Advice on Opening a Game Store

[Luddite]

Well I can offer the following as a customer of Gaming stores.

Things I like/look for in a game store.

- Non-Scary staff : Don't hire gamers who know all about the products but have the socail graces of a cow.
- Educated staff : The staff should know about the big names and common products. More they know about smaller publishers and products the better. I think there should be a computer with a links to all the publishers and some common boards available to the staff so they can look things up for/with customers.
- Service : Think of the game store as offering services to the customers. Selling products is just one service. Having a gaming arena and computer Network is one thing that you can not get on-line. Also see about getting some type of food service license and set up a bariesta. Heck, go so far as to just open up a Starbucks Franchise, or partnership, with in the store. Use the profits of the Franchise to support the game store.

The other things like how to run a business are also important.

On a parting note. Open the store because you love to run a gaming store.

-The Luddite

 

[Wee Jas]

I had a store.. it was a lot of fun.. but we went under. I look back at those years with fond memories and some big bills!

1. Pepare yourself for the fact you won't ever have money. You aren't going to get rich doing this.

2. It is WORK. Treat it as such. Be prepared to hate what you love sometimes. Gamers with bad hygine spend as much as clean gamers. You'll need to be nice to both.

3. Don't put too much faith in your business partner. Business is business. My best friend screwed me over.

4. ONLINE selling. Many peeps buy online now. Many people have all online stores. I suggest staring with this to get the feel of running your own business. No rent, little bills... if you can't effectivly handle ebay don't open a store. Supplement your store with online sales.

5. Be prepared for hidden costs.

 

[Psion]

I can't clue you in on business plans or anything like that, but I have a few notes on business conduct that I think will improve the chances of customer relations.

1) Don't shrinkwrap. If you must shrinkwrap, make sure you leave a browsable sample copy. This is the main thing you have over online stores -- don't sell it short.
2) Don't be condascending to customers or tell them that their brand of gaming is wrong. Similarly, don't cater to one brand of gamer to the exclusion of others. (CCGers, Mini Gamers, RPGers.) Frex, don't put your RPG display racks behind the active wargaming table.
3) Become a gaming hub/haven. Similar to the point in #1, you aren't going to undersell Amazon. So make gamers want or need to come to your store. Distribute product news. Make gaming bulliten boards. Maybe even facilitate scheduling games.

And from my actual retailer experience:
1) It's better to sell out than overstock.

 

[bolen]

I can't resist. This joke is for restaraunts but it works for gaming store.

Q: How do you make a small fortune in a gaming store?

A: Start with a large fortune

 

[satori01]

And from my actual retailer experience:
1) It's better to sell out than overstock.

Not neccesarily. Continual "outs" on product is a quick way to drive buisness elsewhere. Dependent upon margins, you can eat some losses to turn merchandise if dead items are taking prime space.

Have any of the game shop owners experimented with taking pre-orders for up and comming releases, say similiar to the retail video game store model?
($5 down guarentees a copy).

I could see this as helping to manage inventory and buying decisions, while encouraging customer/employee interaction.

 

[Psion]

Not neccesarily. Continual "outs" on product is a quick way to drive buisness elsewhere. Dependent upon margins, you can eat some losses to turn merchandise if dead items are taking prime space.

Right, but my point is that the margins on game stores often aren't very healthy at all and you can't afford to sit on overstocks of expensive items. When we were selling stuff during the CCG crase, the initial sales on Illuminati CCG seemed to indicate that it was going to be a hot seller. Sitting on the reorder that never sold really hurt.

Now if you have an arrangement where your overhead is minimal, you may be able to eat a few losses like that.

All I am saying is order what you are confident that you can sell.

One solution I have seen used (similar to what you suggest) is a "preorder sheet." If you are out of a product, use that moment to say "well if you'd like, we can sign you up on an interest sheet and hold some product next time." Then you give the customer comfort and make your sales more predictable. You also inform your customer what is coming, so if they spot it on the sheet, they might actually impulse buy before it is even sitting on the shelf.

Another thing along this line is to use a POS system to track what is actually selling and get a good idea of customer demand.

 

[Felon]

Not neccesarily. Continual "outs" on product is a quick way to drive buisness elsewhere.

Ah yes, nothing like hearing a LGS owner say "We don't have any of those books, but we can order them for you!"

I suppose it would be rude to laugh right in their faces, so I always manage to resist the impulse. It's an act of pure willpower

Of course, usually it's not because they sold out, but rather because they didn't even order it in the first place. Here's a suggestion that might work: try to be the only LGS in your state that doesn't overload their shelves with every darn Mongoose and Fast Forward book in existence, in lieu of even a single copy of A Magical Medieval Society or The Monsternomicon.

 

[Delemental]

Not much I can say here that hasn't already been said, but having worked in a gaming store for a couple of years myself, I can offer a few tidbits on what worked for us.

First, I must disagree somewhat with the person who said to focus on older gamers. While younger gamers don't have as high of an income, the income they do have is nearly 100% disposable. And you'd be amazed at the amount of money some kids can get from their parents. I'm not saying your friend should turn her shop into Chuck E Cheese, but stocking some Yu-Gi-Oh cards or running an "under 12" D&D game once a week can't hurt.

Public image. Remember that not everyone who walks into the store is a die-hard gamer. There are "soccer moms" bringing their kids to play card games, there are gamer girlfriends, normal business folks peeking in to see what kind of business just replaced their favorite donut shop, and so on. So the first thing they see when walking into the front door should probably not be a life-sized cardboard cutout of "Sheeba, the Succubi Temptress" and a big sign saying "We have plenty of copies of the Book of Vile Darkness!" Don't cover up your windows - adult bookstores and bars cover their windows.

Employees. When your friend reaches the point where she wants (or can afford) employees, remember two words - pay them. I've seen too many stores that tried to do a "half cash, half trade" deal with their staff, or worse. Almost all of them don't exist anymore. The adage 'you get what you pay for' applies here - you don't tend to get good customer service out of someone making the equivalent of $4 an hour. I know that a gaming store isn't going to have the money to be lavish with their employees' salaries, but still...

Discounts. There's already been good advice given about discounts. One thing that worked for us was 'event-based discounting'. Planning a Warhammer 40K tournament? Everyone who signs up gets a discount on wargaming supplies from the time they sign up, through the event, and for a couple of weeks afterward.

And the best thing to remember is that not all advice is good advice. The things I've mentioned may be the worst things in the world for your friend's business. The best thing is knowledge - know your location, your market, your customer base.

 

[mac1504]

Just some thoughts and opinions I gathered from both working on the manufacturing end and working with retailers as well as my own personal experience of being in and around many different game stores:

1. Try not to alienate potential customers. I am not just talking about preferring one type of gamer over the other (LARPERS over role-players or miniature game players) but just general customers. I've been in one too many stores that turned me off because of the way the staff and "regulars" talked about other customers and such.

2. Don't accomodate to your best customers too much. I am a big believer in this, you definitely want to give some rewards to those customers that spend a lot of time and money in your store- but don't be too generous. Giving them large discounts eats into your profits.

3. It's been stated here before, but I whole heartedly agree on this one- don't try to go the cut throat route of deep discounting. You will probably hear customers coming in saying, "I can get this pack of cards online for 20% less, why should I buy them here?" Don't get snared into this slippery slope as it only has a fatal ending for your store.

4. Have a set of rules for all to see and stick with them. Have a policy for shoplifting and selling of personal items in the store, as well as profanity and any other items of potential issue for you.

That's all I can think of for right now.

Best of luck!

 

[Michael Tree]

I'm asking because you say the area has no gaming store. Don't be so sure about that. About 25 minutes northeast of Philadelphia in Cinnaminson NJ is Gamer's Realm. Well known throughout the South Jersey/Philly Region as an excellent gaming store. If she's going to be in Philly proper, or on the western or southern suburbs - That's better. If she's looking at the more northern suburbs, or just over the bridge in NJ - she'll have some major competition!

I'm also curious where in Philly she is. There is already a decent comics/games store on South St. downtown. In the northwest (in King of Prussia) there's a Compleat Stragetist that is one of best stocked RPG stores I've ever seen. To the south of Philly, just over the Delaware border, is Beyond Books, a great RPG/SF bookshop that has been there forever.