T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — About 20 members of the Game Haven moving crew pose for a photo outside of the new location at 204 S. 1st Ave. on Saturday afternoon. Owner Scott Turner said there were around 50 people who helped out in all, and they got everything transferred from the old spot inside the Marshalltown Mall to the new downtown spot over the span of a few hours.

With a little help from his friends — around 50 of them, to be exact — Scott Turner completed the daunting task of packing up his entire store and moving it from its former location inside the Marshalltown Mall to a new spot at 204 S. 1st Ave. on Saturday morning in a building that Game Haven will share with Remix Dance Studio. Appropriately enough, a third “mall orphan,” Black Iron Barbell, is now across the street.

Since power was shut off at the mall due to continuous nonpayment by the New York based ownership group back in November, several businesses have moved out of the facility, and Turner and his assistant to the regional manager, Max Pietrzak, quickly began to explore their options for the store they first opened in 2021 with the goal of creating “a place for gamers of all ages and genres to have a place to gather and build” — whether they prefer video, board, card or arcade games.

“The last four months have been hell, to be honest, with all the negative stuff at the mall,” Turner said. “Nobody wanted to come out there, and I don’t blame them because it was terrible. We didn’t have parking lot lights. We had to make a lot of adjustments because of certain mall faculties.”

Through it all, business owners never received any direct correspondence from Kohan Retail Investment Group Owner Mike Kohan, who Turner less than affectionately dubbed “the billionaire bastard” while blasting him for doing “sleazeball stuff” as people like him are forced to reckon with the fallout of those decisions. Nonetheless, the support from within the Marshalltown community poured in from all corners, and Turner was constantly being asked if he needed help.

“For the first time, we did, and Holy s***, everybody showed up. We basically did this (move) in one trip. It was two hours,” he said. “I was blown away. We have such a good and loyal customer base that we even had people come in from out of town that haven’t been here for a while to come help move. I think that just says a lot about not just the town, but the culture that Max and I have made.”

On Saturday morning, those helpers pulled up with trucks and trailers, loaded everything they could and started on the great 1.6 mile drive from the old spot to the new one, which is more than twice as large in square footage — 4,000 compared to 1,750 before.

They’re also tripling their inventory. Turner and Pietrzak expected to spend most of their Easter Sunday setting up the new store in Marshalltown’s Central Business District, but with all the assistance they received, they expected to have that wrapped up yet Saturday.

The duo first opened Game Haven in November of 2021 with the simple goal of giving kids in Marshalltown something to do and a place to go, and the surge in esports popularity both at MHS and MCC has been a boon for the business as the store hosts weekly Super Smash Bros tournaments that are among the biggest in the state. Pietrzak even serves as one of the coaches for the MCC team, and newly minted local celebrity Amber Lawthers, the Mario Kart national champion herself, was one of the movers on hand Saturday.

“We’re really passionate about actually just helping kids — not only kids but like adults, too, that maybe don’t have a place to really go and find people,” Turner said.

Game Haven Owner Scott Turner, right, moves a pro wrestling arcade game machine out of the store’s old location at the Marshalltown Mall. As of Monday, Game Haven is officially reopened at 204 S. 1st Ave.

Pietrzak echoed that sentiment.

“Our big goal is to make sure that everyone in town has a safe place to be at, and they can socialize in an appropriate way so that way we can continue to keep growing Marshalltown and the business as well,” he said.

Logan Jay is a librarian at the Marshalltown Public Library (MPL) and has found a welcome new home for the Pokemon tournaments he hosts at Game Haven.

“Pokemon, to me, I’ve been doing it for 20 years at the library, and just helping kids at least have a safe place to (play) games and stuff is very important, especially for this town,” Jay said.

The expanded space will allow for the Smash tournaments to go on without disrupting the rest of the store’s operations, and while Game Haven is currently closed on Wednesdays, Turner and Pietrzak may decide to open seven days a week if they’re staying busy enough at the new location.

Game Haven is currently open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 3 to 11 p.m., 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday, noon to 1 a.m. on Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Turner only gave up one weekend of business to make the move, and he is set to reopen Monday. He expects growing pains and plenty of work in finalizing the transition, but as he noted jokingly, they weren’t prepared to open at the mall 2 1/2 years ago and found a way to make it happen regardless.

“This place is kind of the same, but the only real difference is we were turning nothing into something back then. And now we’re gonna turn something into even more,” he said. “It gives us a lot more opportunities to work with other businesses just because of the location, and we’re closer to a lot of schools up here. We’re closer to the Orpheum where they do the high school esports. So instead of having to rent out a venue, we can do it here. I think it just gives us a lot more opportunities overall just to kind of connect with other people and make stuff work.”

They’re also right down the street from Turner’s full-time employer, Emerson, and not far from other community anchors like the MPL and, of course, the Maid-Rite. With excitement building all across the downtown area, the minds behind one of Marshalltown’s most unique businesses are excited to be a part of it, and MCBD Executive Director Deb Millizer is equally giddy about welcoming them to their new home.

“As an entertainment destination that believes in elevating and contributing to our community’s youth, Game Haven is another excellent reason to spend time downtown. Game Haven’s inclusive and welcoming culture is exactly the vibe we want in our downtown,” Millizer said. “With the creative can-do mindset that Scott has, I know the other businesses in the district are going to enjoy cross promoting and collaborating with him. I can imagine family and friends dining downtown and connecting with a game date at Game Haven… Downtown Marshalltown continues to grow because people like Scott invest their time and talent here.”

To learn more about Game Haven, visit the store’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/gamehavenmtown/ or the website https://gamehavenmtown.tcgplayerpro.com/.

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Contact Robert Maharry at (641) 753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.