SOME people might not like to admit it, but there’s a little bit of the geek in all of us.

Although nowadays the word itself has lost much of its stigma, there are still those who can only see a “geek” as a bit of a reject on the margins, oddly intellectual, un-trendy or socially awkward.

By the 1980s, geeks had become – alongside their counterpart “nerds” – the butt of US high school jokes, bullied by the sporty kids.

But the rise in popularity of both science fiction and fantasy books and films, from Harry Potter to Star Wars and back via Lord of the Rings and Marvel comic-book heroes, has made the description not only socially acceptable but, in the case of – for example – the Bill Gates and Steve Jobs of this world, highly respected.

It’s a view that Matthew Johnston, who runs this week’s Bradford BID Trader of the Week, Geek Retreat, in Bank Street, with his partner Joey Hufton, heartily endorses.

“The image of a geek can be something like a speccy nerd, someone who likes Dungeons & Dragons or is massively into Star Trek or something like that,” says Matthew. “I just think a geek is someone who is really into something. I call my Dad a football geek all the time because, like a lot of people, he’s so into it.

“I think a geek is just someone who has an intense passion for something. Everybody has something that, for them, that’s their thing and it’s really important to not feel that that’s a negative thing. It’s important to be passionate about it.

“I think everybody is a bit of a geek, even if you look at something like the Game of Thrones TV series in recent years. So many people are into that and that’s as fantasy as it gets, and even before that there was Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter – they are all geeky things to get into, I would say.”

Enthusiasm, expertise, a specialist or technical knowledge of a subject tends to create a kind of camaraderie that brings people together, he says: “Here we’ve got Magic: The Gathering geeks, Dungeons & Dragons geeks, Yu-Gi-Oh! geeks, Pokémon geeks and so on, but we also have people who come in for, for instance, to meet up as part of a ‘chapter’ of Starfleet, which is a Star Trek fan organisation.

“We have people who play video games, people who just come in and sit and read a comic book. We also have board games geeks, which is starting to be more of a thing now that people realise you don’t just have to play your basic board games, there is so much more out there now.

“You can crack open Monopoly or Scrabble or whatever and have a great time, but you can walk into any board game store and there’s a wall of board games like one I have over there that weighs about 2kgs and is full of such complicated stuff that you can sit there for six or seven hours playing.”

At the core, Geek Retreat, which has been open for just a year, is a cafe with a retail offering for many of the most popular card and tabletop games, and board games.

In more normal times, without the limiting effects of Covid-19, it host events, such as comic book signings, games tournaments and quizzes, every day, 363 days of the year and it has free-to-use graphic novels, board games, games consoles and more.

“At the moment, with social distancing, we can’t run any events at all, but normally we have at least one event every day, which is important to keep the energy going in the place and for people to have something fixed to look forward to,” says Matthew. “But even so, it's been brilliant and people have been extremely supportive! It's awesome to see the community rallying around.”

Their cafe sells delicious coffees, soft drinks, burgers, hotdogs, paninis, sweet treats and more and they are particularly proud of their amazing ice-cream-based “Supershakes” and “legendary Hulk Smash!” dessert. They’re also keen to point out they cater for halal, vegan and vegetarian options and are working hard to ensure they also offer a range of healthier foods to ensure their customers “eat well and don’t just grab the first thing that comes to hand to get back to their gaming!”

For Matthew and Joey, the most important facet of their business is to create a place where like-minded people can come together and feel safe and included, where they can learn about new interests and share their passion and their knowledge with others.

“Obviously, it’s about selling things but our personal goal is to get people to have a good time here,” he says. “If this place just broke even I would be happy as long as people were coming in and were forming a community; 100 per cent, I just want people to come in and enjoy it.

“There was never anything like this when I was growing up – I’m Bradford born and bred – I’ve lived here all my life. This is one of those things that I wish had been here when I was a kid.

“When I was at school there was a football club and a cricket club but – and it’s such a nerdy stereotype – there wasn’t even a chess club or a board games club at my school. I think even a little thing like that would help make those kids more confident in being able to express themselves.

“In some ways, I like to think we’re helping to provide a sort of social service. Quite a few of our more regular people are either autistic or have some level of autism, or Asperger’s, or just social awkwardness.

“It says Geek Retreat over the door and it’s great to be able to have a place where you can go and feel like it’s a comfortable place to be into something and to be with like-minded people and be yourself.”

Matthew, who was previously a mortgage underwriter and says he has always been a geek – “since forever” – met Joey about 10 years ago through a mutual love of games and giant robot shows. They were one of the first handful of people to see the potential of the Geek Retreat business model when the franchise was launched in Scotland by Business Economics graduate Stephen Walsh.

There are currently 14 venues nationwide but the company has just announced that it plans to create 600 jobs with 100 new high street stores around the UK.

“It’s great to see the geek community going from strength to strength,” says Matthew. “I’m 30 but I think I’ll still be a geek when I’m twice as old. I can see myself at a tournament table when I’m 60, being absolutely cleaned up by a four-year-old who’s a million times better than me by that point!”

* Geek Retreat, 23 Bank Street, Bradford. E-mail: bradford.manager@geek-retreat.com; Website: bradford.geek-retreat.com; Facebook @GeekRetreatBradford