CALGARY -- When Gordon Johnsen started out, he was selling games out of the back of his car and passing along new finds to interested friends.
That was the late 1970's and no one talked about playing Dungeons and Dragons in polite company. Women were largely unheard of in gaming circles.
Things have changed.
"Now forty per cent of the players are women," Johnsen says. "That is one of the best things."
The Sentry Box, his store, started out at just 450 square feet on New Years Day 1980. It has since grown to 14,000 square feet on 10th Ave S.W., selling countless titles and hosting regular events.
Despite the head-spinning booms and busts of the local economy over the subsequent four decades, the store has somehow not only endured -- it's thriving.
"We go flat in a recession, and then it (business) starts creeping up again," Johnsen says. "You're going to skip that plasma TV if you're worried about your job, but a game to keep you entertained is nothing."
One customer says when he told staff at a South Carolina game store that he was from Calgary - they instantly shouted "Awww! The Sentry Box!"
It's the kind of recognition any business would envy.
Sentry Box on 10 Ave SW is holding their anniversary celebrations this Saturday.
