A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Jeff St. Pierre dreamed of opening a gaming shop.
St. Pierre said he dabbled in all sorts of careers throughout his lifetime: law enforcement, broadcasting, film production, and corporate sales. In 2014, he decided to open the gaming store he said he had imagined since he was in high school.
This was the start of The Kessel Run, an Orléans gaming store, which St. Pierre co-owns.
When choosing a location, St. Pierre noted there were lots of gaming stores in the west end of Ottawa and smaller stores scattered in between, but said there was nothing substantial in the east.
“Orléans needed a game store,” St. Pierre said. “There’s nothing out here for that.”
Named after a route in Star Wars, the store’s 2,800 square feet of gaming space makes it the largest gaming store in Ottawa.
From the beginning, St. Pierre said he wanted the gaming store to be licensed to serve alcohol, but he wasn’t sure how to go about it.
Conveniently, the business next door ended its lease within a few months of The Kessel Run’s opening, and St. Pierre said he and co-owner Tyler Wood seized the opportunity.
In October 2015, the pair opened The Cantina, a Star Wars-themed bar, in the building beside the store. The bar is adorned with Star Wars décor and serves drinks inspired by the series.
A Star Wars fan since childhood, St. Pierre said though his favourite character is Boba Fett, he identifies most with Han Solo.
“He’s kind of the cocky entrepreneur,” St. Pierre said. “I don’t know that I’m cocky, but I like his free spirit. I like the fact that he’s into free enterprise and he’s just trying to make a living in a huge galaxy.”
Like the new Star Wars film, St. Pierre’s businesses aim to bring together different generations. The Kessel Run is geared towards all ages, although The Cantina next door is aimed at an older crowd.
“What the dynamic usually is, the mom or the dad comes in with their kid, drops the kid off here to play a game, then they go next door and have a beer, which was the idea,” St. Pierre said.
Even at the bar, St. Pierre said parents can still have that “geek” connection. Star Wars pictures scatter the walls, while a life-size stormtrooper stands guard.
St. Pierre said since a “more interactive, sit down, face-to-face game” is rare in the days of iPads, The Kessel Run also provides parents with the opportunity to just play a board game with their kids.
