GameMasters moving into Bed Bath and Beyond building — back to site where it first opened in 2003

QUINCY — As the owner of the Range at the KC, Trevor Beck is well aware of the value of a renewed focus on sports tourism in Quincy.

However, he’s confident the top sports tourism activity during the fall and winter months in Adams County remains the same as it has for many years.

“I’m telling you, third and fourth quarter in Quincy, you can say whatever you want about tourism and Quincy, but I will bet my life savings that tourism in Adams County via the out-of-state hunter trumps any event in the city,” Beck said.

That explains why Beck, who owns GameMasters with Jared Allensworth, recently made the decision to expand the city’s only locally owned sporting goods store.

GameMasters, now at 5100 Broadway, is moving a few hundred feet north into the former Bed Bath and Beyond building at 5110 Broadway that closed in April 2023. The two buildings are separated by one wall.

TJJR Real Estate LLC, for which Beck and Allensworth are the managers, bought a 6.96-acre property at 52^ndand Broadway from White Goose LLC for $3.8 million on April 3, according to property tax documents filed in Adams County Circuit Court.

The property is home for five businesses — the former Bed Bath and Beyond building, the former Sit Tight building, Red Wing Shoes, Texas Roadhouse, the current GameMasters building.

GameMasters is returning to the location at which it was originally built when it opened in 2003 at the former Furrow’s site. Steve Brink owned the building, and Don Taylor operated the business. 

When Bed Bath and Beyond moved into the front half of the building in 2009, GameMasters moved south to the back half of the building.

“Steve’s owned that whole corner for a long time,” Beck said about Brink, who died in July 2024. “When Bed Bath and Beyond came along and dangled the carrot, Steve grabbed it and moved (GameMasters). I would have done the same thing.”

Beck says GameMasters is moving from a 24,000-square-foot building to a 31,000-square-foot building, and he plans to expand that to approximately 35,000 square feet. 

“(The new home for GameMasters) has Broadway frontage, and the building itself is the perfect size for us,” Beck said. 

While the business continued to do well, Beck said moving it into the Bed Bath and Beyond building provides a better location.

“When you get a bunch of hunters come into town, it’s amazing to me how many people come in our store today and they’re like, ‘We didn’t even know this was back here,’” Beck said. 

He said the current sign will be replaced and a new storefront will be created to face east so westbound cars on Broadway can see it better.

Beck thought an ice cream shop might be added to the redesigned GameMasters. He also believes the business, which specializes in guns and hunting, fishing and archery equipment, will expand several departments.

“We’ll add some new clothing lines,” he said. “We’ll have a lot of brands that a lot of people don’t have. We’ll expand our camping line. We’ll expand our waterfowl lines. The areas right now that we have that are small, we’ll make them bigger, and we’re going to be adding some new stuff.”

Beck plans for the revamped GameMasters to be in its new building by August.

“We want to be open by the time fall season comes and all these out-of-state hunters come in,” he said.

Most of the out-of-state hunters, Beck said, come from the south and the east of the United States.

“People drive 12 to 16 hours from New York,” he said. “We did a map in our shop where we always had people pinpointed, and they come from as far east as Maine or wherever. There’s a lot of Georgia hunters. There’s a lot of Alabama hunters. A lot of those guys either lease property here, and some of them own property here. When they come up here, they’re here for two, three weeks at a time. It’s not just a weekend.

“This is not just a fly-by weekend sporting event. Those are great, too. Don’t get me wrong. But those are weekend events. Hunting season in Adams County starts Oct. 1 and runs all the way until the middle of January. A lot of people come up here. A lot of famous people come in this store. We just don’t announce it. A lot of people just don’t realize the economic impact of outdoors tourism.”

Beck hopes the GameMasters expansion will make it less necessary for local hunters to travel to Springfield, St. Louis or Columbia to find outdoor gear.

“Our goal is to carry a lot of the same brand lines that Scheels, Bass Pro or Cabela’s has so people don’t have to drive 100 miles,” he said. “Hopefully we can provide those same products and, honestly, better service. All of our employees are local people, and we’ve got such passionate people. They’re as knowledgeable as they are helpful. … Having a brick-and-mortar building, people can come in, see it, touch it, feel it and try it on, plus you get our local service and our archery range and our gun department.”