Next Gen story - Pains of owning a game store

[Raedon]

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=2

Interesting read.

[swlovinist]

If you look around this problem is not just related to video games, it is alot of things. Entertainment stores in general are being gobbled up by big companies. The only thing that saves small game stores is that retrogaming is doing well right now. Gamestop, EB games do not even try to sell retro games, as to them they can make alot more money on newer product. Working for a small pawn shop for over a year, I have alot of empathy for someone running a game store.

[DDCecil]

Great read. It reminds me to tell the complete story of my dad's store one day... From the great beginning to its awful end. It was the greatest (not to mention only) independent store in the city (Of course this was 1998-1999, and things are very different now).

[FlufflePuff]

I have friends who owned a game store and from what theyve told me, that article is spot on. In Minneapolis/St. Paul, there is a decent lineup of retrogaming stores, but the Gamestop juggernaut still holds sway here and my friends were forced to shut their store down and try other ventures. I just dont understand why people are so driven by price to go to a crappy gamestore like Gamestop to save themselves $1 on a game theyre just going to resell for a loss in a month.

[tholly]

Nice read....thanks for the link

[Captain Wrong]

Man, EVERYONE who bitches about ANY game store should read that article. Not trying to be an appologist for anything, but that is the real deal and so many people just don't understand.

[Flack]

Great article. Everyone who has dreams of converting the old abandoned shop in the strip mall to a game store should read this.

As I've previously stated, that article kind of tells the story of my parent's computer software store. I'm sure they were getting stuff from a distributer of a distributor (and maybe a third distributor), so the prices they were paying were often higher than what other large retailers were selling the games for.

[stressboy]

Interesting read. Makes me glad I like to shop at a locally owned store here in town instead of the EB in the mall. Also makes me glad I decided not to open my own store a few years ago.

[mills]

wow, I never knew, what a cut throat business video gaming.....

[kevincure]

Videogame businesses aren't especially competitive. Running an independent grocery stores, for instance, is basically impossible. As many people mentioned in Joe's thread about his new store, the independents making money are making the cash in used games and in-store play (on networked big screens).

[bibowski]

That's a fantastic article. I recently worked at the head office for Microplay Videogames (a small chain of about 40 stores here in Canada), and I've opened my own independant store (I'm sure you've seen me plug it many times on the forums :)

I have to say, we haven't even begun to advertise yet, we've only been open a week, and we already have many loyal customers. I can't believe people when they look at my used games and say "Wow, the prices are so much better than EB". I honestly think I was being fair, but still making sure I made a damn good profit.

The independant game store may not have national advertising or free $2 toys and gimmicks to give away with your preorder, but we'll make sure you get your game and we'll make sure it's what you want.

I could go on all day about this, but I just had to spout off some of my 'save the local game store' propaganda.

[museumsteve]

I thought it was a great read. I've owned an Indie store and website in the UK for over seven years. It's a great experience most of the time but unless you stay ahead of the 'game' by finding sidelines, then it's a rough ride and that's mainly due to the High Street Chains and their cut-throat antics.
This is one reason we've just launched a dedicated gaming auction site because we needed another venture, but I dont want to advertise it here without the permission of Admin. I can say on our site we've already got some stunning rarities, stuff I have never seen in my years in the shop (how about a Nintendo Satellaview or a Famicom Station ;) )

[Haoie]

The fact is that mom and pop stores selling anything everywhere have suffered at the hands of multinationals and big firms in general, that's why there's always so much protest at globalisation conferences and such.

[TeddyRuxpin]

Great artical. Although there is one part that makes me go: :hmm:


It takes a cold dead heart to hand someone $6 for a game they probably shelled out $50 for originally, but you’ll learn to deal with it.

A cold dead heart? No one is forcing them to sell their $50 game for $6. *shrug* If it's still actually worth around $50 they should sell it on ebay, here on DP, in the local newspaper/want ads paper or even post signs at local laundromats. LOL

Besides, 'paid $50 for originally' VS 'still worth $50' are two seperate things. Almost all games and systems lose value over time. Then again, they may lose value and then go back up.

I bought Super Mario RPG in the late 90's from Blockbuster for $10. At the time the only exclusive video game store in town was Babages. I turned around and traded it in to Babages for near nothing in credit after I beat it. (I was a bit stupid back then..) and now it's worth a lot. Although, maybe it was back then, i dunno. :embarrassed:

But now Babages is GameStop, they built a new shopping center for many big name stores such as target (who moved to the new area from an old one) PetSmart, BestBuy, Old Navy EB Games and many other stores that had never been here.

And then they built a small strip mall type thing next to the newer Wal-Mart, only about a mile away from the Mall (with GameStop), Target, EBGames, GameXChange (who was the 2nd VG store in town), Toys R Us, Best Buy....and they put in another GameStop. So now there's 2 GameStop stores about 1 mile apart, plus other major retailers as well as a franchised locally owned GameXchange (which is the best IMO).

I think GameXchange will survive the chain stores. Almost every time I go in it's busy. Plus they have excellent return policies.

[mrmagoo]

Wow,

Silly me. I always thought of places like EB games and Gamestop were independent retailers. I always imagined corporates were the big retail stores (Walmart, Target, Toys'r'us, Best Buy, Circuit city). At least when I go into gamestop or EB they dont look at me like im a 3 headed purple monkey when I ask about a certain game. Living near a medium city (<100,000) independent gaming retailers are virtually non existent. There is a guy in a flea market that sells only video games. Also I found a place that sells NES and SNES consoles for nutz prices in a town 30 miles away. If this article is true, I see now why my retro-gaming finds have been limited to pawn shops in the area.

[museumsteve]

Here in the UK our next hurdle is the superstores that are opening e-tail outlets in Jersey and making use of the VAT (tax) free status there. It's becoming a major player in the UK market already.
There is a conference happening next week (I think) with Government departments, retail associations and Customs etc to discuss the issues it is raising and what effect it could have on the High Street retail market in general.