Chess board maker in Colorado wins big thanks to popularity of Netflix show – OutThere Colorado
Cameron Crawford thought he had seen it before. There was the puzzle scare in March 2020. When the weather got better, he ran out of kites. Then there was a Pokemon card gold rush that left his shelves empty.
But he never wouldve guessed what came next.
Starting in late October, phone call after phone call came in with the same question at Crawfords Colorado Springs store, Petries Family Games. People wanted to know about chess sets. Did they have any left?
It was just kind of bizarre, Crawford said. There are parts of the toy and game industry that people dont care about as much. Chess is one of those.
A week later, Petries was sold out of everything chess-related. Its the same story at local stores such as Its Your Move and Gamers Haven. This time, store owners couldnt blame the surge in sales solely on the coronavirus pandemic.
We started to figure out, Oh yeah, theres that show, said Mike Lindhal, who works at Gamers Haven. We were totally not prepared for The Queens Gambit.
The Netflix series, which debuted on Oct. 23, has been pinpointed as the reason for the unlikely rise in popularity of chess.
Sales of the classic game have skyrocketed internationally, according to an NPR interview with Mary Higbe, director of marketing at game distributor GoliathGames.
Our October sales for chess were up 178% over the same period last year, she told NPR. Thats a big increase. But something else unexpected happened at the end of the month. Now, she says, our chess sales are up 1,048%.
Since then, Crawford says its been impossible to keep chess sets in stock.
This is crazy because its still going strong, he said.
That means good business for someone like Brad Borkowski, who has built custom chess boards since 2013. The construction teacher at Manitou Springs School District started the side hustle, called Colorado Woodworker, to make extra money.
While chess boards have been hard to find at stores or online, Borkowski has worked overtime from his Colorado Springs home to fill orders from around the world.
He noticed a spike in orders in April, shortly after the pandemic started. Then, the Queens Gambit effect found him.
In November and December, my business blew up, Borkowski said, estimating his sales increased by 1,000%.
A sibling tipped him off about the series, which was the top-watched show on Netflix for several weeks.
I was like, I cant really watch it. Im kind of busy right now, Borkowski says.
Orders kept relentlessly coming in through his Etsy shop, which lists boards starting at around $75. His priciest board sold for $600.
Eventually, Borkowski had to call in backup. His parents offered to visit from Iowa for a weekend to help out. They ended up staying a month.
Im lucky to have a dad who knows woodworking pretty well, Borkowski said of his father, a retired shop teacher who passed on the trade to his son.
It was Borkowskis dad, too, who suggested the idea of custom chess boards.
He thought it would be a good niche to get into, he said.
And Dad was right.
Chess is such a personal thing to so many people, Borkowski said. They dont want something that was made in a factory. They want to make it their own.
During a break around Christmas, Borkowski finally found time to watch The Queens Gambit during evenings after making chess boards all day. He finally got it.
Its almost like watching Rocky, he said. You watch that and it makes you want to go out and learn boxing.
And chess easily fits into quarantine life.
People have been stuck at home for so long, Borkowski said. You watch a show like that and you say, Thats something I can do.
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Chess board maker in Colorado wins big thanks to popularity of Netflix show - OutThere Colorado