POCATELLO—Matt Kelly opened his vintage video games and records shop known as Old Town. New Roots. in November not by a vision of his own, but by that of his children.

During homeschooling amid the pandemic, Kelly proposed the assignment of creating a business of their own for his kids.

“One of them made resin stuff, and the other wanted to resell video games,” Kelly said. “We just started collecting (video games) two or three years ago. We bumped into some big bundles of games and records that we bought, and we were selling that all online. It was slow and overwhelming, so we’re excited to kick it to the next level (with the storefront), which is mostly for our kids to run and be a part of.”

Kelly and his wife have four kids: Izac Rice, 12, Ileana Kelly, 11, and Ellamae Kelly and Allison Rice, both 9.

“Ileana was the one who initially thought to resell video games and other treasures,” Kelly said.

Old Town. New Roots. is located on North Main Street in downtown Pocatello and offers more than just vintage video games, but also old game consoles, antique records, classic record players, Hot Wheels and Funko Pop collectible toys.

Aside from the retail side of Old Town. New Roots., behind the building beholds a hang-out spot known as The Stump that features a food truck and a stage for live music.

“In the summer, we’ll have the whole space open in the back, where the kids will do all kinds of things. We’ll have a food truck back there where they can sell drinks, ice cream and other simple foods,” Kelly said.

Kelly also has intentions to let local organizations use the space as a meeting area.

“On slower nights of the week, we want to let churches and nonprofits rent it out for free to use the space for meeting-type stuff because it’s perfect for groups like 20 to 30 people back there,” Kelly said.

Kelly said that they landed the “perfect location” since the previous building owner was looking to retire but wanted a similar antique-selling business idea to replace his business called Farmhouse Furniture.

Currently, the store is only a bite-sized version of what Old Town. New Roots. will become, as Kelly has plans to extend the store into the other half of the building, bringing many more products into the store.

“We have five times the amount of video games and like 15,000 records in storage, so I’m going to put all the records music stuff in (the other half of the building) as well as some indoor seating for The Stump,” Kelly said.

Kelly and his family are excited about what is to come with Old Town. New Roots.

“It’s been awesome so far, and people are loving it,” Kelly said. “It’s hard because it’s so tiny right now, (but come summer) I’m hoping it’ll be like people hanging out in the back of The Stump with music going on, (customers) wandering in here to shop and lots of people flowing through. It’ll be really cool.”

Old Town. New Roots. is located at 510 N. Main St. in Pocatello. For more information, contact Kelly at 208-269-5845 or visit facebook.com/OldTownNewRoots.