We are about a week out from our target date to reopening Valhalla's Gate for in-store shopping. We are excited to see everyone and can’t wait to show off the improvements we have made to the store. As we count down to Tuesday, June 2, we want to set expectations for some requirements we are implementing to help keep our staff and our customers safe. 1) If you are sick or are caring for someone who is sick, do not come in. 2) Customers will need to use hand sanitizer upon entering the store. 3) All customers will need to wear a mask while in the store. No exceptions. Our staff will be wearing masks for your safety. If you do not have a mask, we will have a limited number of disposable masks available for purchase at $2 per mask. 4) For those who cannot wear a mask, we will still be offering curbside pickup. 5) We are limiting the number of people in the store at one time to 4 customers so we can adequately maintain social distancing of six feet. 6) All customers must be seven years of age or older. All children will be expected to stay with their parent or guardian. 7) Customers will need to keep their visits brief, preferably no longer than 15-20 minutes. This will reduce exposure for our staff and help make sure that everyone who wants to shop has the opportunity. 8) Everyone should maintain social distance from staff and other customers. 9) No outside food or drink. We will not have candy or soda for sale. 10) No bags or backpacks allowed. Leave them in your car. 11) The store will be closed from 1 - 1:30 pm for staff lunch. 12) The Event Center is closed. All organized play and events are suspended for the foreseeable future. 13) For all Magic singles requests of more than four cards, customers will need to use the order form on our website in advance. Staff will pull the cards and contact you to let you know when you can pick your order up. 14) No bulk Magic singles boxes will be available. 15) Staff are frequently cleaning all high touch areas with CDC approved disinfectants. We will be cleaning the counter between customers.

We finished reconfiguring our rental games shelves into one cohesive unit. It needs a few tweaks on the smaller card games section but I am liking it.

We got the big sheet of acrylic attached to mission control last night. Mark thinks it needs a heads up display on it. Jasper has a new location near the counter.

Our sign at night in May 2020.

Aquicorn Cove is a wonderful cooperative family game. The art is beautiful and simplistic, just like the gameplay. You catch fish, keep the reef free of pollution, farm, feed the village, and build each turn. The higher the reef health and village prosperity, the better the ending! Jess gives Aquicorn a thumbs up.

Today we cleaned up and organized all the fixtures that were spread out all over the back of the store and loaded this shelf. Like Mary Poppins said, "A place for everything and everything in it's place." I like that we could make the shelf heights match the bins so we have less wasted space. Mark worked on painting uprights and acquiring the acrylic for the last two segments of sneezeguard. We are making forward progress.

Lanterns: the Harvest Festival is an easy to learn game of colors. You collect lanterns to make collections which you can dedicate for points. The artwork is aesthetically pleasing and the gameplay is easy for casual players.

For those who love the adventure and traitor aspect of Betrayal at the House on the Hill and the complexity of Arkham Horror, there is no better game than Mansion of Madness. The base game contains a mix of maps, miniatures, and scenarios that with some time to set up, will intrigue any player. In our games we fought for our lives against maniacs, cultists, and even a shoggoth of two. This game is worth a play just for the experience alone.

As we got ready to paint some walls today, we fished out these *blasts from the past* from what was supposed to be a temporary storage spot behind a utility shelf. It's hard to believe it's been almost 20 years since these were first installed over our old location.

Noctiluca is a cute, collective dice game. The concept is simple and kid friendly, while still being challenging for adults. The variation of the dice make Noctiluca a good investment for multiple plays.

We cleaned up one of our old signs and put it in the window behind our roleplaying shelf. As we don't sell comics, we replaced that with stuff.

Got another section of sneeze guard installed today - that brings us up to half of mission control. The big section is a project for tomorrow. Emma touched up and painted walls. Jess worked on inventory. Best of all, we got a new, lockable handle on the main bathroom installed and got rid of the slide bolt lock I always hated. Still looking at a target date of June 1 to open to small groups for in-store shopping.