We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brent Geris a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brent, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I have always loved magic, and my grandfather showed me my first magic trick with a deck of cards and I love HOW it worked more than the trick itself. After getting the magic “bug” my mum bought me magic kits and a lot of magic throughout my Jr High and High School career. I performed quite a bit for high school friends and at talent shows and in college hosted a few events where I did magic. I worked as a personal assistant to a few Hollywood people and in 2003 had a CRAZY idea to open a magic shop. There were a few other magic shops in the LA area at the time, but I wanted to mine to be different. When I first opened, I sold magic tricks and educational supplies (like stickers, charts, books for the classroom) but the more that the word got out that there was a new magic shop, the less educational supplies were sold. I taught magic classes ALL OVER the San Fernando Valley at dozens of Elementary Schools. Every time I taught, I’d give the kids stickers and coupons to come visit my shop and grab a new trick. I would (and still do) bend over backwards to get in special orders or to make my customers happy and (hopefully) not want to shop at any other magic shop! I’ve seen ups and downs in magic over the last 20 years and because of a lot of reality shows and magic on TV, magic has changed quite a bit. Although magic is still hard to perform, it is much easier for people to learn the secrets and find out “how the tricks work” with people on YouTube and social media platforms explaining magic for free. Now in 2023, there are NO OTHER magic shops in the LA area, I have expanded to double the size, have released three hardbound books and also now own a 2nd magic shop in Seattle called Market Magic Shop with my business partner, Patrick Heitkam!

Brent, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

The Magic Apple has been in business for twenty years! To celebrate we had a HUGE anniversary party on August 19th 2023! It was a huge success. My daughters Karly and Emma worked the Snow Cone booth, my wife Elisa was there all day chatting with everyone and helping set up. My mum Jan stayed almost the entire day taking photos and helping out as well. We had a photo booth, snacks, drinks and magicians were there all day signing autographs and performing magic. In 2013 I released a book called Magic Apple Live and this past August I released Volume Two, Magic Apple Live 2 and it was released at the party! Good Day LA did a great segment for the morning program with Amanda Salas and she rocked it! It was so great to hang out with her and chat about my shop (plus I almost chopped her head off with the Guillotine!). Well known magicians from The Magic Castle came to the party, hobbiest magicians, family and celebrities all stopped by to say hello!

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

In May 2023 a good friend of mine, Patrick Heitkam and I, took over ownership of one of the oldest magic shops in America. The Market Place Magic Shop at Pike Place in Seattle, WA opened in 1973 and the 2 owners were ready to retire. Patrick has been a customer of that shop, even though he lives in Los Angeles, for over 20 years. In October 2022 he asked me to fly up to Seattle with him to take a look at the shop. Within minutes of seeing the Market Place, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. The Magic shop is an INCONIC destination for all of Seattle, both locals and visitors! Throughout the summer months and into October there are cruise ships that dock within minutes of our shop! Whether people come in top pick up a five dollar joke item, want to just see a magic trick or buy a magic kit for someone, we have customers coming in all the time! There are so many great families that visit our shop and almost EVERY SINGLE DAY there is a parent that comes in and says “I used to come here as a kid, and now I’m bringing my own kid to shop.” Before we took ownership, Patrick and I had to climb an uphill battle to become the owners. Because the Market Place is a historical location, there is a few committees that we had numerous Zoom meetings with. There was plenty of paperwork, credit checks and interviews that we attended. Because of the love Patrick and I both have for magic, and that I’ve been in the business selling and teaching magic, it helped us ‘seal the deal.” We have great employees at the shop that seem to love magic and demo’ing magic all the time. Eric Stevens and Bill Darkow both work most of the hours at the shop and love to talk to customers and make them feel welcome and at home in our shop! Although it is A LOT OF WORK, and we both live in LA and have full times jobs and families, buying the Market Magic Shop was one of the best decisions I have made! Magic shops are a dying breed and yes, making money from the shop is of course a goal, but keeping a small business afloat, and keeping a magic shop in Seattle was and is very important to us to!

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Patrick has been a customer of The Magic Apple for over 18 years. Because The Magic Apple is more than just a store that you come into, buy things and leave it is a hang out for magicians and hobbiests. Because of this, I get to become friends with a lot of people. Patrick and I have a lot in common as well! Besides our love for the Dodgers and Magic, he has three daughters and I have two so we have a lot to talk about. He used to work for Nordstroms (which was founded in Seattle), he has a lot of ties to that city and he just had a good feeling about buying the Seattle store. Although I am the 100% owner of The Magic Apple, and he has his own career at All Saints Clothing, we are co-owners in the Market Place Magic shop as well as a minority owner, Bill Darkow, that resides in Seattle and has worked at the magic shop for over two decades. Patrick and I have spent countless hours together at The Magic Apple, The Magic Castle, Dodgers Games and just hanging out both in Seattle and Los Angeles!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TheMagicApple.com
• Instagram: @MagicAppleStore
• Yelp: The Magic Apple

Image Credits
Logo by Matt Daigle.