Opening a VG store..Vegas or NYC?

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I'm in the middle of a dilemma and I turn to my fellow board members here for some advice. I have made up my mind and plan on opening a video game store within the next few months but am now burdened with a new problem..what city to open up in? I am a born and bred NYer and originally wanted to open here in NYC (Queens to be exact) but I have an opporunity (as does my g/f) to move out to Vegas and I saw some placed that might be good to open up in out there. Now, I have doen some research into Vegas and, although there are a good number of Gamestops, EBs, Gamecrazys, etc., there are no local games tores I found and the big name stores all have idiots working in them (Ex.- "Did you guys get in Hotel Dusk for the DS?" "That game? It was cancelled. How about any game for the 360?") plus, I found no stores with classic games.

A good spot I found was actually around the corner from a GameCrazy, but I kinda feel I can whip them :) Any Vegas locals, fellow NYers, or store peoples have any advice or opinions??

[dusty]

How about Milwaukee? If not, I vote Vegas!

[DreamTR]

LiquidPolicenaut: There were at LEAST 4 local stores when I was there (vegas) last, GameWorld x 2, and Game Repairs. Both Gameworlds are decently stocked, and have a slew of imports and trading cards, and Game Repair has arcade machines and a very good amount of classic stuff. Also, Vegas is crawling with Game Crazy stores. It may be a fast growing city, but there are LOTS of stores there.

[kaedesdisciple]

Born and bred new yorker, just like you. There are quite a few local game stores around if you look hard enough, both in Brooklyn and the City anyways as that's where I live and work. Thing is many of them don't sell classic games anymore and the ones that do are way overpriced. If you can corner the classics and do imports really well and put yourself in a central, easy to reach location then you could do really well. Hell I'd probably visit occasionally.

[kainemaxwell]

NYC seems to be a wider market for a store like that, even if it becomes a niche store.

[itobandito]

I vote NYC. There aren't too many GOOD local stores there. The old multimedia 1.0 (now named something else) in the village is cool and all but there prices are a little high so if you could get really good prices in your store I think you could come out on top easily. I mean NYC is almost a joke when it comes to quality video game stores privately owned. Gamestop/EB are all over but I think the general concensius of the stores is fairly negative. They rip people up with their high used game markups and extra 5 dollars on just about every DS game they sell.

[someguy]

I would vote for NYC. NYC would give you a larger market, but the reason most of the stores are overpriced is that everything is so expensive (rent, etc.) and they have to compensate with low trade-in rates and high selling rates. That's the reason most of the major stores aren't selling classic games anymore. They just don't sell enough to justify carrying them. You would have to become a niche store for classics to sell and sell well. If you have a business plan made up already and believe you can survive, then disregard everything I just said. I'd love to see more classic game stores, but I own a store that sells video games also, and I know from experience that the classics don't sell, or are a very hard sell. You will be very familiar with the sentence "Boy, you have a lot of [insert console] games, I wish I hadn't gotten rid of mine." I wish you the best.

[rob black]

Just do both, NYC & Vegas

[LiquidPolicenaut]

Itobandito and someguy hit it right on the nose. On itobanditos point, thats exactly why Id open up one here in NYC. Not too many privately owned stores and the ones that are around (Multimedia/Video Games NYC now) are way overpriced. Mine, obviously, would be much more reasonably priced. As to someguy's point, I totally agree. The store I want to open, however, would be both classic and current gen, so I will have most of the income still coming from current gen games/systems, but still have all the classics. If I get the customer who says "You have a lot of ___ games. I wish I hadnt sold mine" its perfect since I'll always try to have one of the system itself in stock so he/she can try again :) If I open in Vegas, I think I would also try and open the business online at the same time as the store....

[jcalder8]

I have to say I find it concerning that you plan to open one in the next few months but still have not even figured out what city you want to open in. By this point you would want to have a business plan in place and I would think you would have already have scooted a location and have an idea of the kind of rent you'll be paying as well as the number of customers you're expecting.

[mgriff]

The problem is with NYC is that rent for a store is typically high unless your lucky, but your basically going to have to have high prices in order to make some profit to make your rent....although St. Marks Games on St. Marks Place takes that to the extreme, I think enough people know of the place that I don't even have to explain...

[someguy]

Itobandito and someguy hit it right on the nose. On itobanditos point, thats exactly why Id open up one here in NYC. Not too many privately owned stores and the ones that are around (Multimedia/Video Games NYC now) are way overpriced. Mine, obviously, would be much more reasonably priced. As to someguy's point, I totally agree. The store I want to open, however, would be both classic and current gen, so I will have most of the income still coming from current gen games/systems, but still have all the classics. If I get the customer who says "You have a lot of ___ games. I wish I hadnt sold mine" its perfect since I'll always try to have one of the system itself in stock so he/she can try again :) If I open in Vegas, I think I would also try and open the business online at the same time as the store....

I think either place you choose, online is a must. Whether it's EBay or having your store inventory online to purchase. That could make or break you in the early going. As long as you have PS2, Xbox and DS games you're all good :)

[Bronty-2]

Itobandito and someguy hit it right on the nose. On itobanditos point, thats exactly why Id open up one here in NYC. Not too many privately owned stores and the ones that are around (Multimedia/Video Games NYC now) are way overpriced. Mine, obviously, would be much more reasonably priced. ....

Are you sure about that? How are you going to pay nyc rent selling at those prices? There's probably a reason the other stores are charging so much.

Like the other guys above noted, you need to have a much better idea of your costs before you pick a location.

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I have to say I find it concerning that you plan to open one in the next few months but still have not even figured out what city you want to open in. By this point you would want to have a business plan in place and I would think you would have already have scooted a location and have an idea of the kind of rent you'll be paying as well as the number of customers you're expecting.

To answer straight to this post and others, I have a finalized business plan. The reason I asked for opinions on either city is because I have 2 locations open to me in both cities. I know the rent for all four places and have laid out the costs of everything plus expected revenue. Im not going into this blindly, obviously. I was just trying to get a feel as to some more pros and cons to the two different cities.

As to affording rent, I can still afford rent by the games I sell. I dont HAVE to do insane markups on classic products like Multimedia/Video Games NYC to succeed (Snatcher =$100, Original FFVII $89 as quick examples). Mark-ups? Yes obviously. RIDICULOUS ones? no way...

[DreamTR]

Bad idea in NYC. The prices of games don't go up based on what city you live in, but a RETAIL location concentrated on classic games has to do what Multimedia 1.0 did just to SURVIVE.

What's the lease on a place with square footage over there combined with taxes, demographics and all that compared to having a store in a sleepy college town with an endless supply of college kids coming in? You're looking at $3000-5000K a month in NYC just for the lease on a rinky dink small store, whereas in places like Ohio, it's $900-1500 a month for a huge business in prominent areas. Remember, you have to make up that money somehow, and living in Los Angeles, sure, there is lots of money to be made here, and even more to lose, that's why all the mom and pops are gone unless they are 20+ years established.

Also, Snatcher for $100 is not a bad price for Sega CD. I would expect that in a store. FFVII, not so much, but with NYC prices, cost of living, and the fact that original versions hit $50-60+ on eBay, it's not far fetched.

[Richter Belmount]

I say Las vegas , you will probably have much more fun there , plus plenty of customers since its a tourist attraction and people usually have plenty of dough when going there.Tourist attraction places I see as generally a little safer territory. But I could be wrong

[Bronty-2]

Bad idea in NYC. The prices of games don't go up based on what city you live in, but a RETAIL location concentrated on classic games has to do what Multimedia 1.0 did just to SURVIVE.

What's the lease on a place with square footage over there combined with taxes, demographics and all that compared to having a store in a sleepy college town with an endless supply of college kids coming in? You're looking at $3000-5000K a month in NYC just for the lease on a rinky dink small store, whereas in places like Ohio, it's $900-1500 a month for a huge business in prominent areas. Remember, you have to make up that money somehow, and living in Los Angeles, sure, there is lots of money to be made here, and even more to lose, that's why all the mom and pops are gone unless they are 20+ years established.

Also, Snatcher for $100 is not a bad price for Sega CD. I would expect that in a store. FFVII, not so much, but with NYC prices, cost of living, and the fact that original versions hit $50-60+ on eBay, it's not far fetched.


Good call on the sleepy college town.

[coreycorey2000]

I also don't see a problem with those prices in a store. I'd gladly pay $100 for a game that could cost me $80 online. Or $89 for something that could cost me $70 online. If your prices are going to be lower than that then why stay in the US. You should come up to Ontario Canada we don't have many independant stores around here!

[GarrettCRW]

A good spot I found was actually around the corner from a GameCrazy, but I kinda feel I can whip them :) Any Vegas locals, fellow NYers, or store peoples have any advice or opinions??

1) Sell games for the older consoles.

2) The GameCrazy you're referring to better be on the corner of Craig and Simmons.

[youruglyclone]

I'm just dropping by to congratulate you Liquidpolicenaut.

but since we've met before you kinda know what my slant is....hahahaha

best to luck to you and I hope to drop by your store...no matter where it's going to end up.

[Sothy]

I live in Mesquite about 45 minutes or so from Vegas and there is not a single Game store in this town you gotta go to vegas or Utah, open one here youd be the only game in town