Luke Fielding calls his business an experiment.

The Game Shop, located in the Garden Shopping Center on Main Street in Gardendale, is a unique store with relics from years past, mostly from the 1980s. Customers can buy and sell memorabilia.

“It’s not a pawn shop. It’s more of a ‘pop-culture shop,’” he said.

His self-assessment appears to be accurate because the store doesn’t deal in anything and everything; Fielding has a clear idea of the kinds of things he wants to sell. He said he’s especially focused on selling his collection of vintage board games, many of which have been out of production for years.

“I’ve always loved board games because they’re so interactive,” said Fielding. “You’re all playing against each other, but at the same time you’re working together to beat the game.”

Most of the store’s inventory is from Fielding’s own personal collection. In addition to the board games, he also has vintage video games, toys, books, records and other collectibles.

“It’s memory lane-type stuff from my generation,” said Fielding. “It’s stuff I think is pretty cool.”

Fielding said he’d been building his collection for years, and it got so large he decided he needed to thin it out.

“It got to the point where my wife was like, ‘we have to do something,’” he said. “I started looking to see if we could get a retail space and help people get to know about this sort of thing.”

Fielding and his wife also own and operate a sign and graphic design company in Gardendale called Revolutionary Artists. He said the economy had affected his business, and that it usually is slow during the summer months, anyway. He bought some space adjacent to the studio to make into The Game Shop.

“Because of my sign business, I have an advertising background. I love to see this old box art,” he said.

Fielding is aware that there aren’t many like-minded collectors in the area, but he’s hoping the store will turn into a sort of specialty gift shop.

“Like white elephant gifts,” he said. “ I’m hoping somebody will come in and see, for example, [the board game] Gold Digger, and think, ‘hey, my brother used to have that.’”

Even if the store doesn’t work out, Fielding isn’t worried.

“If people aren’t interested, then I can just take it all back home,” he said. “But I’m interested in seeing people’s reactions, and I’m excited to see what kind of things people bring in.” Fielding said he’s planning a soft opening for The Game Shop in about two weeks.