"From Game Store to Hobby Cafe: The Evolution of Cerberus Legion Games to Nine Muses"

We are thrilled to unveil a new chapter in our journey as we transform Cerberus Legion Games into Nine Muses Hobby Cafe. This evolution marks a significant milestone for us, reflecting our deep-rooted commitment to fostering a vibrant and inclusive community centered around creativity and shared passions.

At Nine Muses we are expanding beyond our gaming origins to embrace a diverse range of hobbies and artistic pursuits. Our mission is to cultivate a welcoming and diverse community space that nurtures creativity, fosters meaningful connections, and provides exceptional experiences through hobbies, arts, and social events. To "Unleash your inner Muse" as we like to say. The decision to transform from a local game store to a hobby cafe derived from us defining our core values as a company. Once we defined our core values, we knew immediately we needed to evolve.

We defined four core values. The first is Community. We are dedicated to building a strong, supportive community where individuals can connect, share their passions, and grow together. Building positive communities is something we are passionate about. We have successfully cultivated a few gaming communities, but we need to include more of the hobby range in order to become more of a local community center. Which leads to the second core value, Inclusivity. We believe in creating a space where everyone feels welcome and valued, regardless of their background or interests. In order to do this, we need to expand our range of support for the hobbies within the community. The third core value is Creativity. We strive to inspire and nurture the creative spirit in our community through a wide range of artistic and hobby-focused activities. I will outline our entire plan further in the article. And the fourth core value is Quality. We are committed to providing high-quality products, services, and experiences that meet the diverse needs and interests of our customers. We want you to have the best possible experience.

These core values drove us to our next step which was really taking a hard look at the company and writing out what is called a "Hedgehog Concept", from Good to Great by Jim Collins. This really helped us outline what we needed to do in order to become the best company we could be for our local community. It requires you to define "What are we deeply passionate about?", "What can we be the best in the world at?", and "What drives our economic engine?". So below is what we defined as our "Hedgehog Concept".

1. What We Are Deeply Passionate About:

• Community Building: Cultivating a vibrant, inclusive, and welcoming space where people from all walks of life can gather to share their love for hobbies, arts, and games.

• Artistic Expression: Providing a platform for artistic talents, from canvas painting and stage performances to book clubs and creative workshops, fostering a sense of creativity and collaboration.

• Quality Experiences: Offering top-notch services and products, including a coffee lounge, internet café, and well-organized hobby events that enhance the overall customer experience.

2. What We Can Be the Best in the World At:

• Creating an Inclusive Hobby and Art Community: Being the go-to destination for hobby enthusiasts and artists, known for our warm, inclusive atmosphere and diverse range of activities that cater to various interests and skill levels.

• Providing a Unique and Engaging Customer Experience: Combining a hobby store with a coffee lounge, internet café, and event space to create a multifaceted venue where customers can relax, socialize, and immerse themselves in their passions.

• Fostering Long-term Relationships: Building strong, lasting relationships with our customers by consistently delivering exceptional service, engaging events, and a sense of belonging to a larger community.

3. What Drives Our Economic Engine:

• Memberships and Subscriptions: Offering memberships that provide exclusive access to events, discounts on products, and other benefits, creating a steady stream of recurring revenue. Offering subscriptions to branded coffee delivery.

• Event Hosting and Participation Fees: Organizing regular events, workshops, and performances that generate income through participation fees and attract a diverse clientele.

• Sales of Hobby and Art Supplies: Providing a curated selection of high-quality hobby and art supplies that meet the needs of our community, driving retail sales and customer loyalty.

• Café and Internet Café Services: Generating additional revenue through sales of coffee, snacks, and internet café usage, enhancing the overall experience and encouraging longer visits.

We share all of this to help make it clear what we stand for as a company. Our passions in Nine Muses are what we can be the best at, and the economic engine allows us to keep the doors open so that we can continue to provide the community the experiences they are seeking. Now that you know a little bit more about what we stand for, lets discuss our plans moving forward.

As I write this article, it is July 2024, and we are just starting this transformation. Over the next 6 months you will see these changes take place in the store not necessarily in any particular order.

Plan By Community Type

These plans are specific by identified community and are always subject to change. As we implement new ideas and events, each effort will evolve to better support our communities.

1. Warhammer: Warhammer has been a staple of the store since we opened. We are expanding our line to carry every model that is not labelled web-only in the store. We will carry the entire line in store as long as it is in-stock for GW to ship to us. In addition to the stock increase, we will begin running regular escalation leagues for players of all skill levels for Warhammer 40k and Warhammer AOS, eventually adding in Warhammer TOW. We will continue running one RTT a month. We are planning to host two large 5 Man Team Tournaments beginning in 2025. We are also planning to include Narratives in our monthly play. We are building policies for Warhammer that will allow customers to preorder online, order entire armies while paying overtime, and a better overall events policy.
   

2. Dungeons and Dragons: Dungeons and Dragons has been one of our strongest communities and we are going to significantly increase our inventory on all things D&D. We are building a room with an immersive experience for our Tabletop RPG players. We are adding to our pool of DMs and plan on expanding our Saturday Night Experience to possibly be a dining experience as well. We are also brainstorming ideas for our Kids D&D on Fridays to improve that experience.
   

3. Trading Card Games: We will be focusing on growing and supporting 3 primary communities moving forward. Those being Magic the Gathering, Pokémon, and Lorcana. For Magic, we are revamping our Commander nights Sundays to include more fun casual events and a few competitive events. We are actively working with this community to bring the events they want. Pokémon will remain on Tuesday nights for the Pokémon League. We are revamping our Gym Leader Challenge and will be announcing those changes in the coming weeks. Lorcana we plan to include on Tuesdays. We are still doing our research and analysis for Lorcana events. All trading card games are playable at any time in the store, we are just looking at officially supporting events for these 3.
   

4. Coffee Lounge and Internet Cafe: The coffee lounge and internet cafe is still being renovated but that area is open to the public. The renovations are being done outside of normal store operating hours. We have officially added coffee to our menu and will have espresso drinks in the next week or so. We also have our own branded coffee that we will begin selling in the store once that first order is finalized. We will sell our branded coffee in store and online. We have gutted half of the store and filled it with U-Lounges. Our couches are sturdy, with cup holders and have outlets to plug in your phone or tablet. We are building the coffee tables by hand and will be adding those in the next few weeks. We will have a high-top bar with outlets to plug in all of your devices and comfortable high-top chairs to sit in. We have a new internet provider and will be able to provide continuous high-speed internet inside of the store. Come check out our speeds on the public wifi yourself! We want to ensure our internet speeds allow our space to be a productive space for those that would use the wifi.
   

5. Restaurant: We are in the process of upgrading our restaurant. The plan is to provide a menu that brings in customers just for the sake of the food. We are adding Greek Gyros to our menu in the near future and continue to improve on the menu items we already have.
   

6. Art and DIY: This is our most exciting part of the transformation. We believe that there is something for everyone within the broad umbrella of Art and DIY and we want to capture that vision with Nine Muses. Here is a list of events were adding to the store either on a weekly or monthly basis. We would love to hear your thoughts and if there is anything you would like to do specifically that we may be able to host. We are looking for volunteers to help with some of these events so please reach out to us if you are interested. There will also be a link on our website. With our values focused on community, we believe in allowing the actual community be involved as much as they want.

   1. Paint and Sip

   2. Diamond Painting

   3. DIY Workshops

   4. Paint Classes

   5. Writing Workshops

   6. Book Clubs
      

7. Promote Local Artists: This plan is a work in progress, but our vision is clear. We want to help support and promote local artists. Regardless of their medium. We do know that we will have areas of the store to showcase local artists work and give them a venue to possibly sell their work. This plan is not exactly flushed out but we are beginning to put it together.
   

8. Performances: We will be building a small stage area in the cafe. We want to provide a stage for local artists and performers to....well perform on. Maybe some coffee house acoustic guitar, or an open mic night, or a poetry reading. We are also looking at being able to showcase short films that the community has made.

I know that is a ton of information. We are working to be operating at full capacity by the new year (2025). The first efforts we are tackling is adding our branded coffee and significantly buffing our Warhammer stock. After that you will start to see the coffee room come together and events start opening up in that room. From there the sky is the limit. This endeavor is a community effort so if there is something specific that you would like to see or do in the store lets us know. There will be suggestion links on the website once it is complete. We appreciate your patience while we evolve, and we look forward to making all the new friends we are bound to make with this new company direction!

Thank you from all of us here at Cerberus Legion Games/Nine Muses!