Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Maly, Boyle, Hunt, Castro, Kren, Nyberg, Clough
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 12/15/2021
Neillsville Welcomes Gaming/Novelty Shop (Maly Family – 2021)
Representatives from the Neillsville business community and the Clark County Economic Development Corporation and Tourism Bureau joined together Dec. 7 to congratulate Karl Maly and his family on the opening of a new game store. Shown (l to r) are Diane Kren, Sheila Nyberg, Dan Clough, Jordan, Karl Maly, Marianne Castro, Shelby Boyle and Jayden. Submitted photo
By Jesse Heslip
Karl Maly of Neillsville remembers a simpler time when the N64 was king and games like 007 Golden Eye were the jewel of every gamer’s eye, as he recalls his start in the video game world some 20-plus years ago.
Now he’s helping a new generation of gamers, as his family-run business has all hands-on deck working to bring a multi-faceted gaming shop to Neillsville.
“There’s nothing like it around,” says Maly, who over the months since COVID-19 struck and lockdowns began has seen an increased interest in gaming and has heard many complains in the local gaming community about having to drive an hour or more for any kind of gaming needs.
This sparked the idea to take his 20-year-old collection of all things gaming-related and turn it into Karl’s #1 Stop and Game Shop.
It didn’t happen overnight though, and it wasn’t done alone.
Maly’s girlfriend Shelby Boyle handled her share of the workload, putting together the business cards, designing the logo and assisting elsewhere as needed. Maly’s nephew Nikko Hunt was called in to do some flooring work. His mother Marianne Castro also chips in where she can, handling transactions and offering comic relief for the shoppers.
Telling stories of Maly growing up, “the credit card statements prove it: we’ve been buying game stuff for better than 20 years,” said Castro, joking with Maly.
“This has been a dream of mine for my entire life: Maly said. “You could call me a gaming hoarder. What you see here is only a part of what we have; we ae preparing the inventory and adding more daily.”
The store has it all, from Street Fighter socks to action figures, Pokémon cards, wireless PS4 controllers, framed wall pictures, board games, DVD and Blu-Ray movies, and of course a wide variety of video games.
The stores features rare and hard-to-find items for collectors as well as gamers, who will enjoy taking a trip down memory lane as the store shelves unfold and a bit of everything gaming from past and present is revealed. One such hard-to-find item sits on the shelves now, which surprised Maly, who had thought the nearly impossible to locate Nintendo Switch Lite would have found a new home already.
“I may part with my extra PS5. I haven’t brought it down here yet; being it’s Christmas shopping season, I just might,” Maly mused. Before grabbing a cookie for the road, I asked the longtime gamer what he things the best video game is.
The Elder Scrolls series, which debuted 27 years ago back in 1994 makes the top of the list for Maly – “That game just never stops changing. I’ve been playing them for over 15 years.”
The store staff members take requests on their Facebook page for any items not in stock and have plans to implement a trade-in program.
Karl’s Stop Game Shop is open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Christmas Eve 11 a.m.-8 p.m., at 118 W. 6th St., Neillsville.
For questions, or directions, call 715-819-1004.
