Finding their nook

The Nook Shoppe, a video game store and repair shop, fosters community among girls, LGBTQ2S+ folk

The Nook Shoppe can be found on the second floor of Cobra Collectibles, one of many long-standing businesses in the Spence neighbourhood.

Tucked away in the corner and surrounded by colourful merchandise, the video game buy-and-sell store and console repair shop is a one-person-show, operated solely by Missy Putz, 29.

Putz, who is non-binary and uses any pronouns, has been fixing video game consoles under the name Nook Repairs for far longer than The Nook Shoppe has been a business, they said. In fact, The Nook Shoppe only just recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. The expansion “just fell together.”

Originally, Putz worked solely for Cobra, but co-workers encouraged them to stand on their own while continuing to use space in the same building, located at 555 Sargent Ave., as a starting point.

Their former employer, along with their husband, have been their biggest supports, Putz said.

According to the Nook Shoppe website, which Putz has spent the last two months revamping — The Nook Shoppe is “an independent game store dedicated to creating a vibrant, inclusive, and welcoming space for the girls, the gays, and all other under-represented groups.”

For the West End resident, the idea to operate an inclusive game store comes from a very personal place.

“As a female-presenting person, we face a lot of challenges in a lot of nerd spaces,” Putz said. “When I first was doing video game repairs at Cobra, there was a guy who wanted (a repair) done for him, but he didn’t want me to do it, specifically, because I was a girl, and there was a lot of sexist remarks from him … and it made me feel so icky as a person … I don’t want that to be anyone else’s experience. So we get a lot of people in here who, whether they’re queer or just a mom who wants their kids’ PS4 four to work, I want this space to be comfortable and accessible, because I don’t want anyone feeling that way. It’s gross.”

Putz described it as a way of fostering a community-based environment, which rings true for one regular at the shop, Derek Biondi.

Biondi has a habit of looking for video game apparel at local thrift stores, where the state of the available consoles tends to vary, he said. While he’s neither female nor part of the LGBTQ2S+ community himself, he’s “always felt that it’s a great place to be.”

“I’ve been around the block quite a bit,” he said, referring to the gaming community. “When you get into those very niche hobbies, you begin to meet intimidating people.”

Comic book and video game stores are male-dominated and sometimes intimidating even to him, he said.

“(Nook Shoppe)’s a really professional, super-welcoming environment,” Biondi continued. “And Missy is super-welcoming, very positive and very personable, as well.”

“When I was a teenager or even a child, video games were an escape for me,” Putz said. “You would go play games to forget about dumb school problems or whatever, and I still find that’s the case for me as an adult.”

One example of this was Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which was released at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic: “We were all so stressed about COVID and about how that was going to affect us, and we couldn’t see our friends and family. Then Animal Crossing came out, and all of a sudden you have this way to connect with people and to build that community … which, in my opinion, can only lead to good things for your mental health,” they said.

For a lot of people, gaming is not only a hobby, but a way of building community, and Nook Shoppe aims to make the “gigantic” gaming community in Winnipeg as safe as possible.

“I have big plans,” Putz said, but they’re only one person. Eventually, they aim to grow the business and operate in their own space, creating a lounge and larger area for regulars to mingle and relax. They also hope to expand to ship-in repairs, which would expand their market, they said.

“The other thing is, when you’re shopping here, you’re directly contributing to Winnipeg, and you’re directly contributing to my ability to feed my dogs.”

The Nook Shoppe takes special and pre-orders on games, as well. This can be done by emailing info@thenookshoppe.ca

For more information on the shop or console repairs, go to thenookshoppe.ca or @nookrepairs on Instagram.

Emma Honeybun

Emma Honeybun is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. She graduated RRC Polytech’s creative communications program, with a specialization in journalism, in 2023. Email her at emma.honeybun@freepress.mb.ca