06/15/2026
💔🎮 **THE END OF AN ERA... BUT NOT THE END OF THE STORY** 🎮💔
Today, for the first time in 23 years, Grizzle's officially closes the chapter on being a brick-and-mortar store.
Those words are incredibly difficult to write.
Twenty-three years ago, a dream opened its doors right here in **Plattsburgh**. What started as a small business became so much more than a store. It became a gathering place. A place where friendships were made, memories were shared, collections were started, and generations of customers became family.
Over these last few weeks, we've had the privilege of looking back and thanking so many people who helped make Grizzle's what it became.
We thanked our family members who sacrificed countless evenings, weekends, and holidays to help keep the doors open.
We thanked employees, friends, and volunteers who showed up when we needed them most, whether it was helping customers, covering shifts, setting up for shows, moving displays, or simply being there during the busy days and the difficult ones.
We thanked our mail carriers, community members, vendors, show organizers, and supporters who believed in us and encouraged us through the years.
Most importantly, we thanked **YOU**.
The customers who stopped in every week.
The kids who spent their allowance money on their first game.
The collectors who trusted us to help build their collections.
The parents and grandparents who came searching for the perfect Christmas gift.
The people who stopped in just to say hello.
The folks who brought us coffee.
The customers who became friends.
The friends who became family.
Many of you have shared stories over the past few weeks about your first visit to Grizzle's. Some of those visits happened 20 years ago. Some happened just a few months ago. Reading your memories has brought laughter, tears, and more emotions than we can put into words.
For Karen, this wasn't just a business. It was 23 years of her life. Twenty-three years of early mornings, late nights, inventory runs, trade-ins, conventions, community events, and countless hours spent making sure there was always something new waiting on the shelves.
For Kristi, this store became home. A place where she spent over a decade working alongside her mom, learning, laughing, stressing, celebrating, and building something together that neither of them will ever forget.
As we packed boxes, took down shelves, and watched the walls become emptier each day, it felt like we were packing away pieces of our lives.
But what we'll carry with us forever are the memories.
The excitement on a child's face when they found the game they'd been searching for.
The conversations at the counter that somehow lasted an hour.
The regular customers who stopped by just to check in.
The community that rallied around us through good times and difficult times alike.
To our loyal followers throughout **Plattsburgh and the North Country**, thank you for standing by us for all these years. Thank you for supporting local. Thank you for recommending us to your friends and family. Thank you for every purchase, every share, every comment, every kind word, and every memory.
You gave a small family business the opportunity to survive and thrive for 23 years.
That is something we will never, ever forget.
While today marks the official end of Grizzle's as a brick-and-mortar store, it is not goodbye.
It's simply the end of one chapter.
The page isn't going anywhere.
We aren't disappearing.
We're taking some time to catch our breath, reflect on everything that has happened, and figure out what the next chapter looks like.
And trust us...
**There will be a next chapter.**
So for now, from the bottom of our hearts:
Thank you for 23 incredible years.
Thank you for the memories.
Thank you for the friendships.
Thank you for believing in us.
Thank you for making Grizzle's more than just a store.
Today, the lights may be off, the doors may be locked, and the shelves may be gone...
But the memories, the friendships, and the Grizzle's family will remain forever.
❤️
**Stay tuned for what's to come.**
This may be the end of Grizzle's as you knew it...
But it is not the end of Grizzle's.
With love, gratitude, and a few tears,
**Karen, Kristi, and the entire Grizzle's family** ❤️🎮
