Game store owners

[PDS]

Hey everyone, I wasn't sure where to post this so move it if needed. I am trying to open up a gaming store in my community. I live on the East Coast and I am currently in the business plan stage. I have it almost completely finished, having contacted all of the major manufactures about cost and distribution and having the description fleshed out pretty good. However, I am stuck at forecasting my earnings.

I plan on selling RPGs, CCGs and comics for the most part. I am also going to sell Warhammer. I was wondering if anyone could help me understand which category brings in the most annual rev and maybe an avg of how many units you sell a month. Not looking for actual dollar amount. Any help would be great guys, thanks!

 

[ExploderWizard]

I don't own a game shop but I think a key thing to consider (if you haven't already) is available gaming space. There is no way to compete with online retailers for your RPG product sales. A good friendly environment to game at a reasonable cost is something the online stores can't offer. Once local gamers like your place, some of them may buy stuff from you out of loyalty over savings but such considerations certainly shouldn't be counted on.

 

[Kask]

Before you open one you should get a job at a local one if even for a few months. Learn the ropes and see what the economics are...

 

[Asmor]

I can't say much for comics, but as far as gaming goes there are CCGs, and then... Well, actually, there are CCGs. It's certainly nice to offer other things like RPGs or war games, but if you do so chances are you're not making much money off of them. Which isn't to say you shouldn't, there could certainly be tangential benefits.

But yeah, CCGs = money. Find out what's popular in your area, set aside space for it, and run tournaments.

 

[PDS]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I am definitely going to have plenty of gaming space. I also am going to have events each night and weekly tournaments. I think it might be a good idea to try to get a job for a couple of months at an existing store but there are few of them around here.

Anyone else have any input? Anyone with an actual store? It seems to me that you'd have to sell a lot of product in order to stay open. I'm just not sure what actually sells to keep these places open.

 

[Negflar2099]

Since I'm not a store owner myself all I can offer is customer perspective advice. The best game stores I know are the ones that are clean, well-lit and professional with a large variety of product (including board games, comics, and fantasy and sci-fi novels). You probably all ready know this but you'd be surprised how many game stores are cheap and dirty and just unprofessional in appearance and layout.

Another thing to focus on is setting up a good way for players who come to your store to find other players. Boards where players can leave contact information is a great way to accomplish that (without that I wouldn't be in my current game or heck I would never have met my fiance) but there are other ways. Maybe have a database of information left with your or something like that. Get creative. If players find each other because of your store they are more likely to come back.

That's all the advice I can give. I hope it was helpful. Good luck.

 

[Mad Zagyg]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I am definitely going to have plenty of gaming space. I also am going to have events each night and weekly tournaments. I think it might be a good idea to try to get a job for a couple of months at an existing store but there are few of them around here.

Anyone else have any input? Anyone with an actual store? It seems to me that you'd have to sell a lot of product in order to stay open. I'm just not sure what actually sells to keep these places open.

Where are you planning to open your store? What State are you in?

 

[Chainsaw]

I'm just not sure what actually sells to keep these places open.

Yikes! Hope your potential lenders aren't reading this thread. You're doing the right thing though - asking around. Have you taken a tour of all the gaming stores in your or neighboring cities? You might consider doing a regional tour of gaming stores to see how they operate.

In a local RPG store in Charlotte: the layout is pretty small, two tables jammed in front, two or three tables jammed in back, there's NOT a ton of product on hand (a few books, minis, lot of cards, some toys, all lining the walls) and they have snacks on hand (no external food allowed). The store's also in a very, very crappy part of town. I have no idea whether the guy's in debt, breaking even or making money. It appears to be basically just a spot to game, buy snacks and order books - not a place you'd go to browse anything.

Incidentally, we have a fairly successful comic store that disposed of its RPG/card biz a few years ago b/c it wasn't making any money. They tried to do what the guy above was doing, but I'm guessing the margin and volumes were just too low not to replace the RPG devoted space with more comic material.

 

[Asmor]

Where are you planning to open your store? What State are you in?

Yes, inquiring minds want to know. The best 'FLGS' in the Salem, MA (and surrounding cities) area is a comic store which caters heavily to CCGs and only has a tiny shelf and no community for RPGs.

 

[lin_fusan]

I have a friend who owns a game store in Northern California, and I worked for a board game company for a year and a half. (But I am so not an expert!)

My friend told me that he expected to lose money for the first two years of his store, and expected to break even in the third year. If you aren't breaking even at least in the third year, you are most likely sunk.

Having a good, clean, well-lit place to play in your store is essential in this market and to compete with on-line markets.

From asking around in other stores, it looks like that they do perhaps over a third in inventory for CCGs and perhaps one or two collectible miniatures games. The problem with Warhammer is that there is a huge buy-in cost as well as a franchise standard you have to adhere to. From what I've heard, it's a good long-term investment since Warhammer is a known property, but a difficult short-term investment.

The other third would be board games, usually the higher quality Euro-style games. Most stores look like they only have a single copy of each game, multiple copies only if there is interest, demand, or a new release.

The last third would be RPGs, although the majority of that third would be for Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition. In retrospect, perhaps less than a third of your inventory should be RPGs, since there are only a few books for 4th out so far.

Obviously, have demos or events for stuff in your inventory. Magic tourneys, Warhammer tourneys, and DnD tourneys are good.

Again, I am not an expert.

I see running a game store as second only to running a cafe. It's hard work with little personal reward until you get that core customer base that realizes you are a human being and not a greedy capitalist pig trying to steal their money.

Good luck?