This your obligatory Covid 19 update from Red Raccoon games!
So here we are, almost 1 month into Gov. Pritzker's Shelter at Home order. Here are our most commonly received questions:
Are you open? No. Ish. Red Raccoon Games is considered a non-essential business, so we are not allowed to be open, we are not allowed to do curbside or local delivery. But we are allowed to ship things! Even if it's just accross Bloomington, we are shipping games, puzzles, Pokemon cards, paints, tshirts - basically everything that is in the store!
Cool. How do I know what is in the store? We were already in the process of making a website, so we rushed it to get it up and running - you can find it at www.RedRaccoonGames.NET. You can find almost everything we have in stock on that website!
Wait, that just said "almost everything". What's missing? Mostly collectible stuff like older Magic product, and Magic or Pokemon singles. Unfortunately the prices on those things change so often we can't keep the website updated properly.
Wait, did you say puzzles? Do you actually have puzzles in stock? Yes! We stocked up for our January National Puzzle Month promotion. As of right now, we have 50+ designs of adult puzzles (500+ pieces) and about 20 kids puzzle designs. PLUS we have 85+ new designs on order, most of which have never been at RRG, that will hopefully arrive this week!
Do I still earn Experience Tokens if I buy online? Yes! They will be included in your box.
I have a teacher discount. Can I use that online? Sorry, no, as of right now you cannot. But you can call us! Either Jamie or Jesse will be at the store from 12pm-5pm Monday-Friday to take orders and answer questions. If you call us, we can put your Teacher or Level Up! discount on an order, and take a credit card over the phone.
What about new releases from [INSERT PUBLISHER HERE]? At this point, pretty much every publisher has pushed back all new releases until mid-May. This includes Pokemon, Magic, Games Workshop, Asmodee, AEG - all of the big guys. We will keep in touch to let you know when things are going to open up.
I don't see [INSERT PRODUCT] on the website. Can I Special Order it? Probably. We are still getting limited restocks from some publishers & distributors, but it all depends on what you are looking for. Games Workshop paints are 100% unavailable, so if we're out, we're out. But you can always call us and ask and we will do out best to order it here, and then ship it to you!
Did you know [THING] was broken on the website? No, probably not. We know there are lots of links broken and we're trying to fix them all, so please send what you find our way. This website was supposed to launch in like September. We gave up 4 months of testing to get something that was 90% functional up and running. Sorry!
Can I buy giftcards still? Yes, you can either call us or buy them on the website at www.RedRaccoonGames.NET. Online, they are all the way at the bottom of the page. Jamie is trying to fix that, but he's a sucky web developer. The man can design and build a multi-million dollar data center, but can't handle some simple HTML / CSS. Sheesh.
I want to ship something outside of Illinois, but it's not working on the website. Can I do that? Yes, but you have to call us. See the previous question where we talk about Jamie's web development skills. It is on the list to fix.
When is the store going to reopen? As soon as Gov. Pritzker says we can. Realistically, we are expecting the Shelter at Home order to be extended to May 15th, or May 31st. Even then, there will be restrictions on gathering sizes, but you can bet your hamburgers we are going to have this store so darn sanitized it is almost painful! No one puts baby in a corner!
So... how is the store doing? Well, we're surviving, just like everyone else. We finished March off at about 10% down for the moth, thanks to all of you that did last-minute shopping. We love you for that. April is trending to be down 80%. Can't say we're thrilled about that, but it is certainly better than being down 100%. We are of course frantically applying for Small Business Administration loan programs just like every other small business in America right now. Can't say that has been a fun process either, but it is what it is. But you know what they say - when life hands you lemons, you lick the salt, shoot the tequila, and then throw the lemon at the bartender yelling "I said I wanted a lime!"
Uh, your colloquialisms are getting weirder... Yea, sleep is a precious commodity, especially when it isn't happening reguarly. But we binged Picard this week (30 days of free CBS All-Access for the win!)
What can I do to help? Keep Red Raccoon Games as your primary source for games! We're here and we're doing our best to get you what you want! Seriously, RRG is going to make it through this, but not every BloNo business is even surviving. A lot are drowning. They need your help. Now is the time everyone needs to pull together and do their best to shop local. We need small businesses to reopen and put people back to work if our economy is going to go back to normal. Small business needs your help!
Anything else? Why yes, thank you for asking such an open ended question, where we can talk about whatever we want.
First, we want to say thank you to all of you. Thank you to everyone who has called, emailed, or messaged us to see how we are. Thank you to all of you who have already ordered via the website. Thank you for the cards and notes. You are the reason why we do this. We miss all of the conversations at the store, and we miss all of the ridiculous antics that happen here, and we just straight up miss seeing all of you!
Second, thank you for reading this email. We know you are getting mail-bombed - so are we. We are posting more frequent updates at www.Facebook.com/RedRaccoonGames if you want to see us there. Either Jamie or Jesse will be live on Facebook every Tuesday or Thursday until this lifts to just chat about what is going on.
And with that, we are out! Love you all!
