D&D 4E With 4E coming out, best time to open game shop?

[Scribble]

1. Make sure that your store has a website, where customers can reserve books and come in to pick them up, or have them shipped to their door. This will allow you to reach more customers anywhere in the world without spending much more overhead (advertising, for example.) A good site can cost you a couple grand (or more), so save money by building and hosting the site yourself if you have the skill.

I'd add to this by saying be REAL about your ability to create a website. Nothing bugs me more then going to a store's website and finding it's an outdated poorly managed web page that looks like it was made in the early 90s... Blinking Text!!! Woohooo!!! And a webpage should not just be a picture of the store and it's address... I can get that on yelp or citysearch...

So if you don't have the skills to make a good site, hire someone that can. It's a good investment.

 

[Dire Bare]

I would call you a fool. Have you spoken to a lot of game store owners lately? 4E isn't making a big dent because stores make their money on cards and mini's, but..the books get people in so that they can blow big and regular on the things that they actually make money on.

If I were you, I'd get a dream of flipping houses instead. Why micturate away your savings and emotions on a very, very risky investment that does not result in ever making back your expenses (nowadays)?

jh

Well, thanks for the kind, constructive criticism, it's always welcome! Such a positive and nice boy!

 

[Dire Bare]

Me and my good buddy are finally going to make the dream come true and open a game shop (of course we both will still have to work elsewhere for actual money ). We were inspired to go forward because of 4E coming out, seemed like a good time to get into business.

Our plan is to not buy any 3.x D&D as it doesn't seem a wise investment, and jump right into 4E. We will of course have board games, card games, minis, dice and all the other stuff. We were thinking of opening doors about a month before core books hit. What do you think? Sooner, later?

I'd go ahead and stock the latest 3.5 releases, just not a lot of it!

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

If you're going to open up a shop, it's probably best to have it up and running right before the Nov/Dec Christmas season. Since it's too late now, I'd suggest waiting until next year, probably in the spring before the 4E launch.

All that being said, you're throwing your money away...

 

[Shortman McLeod]

Both me and my partner will actually be working full time at other things for money to pay our bills.

So who's going to run the store?

 

[Abstraction]

So who's going to run the store?

I'll be doing graphic design from a mini-office inside the store during the day. There will be some help here serving customers from both wives. He teaches high school and will mind the store in the evening. We'll keep on doing this until the store is doing well enough to support us, if ever.

 

[CleverNickName]

I'd add to this by saying be REAL about your ability to create a website. Nothing bugs me more then going to a store's website and finding it's an outdated poorly managed web page that looks like it was made in the early 90s... Blinking Text!!! Woohooo!!! And a webpage should not just be a picture of the store and it's address... I can get that on yelp or citysearch...

So if you don't have the skills to make a good site, hire someone that can. It's a good investment.

Scribble is absolutely right...be honest about your ability to build and operate a useful website. It has to be interactive, and it has to be better than everyone else's: a searchable catalog, a secure server for credit card transactions, and a ton of free downloads are not extra options anymore, they are the bare minimum. The days of the "virtual business card" have passed.

But since you are a graphic designer by trade, I think you'll be okay.

 

[Cbas_10]

I'll be doing graphic design from a mini-office inside the store during the day. There will be some help here serving customers from both wives. He teaches high school and will mind the store in the evening. We'll keep on doing this until the store is doing well enough to support us, if ever.

My suggestions, from real personal experience in managing such a store:

• Be open during hours that cater to gamers. Many of us are either career-minded types that work during the day; others of us are....less career-minded and are not conscious until the sun is going down. In any case, before 4pm...nearly the only reason to be in the store is to deal with distributors and move displays around. The game shops near me are open until 6pm (extended hours on the weekend: 7pm...woo hoo!).

• Whoever you have working with/for you, make sure they are both knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the products you carry. Gamers like to talk, hang out, discuss all of the conspiracies and rumors about whatever hobby they are purchasing, etc. The longer they are there with someone to talk to, the more apt they are to buy....and to return and buy again.

• Gaming space and an area for people to comfortably hang out to play is essential. One of the most difficult parts of keeping games together (to those of us that have a career and, thus, more money to spend) is a place to play without interfering too much with family or jobs. Make them feel welcome, let them simply hang out, and don't even DREAM of charging for table time or requiring that they pay for a book or something to be able to use the tables. This is necessary because you need to have a good rapport with your regulars. Such a good variety of relationships help you battle.......

• Shrinkage. It will happen. It's retail. Gamers will bring their own books to games and will more easily be able to slip a stolen book into theirs. Deal with it. It will happen. However, when your regulars see that you are providing a service to them, at least a select few will have your back and recognize that stealing from you is not what will keep your doors open (and thus, removes the hang-out/gaming place they enjoy).

• Most importantly: consider your business to be more of a service than a games retailer. You cannot compete with the price point that the internet retailer is able to provide. Your customers can (and certainly occasionally will) get what you carry from someone else who can provide on the cheap...and fast. Give them reasons to simply BE at your store...don't pitch sales at them, and keep the pay-to-participate tourneys to a minimum. Remember the TV show, "Cheers?" Give gamers a place to go where they are hanging out with and buying from a buddy that knows their name.

......Oh....and don't lay any wieght on when you will open based upon 4E. Your RPG sales may be significant, but the profit margins will be considerably less significant (especially when you take discounts to regulars into consideration).

Oh....one MORE thing: if one of your staff ever starts talking about gaming, says "X sucks, but Z is a better game" (where you sell X but don't sell Z)....give them their FINAL paycheck. Too many gamer employees of game stores forget that the store is still actually a place of business and not a place for them to be paid to hang out.

 

[Umbran]

S
Huh? I do plenty of browsing and impulse buying on Amazon

I'm sorry, but to me (and, I think, to many, but that's just my guess) browsing through Amazon and browsing through the shelves in a bookstore just are not the same thing. If they were, brick and mortar bookstores would already be gone, and they aren't.

Amazon does not allow you to see all the products in one glance, then pick one up and leaf through it. Searching and reading a description is not the same as browsing. And having Amazon deliver it in a couple days is not the same kind of instant gratification impulse shopping as you can get in a store, where the thing is in your grubby paws right now.

Frankly, the customer feedback I can read online is far more helpful than the extremely limited play experience I can get in a gaming store. RPG's take time to evaluate.

For that kind of evaluation, I would come to EN World, not Amazon's reviews. And it does not replace my own evaluation, which I can only get by perusing the book.

And to me, the play space in the store isn't for demonstration of the products - it is just for having a place to play - a gathering point where you can meet other local gamers, and talk about what they do in real time.

 

[Krafus]

It sounds like you could easily be in a bind for time... Are you and your partner fully willing to dedicate all your free time to this store of yours? IMO that could eventually put a strain on your family and personal lives.