Marketing Ideas for February 2026

Marketing Ideas for February 2026!

February is the last full month of winter for game store and hobby shop owners and time to shift from winter into spring planning. Our free February 2026 marketing calendar is packed with practical, easy-to-execute marketing ideas designed to help small retail businesses stay visible, build customer loyalty, and prepare for a stronger spring season with off the wall ideas. If you’re looking for a small business marketing calendar for February 2026 that actually has great ideas for the game and hobby store, grab your free copy and start planning. Don’t forget that love is in the air.

1st

Dark Chocolate Day
- A day set aside to celebrate the deliciousness of Dark Chocolate and how it is a slightly healthier alternative to its cousin Milk Chocolate. This is a great day to give away small candy or work with a local chocolatier for some cross-promotions.

Change your Password Day
- Just a friendly reminder that cyber security and general security needs to be looked at every once in a while. This is a reminder that things like your banking, emails, and other accounts should have their passwords changed every so often. In the ever growing world of data breaches and leaks, your passwords are likely somewhere on the internet and it’s a good idea to change your passwords every so often.

2nd

Groundhog Day
- Will we see six more weeks of winter or not? While it means nothing except superstition and good fun, it sees an uptick on social media and is an easy way to engage with your customers. Only Punxsutawney Phil knows if his magic of prediction is real or not.

3rd

Happy Birthday Elmo
- First appearing in 1980, he was originally only supposed to be a supporting character but since then has become a main character. He is again three and a half years old! Happy Birthday!

4th

National Thank a Mail Carrier Day
- Year-round, you have been receiving USPS, UPS, Fed-Ex, and possibly some Amazon Logistics or even DHL. Today is a day decided by the delivery drivers that get the products to your store, marketing materials to you, and sending out all of your e-commerce orders.

7th

Send a Card to a Friend Day
- While this holiday is specifically designed to send an actual, “Thinking of you” greeting style card. It’s very possible to bend the holiday to meet the needs of your business here. Do you own a Pokemon store? Mail every customer a stamped “THANK YOU” energy card with $5 off any purchase on this day. Every customer who walks in gets a promotional card that is good for a percentage off the next visit. There is definitely room to be creative here if it fits your business.

8th

Superbowl Sunday (NFL)
- While some may argue this is or isn’t a holiday, it is an important date to remember as this is the one football game per year that most people do actually watch. If you can do some creative advertising or talk to your legal council about paying to show the game in your business, take a look into it if you think it would fit.

11th

Make a Friend Day
- A push to learn more about each other and possibly become friends or at least understand differences. There are a lot of possibilities here for marketing, events, or at the very minimum social media engagement.

12th

Lost Penny Day
- This normally wouldn’t make it on the calendar of possible marketing events but this year it does. We have lost the penny. Today could be a great day for a special event: buy one, get one for a penny, show and tell of pennies, trade in a penny and get a prize (great time to give out extra stickers from January’s sticker day).

13th

Galentine’s Day
- Galentine’s Day was originally created in the show Parks and Recreation (ep 107 “Galentine’s Day”). The idea of it is for you to celebrate your friends who are girls and have a girls’ day together. Celebrating for the entire year of your girlfriends cheering you on, building you up, or just being there when needed. This is a pop culture event and still evolving.

14th

Valentines Day
- Romance and couples dominate this day. Spring is around the corner and love is in the air. In today’s modern world, Valentine’s Day also includes showing the people in your life that you value the most and how much you love and care about them. As more major brands embrace this path, their marketing will change as well. This will allow you to ride the coattails of their millions of dollars in ad spend. This is a great day for couples, co-op, or team-based games to demonstrate or to feature.

15th

Daytona 500
- The Daytona 500 is one of the largest races of the year and generally is the traditional season opener of the race season in the NASCAR races.

16th

President’s Day (F)
- This is a major retailer sale weekend. Most advertising will dominate in lines such as, “Save big this President’s Day Weekend Sale!” If you don’t do sales often, this is one of the weekends that would be good to have a clearance or good riddance table or sale. Most customers are overwhelmed with big-box store advertising for a sale and are primed and ready for those deals. Also, remember that this is a long weekend, so make sure you are ready for petty cash or banking for that weekend. Also, some school systems use this as a winter break/spring break. If your business is in one of these areas, be ready for an influx of customers. Look at your previous years’ sales and staffing.

17th

Chinese New Year
- This is an important day to at the very least, be aware of. It’s celebrated by about 20% of the -world- population, or by about 2 billion people. It has a long history and is one of the largest holidays in China and Chinese descendants. It’s generally celebrated everywhere except North America, and even then large city populations uphold the celebration. During this celebration, most production in China shuts down for holidays for about 7 days. If you are planning on orders or manufacturing, avoid this time. If you are looking to include or acknowledge your Chinese customers, look to hand them a Red Envelope with cash or chocolate coins, which symbolizes good fortune.

Random Acts of Kindness Day
- “I was a recipient of kindness but more glad to be a contributor!” (Unknown) Giving kindness is free and makes everyone feel good. This is an excellent way to engage on social media with a hashtag challenge. There is also a lot of room for a marketing campaign such as an unannounced giveaway every time someone walks in, sticker, pen, or pin.

18th

Battery Day
- It’s a good time as a reminder to check on the batteries you use in your businesses and fire alarms. Use wireless keyboards or scanners? Check or replace the batteries. If you have smoke detector’s, it’s a good idea to to just replace the batteries now if you haven’t done’ so in a while.

19th

Happy Birthday Bruce Wayne aka Batman (DC)
- Happy Birthday, Batman!

20th

National Muffin Day
- Muffins make a great breakfast, brunch, lunch, or snack option. Muffins are available pre-packaged for sale at club stores such as Costco or Sam’s Club. A marketing idea would be to give away a muffin with every purchase or as a give away with any in store events you are holding today.

Happy Birthday Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) (DC)
- Happy Birthday Hal Jordan!

Clean Out Your Bookcase Day
- Intended to be a reminder to dust and clean your home bookshelves, I think it’s a good time to review and look at your comics, trade paperbacks, and roleplaying games. Run a report and see your best sellers and what product lines have not been performing well. Winter is almost over and it’s a good time to cut some of the fat. While you’re already looking at your shelves, don’t forget to move things around and bring some new life to your books and displays!

22nd

2Twenty2 Day
- Originally started in Chicago Illinois for $2.22 cosmos and tacos. Why not build upon that day, Feb 22nd or 2/22, and use today as a one-day clearance or sale day? Items for $2.22 or 22% off.

27th

National Retro Day
- Remember back when? Anything before modern times is up for a social media post or engagement. Sale on retro video game systems or a bonus to trade-ins on this day works easily as well. There is a lot of room for creativity.

National Pokemon Day
- February 27th, 1996 is when Pokemon’s first video games, Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green, were released in Japan. Since then, Pokemon has taken over the world and it would be very hard to find anyone who didn’t know or even play Pokemon at some point in their life. Consider holding a giveaway, large event, or tournament to promote Pokemon in your community.

28th