Richardson | May 2022

BUSINESS FEATURE

BY JACKSON KING

Co-owner Thomas Radecki launched Shadow LAN Gaming Cafe in 2004.

Shadow LAN oers a variety of gaming- related programming.

Shadow LAN Gaming Cafe oers a variety of gaming options, allowing gamers to play individually or on a team of 10 or more.

PHOTOS BY JACKSON KINGCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

Shadow LAN Gaming Cafe Computer gaming center allows patrons to play variety of titles D espite challenges, Shadow LAN Gaming Cafe co-owner Thomas Radecki has continued to keep his business alive and well in Richardson for the need to spend a ton of money advertising, or you can put your business where the people are going,” he said.

GAMER’S PARADISE Shadow LAN Gaming Cafe oers a variety of games to play on the computer as well as a monthly membership model. Here is a list of some of its top games. • “Valorant”

“Realistically, there are about ve to seven games that do almost 93% of all your business,” he said. “The other ones are kind of fringe games that are played every once in a while. You could virtually run a center with about seven games.” Shadow LAN’s top games include rst-person shooters as well as multiplayer online battle arenas. Shadow LAN also oers a monthly membership that saves patrons 40% o the hourly rate. Radecki said he prefers oering the membership model as it incentiv- izes return trips. “You want your membership to be used for people who are going to frequent you,” he said. “If your membership undersells your cur- rent prices, you’re not maximizing prots o of it, and that’s what I tend to see in the industry.”

• “Call of Duty” • “Overwatch” • “Counter Strike” • “League of Legends” • “Dota 2”

On top of working behind the counter, Radecki is in charge of making sure the center’s games, computers and technology are all working. He said one of the center’s biggest strengths is that he is able to operate everything by himself. “If you can’t do everything your- self, don’t open a LAN center,” he said. “For those really hard times, you need to be able to do every- thing yourself, from building the PCs to upgrading all of the software and running the general business operations.” The center has a catalog of more than 30 games to choose from, with several of its top titles being member favorites, Radecki said.

better part of two decades. As a self-described “big PC

Shadow LAN Gaming Cafe 300 N. Coit Road, Ste. 175, Richardson 972-437-0087 www.shadow-lan.com Hours: Mon.-Thu. 1-11 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 1 p.m.- 1 a.m., Sun. 3:30-11 p.m.

gamer” in the ‘90s and early 2000s, Radecki frequented a lot of local area network, or LAN, computer gaming cafes with his friends throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. When he launched Shadow LAN in 2004, he said he incorporated the best elements from his experiences into the business. Located near the intersection of Belt Line and Coit roads, Radecki said Shadow LAN has been blessed to be at “the second- or third-big- gest intersection in the area.” “You can either have your business in a location where you

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