pimentel want to open in Roseburg Square. The taqueria next door was a plus, too — the deep-fried quesadilla will change your life, he said.
The majority of Laughing Crow is stocked with games and collectibles from Pimentel’s personal collection, and the rest is from the inventory he used for swaps, plus some things that have been traded in during the soft opening.
You can find older generations of gaming consoles and video games, game maps and promo posters, Nintendo Power and Game Informer magazines, LaserDiscs and VHS tapes, collectible toys, pinball and Pac-Man arcade games and much more at Laughing Crow.
“I just wanted it to be packed with all the best, coolest, rarest stuff that I had, and at the sacrifice of my personal stuff but for the greater good of the shop and my family,” he said. Pimentel’s two children, Jace and Jiana, help him run the store. Their mom makes custom handbags and totes that are sold at Laughing Crow.
Pimentel also offers a disc resurfacing service, where he can give scratched discs a “mirror finish” at $4 a pop.
Visitors can trade in items for store credit. The value will depend on the item, but Pimentel will give around 60% of the value in exchange for store credit and around 40% for a cash sale. A variety of factors go into determining value, but it boils down to what he believes he can sell it for and simply how much he likes it.
The store’s grand opening event will be May 18. There will be sales, giveaways and a raffle for a gaming system with proceeds going toward the Pray for Mason campaign to help a Ripon teen who’s battling a rare form of brain cancer.
Business hours will be Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
This story was originally published May 10, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
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