Opening a Game Store UPDATE! [Archive] - Page 2

Sosage

06-09-2005, 07:50 PM

Good luck! Some suggestions:

I am in the camp that thinks a food/beverage bar is a bad idea. People are slobs when they aren't in their own house (even then...some people live in filth anyways). This is also a game store we're talking about, not a sports bar. ;)

Organization. I hate going into mom n pop stores that have stuff just "lying around" in stacks or tossed into bins. I like to "flip through" my CD's/Carts/DVD cases...not dig. :P

I'd contemplate possibly setting the arcade coin mechs for nickles. This might clash with having free demo set ups for consoles ("why should I pay a nickle/whatever when I can play this console game they have set up by the counter for free"), but imo you run the risk of having someone hang on the machine all day long. Then there is maintenance. We arcade collectors can attest to joysticks wearing out. Pinballs are worse. At least some of the funds should come from the players. Plus, true arcade gaming is all about risking some sort of coin to play anyways. You youngin's with your "free emulators". Bah on you. You're all spoiled.

I would also set up a sound system for playing music in the store. Maybe some T.V.s running a DVD like they do for movie rental stores. Maybe I am strange, but I dig flipping through merchandise with a cool movie/radio station playing in the background. *shrug*

My 2 cents.

CartCollector

06-09-2005, 07:51 PM

You could have PC-10s modded to play standard NES carts and put excess inventory in there for display. You could also try that with an AES or the SNES arcade thingy (forget the name). Heck, if you're good enough, you could mod other consoles to do the same thing! Pay-per-play because extra revenue streams are good.
It could be profitable to have an online storefront. I'm sure there are many DPers who would love to buy from your store but would be too far away from it (like me).
Maybe hook up a PC to some in-store speakers. Play SID and NSF tunes... create an atmosphere.
Best of luck!

Masco73

06-09-2005, 08:14 PM

When you get this store up and running I will definately make the trip. It should only take 3-4 hours car ride. Also, maybe host your get togethers at the store. Maybe special discounts for DP members?? Anyway, good luck!! :D

Rikimaru

06-09-2005, 09:23 PM

Whoa! Good Luck to you and your business, you will do well!

Goblin

06-09-2005, 09:30 PM

Let me throw my best wishes into the mix.

Here is a sugestion. DP - The Comercial. I want to see some cheesy late night comercial on cable access. Think vintage crazy eddie.

Damion

06-09-2005, 10:13 PM

I was thinking the same thing as was stated earler. how big is this property?

I have a few ideas but some require space. Maybe something like an upper teir store and bar/coffee shop with virtual catalogs ( something like a veiwscreen in the table) of your stock and prices so people can browse and Drink at the same time. while having the loud Cab games on the main floor for people to play.

then you could also have an area with just seating and have people rent a console (such as a psp) with a game so they can play in a nice quit and comfy couch area.

personally I've always dreamed of opening a game store. with most every type of game (Board, card, Video, PNPRPG, Lan) having it themed with a game/resturant atmosphere.

izret101

06-09-2005, 10:36 PM

I am not going to lie and say i read all 4 pages of this because i didn't. But i read the first page and a half and skimmed a bit after that.

So best of luck with your adventure. Hope it works out for you.

I have wanted to open my own store for awhile now and actually have a place in mind of buying when it goes up for sale.
Just need to take some buisness/money management courses when i get into college.

As for your lan and multiplayer ideas i know of a few places around here that "rent" the tv/pc for certain amounts of time.

I suggest you stay away from things like Magic, Yugioh hero clicks etc.
Those tend to not do so well. Maybe if noone else around sels them you could get rid of them.
But all the videogame shops around here have their packs MUCH longer than any of the card&comic shops.

Again best of luck and hopefully i was able to offer something useful or interesting.

16-bit

06-09-2005, 10:54 PM

Joe: This is great news and I wish you the best!

One piece of advice I can give you is to re-evaluate your collecting habits once you open your store. When you sell video games, your passion for video game collecting can become an occupational hazard.

Flack

06-09-2005, 11:03 PM

If you are going to have things that attract people and keep thing around the store for a while (games, lan games, arcade games, etc) then you should have food. Wal-Mart has cases of Sam's cola for $3.88. That's 16 cents a can. You can sell them for 50 or 75 cents each. That's just easy money. Hotdogs + buns are about 20 cents each and you can sell them for a buck or two. I wouldn't turn down anything with that kind of profit margin!

On the arcade games, I don't see what all the discussion's about. Put 3-4 games and a pinball table or two in there, leave them on quarter play and call it a day. Easy money. Just be sure to make friend with a local repairman!

YoshiM

06-09-2005, 11:28 PM

How did I miss this thread as well. You're pursuing the dream of many a gamer including this one (who'd love to have an arcade/LAN center/store and a spa. The latter is the wife's idea).

One of the members (Bavis?) mentioned not having a snack bar and I have to second them on that. I helped out/worked at an arcade back in the early 90's and the owner wanted to start serving pizza and such. He found out that in order to serve anything beyond "vending" type stuff (as in anything prepackaged like candy, bags of chips, cans of soda, etc.) he would have to do a lot of things to the building in order to bring it up to the "Code" required to get the permit to have a snack bar (like making the entrance to the building and bathroom handicap accessable-that alone would have required a LOT of money). Plus I'm sure there will be a hike in insurance to protect against any accidents revolving around served food.

Definitely learn about the permits and licenses so you don't get nailed with fines or shut down. I'd hate to see the dream become reality only to see it fall because of some overzealous inspector or tax collector.

Hep038

06-10-2005, 10:26 AM

I have one piece of advice hire Sothy as security, you would never have to worry about shop lifters.

geelw

06-10-2005, 10:40 AM

hmmm... well, if ya ever need a cranky, reliable import guy who cracks loafing customers on the head with the games they're poring over for perfection, you know who to call. i work cheap, and don't eat much.

speaking of eats- lose the snack bar idea unless you can stick drink holders and wastebaskets at every station and subtly enforce a "no oopsie!" law without being seen as too much of a pest to folks who've never had the dp experience before. wait, that came out the wrong way... but you know what i mean LOL

chadtower

06-10-2005, 11:08 AM

Forget any food you have to make/cook. That requires a food license, board of health compliance, and a LOT of expense/hassle you just don't need. Prepackaged foods with a high profit margin could work, but don't get into anything even resembling food service. A soda machine or cooler with sodas and some prepackaged snacks will work.

I definitely second organization, no digging through bins, no "I'll check out back". If you have it, make it visible and organized. And don't take names and phone numbers unless you intend to use them. I hate places that take my name and number and then never call, but get the stuff in that I wanted.

The nickels idea is decent, though I'd stay with quarters, since a quarter is just about as worthless as a nickel nowadays.

digitalpress

06-10-2005, 11:16 AM

Quick update on this.

I spoke with the landlord yesterday, and he really liked the concept. I got some more information on costs, timing and space as well.

Today I'm sending in my letter of intent.

To someone who asked, it's approximately 1700 square feet. It's a pretty decent size but there will be limitations on how crazy I can get with it.

Tale to be continued. Thanks again to all of you for the support and feedback!

chadtower

06-10-2005, 11:30 AM

After some more thinking, I'm thinking this:

If you REALLY want to sell some old stuff, you're going to need demo kiosks. Most of your target demographic isn't going to remember the Atari systems, or the ColecoVision, etc. They're sure as hell not going to know what a Vectrex is. You won't get $40 for a Vectrex from people who haven't seen how cool it is, but if you have a demo Vectrex, people will be able to experience it and want it. Demo kiosks for older systems will definitely increase your sales of older games/hardware. You'd have to build them yourself if you want them freestanding, or maybe just have little TVs on a counter with each system there under glass and a controller with a cord fed through a hole in the glass.

Crush Crawfish

06-10-2005, 12:14 PM

First I must say good luck with this, Joe! I'll make sure to take a trip down there when I can.

Also, I must agree with the idea of demo kiosks. That's something I used to love about Funcoland back in the day, the fact that you could pick any game off the shelf and try it. It's certainly an advantage that your store could have.

christianscott27

06-10-2005, 12:55 PM

i love the idea! i've even daydreamed about owning a DP franchise store. just have fun with it and that will carry over to the customers. dont be the know it all comic book guy who makes people feel uncomfortable, be yourself, like you're hosting a party and you'll do well. I'd say go as nuts with the decor as you can to give the place a real personality, i hate white bright half empty stores with cheap office carpet. clutter is your friend, appeal to the type of person who likes to browse, if its possible for a strip mall store to feel cozy go for it. i'd mostly agree with chad about the food and beverages but maybe you can do a little coffee, stores here seem to get away with it.

Sniderman

06-10-2005, 01:01 PM

I have one piece of advice hire Sothy as security, you would never have to worry about shop lifters. No, but Joe would then have to take out "skull-fucking" insurance. The premiums would be murder.

Captain Wrong

06-10-2005, 01:12 PM

You need me to be the surly but loveable guy working the counter. :evil:

Hep038

06-10-2005, 01:13 PM

chadtower

06-10-2005, 01:17 PM

You think if he posted a sign that said this he would not be held liable?

Warning these premises are under surveillance. All shoplifters will be skull fucked to the fullest extent of the law. You have been warned.

I do believe skullfucking against one's will is beyond the fullest extent of the law, therefore the sign isn't going to help.

A picture of an 11 year old, with an Xbox game hanging out of his coat and being skullfucked at the door, with a caption of SHOPLIFTERS WILL BE DEALT WITH SEVERELY would be more effective.

rbudrick

06-10-2005, 01:26 PM

Can't wait to see this pan out, Joe. Get the brick and mortar and a website store going and I think You'll do fine. And while the snack bar idea will surely suck, the prepackaged foods can still be done.

Beer may require a liquor license, but maybe not...do check it out....or at least have som on hand for after-hours LAN parties (with strippers and whores, of course).
LOL
-Rob

chadtower

06-10-2005, 01:34 PM

Beer requires a food license AND a liquor license, as well as seating capacity requirements. That is a HARD business to get into as a sideline. It's not worth it.

Sothy

06-10-2005, 02:23 PM

Its a good gig Joe, you will dig it.

I worked a mom n pop game store for years.

Good times... Meet cool people.... peaople that dont bathe.... People that wont stop talking... about Love hina Import date rape simulation games for the Neo Geo.... And how that Atari thing is worth thousands of dollars and they saw it on Antique roadshow...... and yes this sealed dreamcast game you sold me yesterday already had the word FUCK scratched into the surface when I bought it and I want a refund and..... I just shit and vomit on your counter somehow and im leaving because you dont give as much in trade in as I could get on Ebay and.... Hey I want you to give me 3 times original retail value on this Genesis Model 2 with chew marks and a cockroach nest inside of it....... and you are such a ripoff I paid 60 bucks for this Madden NFL game just last year and now its only worth 5 BUX???? FUCK YOU!! AND MY NEW GOKU SUIT WILL BE READY FOR FURCON SO I CAN DRESS UP AND YIFF WITH PEOPLE HELLO I DONT WANT TO BUY ANYTHING BUT MY CAR JUST RAN OUT OF GAS CAN YOU SPARE SOME CHANGE***^^%%

Joe you have nooo idea.
But it is fun.

Maybe Ill hit you up for a gig sometime ... kinda gettin all nostalgic.

Good luck bro.

v1rich

06-10-2005, 02:33 PM

I have not read much of the other posts, but in case no one else has mentioned this, it could be a real pain in the ass to run a store. A franchise might be a better way to go about it.

Worst case scenario:
Your customers will be ratty teen agers and gang members, etc who will steal from you. You might have to put in long hours for little pay, and if you do not sell a lot you could lose your shirt. Your employees will be quitting every few months and be undependable, and maybe even steal from you too. You will need insurance to keep from getting sued in case someone has an accident at your business. Your inventory will come up short every time. stuff will get broken and you will just have to take it as a loss. Burgalers could break into your store, and someone could rob you. the forum goes downhill because you do not have time to devote to it. you wind up having to sell your collection in order to cover your losses.

geelw

06-10-2005, 04:07 PM

Worst case scenario:
Your customers will be ratty teen agers and gang members, etc who will steal from you. You might have to put in long hours for little pay, and if you do not sell a lot you could lose your shirt. Your employees will be quitting every few months and be undependable, and maybe even steal from you too. You will need insurance to keep from getting sued in case someone has an accident at your business. Your inventory will come up short every time. stuff will get broken and you will just have to take it as a loss. Burgalers could break into your store, and someone could rob you. the forum goes downhill because you do not have time to devote to it. you wind up having to sell your collection in order to cover your losses.

heh... he's never BEEN to pomptom lakes. they practically roll up the streets after 8pm there. i'd say the only real action going on out there is every nj classic. the shop has a really good chance of doing solid business if the person running it has a good attitude and better means of making sure stuff that shouldn't happen won't.

ScottK

06-10-2005, 05:32 PM

I can give you some financial advice from my experience in running 2 retail stores. A few arcade machines are a great idea, but be very selective when choosing arcade titles. At my main store I bought an Asteroids machine. Had it for about a year and only made about $50 off of it. I eventually sold it and broke even. A few months later I got a Double Dragon machine. It has made about $200 and I've only had it for 3 months. I think the main change was because people would only play one game of Asteroids where they were plucking quarter after quarter on Double Dragon to continue.

Also get some gum ball machines. I have 4 machines (gumballs, m&m's plain, skittles, and runts). Those seem to be the 4 that work best for me. I make about $50/month off of each machine and about $75 for the gumball one. If you don't already have one...get a membership to Sam's Club for gumballs and candy. You can make some excellent profit margins from there. Along with the gumball machines I have a display case that is loaded with candy bars and other types of candy. If it wasn't for the candy sales the business probably wouldn't be able to stay afloat. Furthermore buy some cans of pop and bottled water and put them in your refrigerator for more sales.

I don't play music very often at the store, but when I do I play an assortment of 80's music along with video game music. As for kiosks, I don't use them. Sure there are a few advantages to them, but the disadvantages far outweight the positives. I do have a few tv's set up and display systems with a random game in it, but there are no controllers in sight. I also have dvd's playing on another tv.

The only systems I let people test games on is the gameboys and most people use the systems they already own. If they aren't sure what a games about I tell them to rent it first and then decide. I offer a unique rental program. Say a customer rents an items for $3 and it's worth $15. When they return they have the option to buy the game for $12 (making the rental free).

Something else to consider is a layaway. Tons of people want games, but can't afford them all at once. Offer a layaway with a 20-25% non-refundable deposit. That way if they cancel and the game(s) drop in value then you don't lose anything. I consider it a justified restocking fee.

Credit cards are a must have option. You'll probably want to stick with Visa, MC, and Discover. Don't accept American Express unless you have lots of inquiries for it. American Express charges $5/month just to be able to accept their card. I also accept checks. Checks are optional. I've had a few bounce, but have a local collection company that is terriffic in recovering my losses from the culprits...and they do it all for free!

Make sure you have an excellent game plan when it comes to renting games out. The first time I offered rentals about 4 out the of the first 10 rentals never returned. Now I use the same collection company and laugh all the way to the bank when someone doesn't return a rental. I get recovered $100 per item lost (even if its only a $3 game).

Stock up on tons of accessories. You can never have too many controllers and other accessories.

Hope this helps some. Good Luck!

rbudrick

06-10-2005, 06:31 PM

Make sure you have an excellent game plan when it comes to renting games out. The first time I offered rentals about 4 out the of the first 10 rentals never returned. Now I use the same collection company and laugh all the way to the bank when someone doesn't return a rental. I get recovered $100 per item lost (even if its only a $3 game).

ScottK, that rules. I was actually going to post about looking into a collection company for the rental side, as they are completely essential, from what I hear. I had no idea they were so damn profitable though!!

For rentals, Blockbuster makes sure that anyone who rents has their credit card on file, because if they lose or steal a game, just charge it to the card...however, the collection company sounds much more profitable.

BTW, I believe the major credit cards will charge you 2% on every purchase.

-Rob

Wavelflack

06-10-2005, 06:40 PM

Wouldn't a couple (or four) MAME cabinets be the optimal solution?

No boards to diagnose and repair, no problems with a game not being that popular, etc.

Plus, you could also have them for sale.
Plus plus, playing the old games would probably put the person in a more nostalgic mood, and ready to buy more bits from their childhood.

Personally, I think the greatest thing you could do with (Mame) arcade games woul be to have all of the machines default to a certain era (which would be changed day to day, or whatever). In other words, games you would encounter at an arcade in 1983. Or 1986. Or whatever. I don't mean that they were manufactured the same year, just that they were likely to be around as contemporaries.
If I walked into a place and saw Rush n' Attack, Kung Fu Master, MagMax, and Sente Mini Golf running, I would feel transported in time.

Think of it as the "nostalgia" attract mode. The people don't pick those games necessarily.

qbertandernie

06-10-2005, 07:24 PM

i didnt read this whole thread, but as far as stock goes, id expect Joe has craploads of dups just from buying lots here and there. i know i do...

and someone on page 2 or 3 said something about having low stock to start would be a death sentence? the local used shop around here has branched out a few times and was sparsely stocked for a few months, but as word spread, their stock boomed. though im sure youd want to buy from somewhere to get a fair amount of stuff to start with.

i, too, was looking into getting a game shop going, but thats kind of stalled. i decided on an investment that was more sure to make money for now, but ill be thinking about it again first of the year. ill have to refer back to this thread then, as some of the ideas sound very helpful.

digitalpress

06-10-2005, 07:50 PM

Worst case scenario:
Your customers will be ratty teen agers and gang members, etc who will steal from you. You might have to put in long hours for little pay, and if you do not sell a lot you could lose your shirt. Your employees will be quitting every few months and be undependable, and maybe even steal from you too. You will need insurance to keep from getting sued in case someone has an accident at your business. Your inventory will come up short every time. stuff will get broken and you will just have to take it as a loss. Burgalers could break into your store, and someone could rob you. the forum goes downhill because you do not have time to devote to it. you wind up having to sell your collection in order to cover your losses.

I have a MUCH worse "worst case scenario".

I continue working for someone else, and when I'm 65 I look back and wonder what my life might have been like if I had only followed my dreams.

Your scenario sounds fine by me, in comparison.

Ed Oscuro

06-10-2005, 07:56 PM

As long as you keep stuff protected, there shouldn't be too much to worry about (I'd suggest having inventory of more valuable stuff, so if something gets sold the employee doing the sale would check it off the list so you can cross-check that). I've seen a number of small businesses (baseball card and a video game shop) hang on for some time around here, and I don't doubt your business will offer much more than those did combined (was a nice card shop, by the way). Actually, that video game store is still around - it's pretty new, had some newer console games in stock last time I stopped by - so they must not be having too hard a time of it.

chadtower

06-10-2005, 08:22 PM

Wouldn't a couple (or four) MAME cabinets be the optimal solution?

Uh, no. Having MAME cabinets would be illegal and immoral. I would NEVER shop at a game store that had MAME cabinets, no matter the inventory or the prices. I wouldn't patronize a business that steals from other individuals in its own field, and does it by illegally using open source software for profit.

Slate

06-10-2005, 08:23 PM

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, But what about people raising their prices at their yard sales juct because you moved your buisness in?

I've been pondering that since i thought of asking so much $$ for a NES System at an antique store..

ClubNinja

06-11-2005, 12:15 AM

Ed Oscuro

06-11-2005, 12:18 AM

Would it be possible to license some MAME titles?

Even so, I don't think this is the route Joe would take. Putting aside the issue of legality, having a MAME cabinet just looks unprofessional, even if you've got a "THIS IS LEGAL K??" sticker seal slapped on there.

geelw

06-11-2005, 02:00 AM

LOL even if there were legal MAME cabinets, here's one possible doomsday scenario that could happen:

store opens, people come in and play loads of cool arcade stuff. the registers are singing, the sun is smiling and everyone's happy.

customer at MAME machine: "WOW, this is so COOL- where'd you get all these games?"

store clerk: oh, that's MAME, ANYONE can download it.

packed store does a dead on malcolm mcdowell impression (see a clockwork orange): "OHHHHHHHHH?" as they rush out of store in unison to fire up their computers at home.

next day, joe re-opens up as sanford & son closeout video games x_x

OK, i'm kidding, but actually... didn't someone already think of emulator-based arcade machines? i coulda sworn i saw or read about these things a few years ago... :hmm:

roxybaby

06-11-2005, 02:09 AM

Joe, how totally awesome! I think you might have coolest store owner in the tri-state area nailed down. If you need any help with carpentry, painting, image branding, or anything like that I'm in.

A couple of ideas...how about a throwback suggestion rack? Something like, "If you like xxx title for PS2, check out xxx title for Super NES." Other idea...an owner's choice/employee's choice rack that is updated consistently. I know this idea works wonders at music stores. I pass by the rack and I'm like, hey, I need that CD. Same principle works with games.

Most importantly, good luck if you decide to go for it! :)

klausien

06-11-2005, 11:03 AM

Well, you've got a customer right here!

tritium

06-11-2005, 01:11 PM

Keep a good inventory record system. That way its easy to transition if you want to get surplus sales from the internet. =)

Check out collectorscardsandgames. imagine that with an automated inventory system. They do most of everything through email. They also pull the games off the shelves/stacks before they commit to selling the game (preventing the selling of stuff they don't have).

-tritium
aka Mel

ianoid

06-11-2005, 08:13 PM

Words of whatever from ianoid:

I know that you've talked to Sean ad nauseum, but here are some key points I gleaned from him and whatever:

Current games are super hard to stock. You can't compete on a volume level with the game stops of the world, and it's hard to anticipate what will sell at your shop as far as new releases. If you can get a pre-order business going (offering an hour of play time on the network or 5% off coupon or whatever), it will be worth your while. It will be easier to determine what you can sell after some months in business.

I highly suggest a serious museum case with basic systems from the classic era if you have space. Although it's critical to have system stock of classic games, I'm sure that it's easy for parents to gloss over the boxed systems and setups on the shelves. Most people waiting for their kids to pick games will be prone to checking out a museum section- rare stuff isn't necessary.

Inventory control is key, although theft is a huge problem. I remember a few beat up ragamuffin 17 year olds in Sean's place when I was there- he watched them like a hawk, and they spent $100 on classic stuff. Still, I could feel the tension and suspicion- it was justified. How much is an RFID system for the bigger ticket items?

If there is a place with roadside visibility, it would probably be helpful. I don't think that it would be counterproductive to make sure that the folks at nearby franchises know you're there. They will refer people interested in classic era stuff.

Key is to pay for stuff not at 50% of what you think you can sell it at, but closer to 5% of what you can sell it at- or less. Common stuff will accumulate in droves- turn it away or just don't offer any cash for it. Better to encourage credit over cash.

You will need to invest in resurfacing technology. Not that expensive, but a necessary startup cost.

Common setups are more important than rare games. You will run out of NESes at $40 faster than you would run out of London Blitzes at $40. Systems are key to sell games, too.

Try to get trustworthy 15 year olds to do your grunt work (cleaning games and resurfacing) and pay them in games or network time.

I like the cafe idea- if you can deal with selling gamer snacks and coffee drinks, you can't really lose.

It's a risk start a business. I think that the internet diversifies your exposure. The main problem is, it takes a hell of alot of time to sell on the internet, and keeping inventory straight can be tons of work. Even without a brick and mortar shop.

The DP website actually could be a small source of revenue. I bet with some IT support, you could create a DP Stores section and charge a small fee- allowing for use of the DP lists and inventory of data (pictures.) DP is in the ultimate position to provide that service, having the knowledge to back video game sales, and the community . It's just so much painstaking work. No matter, BRICK AND MORTAR! BRICK AND MORTAR!

IF you haven't already, incorporation offers excellent tax benefits and would allow you to pay for business expenses like health care pre-taxes.

Oh, and I definitely would discourage game stations for free. LOADS of freeloaders. More than usual.

With Sean having done this, and your know how and social graces (the latter of which entrepreneur Kelly has few), I think you'll do just fine.

Keir

06-11-2005, 08:27 PM

Worst case scenario:
Your customers will be ratty teen agers and gang members, etc who will steal from you. You might have to put in long hours for little pay, and if you do not sell a lot you could lose your shirt. Your employees will be quitting every few months and be undependable, and maybe even steal from you too. You will need insurance to keep from getting sued in case someone has an accident at your business. Your inventory will come up short every time. stuff will get broken and you will just have to take it as a loss. Burgalers could break into your store, and someone could rob you. the forum goes downhill because you do not have time to devote to it. you wind up having to sell your collection in order to cover your losses.

I have a MUCH worse "worst case scenario".

I continue working for someone else, and when I'm 65 I look back and wonder what my life might have been like if I had only followed my dreams.

Your scenario sounds fine by me, in comparison.
Joe, you are awesome. I wish you the best of luck.

Hopefully I will be more motivated to come to your store than I have been about your gaming events (which I always mean to come to and never do).

Humanoid

06-11-2005, 11:11 PM

Try to get trustworthy 15 year olds to do your grunt work (cleaning games and resurfacing) and pay them in games or network time.

Thats an excellent idea. If I lived closer, this 15 year old would be all over that job offer.

Also, now that EB has been snatched up by gamespot and will (assumably) reduce their inventory to PS1/N64 and above, this would be a superb time for a store like this to open. With that kind of move being made, and a growing retro scene, you could end up firmly occupying a growing niche.

EDIT:
K has now surpassed X as my least favorite letter

PC-Famicom64

06-12-2005, 01:22 AM

There's a vacant storefront near my home, and there are no other decent video game stores in a 10 mile radius. There IS a Blockbuster Video in this shopping center, however. The location is GREAT, and for a long time I've been scoping out this area for the perfect spot, just in case I decided to make this move.

I know others who have done this, including my good friend Sean Kelly and other friends who run or have run 'Mom and Pop" game shops (Buyatari and mikeetler for two other forum member examples). I also think I've got enough knowhow on the product to do things right. And ideas... I've got a lot of ideas.

As if the planets had come into sudden alignment... after 20 years at my job I'm truly feeling its time for a change, at almost the same time my wife has stopped working entirely (she's been doing behind the scenes Digital Press work that you'll be seeing soon enough).

I'm going to chat with the landlord tomorrow and find out the details. I've got a lot of things to plan out, but I've never been *this* close to pulling the trigger! I'm excited, and even if this first shot doesn't quite get off the ground, I can feel the change coming soon regardless.

Where am I going with this? I guess it's just a simple question, one I've asked before: if you had your own game store, what would you put in it?

Tale to be continued.May be you may team up some Other Stores to birng more Gaming Goodness . ^_^

Sam

06-12-2005, 01:54 AM

If you have a showcase with historic items in you could rotate the display each fortnight or so and people will come in to see what you have next. I'm sure you'd be able to borrow any items you don;t have that would fit with the display too. One week you could have say a game and watch display, the next week a Mario merchandise display ect.

chadtower

06-13-2005, 12:45 PM

I would also recommend considering some tournament style action... of the older games. Some incentive to get them to not only play the old games, but to BUY them for practice time. Have a tournament for, say, 2600 MS Pac Man, and offer a system bundled with it that month on special. Make the tournament prize something they would want, like a Sega CD where the tournament was for a Genesis game.

digitalpress

06-13-2005, 01:15 PM

UPDATE: well, I've run into a snag. Did you know that when Blockbuster already occupies an area, that there is an agreement in their lease that no other stores selling videogames (and presumably movies) can move in?

That puts me "on the street".

Now that I've got this in my head I'm not done, however. I'm going to check with some local agents to see if there are any other locations available that suit me.

To be continued, again!

chadtower

06-13-2005, 01:31 PM

UPDATE: well, I've run into a snag. Did you know that when Blockbuster already occupies an area, that there is an agreement in their lease that no other stores selling videogames (and presumably movies) can move in?

That puts me "on the street".

Now that I've got this in my head I'm not done, however. I'm going to check with some local agents to see if there are any other locations available that suit me.

To be continued, again!

How is that possible? They can't just legally exclude an area. They have to have a lease agreement with the landlord of the strip mall you're looking at specifically. What you've posted is either incomplete or they're BSing you.

The-Bavis

06-13-2005, 01:32 PM

digitalpress

06-13-2005, 01:41 PM

I believe it is just in the same shopping center. I don't know how they'd have control over other areas of town. Guess I'm about to find out :)

Poofta!

06-13-2005, 01:48 PM

sounds great, best of luck, where are you from? are you gonna throw an opening day party?

as for your question, you should have chumba wombas. EVERYBODY LOVES CHUMBA WOMBAS!

you could have them give out lollypops or kick people in the shins. anyway man best of luck! tell me if you capture some chumba wombas.

le geek

06-13-2005, 01:59 PM

FUCK YOU!! AND MY NEW GOKU SUIT WILL BE READY FOR FURCON SO I CAN DRESS UP AND YIFF WITH PEOPLE HELLO I DONT WANT TO BUY ANYTHING BUT MY CAR JUST RAN OUT OF GAS CAN YOU SPARE SOME CHANGE***^^%%

Sothy, you are the funniest mother fucker on this board! :evil:

Joe, all I can add is I want your store to be as much like Stew Leonards as humanly possible!
http://www.stewleonards.com/

Sorry to hear about the Blockbuster snag...

Cheers,
Ben

The-Bavis

06-13-2005, 03:07 PM

I believe it is just in the same shopping center. I don't know how they'd have control over other areas of town. Guess I'm about to find out :)

Yeah, I guess my only thought was if the same company was leasing out store space in several nearby shopping centers and BB put limitations on those shops within such and such a radius. Doubtful, but your wording worried me.

chadtower

06-13-2005, 03:11 PM

16-bit

06-13-2005, 05:26 PM

Arcade Antics

06-13-2005, 06:20 PM

Regarding the BB Video strongarm nonsense: they should be able to stipulate the proximity of another BB Video (standard franchise stuff), but not any/every remotely similar business. That's not to say that they don't have something in their contract (regarding competition) with the strip malls or wherever they lease their space, but they shouldn't. Free market and all that.

Ed Oscuro

06-13-2005, 06:21 PM

Joe, all I can add is I want your store to be as much like Stew Leonards as humanly possible!
http://www.stewleonards.com/

If you go to the URL, that place sells cakes, wines, and meat. You like meat with your games?
Wines and meat with games? Hell yeah.

ScottK

06-13-2005, 07:40 PM

Most landlords want to protect their clients from competition. Therefore they usually will only allow one of everything in a strip mall (especially a strip mall that has 10 or less stores). The only exclusions to the rule is food and clothing stores. This is the reason why you'll never see a Kmart and Walmart in the same strip mall.

digitalpress

06-13-2005, 07:52 PM

I believe it is just in the same shopping center. I don't know how they'd have control over other areas of town. Guess I'm about to find out :)

I suppose that is a local specific contract or maybe EBgames is excempt from the rule, because there is a Blockbuster and EBGames that are quite close to each other at the strip mall I frequent.

Either that or your Blockbuster is an older one. Upon further research this is a result of their GameRush push. Older lease agreements most likely do not have this stipulation.

le geek

06-13-2005, 10:59 PM

bargora

06-14-2005, 02:15 PM

I believe it is just in the same shopping center. I don't know how they'd have control over other areas of town. Guess I'm about to find out :)
I suppose that is a local specific contract or maybe EBgames is excempt from the rule, because there is a Blockbuster and EBGames that are quite close to each other at the strip mall I frequent.
Either that or your Blockbuster is an older one. Upon further research this is a result of their GameRush push. Older lease agreements most likely do not have this stipulation.
I imagine that you are correct. The Funcoland (now GameStop) at my local strip has coexisted for years with the Blockbuster several storefronts down. The Blockbuster only recently (a year ago) added a GameRush section.

yuppicide

06-16-2005, 01:25 PM

I'm just catching this conversation, so I'll have to read it all when I get home from work.

Let me first say: congradulations and I hope everything works out. I don't know where you are in New Jersey, but I'm in New Jersey as well. I am sure I'll take many trips up to the store.

Ideas: I definately would like to not just see a store.. I'd like to see it look really retro. I'd like to walk in and see stuff upon stuff and it would take me awhile to shop there.

The LAN party idea is great. Get a couple popular games installed that they would like or you can ask a group of people who would be regular customers what games they'd like. That was what I was going to mention, but I see someone has. You should also have PS2 and Xbox networked so people can play together as well.

There's an arcade in NYC.. well it's not really an arcade.. it's a bunch of XBOX's or PS2's together with 27" TV's and chairs. It's called Anarcade or something (instead of Anarchy).

I'm not so sure how rentals would work.. that sounds like a lot of work. Would you rent classic games out as well?! You'd have to have a system incase someone lost a game they'd be required to pay for it. But making them pay for it might be hard. I have friends who've never returned games from a rental place before and nothing ever happened.

I could probably help out on weekends (since I don't work weekends) if you're not that far away (I'm in North Brunswick). If you need help transporting stuff to the store I can drive up as well and we can stuff things in my car.

As for the comment on the arcade machines, someone said sometimes they have a $50/year fee you have to pay for the machines. I remember in my town it was $50 a month per machine, so investigate that. That's why the deli in my town got rid of the 8 or 9 games it had. $50 a month was too much. Some towns don't allow video games at all.

chadtower

06-16-2005, 02:19 PM

Here's an idea: have a small stock of and a good display for homebrews, both games and hardware. If you have NEW 'old' stuff to offer, you're going to rehook some folks who haven't been into retrogaming for years.

Especially if you show off new capabilities, like that the 2600 can talk and the Vectrex can do 3D with reasonable cost.

mikeetler

06-16-2005, 05:51 PM

UPDATE: well, I've run into a snag. Did you know that when Blockbuster already occupies an area, that there is an agreement in their lease that no other stores selling videogames (and presumably movies) can move in?

Very common lease clause for a national retailer and impossible to get if your not national. When you're doing a ten year lease with a national franchise, you're pretty much guaranteed your lease income. Depending on the landlord, a small business can get leases in the one to three year range with renewal options, cancelable by either party at the end of a term. Needless to say, keeping your national franchises happy is important to the landlord.

That puts me "on the street".

Not being in a strip mall, regarless of size, reduces exposure to the point that advertising could end up being your biggest monthly expense. And considering I never found a decent source of advertising in 12 years (which is why I stopped pissing money away on it) it makes it a lot more difficult.

Now that I've got this in my head I'm not done, however. I'm going to check with some local agents to see if there are any other locations available that suit me.

Best bet is to relax and wait for the ideal location to open up. Since this started as a case where the location promted the consideration, settling on a not as attractive spot could haunt you forever.

-Mike

kevincure

06-16-2005, 07:20 PM

Here's another suggestion: If you're near any of the big colleges (Rutgers, Princeton, etc.), see if you can get a spot near their campus. The few successful independents I know are all in college towns - students have tons of disposable income.

tynstar

06-16-2005, 07:26 PM

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sean Kelly3

06-23-2005, 05:53 PM

I want a refund and..... I just shit and vomit on your counter somehow and im leaving because you dont give as much in trade in as I could get on Ebay and.... Hey I want you to give me 3 times original retail value on this Genesis Model 2 with chew marks and a cockroach nest inside of it....... and you are such a ripoff I paid 60 bucks for this Madden NFL game just last year and now its only worth 5 BUX???? FUCK YOU!! AND MY NEW GOKU SUIT WILL BE READY FOR FURCON SO I CAN DRESS UP AND YIFF WITH PEOPLE HELLO I DONT WANT TO BUY ANYTHING BUT MY CAR JUST RAN OUT OF GAS CAN YOU SPARE SOME CHANGE***^^%%

LMFAO! Too funny.....true, but still funny! :)

Sean Kelly3

06-23-2005, 06:05 PM

By "in the area", do you mean the same shopping center?

Why does Blockbuster want me to hate them?

You have to look at it from a landlord's perspective. If you have this shopping center that you are trying to fill with tenants and Blockbuster comes to you wanting to sign a long-term lease with rent that will be paid CORPORATELY every month ON-TIMe for the next ten years....PLUS, other potential tenants will see the new Blockbuster opening-up and will say:

"Hey..I think I'll put my store next to them since Blockbuster will bring a ton of people into the shopping center!"

Landlords jump all over Blockbuster and would probably agree to wash the manager's underwear every week if that's what it took to get them in their center. A simple non-competition clause in the lease is nothing to them and actually quite common.

Sean Kelly
Videogames Etc (store name soon-to-change)

Sean Kelly3

06-23-2005, 07:55 PM

OK, I'm back...I'm at work and it's hard to type. Just a few comments and random thoughts.

In regards to the arcade machines, take my word for it, you will hate them with a passion. Whether they're free or kids are paying or whatever, they're just a pain in the ass. Kids will hang-out all day and just make nuisances of themselves. I like kids, I have kids, but I want them to come in and, IF they have money (which they generally don't), buy something and go home and play with it.

To the person who said people are slobs "AMEN" to that brother. They are complete slobs and I can't imagine they go home and are spic & span either. I look at it as an expense. In my LAN center, I raised the price last year by a buck an hour. Many of the kids bitched and moaned and I simply told them that I had to be paid for the time I spent cleaning up after their asses. They really couldn't even argue.

Personally, I think renting is just a huge pain in the arse. Chasing after people who don't return stuff and what not - no thanks. Talk to Adam in regards to this. He has this program where he offers to buy back a game at a certain percentage of the retail price the person paid if they return it within 7 days. In the end it boils down to him charging $4-$7 to "rent" the game, but he gets the entire retail price up-front. If the person doesn't return it within the seven days, that's fine...if they do, they can get whatever 70-80% of their money back. VERY cool idea and it eliminates the whole rental hassle.

Ian was right about buying at about 5%. That's a little low and I don't use an actual percentage, but you have to consider how many you have of that particular item and what the likelihood that someone is going to buy it from you is. For example, I pay $3 for Nintendo 64 systems. I sell them for $29.99. People will occassionally notice my selling price on the system when they are selling me theirs and bitch all hell about it. "You're only going to give me $3 and then you're going to sell it for 10 times that much?!?!" A) I have, literally, hundreds of N64 consoles, and B) Nobody ever buys them C) I really don't want yours anyway D) Have a nice day. :) Same goes for games.

Someone mentioned being afraid to get into an already crowded business field. They're right...it's crowded and the competition can be tough. The key to overcoming this is to capitalizing on the other guys' weaknesses. GameStop, for example, can't deal with the old stuff mainly because they just don't have the room for it in 90% of their stores. As we at DP know, people still play SNES, Genesis, Atari 2600, etc. etc. and the people at EB and GameStop know it too...they just have to make the best use of the space they have so they elect to stick with only newer stuff.

The big guys also deal in much larger volumes and often have people who couldn't care less about their job behind the counter. For this reason, games and systems are sold in not only poor condition, but non-working condition at times. It's certainly not GameStop policy to do things that way, but what are they going to do? They can't have the CEO personally clean and test every system....you can though! That's why virtually every system I sell is, literally, scrubbed with a tooth brush and taken-apart and cleaned thoroughly. In two years of selling consoles, I have only gotten ONE returned to me as non-working and I believe that guy was being dishonest in some way. It's also happened several times where people will come in with a GameStop bag on their way home from buying a console at the GameStop down the street and they actually go back to the store and return it so they can buy one of mine instead because mine are so nice and minty fresh. It's worth the effort.

The main thing to keep in mind is something someone else told me many years ago. "You're here to make money - not friends". If you can make some friends along the way - cool. If not, that's OK too. You have to be ready, willing, and able to be a GIGANTIC DICK when the need arises. Whether it's needed to control the kids who are tearing-up your LAN center or the mother and daughter who are shoving PS2 games down their pants while you're watching them or even the guy who wants to stand at the counter and bullshit for three hours every night keeping you from getting any work done.

You also have to be willing to give the guy with the PS1 Suikoden 2 in mint condition only a couple bucks because "it is for the PS1 after all" despite the fact that you know you're going to sell it for $50+. If you break it down, yeah, you basically fucked the guy out of his Suikoden 2, but how many people "fucked" you out of your money when you bought their copy of PS1 WWF Warzone despite the fact that you already have 27 other copies of that game? Or a more recent example, when the guy brings in the 100th Nintendo DS this month and it's the last thing in the world I want another one of, but I buy it anyway. It's a balancing act...sometimes they're bending you over the counter and other times you have to hand-out jars of vaseline with the cash you pay-out so the anal violation they're about to experience doesn't hurt quite so much.

OMFG! I can't believe I've typed this much. Well, there's some food for thought. :)

Sean

Funk Buddy

06-23-2005, 08:28 PM

I'll chime in with good luck too! With all the practical advice from people who have done it (or are doing it), you'll have a good start.

As for the points regarding buying games from people. For the older stuff you'll be the best place in town since practically nobody takes them any more. Or if they do, they give $.25 for them.

A good point of sale program and bar code reader could be useful, or you can do like others and just use excel. We have a POS and it works great most of the time. :D

I knew some people who had a local shop for years and got to be friends with them. The profit breakdown for them went something like this.

1. Rentals
2. Used games/systems
3. Accessories
4. New games
5. New systems

I hate to say it, but from what I've seen advertising is not worth it. It costs you big $ and you usually get little noticable return unless you use coupons. In our family business we have sent out flyers to our regular customers promoting new items or sales and might get five back out of 150 - 200. Each segment of our customers gets sent something once a quarter. So figure we do this in house at roughly $1 each, so $800 a year and might make $100. Also, while this doesn't really relate we handed out at least 500 flyers at the KC Home Show and only got seven back. Now in that type of environment that's to be expected, but you gotta do it. Radio might work but it's expensive too, but try local public stations or college radio.

The hours you have to put in are tough, but in the long run when you make it, it'll really be worth it. You'll probably be open 11 - 8 I guess, those should be good hours. Maybe 9 on Friday and Saturday.

8bitnes

06-23-2005, 08:32 PM

I have a MUCH worse "worst case scenario".

I continue working for someone else, and when I'm 65 I look back and wonder what my life might have been like if I had only followed my dreams.

Your scenario sounds fine by me, in comparison.

Right on!! Good luck.

I guess I have to agree with everyone else, just be patient. I'd have most of the groundwork/behind the scenes stuff planned long before signing into a lease. That way you can just move in and start business.

lendelin

06-24-2005, 02:21 AM

I underline the great advice Sean gave.

The key is what I said about retro-gamer mags all along, and it applies to your store if it becomes reality:

Never ever try to play on the same playing field like the big boys, the chain retailers. They leave necessarily vacuums, and you have to fill them. They have weaknesses, and you focus on them and exploit them. Think about EVERYTHING you can do and they can't. This is your opportunity. Never even try to copy Gamestop and EBgames.

From my experience and my wants that would be:

1. Offer guides for older games, and that means also guides for games of this console generation. A guide is old already 3 months after a game is released.

Gamestop and Eb games have guides in their little backrooms and destroy them. I can undertsand why they have to do it, but you can sell them if possible. This is a vacuum they leave. They don't have a interest keeping the guide for Nanobreaker, but is in your interest to offer it because they won't after 3 months the game is released.

If you can get your hands on guides from a wholesailer or some other source for dirtcheap, pick them up, sell them for a reasonable price. You know the prices for guides for the PS and the pre-PS systems; but also offer guides for the current games at a price to make a good profit. If you can get it for one cent or 50 cents, I'd be glad if a store were around with a good selection; I'd buy them for $2 to $6. Eb games won't have the guides for Shining Tears, Fulmetal Alchemist, or Ys in three months from now.

Guides are in demand, they are good business, in particular for traditional and second rate RPGs. Guides disappear faster than the games, and more and more hardcore gamers are aware of it.

2. Offer all stuff in good condition. Gamestore employees are mostly game nuts, but it isn't THEIR store. Discs, game systems, guides are sometimes not in good shape, and they sell them.

If I knew a store which is reliable, and that means I can have trust in the quality of the products it offers, I'd be glad to pay a couple of bucks more.

To build up the reputation with consumers as a trustworthy store is key. Never put guides on display which are terribly ripped. Offer the systems and games very clean.

Never charge unreasonable prices. The guys who spend most in your store (nostalgic gamers, wannabe collectors and collectors) are cheapskates, but will buy a lot and know the market. When I see a 'Nine more holes of xmas' offered at EB games used for 7.99 (or in halfprice books for $20) and know the Blockbuster down the street offers it new for 4.99, I'm getting very mistrustful and close a bit more my wallet in my head.

3. Focus on the older systems the big retail chain stores do not offer. Build up a reputation these stores cannot compete with you by having a great selection for them....and that means also, offer if possible games in boxes with manuals AND display them so everyone can see it. This will set you apart from the big boys.

4. Use current games to lure customers in your store, but also make use of your knowledge and instinct as a agme collector to offer current potential niche games and good games hard to find. If a Sky Gunner, Sky Odyssey, Air Force Delta Storm or Nanobreaker besides the predictible RPGs come out, try to get them after a couple of months cheap from wholesailers. They aren't in demand with the mass crowd, but in demand with the crowd which comes into your store.

A store with the reputation to offer quirky, overlooked and commercially unsuccessful titles after they disappeared already from the big chain stores would be high on my list. You can get them cheap, and the big boys won't offer it anymore.

5. Put books about videogame history on display, no matter if you try to sell them and they won't, or just for display reasons. Kent, Herman, Sheff, Kohler, Baer's new book and Gamemachines, nothing like this is in Gmaestop or EBgames (well, Kohler was, but it disappeared already. :) )

It won't hurt you reputatation with customers who aren't interested in game history, but it will improve dramatically your reputation with customers who are just slightly interested in it, and gamers who just notalgically remember old systems.

6. Last but not least, make good use of your biggest asset: Yourself! You're not just some guy who sells older game stuff, you are Joe Santulli. Make sure customers who look around a bit closer know who you are. Put some newspaper articles, interviews, pics of you at the CGE, pics with Wozniak with a text, something on the wall which increases your credibility. You are a well-known game enthusiast, co-organizer of the CGE, you are SOMEONE in the classic gaming scene for years, this is an asset and an incredible advanatage the vast majority of this board and certainly the big stores don't have.

This builds trust and credibility right away. You don't have to brag, but YOU are one of the biggest market potentials you can possibly have. Make sure customers know it.

Plus, avoid everything which is unnecessary, not profitable work and everything clean you offer dirty hands can mess up :)

These are the things I'd like to see and can think of what you might be able to do and the others can't. I would think about every product and service (!) the big stores can't possibly deliver, and you can at a profit margin.