This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.

Did you know that video game sales grew by 43 percent last year? Yes, U.S. consumers paid nearly $18 billion in 2007 for this increasingly popular form of entertainment.

At Play N Trade in the South Town Mall, video game aficionados Seth Cottle and Mike Hardle cater to the growing demographic of gamers.

The store has a wide selection of video games and accessories available for purchase. One of their specialties is stocking older game systems including Nintendo, Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, which can be difficult to find.

Customers are invited and encouraged to try any game before they purchase it and can do so on one of the shop's eight TVs. The business is also set up to repair disks, clean and repair game consoles, and will take trade-in games or gaming systems. Game tournaments are another important aspect of the business. Seth tells me they host two or three tournaments per month for games including Guitar Hero, Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4.

Both Seth and Mike are realtors as well as long-time gamers themselves. They were looking for somewhere to invest their money, and a gaming store seemed to be a good fit. They researched game store franchises and decided California-based Play N Trade was exactly what they were searching for. They opened shop in the South Town Mall in October 2007 and have been delighting gamers from around the Wasatch Front ever since.

Seth's goal is for Play N Trade to meet anyone's game needs by providing the best price and most fun. Since the store is locally-owned, he and Mike have the freedom to guarantee their customers leave happy.

Seth hopes to see the store continue to be an important resource for all ages of gamers.

For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.

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