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Advice on Running a Successful Videogame Store? 134

Posted by Cliff from the survival-of-the-local-outlet dept.
xlilacx asks: "The video game industry is worth $25 billion, and predicted to rival the global music industry in the next 10 years. Even Grandma is joining in on the fun. My husband and I bought three video game retail stores two months ago, and so far sales are dismal (down 25% from last year's sales), which seems to be an industry trend. I've noticed a few things that are contibuting to our lack of profits: the people who weren't able to get an XBox 360 have decided they will wait to get one (which most likely will be after Christmas), and they will not buy any games for their old systems in the meantime; people are automatically conditioned to go to the EB-Games and GameStop stores at the malls, even if they give less in trade-ins and have horrible customer servicr; lastly, kids come in with piles of junk games (Madden 2001, etc..), and get enough store credit to buy the latest greatest game that we only mark up like 5%-10%. I'd like to ask Slashdot readers if these observations are a good reflection of the mentality of video-game buyers everywhere, and what suggestions they have for a small ma-and-pa video game store. With all the huge retailers in the video-game market and the EB/GameStop merger, is there a place left for the local game store?"
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Advice on Running a Successful Videogame Store? More

Advice on Running a Successful Videogame Store?

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  • I've been a gamer my whole life, I haven't been to a store to buy games in years. In the UK we have Play.com which 99% of the time is much cheaper than any store, and has free delivery which is pretty fast too.

    Last time I went inside a game store was to waste 10 mins while waiting to something else.
    • Last time i went in a games store here in the UK (Gamestation), it was to playtest a DS. The smug bastard behind the counter told me i couldn't since the area had a reputation for being 'high-risk'. I walked out, swearing silently to myself i would never go inside another games store as long as i lived, also thinking "Isn't this industry in enough shit as it is without treating their customers like thieves?"

      At least now I don't feel so bad when i get my games via bt.

  • Good luck competing with Amazon, Best Boy, Circuit City, Gamestop/EBGames, BlockBuster and so on.
    • "Good luck competing with Amazon, Best Boy, Circuit City, Gamestop/EBGames, BlockBuster and so on."

      That wouldn't be all that hard to do. They all have weaknesses.

      Amazon -- Much easier to find a game you want if you know specifically what you're looking for. They also have to ship the games to you. No instant gratification.

      Best Buy / Circuit City -- Big busy stores that don't sell used games.

      GameStop / EB -- Not bad all around. You can get used games and so on. They usually congregate in malls or near W
      • Mom and pop game stores have about as much chance of surviving (much less thriving) as mom and pop hardware stores and grocery stores now that Walmart and Homebase are everywhere. Now days, the role of the "small guy" is filled by less successful or powerful corporate stores, edging the mom and pop shop from even beging in the "underdog" slot.
        • "Now days, the role of the "small guy" is filled by less successful or powerful corporate stores, edging the mom and pop shop from even beging in the "underdog" slot."

          Maybe, but I can't say we're seeing a lot of business innovation out of mom and pop either. Funcoland comes to mind. They started as a mom-and-pop store. They became successful and started building more stores. Sooner or later, they popped up all over the place, usually near Walmart. (amusingly, that generated business for them instead of
      • Amazon -- If you are looking for rare gems that are no longer published, this is the place to be.

        Best Buy / Circuit City -- This is where I buy 99% of my new games. The $10 instant discounts help.

        GameStop / EB -- I cannot stand the annoying platform pushers. When I come for a PS2 game, don't sell me a xbox. Anyhow I have to come back since they take back old games. But why does every store have to be a zoo.

        Blockbuster -- Sometimes you can find a steal in the bargin bin.

  • Time (Score:5, Informative)

    by retinaburn ( 218226 ) on Saturday December 03, 2005 @07:57PM (#14175611)
    What you need is time to get game buyers to use your store, and start telling their friends.

    If you can have better customer service, and provide better monetary value (be it trade-ins, slightly lower price than the local chain store, etc) the numbers should increase over time.

    Have a local staff that is knowledgable about games. They should be able to tell a prospective buyer the good and the bad about a particular game, and how it compares to other games in the genre.

    Perhaps post ratings from various game sites, so buyers can see the ratings and the reviews about various games in your store.

    One thing a local mom-pop shop does is have a little event when a huge game is released. They will have pop and some snacks leading up to when they are allowed to sell the game, may even have it playable on a few systems so people can get their fix before they can take it home. They did this for Halo2, and I am sure other games. They also let you return a game within the first week or so if you don't like it, or you finish it for a full store credit. You get a brand-new hot title back, and can put it back on the shelf at a slightly lower price (providing the condition is good), and make two customers happy in the process.

    You can also run contests, etc to get people into the store. Buy X new games, get a free used title. My advice, don't pressure then to buy. Provide an environment that provides the service, but do perks, make it a good place to hang out.

    • Re:Time (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Yorrike ( 322502 ) on Saturday December 03, 2005 @10:14PM (#14176231) Journal
      "Provide an environment that provides the service, but do perks, make it a good place to hang out"

      Exactly. As odd as this sounds, your focus shouldn't be selling games, it should be building a community and a regular, dedicated shopping-base. If you have the space, I suggest putting a couch in with a TV, or a couple of TVs, instead of the regular IDUs. It'll make your stores feel welcoming and people will want to stay.

      My parents used to run a toyshop, and being the gamer I am, I set up a gaming section there. Problem is games have such a small mark up on them, that it wasn't worth the investment (except for crazes like Pokemon), so I have an insight into your woes.

      My suggestion is to make your stores work like some book stores. Their major profits come from selling coffee, not from selling books, even though the people running the place are book geeks. If you understand gaming, use it as a strength to sell things to gamers, not just games and systems.

      Think of this; put those couches in, people will stay and play games for a while. If people are in a place for a while, they get to know everyone else in that place (common interests and all), which will make them stay longer. If they stay longer, they'll get hungry and thirsty, so sell drinks and some food. As the community grows, so do your sales. If people like you, they think "I could buy this game from website X and wait a day or 2 for it to arrive, or I could spend a couple of hours playing it at that mum and dad's store, where I can talk to people I know and like, about the game. After that, I can come home and play the rest of it after I bought it". To put it in another context, it'd be like running an open member's arcade with lower overheads.

      I'll tell you one thing, if a store like that existed near me, I'd buy my games and spend a good amount of time and money there.

      • Re:Time (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Just be careful about who you are letting stay on the couch , and for how long. I'll refer you to http://www.actsofgord.com/ [actsofgord.com] for reasons why.

        I saw something like this happen to a local gaming (D&D) store - the regulars wre actaully responsible for keeping a lot of new blood out, due ot just being obnoxious or (worse) having some hygiene issues.

        The OP is right though - getting your name out there - at local LAN parties, gaming events and such is key. If you go the extra mile for them, most will go teh ex
      • Agreed, the local gaming cafe started out trying to make big bucks but failed painfully. Soon after they redefined their business model and made it a fun place to go crash after school or work and built up a core group of dedicated gamers who I would suggest are the ones keeping them afloat. When added with the 'off the street' crowd that you get anyway they are now doing well for themselves and slowly getting better. And I'll be clear on that - VERY - slowly getting better but it will continue. I belie
      • If you have the space, I suggest putting a couch in with a TV, or a couple of TVs, instead of the regular IDUs. It'll make your stores feel welcoming and people will want to stay.

        I'd make this suggestion, too, especially if you want to have a free gaming lounge instead of a videogame store.

        Anybody who wants to hang out in a videogame store probably has too much time on their hands and thus doesn't have a job providing the money to spend on videogames. While folks should certainly feel comfortable and

        • I disagree. The submitter obviously can't compete with the major retail chains based solely on price and availability. If he wants to open an independent gaming store, he must find some way (or preferably, ways) to say to his customers, "I am different" and provide something that his big-name competitors either can't, won't, or for whatever other reason, don't.

          I think the couches idea is a good one. I think the highly knowledgeable staff is a better one. I think circulating your name among LAN partier

          • How is anyone going to find out how "different" the store is without advertising? Traditional advertising works. That's why people use it. Trying to target a specific group like LAN gamers or a "gaming community" (a term which holds no meaning at this point) might be a nice idea but it's far more difficult a process than opening the ole checkbook and getting some radio airtime or even getting a local TV spot. Couches and knowledgeable staff, on the other hand, will NEVER bring people in the door who don

      • If you do this, you also need to make damn sure that newcomers are made welcome. There's nothing more intimidating for a new fish walking into the store than a group of guys on 'the couch', like they own the place, on a first name basis with the staff.

  • Used games (Score:2, Interesting)

    by basscomm ( 122302 )
    In my area, the only Mom & Pop game stores left are the ones that specialize in used games, typically the NES-era through about 2000ish, but a few current generation games pop in on occasion. Of course they also offer the used books/cds/dvds/etc. which can't hurt (especially since they want $100 for Chrono Trigger with or without the box).

  • Do what you have to. (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    First off, fuck new releases. You only make 5-10% on them. Have pre-order programs for them, but otherwise carry minimal stock on them. If your store is so low on those sales anyways, why carry it?

    Impose maximums. If people want to bring in a sports game, make sure you only take in this year or last year's sports games, and have a max # per store (5 for last year's, for example). It can take a long time. Give almost nothing for last year's title, and give a bit more than nothing for this year. Give t
    • Hire ex-EB/Gamestop employees. Anyone who has worked there and is a decent person will know exactly what's wrong with the company. They'll probably know more about games than random people off the street. Use this.
      You mean someone like this [ctrlaltdel-online.com]?

  • My advice (Score:5, Interesting)

    by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Saturday December 03, 2005 @07:58PM (#14175620) Homepage Journal
    Have you ever heard of Funcoland? (they were bought up by GameStop I think...) They had a thriving business. They did several things right:

    1. They dealt with used as well as new games. Sounds like you're doing that so you're already on good ground there. One of the reasons I liked shopping there was that it was easy to say "Well, I've only got $10, I wonder what Funcoland has today."

    2. They had a wonderful warranty system. If you bought a cleaning kit for the system, you got a one year warranty regardless of if it was new or used. I honestly would never have cared for that until Sony hit the market. As a plus, the cleaning kit was great to have around. (as opposed to just handing over some cash just for a piece of paper with 'warranty' written on it.)

    3. Funcoland also had a club card. I think this is fairly common these days. Buy the card for $10, get 10% off every used game you buy for a year. Plus it came with a subscription to a magazine. It was definitely a good deal for the customers because it didn't take long to make that $10 back. Again, that encouraged me to come.

    4. Funco also had stations set up so people could try the game before they buy them.

    5. I don't know if you can pull this off, but I'll mention it anyway: Funco had a number of stores, so it was usually possible to get what you want. They'd make calls for you to find and hold what you're looking for so you can go pick it up. This seems unlikely for you for now, so I have an alternative suggestion: Are there other ma and pop stores nearby? If you are willing to call them and say "do you have this game I don't have?" for the customer, you'll encourage them to make your place the one-stop shop. I know it seems funny to send business other people's way, but customer service is a big bonus. The Funco I frequented had friends over at the local E.B. They'd send business back and forth between them. I liked both those stores a lot because the people were willing to help.

    The only thing I'd really ding Funco for was making it hard to tell what games they had in stock. I can't say it was necessarily their fault, but they often had most of their games in drawers. If you can do something to display what you've got, bonus.

    Good luck. :)
    • FuncoLand did some things well, but my experience with them was always fairly negative. The customer service was horrible. The employees always made it seem like helping me was a bother. Plus, they always tried to push the cleaning kits. A buddy of mine worked there for a while, and even then I felt like he was trying to rip me off.

      It wasn't all bad though. The FuncoLand Fun Club introduced me to Game Informer, which continues to be the pinnacle of video game journalism. I also bought a number of ga

    • Funny that you mentioned Funcoland, because I once worked there from about Oct - Jan back around '98 I believe. I'll reply to each of your very good points on my thoughts on how that store ran vs. what this Ask Slashdot wants to know. I was just a regular employee, but one of the ones with the most responsibility after only a month because I wasn't a functional retard. The two managers that ran the store (both women, and uh... well... they had a thing for each other, let's just say that...) were sorta tr

  • I don't usually buy from the local game stores or the local computer stores in my area because their prices are way too high. On the rare even that I do buy something locally it's because I need it *now*, either to replace a broken part or if I only have two days off to buy and play a game. When something is only a few dollars more locally I will buy it here in town, but in the example of computer parts, newegg.com is usually 20% cheaper! I have talked with many of the local computer store owners and they h
  • Personally, I would love to see a store that allowed me to try out any game they had before I bought it. I have a very limited budget and I can't stomache the idea of dropping $60, $50, $40, or even $30 on a game I'm not going to play for more than an hour or so (if that). I know, I know, there are demos, especially for PC games, but I live in the sticks and don't have access to broadband. Half a gig on dial up isn't going to happen. It would take some monitoring to keep something like this from being abuse
  • It seems to me like this is the typical problem with big business; big businesses can afford to buy tons of copies at once and ensure cheap prices, while small businesses get stuck with higher prices. In this case, the big businesses are the online game suppliers--it's tough to compete when they're buying it really, really cheap and don't have as much labor costs, no expensive rent, and can make up for the shipping cost by not paying tax (Correct me if I'm wrong, but when someone buys online from out of st
    • A bit wrong on taxes. You have to charge taxes on an item shipped to state X if your business has a "locus" in state X. For example, if you have a fulfilment center, brick and mortar store, or customer service call center there, then *boom* taxes. You can look this up in Quill Corporation v Virginia (its definately Quill, might not be Virginia though, been a while since I saw it and I only remember because I used to work for Quill). So, as a customer, you're always a bit better doing business with someo

  • Acts of Gord (Score:5, Informative)

    by Bishop ( 4500 ) on Saturday December 03, 2005 @08:42PM (#14175846)
    First read the Acts of Gord [actsofgord.com]. Then really consider if you want to run a game store.

    • Re:Acts of Gord (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Wog ( 58146 ) on Sunday December 04, 2005 @04:27AM (#14177299)
      Yes!

      I worked at a GameXchange for three years in high school. This made us laugh until we cried.

      To the OP:

      As someone else said, screw new releases for the most part. They won't make you any money. The REAL money is in used older games. Take in a playstation game, give store credit. Clean it, test it, and turn around and charge 150 to 200 percent of that. You've got to be up-front about your customers about the fact that you must be selective in order to survive. Be honest and pay well for the good stuff, and not well for the crap that won't sell.

      You've got to know your games. The two or three guys that ran the store with me knew what they were doing, and liked the history and trivia of the stuff, so they had background when someone asked them a technical question. We also had our preferences and warned customers about them. "Me? Oh, I dunno man, I suck at the newer console FPS games. You need to talk to Ryan over there. Ryan! Get your pasty butt over here!"

      Get used to explaining to parents with young kids about ESRB ratings and make sure they understand full well that GTA isn't okay for their second graders. Be ready with some age-appropriate but not sucky alternatives. They'll love you for it.

      Play upbeat but not "offensive" music and keep the place well-lit and clean. You can carry a store on hardcore gamers, but just barely and you have to hit the right market. Nothing worse for a casual gamer than the grungy, dark place with obscure games and shady employees.

      If you have a regular that seems to be a decent kid, hire him and treat him right. Your good employees will earn their pay many times over, and love you for giving them an awesome college or high school job. A little store credit sprinkled here and there can do good things for you... most of the really enthusiastic ones will save it for the rare stuff that only comes in so often anyway...

      As far as help goes, you're going to either be hiring students or people who are failures at life. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. You need to BE THERE to be a good influence on the business. Remember the great guys I worked with? They moved on with life and I was the only one left when the new crop got trained in. I didn't want to manage the store because I wanted to keep my grades up. The owner came in for 20 minutes every two weeks, being so stretched thin trying to open new stores that he let mediocre employees drive his business into the ground through incompetence and theft.

      He hired a "mid-level guy" to manage three of the stores. We pegged him as a crook as soon as we met him. I went over his head when my pay had been shorted two periods in a row, and he retaliated by claiming missing inventory and deposits. I was fired the week before I was going to leave for college anyway. When I came home for Christmas, I found out that the guy had emptied a $10k bank account and split.

      Anyway, rant off. I've got lots of little tidbits from general management to inventory proceedures that I've seen work well, so send a message if you want any help...

      I'll tell you this: There were about 12 months of really good times with good co-workers. We made 3x the profits of the other two years and I would have done the work for, well, not for free, but I was a happy guy when I was coming in to work. Don't screw it up. :)
    • I simply love his stuff and it's a quite popular read at my workplace atm (I work at a callcenter, customer support in this fashion is a dream for most employees :)

  • Sales vs Last Year (Score:2, Interesting)

    by jxa00++ ( 322387 )
    A small point regarding:

    "so far sales are dismal (down 25% from last year's sales"

    I kind of think last year was a bit special as far big name releases. You had Half Life 2, Doom 3, WoW, Metroid Prime 2, GTA San Andreas, Halo 2, and perhaps Rome Total War so I think all of those maybe contributed to 2004 being a stellar year for game sales.

    (Say what you want about the actual games themselves but they were all hugely anticipated...)
  • To answer your question we have to weigh the benefits of a local mon and pop store vs. online retailers & ebay.

    Internet allows me to sit at home, order a game, get the lowest price (or close to it).

    Having said that, there are people that still go to stores and don't shop online. Chances are, if they're is a major gaming store next to a 'mom & pop' they'll go there on the pretence of greater variety; they'd probably be right.

    So the conclusion I would draw is that Mom & Pop stores, more and

  • In my area (Wichita KS)... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jayhawk88 ( 160512 ) <jayhawk88@gmail.com> on Saturday December 03, 2005 @08:51PM (#14175898)
    ...the only non-corporate stores that seem to be doing anything are the "vintage" type stores. They generally have a decent selection of newer games, but it's obvious they rely solely on trade-ins for them.

    Given what kind of prices and built-in customer base the chains have, I really think this is your best bet. A lot of us 30+ gamers are out there thinking it would be great fun to go pick up a used NES and play some Dragon Warrior or what not.
    • The only video game stores I can think of here in Wichita are Gamestop, EBGames, and GameXchange, none of which are mom-and-pop.
      • There are a few regional used DVD/CD store chains here, such as CD Tradepost at 21st and Woodlawn/Central+Ridge. GameXChange was certainly a mom+pop operation when I was a kid; I don't know about now. My comment below was directed straight at GameXChange, but applies equally to the other joints around town.
    • My issue with the mom+pops around Wichita KS is the complete disregard for customer service. They are rude, overprice their titles, and pretty much treat the customer as if they expect you are the source of their shrinkage. They feel less like a game store and more like a seedy pawnshop/check-cashing+loan joint.
  • A few random ideas.

    #1. Host LAN events, sponsor LAN events, or somehow get your name on the ticket on some big multiplayer party. Maybe donate some gift certificates as prizes for tourneys. Not games, gift cards. Make it so they have to go to your store to pick up their prize. Most likely player #1 will bring along some friends who will also buy games (whenever my friend drags me to the local game store I buy something anyways).

    #2. Sell energy supplies. Bawls, red bull, jolt, you name it. Hardcore gamer

    • Carding is a money losing proposition. You lose the teenagers (who spend their own money). And the parents will only buy a few games around the holidays and birthdays. Its unlikely they'd go to your store anyway, they can pick up games at Walmart/BB/etc while buying other stuff. They're less likely to go to a hole in the wall store. So you alienate your core for a small increase in seasonal shopping.

  • In-Store Games? (Score:5, Informative)

    by MBCook ( 132727 ) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Saturday December 03, 2005 @09:00PM (#14175932) Homepage
    Have you considered running little in-store tournaments or something like that for various games. You can even use it to show off the latest games (PGR3, DOA4, Soul Caliber 3, Madden '06, whatever). You might even charge a nominal (VERY nominal, $1, $2, or $5) to enter and give a prize (copy of the game? Picture in the store as "Champion of the Month"). If you can get some people coming, you may build a loyal base and they will have to spend some time in the store and might decide to buy something.

    You could do other contest type things too. Pac-Man high-score board on the wall (bring in a picture of your score to get placed) or something. You could do it with any game that has something you can easily rank like that. Speed records for various games. Whatever.

    Offering expertise (like a sign in the window: "We'll help you pick out what your kids will want") could help you a lot during this season too. While people at Best Buy or GameStop may be able to do that (usually depends on the employee), if you make it obvious that you can do that that may help.

    Best advice besides the above? You need word of mouth. Tell your friends and get them to buy there (probably not a problem). Ask them to tell their friends, etc. Offer a discount card (someone already suggested one on used games like Funcoland used to have) and offer to give them $5 credit if they get someone to come in and buy something and say they were recommended to come by the person with the card.

    • One thing I saw at a local store was a 'gift registry' sort of thing; a kid with a birthday or whatever coming up would get a big bucket. The bucket would be placed somewhere in the store. The kid would put, into this bucket, stuff they wanted. People shopping for the kid could then come in, grab something from the bucket, and buy it for the kid.

      Otherwise, go read http://www.actsofgord.com/ [actsofgord.com] and learn from the Master.

  • My tips (Score:2, Insightful)

    by hackwrench ( 573697 )
    Have a website for your stores that lists exactly the inventory of each of the three stores. Allow people to select which stores they want to search/browse the inventory of. Allow them to construct wishlists of new used games that they want at your website. Allow them to keep them hidden, visible only to friends, or visible to anyone. Have message boards. Sell to anyone online. Allow them to specify how much they are willing to pay for a used game, and then you can look for games in multiples of wishlists i
  • Well somewhat,

    Screw over the local EB or whatever by getting in people and advertising that you will have these people at your store. Talk to your distributor and see what you can do about getting "The team of experts from xyz in" "Ask your hardest questions, they know the answers" or otherwise seeing if you can get your local game developers in and get them talking to people.

    Make it look like your the best thing since sliced bread.

    Ma and Pa stores still exist in the music industry because they can market t

  • A few guidelines: (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Thedalek ( 473015 ) on Saturday December 03, 2005 @09:12PM (#14175977)
    1) Are you a gamer? If not, hire some intelligent diehard gamers to help you get what gamers want. You'll probably know a few from your repeat customers.

    2) Junk Games: There comes a saturation point where you simply cannot accept any more of a particular title. If you've got 10 copies on hand, don't accept any more, or reduce the trade credit value to something trivial. A sliding scale on trade credit value is more fair, but also more confusing to customers ("But just 5 minutes ago, you gave that guy $2.00 for this game!") and more trouble to keep updated.

    3) Big system releases are always rough on the secondhand stores. If you can't get 360 systems, focus on what you can get. Offer specials and deals for the holidays. Offer packages of similar games (All Sonic the Hedgehog games for the Sega Genesis in one pack). Toss in a free game or two from a small selection with the purchase of other systems. Try to keep the discount in the 10-15% range.

    4) Keep some items on hand for novelty sake. Understand that you won't necessarily sell them, but that they will function more as museum pieces to attract customers. NES Power Pads are cheap, and make interesting wall decorations. Power Gloves and ROBs can also be had reasonbly, and are similarly eye-catching.

    5) If you don't already have any, set up some systems for customers to try games in store. Allow customers to request games ("Can I try this game?"). Only enforce any kind of time limit if there are other customers waiting to try games, or if the customer has been playing for an hour or more. Remember that sales counter duties take precedence over demo system duties (as in, finish ringing up customers before taking care of the kid wanting to switch games... again.)

    6) Gather up all the merchandise you'd rather never see again, and are potentially willing to lose completely. Put it in a "$5.00 or less!" bin. Toss in a few higher quality "acceptable losses."

    7) Watch flea markets, garage sales, even eBay for an affordable, functioning arcade cabinet. Alternatively, rent one from your local "amusement machines" dealer. Make sure it's something older, from the late 80s or early 90s. Put it on free play on the weekends.

  • A better experience (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Intellectual Elitist ( 706889 ) on Saturday December 03, 2005 @09:26PM (#14176047)
    I buy a lot of games, and I often wind up getting them from GameSpot or some similar chain store because I usually like to pick them up on the release date. I've gone to mom & pop shops on occasion, but they've always turned me off for various reasons. Still, the chain stores have some major problems, and I'd happily go to a mom & pop shop if it offered me a better experience.

    Here's what I'd suggest. Note that this is purely from a customer's perspective, so it may not jibe with best business practices.

    1. Have a clean, uncramped, well-ventilated store. Walk into a chain store in a mall these days and it's so overpacked that you can barely move when you're in there. This really shouldn't be happening when you can use mostly wall space and some sanely placed racks for your product. And ventilation is more important than you might think -- many mom & pop shops have sent me packing because they've consistently smelled like rotting B.O.

    2. Have an engaged, knowledgeable, and non-disgusting work force. Hire people with an active interest in games across multiple systems who actually pay attention to what's out and what's coming up, and who can make meaningful recommendations to people. No hypemongers or rabid single-system fanboys, please. And no planetoids with poor hygiene, either. As I mentioned above, if visiting the store becomes an assault on the senses, people won't come back.

    3. Don't give me the hard sell. No, I don't want the fucking strategy guide. And don't argue with me when I say I want a new copy instead of a used one. If I come up to the counter and ask for something, just sell it to me without the extra push.

    4. Let me try before I buy. Have multiple kiosks for each system and let people try out any game in the store. Have the latest demo discs available too, so people can try out upcoming games.

    5. Sell new releases as soon as possible. I don't know the mechanics of this, but occasionally the chain stores will let pre-orderers pick up their game a day early, or they'll sell a huge new release at midnight the night before it would usually be on sale. Most hardcore gamers like to get their new stuff as soon as they can, and whoever can get it in their hands first at a fair price will get their business.

    6. Have review information available in-store. This could be as simple as having a public web kiosk that points to Metacritic.com [metacritic.com] or something similar. You might even be able to convince them to contribute some money toward the kiosk since you'd be driving traffic to their site. Anyway, I mention this because I'll often spot an obscure title in a store and have no way of knowing if it's any good or not. The store employees usually aren't much help (and even good employees can't be familiar with every game out there), so having on-site access to a range of reviews for every game could help close a sale that might not otherwise happen.

    7. Have a frequent buyer program with real benefits. Reward loyalty with periodic unrestricted discounts and game-related goodies (e.g. that promotional Prince Of Persia soundtrack CD that came with preorders of POP:T2T at some stores). And give people a one-time discount when they refer a friend to your store.

    8. Keep your prices reasonable. Most people understand that mom & pop shops need to bump up their margin a little compared to chain stores, but if you're more than about 5% above the competition you probably won't keep any customers. And even the people who are willing to pay a little extra are only going to do it if they're getting added value from shopping at your store instead of a chain.

    You might also consider hosting and/or sponsoring gaming events to get your name out there and build up good will. Even hosting a little weekly Madden tournament in your store with a $20 store credit purse would draw in a decent number of younger customers.

    Good luck...

    • "3. Don't give me the hard sell. No, I don't want the fucking strategy guide. And don't argue with me when I say I want a new copy instead of a used one. If I come up to the counter and ask for something, just sell it to me without the extra push."

      I don't want your goddamned frequent buyer card that I have to pay for, either.

  • Is there room for you? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Jerf ( 17166 ) on Saturday December 03, 2005 @09:43PM (#14176099) Journal
    Is there room for the local gaming store?

    My answer: "...sales are dismal (down 25% from last year's sales), which seems to be an industry trend..."

    Seriously, sell now while you can still get something out of it, if this isn't a hobby. If you're in business for real, you're going to be slaughtered.

    This isn't cynicism, this is realism. The industry is growing leaps and bounds, sure, but the brick retail market is not going to grow with it, and will probably continue to decline. (Note how it's already started to.)

    Most of the advice I saw before I started writing this is that it boils down to "Cater to the hard core gamer". But the reason there aren't stores that already "cater to the hard core gamer" is that there isn't enough money in it, period, end of line. That's not an option, really.

    Sell the stores to one of the people who think catering to hard core gamers will save the business, let them eat the losses.
    • Agreed, sell. And put your money into a more worthwhile growth industry. Like pay phone booths.
    • 1st, in the long term - Jerf is right, if you can find a buyer get your capitol outta brick and mortar game sales - it's a mugs game. But there are some things you could do now that might help if you (and I mean you, not that perfect manager everybody thinks they can hire to do all the work - he/she doesn't exist) are willing to put in 80 hour weeks for . . . well forever, you might be able to pull a pretty good living out of three stores. If you want a turnkey business get your money out and buy a MacDona
  • Tournaments, anyone?
  • You've got to give people a reason to go to you rather than EB or Best Buy. Good staff is probably a good idea. Know your audience - use the same tactics that make good comic book stores, indie book stores, and good board game stores succeed. What does that mean? Cater to the hardcore gamer who will hang out in your store all day talking about games with the staff. Build a community that way - people will spend $5 more on a game if they LIKE your store and feel like they're "helping the local store."
  • And do exactly the opposite. Make your store clean and attractive. Make sure that your staff don't look like slobs. You want a store that people aren't embarrased to enter. A window covered in faded promo posters makes the place look a hair shy in sleaziness from a porn shop.
  • Do things that chains don't, like supporting charities by hosting lan parties and donating door fees to them, etc.
  • There used to be a very successful game store not too far from my house. They just closed down a few months ago to go to a bigger building in a better location (the old place was in a building back behind a liquor store- not very inviting for parents who would drop their kids off there and completely invisible unless you knew it was there).
    Anyway, this place did a pretty good job of staying busy dispite it's abysmal location. Here are a few things they did that might help you.
    First, instead of those cra
  • Running a video game store was hard work even for Gord Himself [actsofgord.com]
  • First of all you'll be lucky to survive on just games, you'd need to carry other products as well to draw in othe types of customers. Next is you'll be competing with wal-mart and past titles when after 3-6 months the prices drop on near used prices or below used prices (19-25 bucks from 50-60) for fairly new titles.

    Your next problems is increasing consumer savvy and users who sell their old games on ebay or other such sites for maximum profit. I wouldn't think a game store is a good idea unless you have
  • As a game store owner, my business faces ruin. Game sales have dropped through the floor. People aren't buying half as many games as they did just a year ago. Revenue is down and costs are up. My store has survived for years, but I now face the prospect of bankruptcy. Every day I ask myself why this is happening.

    I bought the store about 12 years ago. It was one of those boutique game stores that sell obscure, import releases that no-one plays, not even the people that buy them. I decided that to grow the bu
    • Have you considered that shouting at and blacklisting your patrons isn't helping? Often gamers 'pirate' games to try them out for a day or two, before shelling out $60 or $70 on them.

      Now, also think about what parents are thinking while they watch you shout at some kid. I bet it's not that your store is 'family friendly'.

      "They have fought the War on Drugs with skill"... haha, that's a good one.
    • Preventing people who steal from buying seems, to me, like it would be counterintuitive. People who pirate games do so because they like games, and people who like games - even the pirates - can often be persuaded to pay for them. Not to mention that such harsh treatment might have other negative consequences. The kid you blacklisted certainly won't leak any of your games onto the Internet any more, yes, but do you think his friends will come back after he tells them how he was kicked out like that?

      As a r

      • A family-oriented video game store is going to be in a tighter position as the gamer demographic ages.

        You've probably fallen for the stereotype that gamers don't "get any". Some gamers do in fact have kids; I would suspect that they would appreciate a family-friendly store.

    • "I was fuming. So they were out to destroy the game industry from right under my nose? Fat chance. When they came to the counter to make their purchase, I grabbed the little shit by his shirt. "So...you're going to copy this to your friends over The Internet, punk?" I asked him in my best Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry voice.

      "Uh y-yeh." He mumbled, shocked.

      "That's it. What's your name? You're blacklisted. Now take yourself and your little bitch friend out of my store - and don't come back." I barked. Cravenly,

  • Advice from someone who has been there (Score:3, Interesting)

    by supabeast! ( 84658 ) on Sunday December 04, 2005 @01:11AM (#14176753)
    I spent several years in video game retail. Given that was all back in the 1990s, but aside from Microsoft coming into the picture, things haven't changed much. Right of the bat, the best advice I have is to get the hell out before you lose your shirt. Video game profit margins are pathetic - most big retailers treat games as the would any other loss leader, picking up their profits on items like generic controllers and memory cards that sell at a 500% to 900% markup, and if a big game actually sells well enough for them to profit from the cost of keeping it in the store, it's a fluke.

    That said, if you really want to make money, here are some tips:
    1. Don't try to make profits selling games. Sell acessories, like new controllers and memory cards. Don't let a single customer leave without pushing him or her to buy a memory card or strategy guide. The easiest people to sell to are people who play sports and racing games, because they build up collections of saved games for every year of their favorite EA games as well as replays for racing games.
    2. Jump on the used game bandwagon. There's a lot of profit to be made buying a game for $5.00 and selling it for $15.00, especially since you aren't even paying distributors to ship them. If a game sits around too long, dump it on eBay for a tiny profit and charge the sucker who buys it $5.00 for shipping, mail it media mail for under $2.00 and keep the other $3.00.
    3. Sell niche items. Keep weird stuff like Playstation-to-Dreamcast adapters, everything-to-USB adapters, and high-end joysticks from Hori and MAS Systems in stock. When you aren't busy with customers, sell these items on eBay.
    4. If there is a local market, start importing hot Japanese releases.
    5. Try to build up a business selling board games, RPGs, and CCGs. Just be careful not to invest too much money up front, because you don't want to get stuck with a backstock.

    Again, good luck. There's little place left for independent game retailers, so if you plan to survive, find a niche, start expanding, and hope to get bought out by Gamestop or a similar company that just doesn't want to bother competing to wipe you out, because that's really the only good option an independent retailer has anymore.
  • LAN Parties are something that a Gamestop or EB (usually in Malls) can't do, but lots of people love to go to them. You can charge entry to play the hottest new games in a giant LAN party and sell snacks alongside. What you'll be selling is the experience of playing the hottest XYZ multiplayer game in 'wild' 32-64 player matchups.

    Of course, you'll need the hardware and a good server. You'll have to run the numbers to see if it's worth it (ie. how much you need to charge to cover the hardware costs and if pe

  • Yes! (Score:3, Informative)

    by solive1 ( 799249 ) on Sunday December 04, 2005 @01:53AM (#14176860)
    Of course, this depends on the market that you're in, but here in Baton Rouge, there is a local game store called GameWare in the Mall of Louisiana. Some items that set it apart from the EB upstairs are:

    1) An arcade, including DDR. It also has some machines like Guitar Freaks (I think that's the name of the game).

    2) All the current consoles (PS2, GameCube, XBox and XBox 360), handhelds (GBA/Micro, DS, PSP) and PC have some space in the store.

    3) Preowned games, systems and accessories for older generations, including NES, SNES, N64, PS, Dreamcast, Genesis.

    4) Possibly most importantly, the ability to buy items imported from Japan. Want a pink DS? They've got it. White PSP? No problem. Jump Superstars? Walk in and buy it. Anime stuff? Sure. Imported CDs of video game music? Got that too. Not only do they have all of this in stock, but they also are modestly priced. The pink DS is only $10 more, which in my opinion is a convience charge for being able to pick it up instead of ordering from Lik-Sang and the like. So, in my opinion, yes there is room for the locally owned game store. You just need to differentiate yourself from the big-market competition. And, in case you're wondering, it gets all the games and systems at the same time the big stores do.
  • It was a pen and paper game store mind, and it didn't last, but the most important thing you can possibly do is to create a community.

    This means embracing your customer base, and getting them involved in the success of your enterprise. When you find that you have a customer who is enthisiastic about a certain genre, get him or her involved in organizing tournaments or leagues. Offer prizes. Give people a reason to keep coming back. New games cost the same pretty much everywhere you go. Even large chain stor
  • I ran a mom and pop game store about 6 years ago. I was the manager, and the original owner sold it when her husband was transferred (it was moderately profitable at the time). The store ultimately went under in '01, about a year after I left. Here are some of the things I could point to:

    1) We were in a decent location in Houston, TX, so we certainly couldn't blame the area. There were a couple of competitors around; Funco had a store about 5 miles up the street from us, and a Gamestop or EB was in the
  • Lots of people who grew up playing NES don't play any more because of the dreaded "blinking" problem near all NES systems experienced. What most people didn't realize what it had little to do with dust and dirt, and more to do with faulty contacts in the NES system itself. New contacts can be had for $6. Buy a few dozen new contacts and set up a service where you will "repair" someone's NES for $20 (or some reasonable price, once you do it a few times, as I have, it really only takes 10 minutes to "fix" an
    • there is more than half a dozen mega-man games, for example

      More than? I thought there were exactly half a dozen Megaman games on the NES... Apart from Megaman 1 - 6, what am I missing here? Seriously, if there's more NES Megaman available, IT MUST BE MINE!

      ... along with that chibi Quickman figure I saw at the local geek store at the weekend... aah, Megaman 2, the nostalgia, but damn was Quickman ever tough to beat. Needed Clashman's grenades, IIRC.

  • Our local video game store supports our lan group by donating lots of prizes and sponsering our events. Definitaly worth it as many times when i need a game I go there even if it may be a little higher priced, just because I know that they support us, and I know that they get lots of business because they sponser us.
  • Firstly, all the best - we need people like you out there...

    I can offer three bits of advice:

    1. There's no point in competing on price - the big players and internet stores can and will outdo you, and they survive through volume of sales and lower cost prices through bulk purchasing. Focus instead on customer service and support, building rapport and loyalty, and the other intangibles that keep people coming back. I can buy a digital camera dirt cheap on the internet, but I would rather buy from a local

    • One niche market would be things like good older GBA/Gamecube games (try buying a copy of Ikaruga from EB) and imports etc.
  • How about a monthly news letter? There's a local game store (board games, but still similar people) that sends out an email once a month. It talks about that latest this and the greatest that. It's got a trvia question, and the first responder gets a $10 gift certificate. If a person reads the news letter and goes off in search of the answer to the question, they've got your store on their mind. People have been conditioned to think of the EBs and Gamestops when they want a game. You've got to get the
  • sell M/AO games to kids at 1.5 the price!
  • My son works in a mom & pop game store and they do terrific business, mainly because they are continuously hosting LAN parties and XBOX Live tournaments. They have a 'Hall of Fame', which seems to draw in the most hardcore gamers from the area. They also serve coffee and snacks, and they provide very cheap (75 cents per hour) internet usage on their machines. Even during off seasons, that place is standing room only. In short, you have to do more than just sell games...that's why internet stores or G
  • Something I haven't seen anyone else mention...

    One thing that would get me to come to your store would be if it had a good selection of GameCube games, which many stores seem to be scaling back on. Ditto Game Boy Advance, and to a lesser extent classic PS2 titles.

    EB and the like seem to be laser focused on the stuff that came out in the last 6 months. If you want to find a copy of Ico, on the other hand, good luck. They might have a used copy, but that's it.

    Generally speaking, the "we're only interested in
  • people are automatically conditioned to go to the EB-Games and GameStop stores at the malls, even if they give less in trade-ins and have horrible customer servicr;

    lastly, kids come in with piles of junk games (Madden 2001, etc..), and get enough store credit to buy the latest greatest game that we only mark up like 5%-10%.

    It sounds like you have two incompatible ideologies here:
    • You want to give great store credit for used games.
    • You don't like it when great store credit is used as it reduces profitability.
  • every thing you wrote is so true my father and I went into this industry two years ago, I have to believe that the now jaded video game enthusiast(via B&K aka game/ebstop) will make full circle back to legacy stores as there main source for games. Poor service and low return on thier purchases will eventualy send them back in droves, example... last month several customers came in with trade-ins vowing not to return to EBstop.. a father came into me with 17 xbox games he purchased(all recent titles,whi
  • Im Afraid I have to agree. I run a store as part of a canadian chain that is not one of the indusrty big dogs. In canada software is bought 1/ EB, 2/ Futureshop, 3/ The rest of us. There are two main thrusts we fight against. Kids partially live in the mall, so EB has a natural advantage. They offer trade ins, so you can get some money back for old stuff and trade up to new. ( I think EB is reconcidering that in PC Games. they are begining to collect a lot of rubbish that will never sell anymore. )
    Then
  • 1. Good luck. You're probably better off getting your stores big enough so you can SELL OUT to another major chain, and get them to keep you employed there.

    2. As others have said, learn how to make money via the used games business. Buy them cheap and re-sell them for 50% over.

    3. You say "lastly, kids come in with piles of junk games (Madden 2001, etc..), and get enough store credit to buy the latest greatest game that we only mark up like 5%-10%". Well, there you go; you're giving too much credit for th

    • Re:Some thoughts... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by sesshomaru ( 173381 )

      5. Since you can't compete with the big stores on price, you have to have some sort of differentiator that make people come to your store instead. Arcades might be a solution, I dunno. I actually think the idea of an "Adults Only" section is worth a try; you can stock it with a bunch of Japanese adult "dating sim" titles and charge high prices for them.

      Well, be careful, as this may be illegal depending on how your local government feels about it, (Supreme Court Denies Castillo Appeal [cbldf.org]). The Castillo ca

      • Re:Some thoughts... (Score:3, Insightful)

        by SirBruce ( 679714 )
        It has nothing to do with comic books. It has to do with obscenity. Yes, the lawyer used a "comic books are for kids" argument, but that's just for the jury. Legally, local communities can indeed declare anything they want obscene, not just comic books, but books, movies, etc. Yes, it would be more difficult to convince juries on those points, but there's nothing to prevent it. Yes, it's a travesty of justice. Blame our lawmakers for allowing local communities to set obscenity standards. Bruce

  • Nope (Score:3, Interesting)

    by briancnorton ( 586947 ) on Sunday December 04, 2005 @06:07PM (#14180383) Homepage
    IMHO, you got in a bit too late in the game. There is no place now for a local video game store, and your situation is only going to get worse unless you improvise, adapt and overcome.

    Your biggest problem is that electronic distributio is now a matter of "when" and not "if." All the majors are going to cut out the middlemen and start selling games music and movies direct via broadband. Sony has already said that this is an important part of it's strategy for years to come, nd nintendo has promised it in THIS generation of games.

    Your next problem is that the bit retailers have better profit margins and vendor relations. If the distributor has to choose between you getting your new Xboxes and Best buy getting them, you WILL lose.

    Is it all bleak? Certainly not. Consider value-added services. Cyber-cafes make money, lots of it. You have people come in and use computers/games for $???/hr and you have a "pro shop" where they can buy their own to take home. Make it something akin to a bar where people can hang out and spend money, paying for the "ambiance." Retail is hard, and getting harder. Best of luck

  • We all know mundane parents are going ballistic about "violent video games" and it's a big "Issue" with noobs, who are running around with their hair on fire.

    Here's an idea:

    Create a backroom section with a clerk sitting outside ready to check ID. Put a big sign above the backroom saying "18+ ONLY". Stash all of the good stuff back there, and all of the kiddie stuff up front. Then put a statue of Master Chief (or whatever) out front with a big sign, "Don't forget to check the back room".

    Hype up your store as
  • Find out what else gamers want and provide it all in one place. For instance, anime (DVDs, toys, T-shirts)? Maybe comics(comic books, toys, posters, graphic novels)? Other assorted Japanese type items (t-shirts, accesories, stickers). Card games, Pokemon, etc. Collectible toys like McFarlane figures or maybe old Transformers or Robotech stuff. What are gamers interested in? Do they like a certain type of music? Have a local band perform in store once a month.
    • One of my favorite stores in the early '90s was a store that carried pen & paper RPGs, comic books, dice, miniatures, in addition to computer games. Diversity really is the key. There were times when I couldn't find any worthwhile games to buy, but would instead buy an RPG or a magazine that I would never have known about if this particular store hadn't carried them.
  • If there are a lot of gamers in your town but not a lot of social places for them to go, then I must reiterate what most everybody else has been saying, and insist that the best thing you can do is provide a place for people to hang around and bask in gamer culture for a few hours, and buy something while they're there. Make your money catering to the social aspects of gaming rather than the games themselves. Become the place that people who are really serious about video games can go to and find other peop
  • It just seems odd that you guys jumped in with both feet and bought three stores.

    The only thing I can think of to differentiate yourself from the majors right now is to stock imports and the means to play them. In this way you will have things that the big chains mostly don't have. When I was contracting in Virginia I loved to drive out to this one non-chain store that carried imports. Ideas can be had from NCS [ncsx.com] and Lik Sang [lik-sang.com]. Get a few Messiah NEX [playmessiah.com] systems, and some old NES games for them to appeal to t

  • I think the biggest point here that is being missed is simple ... gamers like to play games! Make a store and let gamers play games together! A lot of posts have covered the Small Business 101 already with profesional staff, clean floor layouts, etc. What you need to get a mom and pop store up and running is by offering more than a store.

    You want advertising? If you are located in a good area throw a projector up in the back of a pickup and set up an Xbox running Halo 2 on it. Grab some of your buds

  • Suggestions (Score:3, Interesting)

    by BenjyD ( 316700 ) on Monday December 05, 2005 @08:33AM (#14183959)
    I can offer some suggestions based on what my father discovered running his successful shop. The shop failed soon after he sold it off, due to the lack of imagination of the new owners. This is a fishmongers in the UK, but a lot of the advice is universal:

    1) Publicity: get your shop noticed. Run wacky competitions, do promotions on holidays. Try to get in local press/TV news/radio. Example - my dad paid someone to dress up as a mermaid and sit on the counter welcoming customers and giving out prizes for a competition one holiday, which got a picture in the local paper, the kind of advertising you can't buy.
    2) Offer service beyond what your competitors can. Become an expert in games, offer advice. My father would give out cooking ideas and advice, which helped boost return custom.
    3) Sell add-ons and related goods. For fish it was white wine, Japanese seaweed etc, I'm sure there are equivalents in gaming.
    4) Decor: Make the store stand out so that it's clearly not an EB. Install model castles, make the game racks look like giant consoles, whatever, but differentiate yourself.
  • Something I have wondered about, but haven't seen (although I am not a big gamer on consoles or PC - my most current console is a PS1, and my workstation is a Linux box), is game console case-modding. Since it doesn't seem to be a big thing (if it is done at all), it might be a risky proposition - but the basic idea would be:
    • Stock console modding accessories (NOT MOD CHIPS - to risky legally) and related gear
    • Offer a service (for those who either don't have the skills or are too scared to do it themselves)

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