Game store owners

[Mournblade94]

Make sure there is not another gaming store within local reach. It is really hard to compete. I have been going to my gaming store since I was 14 (about 20 years now), and I have seen two friends of mine attempt gaming stores and have them close within a year.

Not being an expert, I would still strongly suggest investing in comics as well. My game store would not be around if it had to rely on gaming alone. Their main business is comics.

What he makes the most money on is CCG's and warhammer hands down. CCG is number 1 but Warhammer miniatures is a close second.

Make sure you have gaming space for CCG's and Wargames. If you have gaming space there is more reason for a customer to go to your shop where they will purchase on whims. Tournaments for Younger kids (elementary school/middle school age) brings him lots of money. They usually go with money from their parents.

My friend has an advantage as he sponsors local sports teams so the parents trust his environment. Try to develop that yourself. He has at least one tournament a month for pokemon, and he sells cards as if they had gold inside them.

If your idea though is selling a bunch of RPG books, your store will drop fast. Find other stuff to sell.

I often will not purchase online because I like to support local game stores. The game stores however need something to offer other than a place to buy games.

Good Luck! If you are in the New Jersey area send me a line and I will spread word.

 

[Mistwell]

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.

You are opening a hobby store in the midst of a very serious recession. You'll be investing a huge amount of your own money and time. You need to do the right research first.

I think you should do a bit of a tour of gaming stores in your region. Find some that you think are good. Take pictures of their displays, and talk to their owners and get a sense for what sells and what does not.

Then work at a store for a few months, and get a feel for the economics. How do they do their accounting? How do they handle distributors? Do they get net 30 or is it all pay up front? What things have a return policy? Do they have a shipment turn-around time guarantee? Can you short order and special order individual items for your customers?

As a comics seller, you may want to consider teaming up with other comic book stores to gain the discount benefits of bulk ordering from Diamond. That can be tricky and require someone owning or renting a truck, but I know of some comic book stores that pull it off to their advantage. There are some retail articles at comicbookresources.com that you should read as well. For example, Jud over at Earth II is a bit of a jerk in real life, but he runs a good store here, and he's written many articles for his ReTales column that you may find helpful. There are other articles at that site as well. For example, there is this article on comic store owners biggest mistakes.

You have a big task in front of you. Don't rush into opening...it's the fastest way to rushing into closing.

 

[cdsaint]

some advice

A few other things to consider:

First, the Central Illinois area has 3 good game stores that I am aware of. Oddly enough, They serve different core groups with some overlap, so they don't SEEM to compete too much. One specializes in RPG's, one in Boardgames, and one in videoagames.

Check for gaming clubs in your area. If you can get in good with a few clubs it will help you find out what is hot in your area. We have a few gaming clubs in this area (Central Illinois Tabletop Warriors and the Tri-County Gaming Association to name the two I am most familiar with) and their support seems to help our local shops immensely. Of course the shops often host club meetings and events, but that works well for the shops and the clubs.

Our local shops are also involved (along with some of the clus) in putting on a local con (Spring Offensive) every year.

The shops that are successful around here seem to be successful at least in part from becoming fixtures of the gaming community, They are much more than simple retail outlets, they are an important part of the community they serve.

I don't actually work for any of the 3 shops, but am a customer at all 3.

Chris

 

[Jan van Leyden]

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!

I trust you're familiar with the columns of Marcus King and Lloyd Brown over at RPG.net?

If not you really should spend a day or two devouring this information...

 

[joethelawyer]

where are you going to set up shop? if you say connecticut i'll name my firstborn after you...

 

[Aristotle]

A lot of people are buying from amazon and other big discounters these days, more now with money being tight, so (from what I've heard from store owners on forums) don't count on traditional gaming products as your selling point. I think services are the way to go, but I'm not sure what the winning combination might be. Some ideas...

Get involved with pen and paper games that have fanclubs (like the RPGA and similar organizations dedicated to organized public play of specific games) and get GM's involved with those clubs running games at your store. Likewise get involved with the tournaments for various card and miniature games, and get those tournaments going at your store. Then sell the related products.

Snacks and fountain sodas. I'm not talking about setting up a hot plate or deep-fryer. Sell candy. Gamers get hungry, and if you got tables of people playing games, they won't want to go far to get it. A 7-11 style microwave and some burritos would be cool, but maybe too much. I've always heard that some resturaunts make their biggest profit on fountain sodas, and all that talking does build up a thirst.

 

[PDS]

WOW!...thanks for all the feedback everyone. I just jumped on here to see if anyone posted. I'll have to read through the posts a little later on. Going out for a bit.

I am planning on opening it up in MA. Somewhat close to Cape Cod. There really isn't much in the way of gaming stores around here. I'm going to do a lot of research before I attempt to get the funding I need.

I'll post again a little later. Thanks again!

 

[Asmor]

btw, just an idea on the events front... Rather than running events for free or charging for them, have the cost of the event include an equivalent amount of store credit, or some similar bonus. For example, a $5 entry fee gets you a $5 gift certificate or a pack of cards in addition to a ticket for the event.

Doesn't impact people who would have spent money at your store in the first place, and helps alleviate the problem of people buying stuff cheap online and only coming in to play.

 

[Scribble]

Bot an owner either but what I've observed:

The ones that seem to be making it now don't stay strictly within the gamer market. They tend to be more "Geek Minded" focused...

I think the idea is to attract people who might not be part of the gaming culture per sey, but are still into goofy things. Oooooh how can I possibly leave without that plush vorpal bunny?!?!

They don't seem to be Game Stores or Comic Stores so much as "Fun Stores."

 

[joethelawyer]

Bot an owner either but what I've observed:

The ones that seem to be making it now don't stay strictly within the gamer market. They tend to be more "Geek Minded" focused...

I think the idea is to attract people who might not be part of the gaming culture per sey, but are still into goofy things. Oooooh how can I possibly leave without that plush vorpal bunny?!?!

They don't seem to be Game Stores or Comic Stores so much as "Fun Stores."

Except for the ones in the big metro areas, like Compleat Strategist. My brother and I have been planning a trip down there to NY City this weekend for a couple weeks now. We are taking his 4 yr old son with us, so as to better brainwash him into being as big a gaming geek as his father and I are (25 yrs. and counting!).

Of course, I don't think the gaming store will compete in his eyes with the train ride down there, it being his first, nor with the trip to the top of the Empire State Building, but hey, we have to try, right?