Chance & Counters is set to open a huge new board game bar in Bristol that will be the company's largest venue to date. Its new flagship site will be on Gloucester Road opening at the former vegan pizzeria Purezza, which is set to relocate to another venue in the city.
Founded in Bristol by three friends in 2016, Chance & Counters first started at its site on Christmas Steps now home to more than 850 board games - anything from Monopoly to Exploding Kittens, Wingspan to Catan. It has since expanded the brand to Cardiff and Birmingham and will continue to operate from Christmas Steps having signed a 10-year lease in June last year, giving it four branches under its belt.
At 3,500 sq ft the new Gloucester Road premises is the group’s largest to date significantly expanding its presence in Bristol and doubling up as a group HQ. It will offer space for over 100 customers to enjoy, open seven days a week from morning to night.
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Steve Cownie, co-founder of Chance & Counters, said: “We’ve been on the hunt for a new site in Bristol for nearly three years now and we couldn’t be happier to have found it. Bristol is where it all started for us so it feels pretty amazing finally to be in a position to grow here.
"The Christmas Steps site will always be massively important to us, but we realised pretty early on we just didn’t have the space and facilities there to meet demand in Bristol. Having all this extra capacity in such a great spot on Gloucester Road is huge - we can’t wait to get the doors open.”
Chance & Counters' offering is centred on a huge library of board games, which customers pay a small entry fee to play. Dedicated staff members are on-hand to recommend games, help with setting them up and teaching the rules. Alongside the games is an all-day hospitality offering that competes with the best in the city.
The new site will include a significantly expanded food operation overseen by the group’s executive chef Nathan Wright. Nathan devised the food offering in Chance & Counters Birmingham, with popular staples like smash burgers and loaded fries offered alongside extensive vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.
Owners will be collaborating with former tenant Purezza to retain a small selection of vegan pizzas at the site for the foreseeable future. Much of the interior will remain unchanged, and following a minor refurbishment, the founders hope to reopen the site before the Easter holidays in April, open seven days a week.
It was founded in 2016 by three friends and board game fans, Steve, Luke Neal and Richard Scarsbrook. Following a successful crowdfunding campaign the trio opened their first site at the bottom of Christmas Steps in the city centre in May 2016. It now employs over 75 staff and collectively hosts nearly 200,000 board gaming sessions every year.
Chance & Counters will be located at 79-81 Gloucester Rd, Bishopston, Bristol BS7 8AS, open seven days a week. Rough opening hours are Mon-Fri (midday-11pm), Saturday (10am-11pm) and Sunday (10am-10pm). https://www.chanceandcounters.com/
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