I'm Finally Open! (sort of...) - More Pictures!

[DDCecil]

I'm going to start my very own used video game store!

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9568/picture4811nk.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7749/picture4829yx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/8568/picture4831xu.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/200/picture4850yj.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

It needs lots of TLC, and I hope to open May 1st (That's when the monthly rent starts. They let us in early to work on it). I'll post pictures when I'm finished.

[Felixthegamer]

Good luck with everything! I hope it goes how you want it to. I look forward to see more fotos are the store progesses

[InsaneDavid]

Good luck! The interior layout looks pretty good. :)

[Darth Sensei]

Where? :D

[c0ldb33r]

I'm going to start my very own used video game store!


Wow thats awesome! Congratulations and good luck! :D

It must be an exciting time for you. I've always wanted to start my own business. It must be nice being your own boss. Are you still working elsewhere too? Where is your store located? What's it called?

How much is your rent? What type of building are you in? I'm interested in this stuff because I've done a fair amount of work on commercial leasing law.

It looks like your space is pretty large - what is the footage?

edit: looking at your sig I see your store's going to be called T n T Games - sounds good :)

[Griking]

Congrats and good luck on the business. What does this have to do with Ladybug though?

[dcescott]

The mame tournament of course, here in DP. Hey man, priorities take over, the game was fun but my score blew too. I blame father duties to a 4 year old daughter. I always shut the game off to help her with whatever.
I hope things will do well for you. I'm in Texas so no visits unless I take a road trip unexpected. Then I will have to visit DP's game store too. Spoken to Joe on advice yet?

[cyberfluxor]

Hey, congradulations and good luck on opening! All of the private owned game stores in my area do pretty good and have a far better atmosphere than a chain retail outlet. Just a few questions or good ideas to add:

Any plans to put an arcade or 2 in there? Nearly everyone around here has them at the front of the store and get played from time to time from local neighborhood kids.

Where are you getting your games from and are they only used or are you going to sell new as well? The good places around here do trade-in values ranging from 60%-75% of what they re-sell them for. It's a good market for people that find good deals at pawn shops, thrift stores, ect. and don't want to deal with Ebay and shipments.

Anything else going to be sitting on your shelves? Once again, they sell DVDs, anime, action figures, VHS tapes, and various dodads and posters that open the market to more people that come to their stores. It's a good practice because sometimes it'll open others to a different market that you sell.

Last question, what type of location is this? It looks like a window shop along a side street commercial road.

[DigitalSpace]

Congrats and good luck!

[InsaneDavid]

All you guys about your scores...

:sob:

:D

[keiblerfan69]

Congrats. We expect pics once you get the store up and running.

[drwily008]

I'm going to start my very own used video game store!

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9568/picture4811nk.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Yeah man, that spot right ther needs like 3 or 4 arcade games and some standees! Perfect for curb appeal and drawing in the kiddies!

Great job at making you dream come true!

[dcescott]

Yup a neo geo mvs 4 slot right there! Easy to switch out the non popular titles too!

[roushimsx]

I'm in Texas so no visits unless I take a road trip unexpected. Then I will have to visit DP's game store too. Spoken to Joe on advice yet?

North Texas or South Texas?

If you're in the North, maybe a few of us Oklahomans can make a trip down sometime :)

(if you're in the south, you'll just get a post card saying "wish you were here")

[DDCecil]

Hey, congradulations and good luck on opening! All of the private owned game stores in my area do pretty good and have a far better atmosphere than a chain retail outlet. Just a few questions or good ideas to add:

Any plans to put an arcade or 2 in there? Nearly everyone around here has them at the front of the store and get played from time to time from local neighborhood kids.

Where are you getting your games from and are they only used or are you going to sell new as well? The good places around here do trade-in values ranging from 60%-75% of what they re-sell them for. It's a good market for people that find good deals at pawn shops, thrift stores, ect. and don't want to deal with Ebay and shipments.

Anything else going to be sitting on your shelves? Once again, they sell DVDs, anime, action figures, VHS tapes, and various dodads and posters that open the market to more people that come to their stores. It's a good practice because sometimes it'll open others to a different market that you sell.

Last question, what type of location is this? It looks like a window shop along a side street commercial road.

1. I'll definitely get an arcade machine or two down the road. My father owned a store back in 1998, and we had 2 arcade machines, Starship 1 and Subroc 3D which he bought locally very cheap.

2. I'm using my entire collection (~1300+ games), minus some 1 of a kind items that will be for display. I'll give people fair deals on trades - I guess it will depend on my mood at the time and what games they happen to bring in. Sports games will be very cheap, and so will any scratched games that come in.

3. We'll have cheap VHS movies, DVDs, and my brother's Yu-Gi-Oh cards.

4. It's on 1st Street, the second busiest street in Idaho Falls.

[keiblerfan69]

4. It's on 1st Street, the second busiest street in Idaho Falls.

Sounds like a good location. Yeah for sure you need a 4 slot, a Capcom vs. game and maybe like a Pac-Man machine for the parents that bring kids in.

[RetroYoungen]

There are... streets... in Idaho?

:hmm:

Good luck with your store, hopefully it'll be a huge success! :)

[DDCecil]

Some new pictures! As you can see, we tore some of the "temporary" walls out and painted the entire wall blue. We are in the process of making and putting up the shelving. The sign should be arriving sometime tomorrow. More pictures to come!

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/7465/picture5058om.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/762/picture5060hj.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[drewbrim]

How'd I miss this a couple of weeks ago? Congrats! One more DPer living the dream!

[Videogamerdaryll]

Congrats and Good luck......

[§ Gideon §]

Hit me for missing this the first time around. Congrats and good luck, DDC! You've got the hopes and dreams of thousands of gamers behind you.

[c0ldb33r]

Some new pictures! As you can see, we tore some of the "temporary" walls out and painted the entire wall blue.

Wow! Looking good! It looks much bigger without those temporary walls. The blue looks alot better than the old white paint too.


We are in the process of making and putting up the shelving. The sign should be arriving sometime tomorrow. More pictures to come!

Awesome, can't wait to see them :)

[digitalpress]

I missed this the first time around too!

Best of luck to you - it's a challenging, grueling, but incredibly satisfying experience. If there's anything I can help with, feel free to call me.

[tanda]

Looking really good. Congratulations, and the very best of luck with your new store!

[Slate]

How could i have missed this? Anyway, good luck, Hope it does well! :)

[cyberfluxor]

Looking good. It's nice to see a curb side view this time around. If you can get some really nice glowing signs hanging from the inside looking out, maybe a few window sticky's, and have those couple of arcades chilling and facing some of the road it would look attractive to a wondering gamer. The spot appears to be great as well with that wide street and side parking. I hope it brings in some good customers!

Also, be sure to show us some shots of when you get the stuff setup and the store sign.

[ice1605]

Good luck! I hope that T n T Games is succesful I can't wait to see pictures of it when it is done! Yet another person getting their own game store. Cool.

[DDCecil]

We had a total of one sale yesterday the 4 hours we were open (somewhat of a pre-sale, I had to work at my other part-time job from 5 to 11).

I sold a complete Yoshi's Island to a collector (Yes!!! I knew I wasn't the only one around here!) Also, a man who fixed broken systems from Las Vegas came into my store, too - plus some of the neighborhood kids came in who were amazed at all the systems I had.

I still haven't had a chance to put any of my loose games out or to decorate much (Going to get some vinyl stickers for the windows and I still need to get my computer up and running), but I'll hopefully have all that done before I open again tomorrow morning, this time for my first full day.

The first picture was taken when our sign was put up about a week ago. Thanks to the sign company, I now have to get a new credit card number (a big fiasco which I'll talk about later).

http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/614/picture5122zt.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img488.imageshack.us/img488/6951/picture5158ba.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/4223/picture5161tr.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img346.imageshack.us/img346/9661/picture5194no.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[FullCircle]

Congratulations, DDCecil! You should put the location to the store on the Google Earth map in the everything else thread.

BTW, I still use the warp to Ligar trick you posted on GameFAQS for Rygar! Thanks for the contributions!

[Bronty-2]

Lookin' good!

[Steven]

cool, best wishes for a happy experience all-around.

Any chance you'll have a website up, or if not, a way we can figure out what your store inventory is, along with prices? I'm sure there are many here who would love to buy something from you.

[cyberfluxor]

It's looking bare right now and hope it all picks up. It does take some good time to get business and normal customers to come in often. I'm sure from what your window faces that it'll pick up once people realise what's going down. I was amazed at how many places I stumbled across on Saturday when cruising down many busy streets and checking into every shopping center I swung by. There must be at least 20 or more pawn shops and thrift stores I don't know about in my area within 20 miles from home.

Good luck!

[c0ldb33r]

Right on! Keep us posted :)

[DDCecil]

I just realized that today would have been 3 years, but it unfortunately only lasted a year.

I made a ton of mistakes, but will always remember the good times (Like getting 50 complete DC games, or the Bonk III for Turbo Grafx!) and the customers.

Random Pictures:

Left Outside Window:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3210/2761373320_7b52a38c92_o.jpg

Right Outside Window:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3227/2760528465_f9c35c0535_o.jpg

Random pictures:
http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/3121/1001876.jpg
http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/1502/1001815.jpg
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/5813/1001874.jpg

Yours truly at work:
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2518/1001823.jpg

BONUS: I also found a picture of my dad's store circa 1998:

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/6665/picture167j.jpg

Now those were good times!

[gonzo90017]

So what went wrong?

[jcalder8]

Sorry that it didn't work out.

It's always sad to see an independent store go down :(

[Gameguy]

Those were really good prices, most are actually lower than what the thrift stores near me charge.

[Tupin]

It seemed like a nice store, too bad people in Idaho don't have a store like this anymore...

When I see a store that acknowledges that they have PC Engine stuff, I know it's good. :-D

[Trebuken]

Careful not to under-price your games. Your customers will dictate to you what you can get. We here know what a game is worth and will generally wait to find that price, but your average customer isn't going to be retrogaming all price knowing geeks like us and they will pay a few bucks more.

You need inventory, lots of it give people something to come in and look at. Gobble up some lots on ebay, maybe advertise somehow, even just word of mouth...

Good luck.

As an older customer I hate it when shops become 'hang-outs'. Arcade cabs are nice only if they make you money...MVS would be nice because you can switch games...though a JAMMA cab would be nice as well...

[titanzguard]

Props for making the effort to open your own shop and judging by the pics looked like a pretty decent place. Its too bad it didnt work out. I have had friends who have ventured into owning their own shop and they are paying dearly in debt right now. Hopefully that 1 year did not hinder you that bad.