Jaffa Ali, one of the owners of Vacuums and Video Games in Huber Heights, said the kiosk wasn’t there the last time I stopped in; he just bought it and is waiting on replacement parts. For some players, it conjures memories of craning necks at big-box stores to preview the latest games.
“Connect a GameBoy Advance and expand the gaming experience!”
Constant turnover is normal for the store that deals in and repairs its namesake: vacuums and video games. He estimates 30 percent of the inventory changes every two or three days — a figure that, for collectors, hobbyists and inner-child gamers alike, feels almost glorious.
Vacuums and Video Games is a schtick, but it’s a schtick that works. In the aisles, there may be far more of the latter than the former, though a corner is dedicated to Dirt Devils and their accessories. A back room houses the repair work.
“Most vacuum stores can’t stay in business just sitting on that,” Ali said. “I can because I’ve got multiple other things. Plus, every time you drive by, you go, ‘vacuums and video games?’ If you hate the name, if you like the name, you’re looking more than once.”
The business’s original owner, Shelly Porter Jr., grew a janitorial operation into a multifaceted company that included repair, consignment and an arcade. It was called Vacs n’ Videos, named for its biggest sellers. Ali worked there for a time, as did Rob Gray, the store’s other current co-owner.
Porter retired in 2019. Gray, a repairman, took the vacuums-and-video-games side of the business and reopened in its current location on Jan. 1, 2020.
Ali pooled resources with Gray, bringing experience from his online businesses dealing in cards and games. Together, they shaped the store into what it is today.
Immaculate glass cases hold cartridges and cases from nearly every console generation: Nintendo, Sony, Xbox and Sega flagships are all represented, alongside more easily forgotten systems like the Game Gear or the Virtual Boy. (Ali recently sold all three Virtual Boys he had in stock. He’s already hunting for another.)
Atari has a shelf. So does the Dreamcast. Home consoles and handhelds are carpet to ceiling.
Behind the glass, 3D-printed shelves display the games under crisp LED lighting. In the Nintendo 64 section, two cartridges stood out: a not-for-resale cart of “The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask” and a complete-in-box Blockbuster-exclusive “ClayFighter: Sculptor’s Cut,” priced at $9,999.95 and $14,999.95, respectively.
Two of the rarest N64 cartridges on the same shelf — out of this writer’s price range, but remarkable to see in person.
Ali showed off two others: the highest-graded, one-of-one, not-for-resale copy of “Final Fantasy” on NES, and a Tommy Hilfiger-branded GameBoy once sold through Elder-Beerman.
“Final Fantasy” was one of the first games he ever beat. When he was younger, his mom bought four pairs of jeans to qualify for the Hilfiger GameBoy, priced at $57.
Both are sentimental. Neither has a price tag.
“I’ve always collected something,” Ali said. “Baseball and football cards, the vintage stuff. Pokémon… I graduated into that because it wasn’t my generation. And then that turned into my kryptonite. I do keep some gaming stuff. But for the most part, I let the store get everything.”
He started with “Breakout” on the Atari 2600 and his gaming habits expanded from there. Rob grew up on the Atari, too, later playing a lot of Super Nintendo and N64. His son, who also works at the store, basically had every console growing up. Now, Rob mostly repairs the game systems, but he’s been known to linger on the controllers for longer than a test run.
The store does outsource some repairs, like HDMI ports, but typically can handle everything — vacuums and video games related — in-house.
Collection-wise, the selection is nearly comprehensive. What customers lose in the thrill of the hunt, they gain in a clean setup and organization. The store’s return rate hovers around one percent, which speaks to the quality the store puts into each sale. There are duplicates for even the overlooked.
“A lot of times, if I don’t have something, I’ll damn near pay full retail just to have it in the store, just to make sure we have a copy,” Ali said. “I get a lot of stores that call me. They get weird, niche stuff and they want to get out of it. They sell it to me, because they know they’re just gonna sit on it. People that come in here know I carry weird stuff like that.”
The inventory often brings in people from other states. The name brings in people who think it’s a schtick, but quickly realize that it’s not.
As a kid, I would often rent an N64 cart called “Chameleon Twist 2.” For years after, I thought about this game. All I knew was that it was a 3D platformer that took a tongue-traveling lizard to odd places in the sky.
Earlier this year, I bought that game from my childhood. It wasn’t as good as I remembered; it might’ve even been awful, reshaping the pleasant memories I had with it. But I got to revisit it, and that was pretty special.
In a shopping center in Huber Heights, that feeling is for sale.
“...expand the gaming experience!”
Brandon Berry covers the music and arts scene in Dayton and Southwest Ohio. Reach him at branberry100@gmail.com.
MORE DETAILS
Vacuums and Video Games is located at 6015 Brandt Pike in Huber Heights. For more info, call (937) 522-0052 or visit vacsandvids.com.
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