The Macombopoly game, which is promoted as the world’s largest board game, debuted on Macomb’s courthouse square on May 9, 2024. In the year since then, one of the square’s businesses has evolved into an unofficial Macombopoly store.
Lynne Campbell, owner of Community News and Market, said they have people coming into the shop all the time looking for memorabilia related to Monopoly and Macombopoly.
“Just this past week, we had three different groups. One was from Minnesota, one was from Kansas, and the other was from Missouri, just coming to Macomb for Macombopoly. And today we had a group from Pennsylvania,” she said.
Campbell started a guestbook. It has more than 200 signatures of people from across the country and from as far away as Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Spain, and France.
Seeking information and memorabilia
Community News and Market is home to Community News Brief, a newspaper that publishes twice a week.
Campbell said Macombopoly players probably come into the business figuring a newspaper might have more information about the game.
But as they look around, they realize this newspaper office is also a store that sells ceramics, paintings, and more by local artists. The store also sells vintage and antique items. They sell all kinds of stuff, but Campbell learned that what Macombopoly players want is some Macombopoly memorabilia.
“We’re fortunate that we have some artists that can do that. So, we’ve created a bunch of magnets and postcards and keychains and we have t-shirts,” she said.
“People that are collectors that are into Monopoly also like other themed Monopoly boards. So, we got hooked up with a company that also does that. They work through Hasbro and they just put out limited editions of different themes, so we also carry a lot of those.”
Campbell said those themed Monopoly boards are based on bands, TV shows, anime, and other pop culture. There’s also a board that has Macomb references on it.
Macomb’s ties to Monopoly
Macomb has a connection to Monopoly through Lizzie Magie, who was born in Macomb on May 9, 1866. Magie is credited with creating The Landlord’s Game in 1903. The board game later became Monopoly.
Macombopoly can be played while in downtown Macomb through an app powered by eATLAS, which creates apps for tours and scavenger hunts.
Macombopoly takes players around Macomb’s courthouse square to different locations to learn local history and trivia. Players have to do different things along the way, such as finding a statue and taking a selfie with it.
Stainless steel sculptures of Magie, dice, and a top hat can be found on the square. In a few places, art affixed to the sidewalk replicates squares on the Monopoly board.
Visitors from all over
As her business started becoming an unofficial Macombopoly store, Campbell asked players to sign a guest book. It has more than 200 signatures of people from across the U.S. and countries as far away as Denmark, Italy, and Belgium.
Campbell was surprised to have so many people coming in to inquire about Macombopoly. She said it really took off.
“Our July is usually one of our slower months. January and July as far as the retail side of the business. And last year July was one of our strongest months. And it was Macombopoly,” Campbell said.
When those players come into Community News and Market, they often have questions. So Campbell said the staff has become experts on all things related to Monopoly and Macombopoly.
She said people traveling across the country have Macombopoly come up on their roadside attraction apps, so they’ll divert from their planned route to stop in Macomb and play the game.
And when they do, they come into her shop.
“Yes. And we like that,” Campbell said with a laugh.
People still playing Macombopoly
The Macomb Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, also known as Visit Unforgettable Forgottonia, said more than 1,600 people have actively participated in Macombopoly in its first year.
Executive Director Jock Hedblade said there was a bit of a lull during the winter months, but he said people are still playing the game.
“When you drive through the square, you can tell somebody’s playing that game. They’re looking down at their phone. They’re going over to the jail or getting a picture next to Lizzie or spinning the dice of whatever that may be,” he said.
Hedblade said the attraction has met his expectations.
“And I want to tell you that I had pretty high expectations for this. And in some ways it’s exceeded my expectations,” he said.
Hedblade said Monopoly is popular, and could “have a moment” with development underway on a Monopoly movie, and talk about creating a reality competition show based on the board game. He said that can only help Macombopoly.
And Monopoly already has a huge fan base, as Campbell and the staff at Community News and Market have discovered.
“We have seen people share pictures with us that are Monopoly fans, and I’ve seen houses decorated in Monopoly. The inside of their homes, every room is Monopoly. That’s interesting,” she said.
Campbell said some of those folks buy magnets and other Macombopoly memorabilia to add to their Monopoly-themed homes.
Hedblade said there is a new addition to the memorabilia to mark the second year of Macombopoly. The Macomb Area Chamber of Commerce has changed its gift certificates to look like Monopoly money featuring Lizzy Magie’s portrait.
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