Game Trade levels up to 15th year in De Pere

Matthew Day

Staff

May 4, 2026

DE PERE – Count super-powered plumbers, speedy hedgehogs and dancing bandicoots among De Pere’s more colorful residents these past 15 years, thanks to the city’s specialized video game store, Game Trade. 

As Gregg Johnson celebrates a decade and a half of owning the boutique shop, he said “it doesn’t seem real.” 

“I don’t know where the time goes,” he said, “but to get [to 15 years], it shows we have deep roots in the community now.” 

Those roots – as The Business News first reported in its May 5, 2023 issue – were fortified when Game Trade expanded its 400 Reid St. location. 

There, Johnson said his inventory of used video game consoles, games and accessories is as robust as ever, fueled by steady turnover from customers buying, selling and trading pre-owned items. 

“When I first opened in 2011 into 2013, it was the regular Nintendo that was the hottest thing – everybody was buying that,” he said. “And then every couple of years it kind of shifts to the newer system, so then it was Super Nintendo, then it was Nintendo 64. Right now, we’re kind of in the Game Cube and Wii era, where those prices are going up because more people are starting to collect those now.” 

Next, Johnson said he anticipates an uptick in PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and Xbox interest, as gamers who have “reached the disposable-income phases of life” want to buy what they had when they were kids.

As Game Trade announced its 15th anniversary, he said its customers have chimed in on social media to express support, expressing nostalgia not just for the inventory, but for the store itself. 

“A lot of those people are still regulars and still come in to this day, and some people have moved away, and they [say], ‘Oh, man, I miss that place – I used to go every day…,’” he said. “So, people think of Game Trade as this great, almost nostalgic memory. Technically, I consider 20 years to be ‘retro,’ and we’re fast approaching 20.” 

(Joy)sticking to the vision 

Johnson said his goal with Game Trade has always been to cultivate a “family-friendly, yet nerd-oriented” atmosphere. 

“It’s kind of like an oasis,” he said. “The real world is not the greatest all the time… When you walk in, though, we have TVs playing old video games. Sometimes on Saturdays, we run old Saturday morning cartoons. It’s a vibe maybe to a time you could think back to that you remember being better.” 

Some of the nostalgia, Johnson said, may be misguided if not imagined – “the ’80s and ’90s weren’t magical” – but customers appreciate the throwback atmosphere, complete with synth-wave music.

Since the 2023 renovations, he said the store now reflects the vision he always had for Game Trade. 

“When you first open [a store like this], you don’t have a lot of money, and you just kind of make it work,” he said. “Then, as you’re growing, you run out of space, or you’re always feeling like you’re making concessions with the space you have. Once we did the remodel, everything was exactly how I wanted it to be.” 

Johnson said his approach to inventory, however, is one aspect he’s upheld since the beginning: everything bought/sold at Game Trade is done so in person – never online.

“We rely on our customer base to bring in the stuff we’re going to sell to the other part of our customer base,” he said. 

Having built up a sense of community, Johnson said Game Trade’s regular customers are inclined to sell or trade their no-longer-needed games/equipment to the store. 

Though they could personally sell their wares online – and possibly command a higher price – he said people choose to support the store’s “ecosystem” by replenishing its inventory. 

“If you take your best stuff and you ship it out of this area, you ship it to the east and west coast,” he said. “That stuff will never come back to [this region].” 

Instead, Johnson said many Game Trade customers are what he calls “boomerangs.” 

“They’re customers who will buy a game from you, keep it in their collection for a year or two and then they’ll come in one day, sell a bunch of stuff they aren’t going to play anymore and they’ll buy more collectible stuff,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of the same stuff we’ve sold over the years come right back to us, and that’s all part of keeping it local here, too.” 

Johnson said the store offers a more convenient option for video game sales, as customers appreciate being absolved of having to price their own wares as well as handle shipping or arranging meet-ups with strangers. 

“When they come to our store, they know if they bring a box of stuff, they don’t have to clean it, they don’t have to organize it,” he said. 

Johnson said the prices Game Trade offers are based on the condition of the games as well as current market rates. 

In keeping with the store’s customer service standards, he said the staff – a team of six full-time employees – are fully transparent about the pricing process. 

“We can even show people what we’re going to sell [their game] for, what we’re offering them, what percentage, so they get an honest, totally clear look behind the curtains,” he said. 

Even with Game Trade’s inventory reliant on such transactions – “today’s trades are tomorrow’s sales” – Johnson said the staff prioritizes a friendly, trustworthy approach over pressuring or haggling with customers. 

“The whole store was founded on a simple principle: If you take care of the customer, they’ll take care of you back,” he said.

Not just nostalgia 

Though the store specializes in catering to retro tastes – with some customers even “buying old tube TVs again” for gaming – Johnson said Game Trade is equally grounded in the present, offering a safe social environment, recognizing that a segment of video game enthusiasts may not always feel at ease in social settings. 

“We make [the store] a place that is very welcome to everyone – [including the introverted] – but also to parents and grandparents who want to maybe buy things for their kids,” he said. 

Johnson said the store also helps provide gamers and/or concerned parents with a healthy sense of moderation when it comes to video games. 

“What’s cool is a lot of people are parents now who grew up with , and they look at it now and they think, ‘I don’t want my kid in a VR (virtual reality) headset for 10 hours a day, but I’m going to share my experience of playing games with them,’” he said. “It actually builds a family dynamic.” 

Game Trade’s inventory is not the newest – and when the classic games were originally released, video games were more of a niche hobby – but Johnson said the industry today is more inclusive and popular than ever. 

According to the Entertainment Software Association, American consumer spending on video games hit $60.7 billion in 2025 – compared to $11.54 billion spent on music (per the Recording Industry Association of America) and movie ticket sales of $8.66 billion (which includes Canada, per Statista), for perspective. 

As video games have claimed their spot atop entertainment options, Johnson said a segment of gamers have maintained a preference for tangible, legacy systems, while others have discovered the classics anew. 

He said the physical experience mirrors that of vinyl record enthusiasts – “there’s something to the process” of handling the equipment. 

“It’s not just the games and the music that bring the nostalgic feelings – it’s the tactile function of the controllers, it’s the getting up and popping in a cartridge, etc.,” he said. 

For young gamers raised in an overwhelmingly digital world, Johnson said the physical option stirs something in them, as if they’ve found themselves “homesick for a time that you never really knew.” 

Further, with strictly digital media, including games available on mobile phones, Johnson said gamers can experience a phenomenon of “choice paralysis” when faced with endless options. 

To help gamers enjoy these benefits, he said it’s up to the staff’s meticulous attention to detail that ensures older games and equipment remain in top condition for customers to enjoy. 

“We’re making it so it’s nice and clean as it was the day it came off the line…,” he said. “Essentially, we are restoring these things to like-new conditions, to hopefully keep them around for years to come.” 

Extra Life 

Johnson said perhaps his favorite outcome from all retro gaming and present-day socializing is the way he’s able to leverage Game Trade to give back to the future. 

For more than a decade, he said he has contributed to Extra Life, a charitable arm of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals aimed at helping gamers donate to children’s health care. 

Through Game Trade and its generous customers, Johnson said he’s been able to donate more than $130,000 to the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. 

“I’m more proud of that than I am of this store – and I’m very proud of the store, because I couldn’t do the charity stuff without the store,” he said. “We’ve basically turned the store into an engine to help with our fundraising.” 

No ‘final boss’ here 

Other than pondering an eventual career change to work full-time in charity, Johnson said he simply plans to keep powering up Game Trade for the long-term. 

“I love what I do, and I love my staff – they’re family to me,” he said. “The future, to me, is passing [the store] down to them so they can make a future out of it, too.” 

With no timeline for any such transitions – “I’m not that old, but I’m not that young” – Johnson said he intends to savor what the store has become. 

“I built it, but it took on its own personality,” he said. 

Johnson said he credits the store’s success to his peers in the De Pere business community and the Northeast Wisconsin gaming/media sphere, his fervent customers and his cherished staff. 

“I appreciate all the love and support over the years,” he said. “I’ve got a smile on my face right now, just thinking about it.” 

Leap, jet or warp over to gametradedepere.com for more information.