LANCASTER, Pa. — The owner of a locally-owned video game and collectibles store announced plans to open a mega store in Lancaster.
Zac Gieg, the owner of Just Press Play, appeared on the new season of Netflix's "King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch" where he exhibited two extremely rare and coveted Nintendo games.
He also unveiled his plan to open a new Just Press Play Mega Store in early 2025, featuring retail and event space. The 22,000-square-foot mega store will be situated on Lincoln Highway near Dutch Wonderland and the Tanger Outlets along Lancaster's retail and amusement corridor. The plan is for the shop to be a destination for all things video games and pop culture.
“This is the most ambitious undertaking of my life and I’ll do anything I can to realize it–even go on TV,” said Gieg, who is a renowned authority in collecting circles, but strives to keep a low profile publicly. “I’ve always wanted Just Press Play to go beyond retail shopping, to become a larger-than-life experience. I want people to feel a sense of wonder, like they’re stepping into Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, to walk in and say ‘Wow!’ and forget they’re in a store. This is my dream and we’re really letting our imaginations run wild."
For the Netflix show, Gieg presented two retro game "holy grails:" a factory-sealed hangtab Super Mario Bros. and a high-grade Stadium Events cartridge.
By auctioning these through Goldin Auctions (the team behind the show), Gieg plans to fund his megastore.
In November, the two games were auctioned. The hangtab Super Mario Bros. reportedly fetched over $230,000. The particular copy is an early print of the game in remarkable condition, factory-sealed and graded 9.4 A, placing it in the top 5 of only about 30 similar ones known to exist.
Although the game itself is common, video game collectors often compare a sealed Super Mario Bros. to “Action Comics #1,” Superman’s first appearance and a notoriously rare and valuable collectible.
Just Press Play currently has three locations across Lancaster and York Counties.
