Stateline Video Games owner Frank Bond with his children Phoenix and Frankie.
Photo credit: Stateline Video Games
AGAWAM — On Jan. 12, Stateline Video Games made their way back home to Agawam with the opening of a new location at 357 North Westfield St.
Stateline buys, sells and trades all things gaming, from Atari to the modern age, with locations in the Holyoke Mall and Buckland Hills Shops in Manchester, Connecticut, as well.
Owner Frank Bond started the business in 2008, selling video games and movies throughout various flea markets and in his dad’s store, the Feeding Hills Public Market.
“I really wanted to do something more consistent,” Bond said. “That’s when I opened Stateline.”
The name comes from being right on the Connecticut-Massachusetts state line. Bond said you couldn’t get any closer with the store being just a two minute walk into Connecticut. Bond was in the original property at 1775 Main St. until 2011, when he was able to purchase his own property right next to where he started his business, the store his dad owned. In 2021, Bond had the opportunity to open in the Holyoke Mall and closed his Agawam location.
“It’s kind of just grown since then, to the Buckland Hills shops in Manchester, and then ironically now, back to where it started,” Bond said. “I wanted to have an investment. Being in the mall is great, but there are certain things about the mall that make it hard for a smaller business sometimes, so I wanted to have my own space.”
Bond said he grew up a little unorthodox, selling at flea markets with his dad to make their living until his dad owned his own store. He said he always had an interest in media, varying across movies, music and video games.
“I had this stuff in collections and sometimes I wouldn’t use it,” Bond said. “At the time there was a place called Fantasy Realms, they were kind of a big deal for a very long time. They had a very similar setup to as I do, buying, selling and trading media, specifically video games. I grew up going in there … it was a really cool place to go.”
Bond said he thinks he saw Fantasy Realms and just started doing it on his own terms, referring to Stateline as a little flea market booth that evolved over time. He said he is very passionate about keeping retro gaming alive, citing that he doesn’t like how media companies alter and edit content after its release and that he prefers physical content.
“When you buy a game digitally, you don’t own the game,” Bond said. “They can pull it from the virtual store at any time … buying a physical item, it is in your collection, you can access it anytime you want and I think that’s very important for the preservation of these things.”
Bond said he understands that everyone has a different taste in what media they consume, but when new mediums come out, whether it be movies, television, music or video games, it’s a moment in time.
“For me and my business, and this is kind of what drives my business, it’s nostalgia,” Bond said. “I always make a joke but it’s true, I don’t sell video games, I sell nostalgia. I sell that feeling and that experience of going back to enjoy something you enjoyed when life was simpler.”
Bond said it has been humbling and emotional to see customers who would come in with their parents 20 years ago, come into the store now with children of their own.
“It’s amazing and it makes me feel really good that I’ve been able to build something that I’ll call successful,” Bond said. “Those words make me uncomfortable but for me, it’s been the test of time. I’m really big on consistency and equality, those are very important aspects for anyone who comes into my stores. I want them to have a good experience and I want them to be satisfied with what they’ve bought.”
