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Message: <blockquote data-quote="evilbob" data-source="post: 6180036" data-attributes="member: 9789">Thanks for the responses.Location is always important to businesses, but what's a good location for a gaming store?  In our small city there's not a "gaming culture hub."  Nothing even close.  A good location for a gaming store, in my opinion, is something near a place that serves quick but decent food (not fast food, but something a step up), and maybe near a Gamestop (some synergy?).  If you get into the heart of downtown, the rent will eat you alive.  Not sure where would be best.  So far, most places have chosen:  "the place with the cheapest rent."  Unsurprisingly, they have a hard time drawing customers - but even a place with a GREAT location (lots of foot traffic) and good backing folded after a couple years.Comics and cosplay are both niche markets - sort of like RPG books and boardgames, honestly.  They do all go well together, but as an outsider to the comic book industry, my take is that they are spiraling downhill fast, and more than one comic shop wouldn't survive in this town.  I'd get into why but that's not really the point of this thread.  And most cosplayers tend to make their own stuff, right?  What do you even sell them?Impulse buys are what grocery stores use to make a couple extra bucks at checkout.  It's not what keeps them in business.  Certainly impulse buys are a big deal, but "oh right I need one more card/mini for this game" can't be something you base a business on, can it?  That's my main question:  what is really the core of this business?  Even rare books or trades can't be the main thing:  you can't pay rent each month on a couple of rare magic cards because the business is too unpredictable (and again:  internet).As for relatives that shop for gamers, none of them would ever walk into one of these stores, mostly because of the same reasons no women would ever walk into these stores.Finally:  I've been in about two or maybe three local gaming shops in my life that weren't openly hostile to women.  If you need help discovering why, try talking to a woman about why she would never go in there.  Here are a few reasons off the top of my head that are typical of what I've seen:- most gaming shops I've seen are "man caves."  This includes the cleanliness and feel of the place (bad for any business), but one of the biggest offenders is the massive, overt, rampant sexism displayed in all advertising for nearly everything a gaming shop would carry (posters, t-shirts, book covers, game boxes, minis, some card games - all of these have typical sexist art signalling "this is not for you")- if you think no one talks to you when you walk in, try being a woman; not only does no one talk to you or try to help you, they typically assume you're just being drug along against your will or lostLike I said, a couple places are great at NOT doing this, and certainly your millage will vary based on where you live.  Where I live:  it's not so great.</blockquote>

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