On July 1, 2021, Rutherfordton residents welcomed a new place to find games and connect with their community. Located in downtown Rutherfordton, Infinity Games and Toys is owned by wife and husband Lissette and Chris Gowan. The store not only sells games and toys, but it also has a smoothie shop, hosts game tournaments, and more.
Lissette is originally from New Jersey. She moved to North Carolina in 2010 and moved to Rutherfordton in 2019. Chris is from Rutherfordton. They have four children. While Lissette has always liked board games, she only began to get involved with the more complex and strategic games during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chris has been a game enthusiast since his teens. Lissette handles the store operations. Chris works as a full-time sales rep, but spends his spare time at Infinity growing the tabletop community. Lissette lost her father during the pandemic and was inspired to focus on the store because she felt that “it was time for people to get out of their houses and socialize again,”
When Infinity first opened its doors, it sold games and toys. However, it also offered a space for gamers (such as yours truly) to come, hang out, and play board games. Then, in the Summer of 2023, Infinity had the opportunity to acquire the space of the next-door coffee shop. Gamers will come into the store and play for hours, so having a place for them to get snacks made sense. The acquisition also added more space for people to come and hang out.
Both parts of Infinity offer a wide range of products. The café portion offers smoothies, coffee, lattes, baked goods, and potato chips. Lissette says their menu is slowly expanding. The other part of the store does have a few classic board games, like Monopoly and checkers, but it focuses more on strategic games and social deduction games – a style of game in which players attempt to uncover each other’s hidden role or team allegiance. They also have miniatures for various tabletop games, collectibles, trading cards, items made by locals, and more. Customers can also try new board games in the store or rent them.
Infinity also hosts several events. They host Dungeons and Dragons games on Sundays, as well as tournaments for various other games. They also host Friday and Saturday game nights. On Wednesday evenings they host tournaments for the Disney trading card game Lorcana. They are also starting to hold miniature painting nights, which they plan to host on a tri-weekly or monthly basis.
Lissette says that her favorite part about running the store is getting to know the customers and making friends with the people of Rutherfordton. Lissette encourages readers to visit the shop and participate in their events. She also asks that our readers help get the word out about their store. You can visit the store’s Facebook page for more information, or call (828) 829 -5851. To share suggestions for Infinity, you can reach out on the store’s Facebook Page. You can visit Infinity Games at 234 N Main St, Rutherfordton, NC 28139. The store is open from 12 pm to 8 pm on Wednesday and Thursday, 12 pm to 10 pm on Friday and Saturday, and 12 pm to 5 pm on Sunday.
