Amherst-Opoly proves popular - TheChronicleHerald.ca

AMHERST, NS. – Amherst and several other Nova Scotia communities are part of an exclusive club this summer.

Amherst and its area landmarks are included in a spinoff of the time-tested Monopoly game that’s being produced by Outset Media and available at select Walmart stores.

And the game has proven popular with more than a hundred copies selling out within hours at the Amherst store.

“We had the opoly rights in perpetuity to use the opoly name and style of play as long as we changed a few things around. Walmart knew this and asked us to create a game,” company senior vice-president Jean Paul Tesky said. “We did a bunch of locations last year and it did OK, but where we did best was in smaller communities that seemed to embrace it, so we expanded it and Amherst was on the list along with a number of other smaller and mid-size communities across Canada.”

This summer and fall there will be close to a hundred Canadian communities featured with their own Opoly version. Along with Amherst there are six other Nova Scotia communities featured including Antigonish, Bedford, Halifax, Sydney, Truro and Yarmouth.

“Walmart sometimes make suggestions (on the communities) but we also do a lot of research on our own,” Tesky said. “It was a joint effort in deciding the communities and being a Canadian community helps in the selection.”

The limited edition board game, available at Walmart stores and at walmart.ca, takes a unique spin at the classic Monopoly game first published by Parker Brothers in 1935.

In Amherst-Opoly, local landmarks are featured including the Amherst Point Bird Sanctuary, Amherst Artisan Gallery, Victoria Square and more.

Jeff Bembridge, who has taken a number of old buildings in Amherst and converted them into successful businesses, was surprised to see two of his restaurants – Breakfast at Brittney’s and Bambino’s Pizzeria – featured.

“It’s pretty special, I’m really honoured,” Bembridge said. “I didn’t know anything about it. I heard some of my staff talking about it.”

Bembridge said he went looking for the game only to learn it was sold out, but he is hoping to pick one up when the Amherst Walmart has more. It’s something he wants to share with his children.

Tesky said his company worked with people on the ground in Nova Scotia to research the communities as well as representativds from Walmart. The goal was to feature some prominent landmarks in each community. In Amherst that includes Dayle’s Grand Market and Victoria Square as well as the Nova Scotia Welcome Centre at the border, the Tantramar Marshes and events like the Bordertown Biker Bash.

“We didn’t want to play favourites with the most expensive part on the board, so we decided to go with downtown,” Tesky said.

He feels the game has proven popular because COVID-19 restrictions have forced many to stay at home more, leading to a resurgence of board-gaming among family members around the table.

It’s also popular because people can identify with the places on the game board. He said big cities, such as Toronto and Montreal, have lots of merchandise – something not always present in smaller communities. While they new the game would do well in places like Calgary, where it was launched during last summer’s Calgary Stampede, he was was surprised to see it did very well in small towns like Sarnia, Ont.

“We didn’t know how the smaller communities would do, but it was unbelievable how well it has been received in those smaller towns and cities,” he said. “People appreciate it more because it’s really novel and unique. People walk around with Toronto t-shirts or I Heart Montreal shirts, but to catch something like this produced specifically for a smaller community is unique.”

He expects more versions of the game to be added in coming years, adding there are more than 400 Walmart stores in Canada.

“I’m not sure it become a permanent thing,” he said. “There are over 700 pieces of each game and once they’re sold out, I’m not sure we’ll redo it.”

They could become limited editions unless Walmart opts to purchase more.

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