MISSION VIEJO, Calif. – With the world going virtual in isolation, The Game Chest toy store owners Maryam Al-Hammami and Karen Altwein are providing families with a way to bond while isolated.

Games and puzzles are flying off the shelves, as families look for activities to do in their homes, activities that don’t involve staring at a screen.

“You get so many different emotions from tangible products,” said Al-Hammami.

They opened their Mission Viejo location three years ago and today have stores in the Irvine Spectrum and Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance.

Today, they’ve pivoted their in-store model to curbside pick-up, in accordance with California moving into Phase 2 of it’s re-opening plan.

It‘s no easy task running brick-and-mortar stores in the age of an e-commerce giant like Amazon, but what Maryam and Karen have used technology for is getting their physical stores online. Since closing their stores to walk-in customers, they’ve been making over 27,000 skews digital.

Small businesses are hurting all across SoCal, and Al-Hammami says that The Game Chest is down 80% from her projections, but they’ve managed to still feature new products like "Magic: The Gathering" releases.

They know it might be awhile before they get customers back in their stores but are preparing for that day with new protocols, sanitizer, gloves and other safety precautions. But they miss having customers in-person, playing games - which is why they opened the stores in the first place.

“That is my passion, is connecting with each and every one of our customers. And having a safe space for them to come and be themselves and play games. And we’re not going to be able to get back to that for a long time,” Al-Hammami said.