Today we’d like to introduce you to Ty Barth.
Ty – please share your story with us.
Tyton Games was founded by two friends, Antonio Scarlato and myself back in the summer of 2010. It all started on a kitchen table with a box of old video games from an estate sale. From there it was a lot of hard work and non-stop searching for the next lot of games. After a few years we realized we had too much stuff and we needed more space. The decision was made to open a store in the summer of 2012. There was no big plan in place, except to become one of Chicagoland’s biggest game stores. Lofty goals for two guys who just loved games and never owned a business before.
Tyton Games as we know it started in the fall of 2012 in a modest 1,000 square foot store in Villa Park. There was never a huge loan taken out to start our dream. I guess you could say it was that first box of games that over time paid for everything we have today. That and a lot of hard work. A passion for all things gaming is what drove us. We always wanted anyone who bought any used video games from us to get something that was as close to new as possible. To be able to get it home and know it will work on the first try, just like when you were a kid.
It’s this attention to detail that helped us grow and stand out. Video games weren’t just money for us. They were more than that. The games and systems we refurbished gave people a chance to remember their childhood memories years later. To feel that joy when you were 10 and got Mario 3 on Christmas morning. That’s what we wanted for anyone who bought games from us.
Though we may have started out mainly as a video game store, over the years we evolved to incorporate other games. We added table top games and card games to the fold early on. But after a few years we realized yet again we needed more space and had to expand. In the spring of 2015 we did just that. Just over two years after opening, we tripled our space. Again, no huge loans to pave the way, just hard work and our initial dream, to become the biggest and best and give people a place to play the games they love.
Our original store became our devoted game room with ample table space for those wishing to play any game they chose. The new 2,000 square foot expansion became our retail space. With more square footage meant being able to carry a broader range of games. We keep expanding what we carry so that we can, once again, run out of room and need to expand again.
A few things have changed around Tyton Games since that dream was started all those years ago. In the summer of 2016, Antonio decided to leave the company and pursue other life goals. To take his place, a good friend of mine, Greg Busse came on board. Though part of the original team was gone, the goal of being the biggest and the best and how we do things hasn’t changed. We are just getting started.
While we know we aren’t there yet and have a long way to go, those that have supported us over the years have made it possible to keep going. After a while I realized Tyton Games wasn’t myself, or Tony, or Greg. It was everyone that came through these doors. Whether it was to pick up a few games for their collection, or to come in for Friday Night Magic. They became part of a community that makes this place what it is today and makes it so great. Without all of them, a dream that was started all those years ago could have never been possible.
Has it been a smooth road?
I would say anyone who says they had a smooth road is either lying, or got a lot of help along the way. As I mentioned previously, we never took out a single loan to get where we are today. There wasn’t that safety net of already having a lot of money set off to the side from a previous job, or having a partner with a great career to prop you up when things got hard. There never was a safety net.
It’s impossible to get where you are running a business without some sort of struggles popping up. Looking back at it, yes, it would have made things easier to have a loan to start out. But, to me, that feels like getting help I didn’t need or deserve. If it was something we wanted and wanted it to work, well then we were going to do whatever we needed to do to make it work. Putting in all the hard work and long hours makes it mean more. It makes it feel like it’s worth it. You have something to show for your hard work and know that you made it happen.
I don’t think I would trade the struggles, or the bumpy road for anything. It makes you who you are and you learn so much from it. You can’t fully appreciate the good times if you didn’t have to go through hell to get to them.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Tyton Games – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We deal in all things gaming. Whether its video games, table top games, card games, board games, etc.
One of our biggest specialties is retro video games. No one in the area shows as much love and appreciation for retro like we do. Every single system and game that comes through our doors is completely taken apart, cleaned inside and out and refurbished. They all work like they are brand new.
Giving old games new life is what I am most proud of. I know those that shop here want to relive their childhood memories and want to remember playing the game, not blowing in it and it not working! To know that you sold them as close to new as they could get and know that it will work the first try is an awesome feeling. I wouldn’t want to be a place that sold a system or games and have someone open them up on Christmas morning and not work. So to that end we strive to make sure everything is as nice as can be before it goes on the floor for sale.
Our loyal customers show us again and again while the time spent working on everything is completely worth it.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
What I like best about the city is easily the architecture. It originally got me down the path of being an architecture major at Illinois Institute of Technology. But life had other plans for me…
I absolutely hate the traffic, but who doesn’t?
Contact Info:
- Address: 106 East St. Charles, Villa Park, IL 60181
- Website: Tytongames.com
- Phone: 630-501-0200
- Email: Tytongames@gmail.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/TYTONGAMES/
- Twitter: @Tytongames
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
