Nestled between electrical supply stores and AC repair shops, punk music pulsed through Geeks Sept. 4 as the music venue and vintage toy store kicked off its three-day first anniversary celebration.
Throughout the night, patrons shifted between the store's interior — lined with everything from “Star Wars” figures to old DVDs and records from local bands — and the building's exterior to listen to live music.
Fans can thank Geeks’ owner for the shop’s unusual music venue-toy store combination. Fifty-year-old Tony Weinbender opened the shop last September after playing in bands since the ‘90s and running FEST, Gainesville’s annual punk festival.
Weinbender aimed to create a place that didn’t feel “sterile” like many other toy stores, he said. Almost none of the store’s figures and collectables are behind glass or hidden away, and customers are encouraged to have fun while they shop.
“For me, it's not collecting because I know it's going to be worth something or it's in the box and it's mint and all this stuff,” Weinbender said. "For me, it's more what catches my eye.”
Beyond its toy store hours, Geeks also hosts events for artists across Gainesville's music scene. The venue primarily features punk and indie performers but branches into genres like jazz and ska.
Geeks is a community for Weinbender, who regularly chats with customers about their collections and brings his 4-year-old son to the store to check out the merchandise.
“The one thing that I'm proud of in the year is that we're still here,” Weinbender said. “We didn't fold, and we made a lot of connections with people.”
Seated at one of the venue’s teal-blue corner tables at Sept. 4’s performance, Ava Herman and Breanna Bebout, two 17-year-old Keystone High School seniors, sat side by side over boxes of beads making Kandi bracelets.
The pair had planned to give bracelets to the members of Chimes, one of the bands performing at the event.
“We made a bunch last night, and then today we came in, and we realized that we had one less Chimes bracelet than we needed,” Bebout said. “So we were like, ‘Oh crap!’ and we had to run out to the car to get our stuff.”
The two have been coming to shows at Geeks since June and were excited to see some returning bands perform throughout the weekend. The venue is open to all ages, making it a perfect spot for the under-21 crowd to see live music.
"I saw the ad on Instagram,” Herman said, “and I was like, ‘I need to get out and do stuff with my friends because I'm a teenager and it's summer.’”
Taking up the second slot of Sept. 4’s set, the four members of post-punk and synth-pop inspired band Chimes waved their bracelets happily to the crowd.
Mike Magarelli, the band’s 51-year-old guitarist and singer, has known Weinbender since the two were in their 20s because of their involvement at FEST and in the music scene even before moving to Gainesville.
“When I saw that Tony was opening a toy store, I just happened to have a giant toy collection sitting in a closet for more years than I can count from when I collected toys when I was younger,” Magarelli said, “and I just wanted to get rid of it.”
Now Magarelli plays shows at Geeks regularly as a member of Chimes and his other band, The Eradicator.
While the music blared outside, assistant manager Alex Roberts held down the toy store. Thirty-year-old Roberts has worked at Geeks since it opened its permanent location last year.
Roberts started working at Geeks after a personal invite from Weinbender, who he met through his band Confession Kids. The store became the perfect place for Roberts with his own love for collecting toys and previous experience working at other music venues across town.
Before working at Geeks, Roberts had shared a story with Weinbender of a customer at his previous job who said he looked like he would know a thing or two about action figures.
“I told Tony that story once, and every time I saw him for the next two months, he would always repeat that back to me and be like, 'I remembered,’” Roberts said. “‘When we open Geeks, I want you there.’”
Looking into the future, Weinbender wants to continue being a space for everyone and is looking to expand their entertainment options, including hosting more events catered toward kids and comedy acts.
With a target demographic as varied as the store’s stock, Geeks anticipates many more years of uniting patrons across generations, from long-time collectors perusing shelves full of childhood memories or kids bobbing along to bands with their parents.
Contact Brandy Sumner at bsumner@alligator.org.
Brandy Sumner is an anthropology and English junior at UF and the music and reporter for Fall 2026. This is their second semester on The Avenue. Brandy enjoys reading, going to shows with friends, and writing in their free time.
