Purchasing a Videogame store: What would make you want to come to my place?

[quote name='rlse9']Look at the popularity of booth babes at the old E3. Look at the appearance of every female on G4TV. Look at the appearance of basically every female character in video games. I'm not saying it's right, but that's the society we live in. Not sure that it'd make much of a difference in sales, but I'd put money on the fact that a large percentage of teenage guys would happen to spend more time looking around in the store if an attractive female was working.[/quote]
hooters + video games :whistle2:k...:hot::drool:

that's actually a good idea, though not what he's planning. it'd work as a franchise, a retail gaming store with tightly-clad female workers. imagine that if through the training you could actually get them to know something about the product they're selling. I mean hooters waitresses have to memorize their menu...

you'd have to play it careful not to make whoever shops there not feel embarassed to be seen there... kindof like the way A&F only hires "beautiful" people to work in their stores, they're not in ridiculous orange-shorted costumes, but you can tell they didn't just hire the first five applicants.


sorry to get off topic. just really wanted to say good luck to the OP, I plan on opening a store later in my life with my future wife to handle the financial side while I handle the creative. If you ever need a marketing/advertising opinion, let me know - it's my profession. Don't underestimate the power of a strong brand image.
 
A place by my house does a cool thing for trades. with all used games you can trade in a game they dont have too many of on the shelf for any other used game and pay 7$. obviously it doesnt include top tier used games.
 
Thanks for the comments guys. Realistically, this is going to be a family friendly environment. Having it advertised as a T&A joint is not the best thing. I know, you all want to look at hot chicks. I honestly would see alot issues down the road with that especially with girls getting uncomfortable. Plus I have seen geeks hang around well average looking girls, and it is just kinda creepy.


BTW the booth babes is one of the reason E3 is dead. Also female gamers are very much on the rise and you have to create an environment that caters to both.


So, lets all get past the idea that I will be looking for qualifed people to work for me and not just looking at their chest. Heck, I like tits too but I think it is funny you keep bring it up over and over. Im pretty sure most those people begging for girls would be too scared to talk to them or even purchase something.
 
I agree with the tournaments suggestions. I remember back when Blockbuster used to have tournaments. I made 2nd place in one many many years ago. It would be fun to throw Madden tournaments, Halo tournaments, Soul Calibur tournaments, stuff like that. Give away a prize or two and you'll attract a lot of people.
 
[quote name='FaintDeftone']I agree with the tournaments suggestions. I remember back when Blockbuster used to have tournaments. I made 2nd place in one many many years ago. It would be fun to throw Madden tournaments, Halo tournaments, Soul Calibur tournaments, stuff like that. Give away a prize or two and you'll attract a lot of people.[/QUOTE]

Yeah typically you use a big prize like a console, handhelds or store credit. Like a popular one is a Nintendo Wii or even an Xbox Elite. You do charge for the event though to recover some cost that go into it. Mainly it is used as a marketing effort to bring awareness to the store and stand out against the competition.

Also, I have got a broker official so I am hoping to get the ball moving. I have spotted a location that looks golden at least to me. It is near People's Plaza. Next to a Starbucks and Cold Stone Creamery. It is not inside the plaza so Gamestop's exclusive agreement would not take effect. It is a nice location and less than a minute walking distance from the movie theater. So cross your fingers.
 
If possible make a "tournament area," like a couch with a flat screen on the wall (I know expensive, but its better than standing around). I think as far as setting you apart from most of the national chains, this might be a viable option.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Thanks for the comments guys. Realistically, this is going to be a family friendly environment. Having it advertised as a T&A joint is not the best thing. I know, you all want to look at hot chicks. I honestly would see alot issues down the road with that especially with girls getting uncomfortable. Plus I have seen geeks hang around well average looking girls, and it is just kinda creepy.


BTW the booth babes is one of the reason E3 is dead. Also female gamers are very much on the rise and you have to create an environment that caters to both.[/quote]

YES. THANK YOU. Just wanted to pipe up as a female gamer that I appreciate your attitude.
 
But dude, you could be the gaming equivalent of Hooters. If that's not a golden idea, I don't know what is.

Seriously, good luck.
 
[quote name='Oddball']YES. THANK YOU. Just wanted to pipe up as a female gamer that I appreciate your attitude.[/QUOTE]

Your welcome :)

Now take off your top!

LOL

BTW, some stores have asked about this possiblity. I won't do it mainly because it is not just one screen. You are running mulitple tvs and units. If it was one tv only, it would take a very long time.

Before this whole franchise stuff, my original idea was sort of a Barnes & Noble of videogaming. Nice chairs and that deal. That is just not in the plan right now. Maybe down the road, way way down the road. I will make a mega store and have it huge and epic. Selling everything from action figures, tvs, books and all that stuff.

So sorry, you have to stand... think of it as playing the arcade.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Yeah typically you use a big prize like a console, handhelds or store credit. Like a popular one is a Nintendo Wii or even an Xbox Elite. You do charge for the event though to recover some cost that go into it. Mainly it is used as a marketing effort to bring awareness to the store and stand out against the competition.

Also, I have got a broker official so I am hoping to get the ball moving. I have spotted a location that looks golden at least to me. It is near People's Plaza. Next to a Starbucks and Cold Stone Creamery. It is not inside the plaza so Gamestop's exclusive agreement would not take effect. It is a nice location and less than a minute walking distance from the movie theater. So cross your fingers.[/QUOTE]



I know EXACTLY where that is. Seems like a great spot. Good luck with it, let me know how that location turns out.
 
[quote name='Flyersfan']I know EXACTLY where that is. Seems like a great spot. Good luck with it, let me know how that location turns out.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I checked out the Gamestop in People's Plaza and it was really full but also all the game stations were off. Hmmm... why would a videogame store NOT want you to play videogames.

I think that is where the difference will be. Because most the people that do travel to that Gamestop from the movies either are going in before or after their show. Typically they just wonder around because there is nothing for them to do.

Having an area that will attract many gamers and non gamers will be very important. I am already thinking of the possibilities of advertising with the movie theater. Possibly bringing in your ticket stub for a $5 off coupon might be something worth it to many people.
 
They probably take the stands off because too many people crowd them or that store has a major problem with children hanging out unsupervised in the store and just playing the video games. This happens especially in the summer because parents send their kids out and expect them to be gone all day so they head to the local gamestop or EBgames and hang out all day. Unless the clerks throw them out... which is what happens here :)
 
Def. put up some type of console to play, whoever was talking about getting chicks to work or whatever is a dumb idea.

A points card system or some type of smalll reward is a great idea to get people to come back. I know I would.
 
Here is what I would want/expect from a video game store.

1. Selection and Prices- The reason I would go to your store is because I know I can find a variety of stuff, not just the most popular games there I would like a wide variety of games so if I walk in for X game, but see that you have Y game that I had my eye on but couldn't find anywhere for a reasonable price might get both. Also don't make prices too insane that I want to go somewhere else.

2. A staff that is friendly and smart- Ok I know the staff should not know everything there is, but they should be able to answer questions like whats a good rpg thats not pokemon or final fantasy, and have general knowledge of what games come out for what systems (as of newer releases at least). Also friendly staff that is not asking if you need help every 5 seconds.

3. Location- If I have to go out of my way to get there, I would be less likely to go unless I am looking for that one game I really want.

To sum it all up, make it kinda like EB games, but make it like the EB games you want to go to.
 
[quote name='Sir_Fragalot']Here is what I would want/expect from a video game store.

1. Selection and Prices- The reason I would go to your store is because I know I can find a variety of stuff, not just the most popular games there I would like a wide variety of games so if I walk in for X game, but see that you have Y game that I had my eye on but couldn't find anywhere for a reasonable price might get both. Also don't make prices too insane that I want to go somewhere else.

2. A staff that is friendly and smart- Ok I know the staff should not know everything there is, but they should be able to answer questions like whats a good rpg thats not pokemon or final fantasy, and have general knowledge of what games come out for what systems (as of newer releases at least). Also friendly staff that is not asking if you need help every 5 seconds.

3. Location- If I have to go out of my way to get there, I would be less likely to go unless I am looking for that one game I really want.

To sum it all up, make it kinda like EB games, but make it like the EB games you want to go to.[/QUOTE]


Thanks for the comments. Truthfully, I didn't see that much of a difference between EB and Gamestop when they were seperate. This is a radical change for both stores. I can also order the games I want to order. Again, pre-orders help with this because if there is interest in one game, then you might want to order more. Possibly having a discount on pre-ordered games is an idea. Mainly because you know that people will come in to buy these games. That will give you leverage in ordering.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Thanks, I checked out the Gamestop in People's Plaza and it was really full but also all the game stations were off. Hmmm... why would a videogame store NOT want you to play videogames.

I think that is where the difference will be. Because most the people that do travel to that Gamestop from the movies either are going in before or after their show. Typically they just wonder around because there is nothing for them to do.

Having an area that will attract many gamers and non gamers will be very important. I am already thinking of the possibilities of advertising with the movie theater. Possibly bringing in your ticket stub for a $5 off coupon might be something worth it to many people.[/QUOTE]



Ha, I just did that last weekend. I had my nephew with me for the day so I figured we'd go see a movie. We had some time to kill for the movie to start, so I took him over to that gamestop to play some games (as most kids want to do when they go into a gamestore, plus I won't have to spend anything like I would at the games in the theater). We get there, he can't play any of them. I'm kinda pissed that he can't play any, he's kinda pissed as well. So he spent his time looking at the back of the game cases until I decided we should leave.


If you get that store, I'd try to see if you could do anything with the theater as you said. You'd get some good traffic in. If you can't do anything with the theater, you still have about 60 some odd stores you could work something out with. Hope all goes well in trying to get it.


Do you have a plan set up to work with the Middletown store in any way, or not since it's franchised? Every once in a while when I go into Gamestop in the mall I hear the employees ask each other to call Price Corner or Gov. Square to get more PS3's, 360's, etc. Just wondering.
 
[quote name='Flyersfan']Ha, I just did that last weekend. I had my nephew with me for the day so I figured we'd go see a movie. We had some time to kill for the movie to start, so I took him over to that gamestop to play some games (as most kids want to do when they go into a gamestore, plus I won't have to spend anything like I would at the games in the theater). We get there, he can't play any of them. I'm kinda pissed that he can't play any, he's kinda pissed as well. So he spent his time looking at the back of the game cases until I decided we should leave.


If you get that store, I'd try to see if you could do anything with the theater as you said. You'd get some good traffic in. If you can't do anything with the theater, you still have about 60 some odd stores you could work something out with. Hope all goes well in trying to get it.


Do you have a plan set up to work with the Middletown store in any way, or not since it's franchised? Every once in a while when I go into Gamestop in the mall I hear the employees ask each other to call Price Corner or Gov. Square to get more PS3's, 360's, etc. Just wondering.[/QUOTE]

It is a possibility s far as inventory is in mind. We would basically have to buy it at cost but as a customer service issue, I don't see why not. Consoles may be one thing because you don't make any money on the console but it is used to sell other things.

The truth is that Gamestop's target is not children, instead it is the older male gamer. Typically you are talking about those males from 16 - 40. They don't see the potential in getting a customer for life instead waiting till they are old enough to buy the games themselves.
 
The Middletown store will be holding a Madden Tournament this Sunday. I think the grand prize is $100. Here is the info...

Madden 2008 Tournament
Are you ready for some football!!!

Sunday, 8/26/2007
1:00 p.m.

Winning prize - $100 store credit

$5.00 entry fee if paid by 8/25/07..........$10 entry fee day of tournament

Limited to 32 players - - sign up today!

Don't know what the current count is signed up.

I also will be sorta interning there Friday & Saturday during my free time a little. Using it as instore training to save me a few grand on going back to Cali.
 
I have a suggestion that may be less of a draw, but more of a nice feature in a game store. Since it looks like you have quite a few kiosks, how about letting customers try out used games before they buy? Keep the consoles locked up as usual, but if a customer wants to try out a game he can ask and you could let him play it for a while to see what he thinks. Just a suggestion. Good luck with the new business!
 
[quote name='JC Monkeyballs']I have a suggestion that may be less of a draw, but more of a nice feature in a game store. Since it looks like you have quite a few kiosks, how about letting customers try out used games before they buy? Keep the consoles locked up as usual, but if a customer wants to try out a game he can ask and you could let him play it for a while to see what he thinks. Just a suggestion. Good luck with the new business![/QUOTE]


I know its like reading a novel, but thats been mentioned before.

You can try ANY game before you buy, even new games. It is part of customer service and to make sure you know the game you are buying. Quality and content wise. This is for all systems. Currently the only way to try portable games is to have a demo unit for that, possibly used. Would have to take collateral for that like a driver's license.

Thanks for the comment though.
 
My wife and I have considered opening a game/knitting store. That way I could drool over boxes and she could feel up yarn happily for hours...
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']The Middletown store will be holding a Madden Tournament this Sunday. I think the grand prize is $100. Here is the info...

Madden 2008 Tournament
Are you ready for some football!!!

Sunday, 8/26/2007
1:00 p.m.

Winning prize - $100 store credit

$5.00 entry fee if paid by 8/25/07..........$10 entry fee day of tournament

Limited to 32 players - - sign up today!

Don't know what the current count is signed up.

I also will be sorta interning there Friday & Saturday during my free time a little. Using it as instore training to save me a few grand on going back to Cali.[/QUOTE]




Damn, I can't make that.


I'm guessing it would be on the 360 though?


How's the location you wanted coming along? Any progress?



This isn't really a suggestion for the store, just a question. What's the punishment for breaking street dates on games? I was in NYC yesterday and saw the Toys R Us in Times Square and that reminded me about how some TRU's broke the street date for Bioshock.
 
Its not so much an illegal thing, but you can get finned or sued by the publisher or vendor. They could also hold off shipments or restrict product or choose to not allow it period. They don't want to do that because say you leak Halo 3... that means Microsoft won't send you enough Microsoft products or choose to not send you any period. Typically if that happens, the store will pay a fine to make the publisher happy.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Its not so much an illegal thing, but you can get finned or sued by the publisher or vendor. They could also hold off shipments or restrict product or choose to not allow it period. They don't want to do that because say you leak Halo 3... that means Microsoft won't send you enough Microsoft products or choose to not send you any period. Typically if that happens, the store will pay a fine to make the publisher happy.[/QUOTE]
What sucks is that the big retailers, especially Wal-Mart, do this all the time. With little stores, such as yours, MS would punish you. But with Wal-Mart? They break street date on things all the time, while the little locally owned stores (who can't sell it as cheap anyway) suffer.

Sorry, I'm not normally a raving anti-Wal-Mart person, but that is one practice of theirs that annoys me.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']I know its like reading a novel, but thats been mentioned before.

You can try ANY game before you buy, even new games. It is part of customer service and to make sure you know the game you are buying. Quality and content wise. This is for all systems. Currently the only way to try portable games is to have a demo unit for that, possibly used. Would have to take collateral for that like a driver's license.

Thanks for the comment though.[/quote]

I thought about editing with the "I'm not reading this entire thread" disclaimer, but ended up not doing it. Good to hear though - it's a great service. Good luck with the store!
 
[quote name='JC Monkeyballs']I thought about editing with the "I'm not reading this entire thread" disclaimer, but ended up not doing it. Good to hear though - it's a great service. Good luck with the store![/QUOTE]

Thanks for the comments.

Also alot of the time, they basically demand someone be fired. Similar how you saw with the leak of the PS3 and the guy was fired by Circuit City. They will pay 2K, TakeTwo and whoever a large chunk of money.
 
Your store looks kick ass. Anyway heres some ideas.

1. Dont hire assholes like eb/gamestop.

2. Dont have retarded policy's like only being able to purchase one copy of each game. Some gamestops do this.

3. If you have a feeling a game is not going to be good, only buy a few copies. You don't want to be stuck with a bunch of new games nobody wants (Remember you can always buy more).

4. Have a long time member pogram. Start them off with getting a 10% discount just like gamestop, then increase that by 5% a year. Eventually have a cut off point like 30-40%. It will make customers want to stick with you.

5. I've heard of some places doing this before, but have tournaments every 2 weeks. The champion team gets to use the store as a meeting place/practice area. If you have a good team then sponsor them and send them to a tourney (pay for entrance fee, not travel or hotel).

6. Give them more credit for trade in then your competitors.

7. Have helpful employes that know video games, everyone likes good service.

8. If you have pre-orders make sure you have enough copies. Gamestop is great at pissing people off by not fulfilling all their pre-orders.

9. Have new releases playable on the floor as soon as possible so people can see if they want to buy it (i wasn't sure how i should have worded this).
 
I have just read through all of this and all I can say is good luck.

I thought of something about the tourneys you will be holding. If a person pays the entry fee to get in they could get a coupon like "10% off any accesory" or something like that. And if they comeback enough they get a extra discount like "20% off any used or new ____ game". An idea to get people returning to the store or getting word of mouth advertising.
 
[quote name='P.I.Staker']Your store looks kick ass. Anyway heres some ideas.

1. Dont hire assholes like eb/gamestop.

2. Dont have retarded policy's like only being able to purchase one copy of each game. Some gamestops do this.

3. If you have a feeling a game is not going to be good, only buy a few copies. You don't want to be stuck with a bunch of new games nobody wants (Remember you can always buy more).

4. Have a long time member pogram. Start them off with getting a 10% discount just like gamestop, then increase that by 5% a year. Eventually have a cut off point like 30-40%. It will make customers want to stick with you.

5. I've heard of some places doing this before, but have tournaments every 2 weeks. The champion team gets to use the store as a meeting place/practice area. If you have a good team then sponsor them and send them to a tourney (pay for entrance fee, not travel or hotel).

6. Give them more credit for trade in then your competitors.

7. Have helpful employes that know video games, everyone likes good service.

8. If you have pre-orders make sure you have enough copies. Gamestop is great at pissing people off by not fulfilling all their pre-orders.

9. Have new releases playable on the floor as soon as possible so people can see if they want to buy it (i wasn't sure how i should have worded this).[/QUOTE]

1. I have been considered an asshole myself but i know what you mean. Customer service comes first.

2. I have not heard of this before and I do understand limiting quanities say for a big title because you might have someone buy all 10. Sometimes people may be buying it for their dorm room or friends. In that case would be best to pre-order or just ask so we could order extra copies for that purpose.

3. Yeah, ordering is an issue with all stores. I say you want to have a variety of games because it gives a nice balance. Imagine if the only thing in stock was just games that sold well... where will some classics be and where would people go to get them?

4. There is a discount program that is simialr to Gamestops but stores can change it and add special offers. I would rather do special coupons or savings for those members instead of just a straight discount all the time.

5. There are monthly tournaments and you can do more than that. Really they are used for marketing and advertising to bring people into the store. It is possible that corp may sponser a team down the road, but I don't see a store doing that right now.

6. We do give more credit and games are already priced better. So that is double savings.

7. Again customer service is key but so is product knowlegde. I will be informing all employes about news in the industry.

8. The problem with preorders alot of the time is you have to put your order in weeks in advance so you have to estimate. You may get 40 people come in the week before launch wanting to pre-order. They see dollar signs. You can just inform them that you cannot do a pre-order but you will order more copies and those can be reserved.

9. Again, you can try before you buy. I do agree having the latest and greatest in the consoles will be a plus. It allows customers to really get a feel for the game and might make or break a purchase.

Also, didn't so much intern as I thought. I did help him with the POS system. Hopefully I can talk to him more about learning more details and might be better early in the morning when it is not busy.

Making a swag bag with coupons and other stuff will be key. Would bring people back because sometimes a coupon is considered free money to people.
 
i have a play and trade by where i live in georgia... I'm all for mom and pop shops, but i really hope that all the stores arn't the same because our play and trade is next to worthless besides their most excellent disk doctor.... I find that they have used game prices either at or above eb prices. I never tried to trade anything in w/ them because of this (also i tend to ebay stuff anyway because B&M prices suck so bad). The layout of the one by me is nice though and they sell a few odd things... for instance a console that plays both NES and SNES games (obviously china knockoff.. but where else will you find that).

If they do mandate your pricing well, like i said, my play and trade is on average 3-5 dollars more expensive per used game than gs/eb.
 
Pricing is determined by store owner so I can't speak for them. Typically for new games they are around $59.79 so it is cheaper ala Wal-Mart Style. Used prices can vary to a few buck cheaper to $5 off what Gamestop sells so like I was very tempted to buy Overlord at $49.79 when the new price is $59.99.

Corporate gives suggested pricing through the POS, owners can choose to go by that or not.

BTW, the tournament did go off pretty successfully and I am sure was more of a learninging experience if anything. They had around 11 people show up and started it at 1pm. 5 Min quarters made the game last very long. I would have prob done 2 minute quarters for the first round and added a minute for each bracket so that the last game could be a little longer.

Mainly because there were some blowouts like 76 to 3 and 55 to 0... so it was watching someone get detsroyed. I thought it was funny that this kid one his match and went to shake the other kids hand and the kid like was suprised. I think that making a sportsmanship rule would be soemthign I would do. Shake the persons hand and thank them for playing.

T-shirts were given to losers but there was no second place prize. He now knows that he should plan these tournaments months in ahead to generate buzz.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Pricing is determined by store owner so I can't speak for them. Typically for new games they are around $59.79 so it is cheaper ala Wal-Mart Style. Used prices can vary to a few buck cheaper to $5 off what Gamestop sells so like I was very tempted to buy Overlord at $49.79 when the new price is $59.99.

Corporate gives suggested pricing through the POS, owners can choose to go by that or not.

BTW, the tournament did go off pretty successfully and I am sure was more of a learninging experience if anything. They had around 11 people show up and started it at 1pm. 5 Min quarters made the game last very long. I would have prob done 2 minute quarters for the first round and added a minute for each bracket so that the last game could be a little longer.

Mainly because there were some blowouts like 76 to 3 and 55 to 0... so it was watching someone get detsroyed. I thought it was funny that this kid one his match and went to shake the other kids hand and the kid like was suprised. I think that making a sportsmanship rule would be soemthign I would do. Shake the persons hand and thank them for playing.

T-shirts were given to losers but there was no second place prize. He now knows that he should plan these tournaments months in ahead to generate buzz.[/QUOTE]


Yeah I would've gone if I knew about it earlier. Had something else to do Sunday. Don't know about the 5 min quarters though, as you said.
 
Yeah it just ran a tad too long and even though they had only a few people, making them just sit. People had to wait a long time and I stayed a few hours and it still wasn't done. At a half hour each game, it just takes a long time.

They also ran it on 4 machines, with each person getting their own tv. I know there is an advantage with this but I wonder if the Madden Challenge just uses 2 players for one tv. That would have made the tournament much faster and half the time. Running 4 games at once instead of 2.

Anyone know the madden challenge rules?
 
I hope you haven’t paid your franchise fees yet – game changing news for you – GS/EB may be going franchise. Some of the posts below talked about the huge risks of going up against Game Stop and EB’s deep pockets and huge cost advantages (from buying games for 5K stores). I just got word on another post of a franchise opportunity board GS/EB might be starting to sell franchises http://www.franchisepundit.com/forums/index.php/topic,177.msg1341.html#new
. If that’s true, I’d definitely avoid sinking my own money into a new competitor because a GS/EB franchise would remove the issue of the competitive beating and I’d think it would give you access to their lower cost on new games and a way to stock their massive used selection.
 
[quote name='adamf']I hope you haven’t paid your franchise fees yet – game changing news for you – GS/EB may be going franchise. Some of the posts below talked about the huge risks of going up against Game Stop and EB’s deep pockets and huge cost advantages (from buying games for 5K stores). I just got word on another post of a franchise opportunity board GS/EB might be starting to sell franchises http://www.franchisepundit.com/forums/index.php/topic,177.msg1341.html#new
. If that’s true, I’d definitely avoid sinking my own money into a new competitor because a GS/EB franchise would remove the issue of the competitive beating and I’d think it would give you access to their lower cost on new games and a way to stock their massive used selection.[/QUOTE]

No offense but I don't honestly care. In reality you pointed me to another message board with someone speculating with rumors from someone else and both cases it was someone with one post each.

You cannot be afraid of competition and it will only be better for the industry and the customer. Play N Trade is a different type of store and for Gamestop to push the services we offer it would cost them a ton. They will continue to use their own business model.

As far as ordering and getting in product, everyone faces that. The vendors work hard but it is the same case with Gamestop. Problem is that many times, Gamestop will only order those games that are preordered.

The reason is that it is a clear way for them to manage inventory. Another reason is that they WANT people to preorder a game even if they may not have enough when it releases. I am sure you have had that case where you go in and it is "sorry, you should have pre-ordered". So then next time, your likely to preorder the game.

There are also talk from Gamestop itself of testing $10 preorders on select games and in select markets. The reason for this is that it gives them more cash on hand for that product. Another reason that there is the rare case where someone may have preordered a game and never comes in to get it. That doubles their profit for that reserve.

Gamestop is at a turning point and there is talk of rebranding the entire company. This could be as simple as a new slogan or possible a new logo. We will have to wait and see but you can't be scared when you go into a business.
 
Anyone remember Microplay?

A good friend of mine's dad bought opened one of those in St. Louis back in 1993 or 1994, back in the last days of the SNES and the beginning of the saturn and PSX. They had mortal kombat trilogy, Killer Instinct and Battle Areana Toshinden tournaments. It was a really cool place to hang out and try new games. I got my used 3DO from there(Road Rash and Way of the Warrior, baby!), and remember first seeing the Sega Saturn there.

The small margin and huge competition when Blockbuster started getting into renting games put them out of business before the playstation 2 was released.

Good Luck with your store, I hope everything works out for you.
 
[quote name='hufferstl']Anyone remember Microplay?

A good friend of mine's dad bought opened one of those in St. Louis back in 1993 or 1994, back in the last days of the SNES and the beginning of the saturn and PSX. They had mortal kombat trilogy, Killer Instinct and Battle Areana Toshinden tournaments. It was a really cool place to hang out and try new games. I got my used 3DO from there(Road Rash and Way of the Warrior, baby!), and remember first seeing the Sega Saturn there.

The small margin and huge competition when Blockbuster started getting into renting games put them out of business before the playstation 2 was released.

Good Luck with your store, I hope everything works out for you.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, again I think the main difference is customer service which the industry does not have. Typically if you go to buy a videogame in a big box store it might be caged up and they have no idea about it. But I do remember Microplay, not exactly the best store, it was basically Gamestop/EB lite. Didn't have a huge selection and just seemed sort of barebones.

Thanks again for the well wishings. BTW i think the post above is just fishy and i call NARC!

LOL
 
Little update, I reviewed the location and it looks very awesome. We have to submit some paper work to PNT for their approval before we can really work on the lease. Everything is looking really good right now. It is also alot larger than most videogame stores, it is basically double the size of a Gamestop. I want the extra space for more merchandise and tournaments. I think in the long run it will benefit me and will keep that seperation between what my store is and Gamestop is.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']I will be getting my own self-owned videogame store later this year. It competes against Gamestop, EB Games and various other stores. They do have a certain ideas to attract gamers like monthly tournaments and allowing you to try a game before you buy policy.

What are some of your other ideas and things you hate about the other guys? Would take all ideas and input. I have my own ideas like possibly free silly tournaments like "Worst Game Ever" or "NES Classic" like a duck hunt tournament. Maybe a Virtual Console tournament.

SO, whatcha think?[/QUOTE]

the contests and so on arent bad ideas, but i think having good sales promotions will get you more customer.

I would suggest trying some sort of permanant promotion with Wii points cards, buy 3 used Wii games get a 1500 points card, buy 5 wii games, get a 5000 points card. You can afford to give the freebies out since you would be making loads of $$$ on the used games sales. you wont make any money on new games, your bread and butter will be selling the used games. YOu will make less than $5 selling a new $60 game, but used games you can make loads because people trade their games in for not much $$$.


but realistically if you want new business, have consistently cheaper prices on used video games, cheaper than EB/GS/GC and so on, then and better trade in credits.. That should not be too much of a problem since GS/EB consistently buys games for $3, and then puts them on the shelf for $30. So if you buy a game for $3, sell it for under $20, or whatnot.

As for getting the word out, well if you have a mall store, then you will get a lot of foot traffic. Having specific sales "sunday madness sale, BOGO on used ps3 games on that day" or "buy one used xbox1 game get one free". Make big signs out front, to draw in people foot traffic. The contests arent a bad idea i guess, gamecrazy does that sometime, but really that wont bring in much new business, that would just get the repeat customers to come back, which isnt a terrible idea but when you are starting out you will need to get people in the door.

If you are not in a mall store, that makes things a bit more difficult. Location is key, if you have a location, near a high school for example,, you are gold. If your location sucks, then you are hosed.

I didnt read the entire thread, most of these ideas are mentioned already. But like i said, you ought to have some sort of incentive for people to buy used games.

edit
****Oh i just thought of this:
In the first few months you may have to operate at a loss with doorbusters just to get people in the door. Remember the mad mad sales that gamerush had when it first started up? it got people in the door. The problem with GR is that people were abusing the deals like crazy, buying a game for $30 and trading it for $40 and so on, building up hundreds if not thousands of $$$ in credit by abusing the doorbuster promotions. I have no idea how to prevent that sort of thing. Just dont make the sales too good to be true.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Thanks for the comments. Here are a couple of things...

1. The store layout has kiosk for every console, these are I believe 27" Widescreen HD LCD TVs. This includes Dreamcast, SNES, N64 and others as well as the Next Gen Consoles.[/quote]

I think this is inviting disaster and begging to have your store robbed. If you are in a city, a rural area in middle america without much of an element of crime, that is one thing, but if you are in any kind of city, then this is a terrible idea. Have the TVs for xbox360, ps3, Wii and that is it. If you have 7 or 8 HD tvs that will is overkill, and frivilous as well as begging to be knocked over(robbed).

I hate to say it, but I dont think you will make much money at all on the DC, SNES and other vintage games. That will just take up valuable space.

2. The pricing is by the store owner but typically the POS system does give better prices than the other stores. As a new store I can't really give much more than the other stores. I mean thats how you make the money.
Click to expand...

Initially i think you will have to give more money than GS/EB just to get people in the door. If you want any kind of customer base, then that will certainly help you get off the ground.

4. Don't really know whatcha meant buy "gutting" games. Please explain.
Click to expand...

I will assume this has already been addressed, but i will say that only taking complete copies of a game is a good idea. Get a resurfacing machine for scratched up discs. The newer machines are better, and you cannot see a difference between a new game and a resurfaced one . Dont accept disc only former rentals that no sane shopper will want to buy)

I guess you could probably make color copies of the for the disc covers, but i think that may be violating the copyright on the back of the cover. To avoid legal trouble dont make copies of the covers, so only take complete copies of a game as trade ins.

Tournaments are run once a month at least. I can do it more. Typical fee is $5 per a person. Reason for the fee is well, to get people to the store.
Click to expand...

having a $5 fee will not get people to come to your store, it will do just the opposite, especially if you are just starting out. Maybe make it so that they have to buy a used game, and that gets them a ticket to the contest. That makes much more sense IMO.

Some profit but also used for prizes, food and buying games or consoles for the tournament.
Click to expand...

Having food and drinks in a game store is a very very bad idea. Kids will make a mess, spill a ton of shit on your games, shelves, and floor. Food will get on their hands, get on the controllers from the tourney, and on the game cases in the store.

I could do free tournamnets just for fun or maybe an event ala retro games.
Click to expand...

I dont think you should bother with the retro games at all, i hate to say it, but there just isnt a market for it. Maybe if you had a Wii tournament with some of the better retro games, that might work much better.

7. I would like a free card for customers to gain promotions. It really depends on profit. Giving potential free money is easy but it really depends on how people use it. I personally will not do cash trade ins. It is not a pawn shop. But that is just me.
Click to expand...

if you do not do cash trade ins, i am guessing that will hurt you. Even if it is just a trade in for credit, they will have to sign a pawn ticket. So if you are going to sell used product, you are a pawn shop even if you are not giving cash.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Little update, I reviewed the location and it looks very awesome. We have to submit some paper work to PNT for their approval before we can really work on the lease. Everything is looking really good right now. It is also alot larger than most videogame stores, it is basically double the size of a Gamestop. I want the extra space for more merchandise and tournaments. I think in the long run it will benefit me and will keep that seperation between what my store is and Gamestop is.[/QUOTE]

I still dont understand why you think the tournaments are a great idea, having good sales promotions on used games is the best bet to bring in business.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Little update, I reviewed the location and it looks very awesome. We have to submit some paper work to PNT for their approval before we can really work on the lease. Everything is looking really good right now. It is also alot larger than most videogame stores, it is basically double the size of a Gamestop. I want the extra space for more merchandise and tournaments. I think in the long run it will benefit me and will keep that seperation between what my store is and Gamestop is.[/QUOTE]



Congrats, let me know how it works out, PM me or something. Still looking for a job here. I live pretty damn close to Peoples Plaza if thats still the location you're talking about. I'd like to say I know my fare share of gaming info, even though I really only check up here on CAG for that.
 
[quote name='dracula']I still dont understand why you think the tournaments are a great idea, having good sales promotions on used games is the best bet to bring in business.[/QUOTE]

LOL you are a very negative person!

Thanks for your concerns but I do know what I am doing and it is a proven franchise. The reason that you may think "why?" is what will make us different then the competition.

The LCD tvs ad a new look to the same old store. It attracts customers in and also allows the ability to have customers preview games before they buy them. That is a huge draw for hardcore gamers and parents. You get to check quality and content.

The LCD tvs are mounted and I havn't heard of anything about someone tryign to steal them yet. It would be pretty hard to take them, they would rather go after cash and to a HUGE heist or something instead of ripping a tv off the wall. I know your just thinking about the bad points.

The retro games is basically there is a huge market for these games that you don't relize. Also we do sell machines that play them and it is actually one of the few consoles that you make money with.

In addition the whole style is for the growing gamer, the ones that are getting older and ones that might already be old. They may have an old stash or they may want to rebuild the collection they once had. Not every game can be downloaded on the Wii or XBL or PSN.

Tournaments are used as a marketing tool for the store and to seperate ourselves from the competition. They don't do it, we do. It is to spread the word for the store and get people interested and bring in new customers. Typically someone is not going to show up alone, they will bring someone or tell other people because they may play with their friends. It is for fun and again, not really ment to make a ton of money or any, but to get customers to come back.

Repeate customers are never a bad thing btw.

I am not sure what the markup on Wii point cards or XBL point cards, I doubt there is much. Again, pricing is something that the competition can always match, we will be lower but I have to think about being profitable. I can't sell Bioshock for $10 becuase it would bring a ton of people in. I do know that a perfect world all the prices would be as bare bones as possible, but I would actually like to be successful.

We will do cash or credit, but cash will be discounted matching Gamestop.

I have never heard of any publisher filing a lawsuit for reprinting a cover for a game to sell. You do take in incomplete games but offer less for it and in tern you give it at a better price to the customer. For the majority of videogame players, it really doesn't matter.

Thanks for your comments and concerns. Hope you relize that this is something to change the industry and not just continue it. Hopefully you can also relize some of the pros in addtion to the cons.
 
[quote name='dracula']I still dont understand why you think the tournaments are a great idea, having good sales promotions on used games is the best bet to bring in business.[/QUOTE]



For what it's worth, I live close to where he is planning to open the store. He's opening pretty close to a big college campus here. The only stores I even know about here are EB/gamestop. Hell, just at my college lunch yesterday I heard 20 kids that haven't seen each other in a while excited as hell for Halo 3. They kept saying "September 25th!" to each other. I've never played a tournament in a store, because, well, EB and gamestop haven't offered them here. They might've done Madden but I never went to a midnight launch.


What I'm trying to say is, if I haven't really played a store tournament, I doubt many of these college/high school kids did as well in this area. I'd try it out for one or two tournaments, and see if there is any demand for it at all. You just have to prepare well enough for it. They can be great to bring in people to the store, to meet each other, and try to see who is really good at the game in this area. I'd love to someday play in a Madden tournament here with a big crowd just to see who is the best of the people who came out to play.

And with how gaming is gearing up online these days, it wouldn't hurt to meet a few good people at Madden or Halo or any other game to play with. Exchange gamertags, ID's, etc.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']LOL you are a very negative person!

Thanks for your concerns but I do know what I am doing and it is a proven franchise. The reason that you may think "why?" is what will make us different then the competition.

The LCD tvs ad a new look to the same old store. It attracts customers in and also allows the ability to have customers preview games before they buy them. That is a huge draw for hardcore gamers and parents. You get to check quality and content.

The LCD tvs are mounted and I havn't heard of anything about someone tryign to steal them yet. It would be pretty hard to take them, they would rather go after cash and to a HUGE heist or something instead of ripping a tv off the wall. I know your just thinking about the bad points.

The retro games is basically there is a huge market for these games that you don't relize. Also we do sell machines that play them and it is actually one of the few consoles that you make money with.

In addition the whole style is for the growing gamer, the ones that are getting older and ones that might already be old. They may have an old stash or they may want to rebuild the collection they once had. Not every game can be downloaded on the Wii or XBL or PSN.

Tournaments are used as a marketing tool for the store and to seperate ourselves from the competition. They don't do it, we do. It is to spread the word for the store and get people interested and bring in new customers. Typically someone is not going to show up alone, they will bring someone or tell other people because they may play with their friends. It is for fun and again, not really ment to make a ton of money or any, but to get customers to come back.

Repeate customers are never a bad thing btw.

I am not sure what the markup on Wii point cards or XBL point cards, I doubt there is much. Again, pricing is something that the competition can always match, we will be lower but I have to think about being profitable. I can't sell Bioshock for $10 becuase it would bring a ton of people in. I do know that a perfect world all the prices would be as bare bones as possible, but I would actually like to be successful.

We will do cash or credit, but cash will be discounted matching Gamestop.

I have never heard of any publisher filing a lawsuit for reprinting a cover for a game to sell. You do take in incomplete games but offer less for it and in tern you give it at a better price to the customer. For the majority of videogame players, it really doesn't matter.

Thanks for your comments and concerns. Hope you relize that this is something to change the industry and not just continue it. Hopefully you can also relize some of the pros in addtion to the cons.[/quote]
Gift cards are also a must.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']LOL you are a very negative person!

Thanks for your concerns but I do know what I am doing and it is a proven franchise. The reason that you may think "why?" is what will make us different then the competition.

The LCD tvs ad a new look to the same old store. It attracts customers in and also allows the ability to have customers preview games before they buy them. That is a huge draw for hardcore gamers and parents. You get to check quality and content.

The LCD tvs are mounted and I havn't heard of anything about someone tryign to steal them yet. It would be pretty hard to take them, they would rather go after cash and to a HUGE heist or something instead of ripping a tv off the wall. I know your just thinking about the bad points.

The retro games is basically there is a huge market for these games that you don't relize. Also we do sell machines that play them and it is actually one of the few consoles that you make money with.

In addition the whole style is for the growing gamer, the ones that are getting older and ones that might already be old. They may have an old stash or they may want to rebuild the collection they once had. Not every game can be downloaded on the Wii or XBL or PSN.

Tournaments are used as a marketing tool for the store and to seperate ourselves from the competition. They don't do it, we do. It is to spread the word for the store and get people interested and bring in new customers. Typically someone is not going to show up alone, they will bring someone or tell other people because they may play with their friends. It is for fun and again, not really ment to make a ton of money or any, but to get customers to come back.

Repeate customers are never a bad thing btw.

I am not sure what the markup on Wii point cards or XBL point cards, I doubt there is much. Again, pricing is something that the competition can always match, we will be lower but I have to think about being profitable. I can't sell Bioshock for $10 becuase it would bring a ton of people in. I do know that a perfect world all the prices would be as bare bones as possible, but I would actually like to be successful.

We will do cash or credit, but cash will be discounted matching Gamestop.

I have never heard of any publisher filing a lawsuit for reprinting a cover for a game to sell. You do take in incomplete games but offer less for it and in tern you give it at a better price to the customer. For the majority of videogame players, it really doesn't matter.

Thanks for your comments and concerns. Hope you relize that this is something to change the industry and not just continue it. Hopefully you can also relize some of the pros in addtion to the cons.[/QUOTE]



Along those lines, are you going to have them hooked up online at all, or is that not possible? It would be great to maybe someday have an XBLA tournament or some Wii Virtual Console tournament. Maybe you could even show people what online games are all about. I'm probably thinking too far ahead of myself, I dunno.
 
[quote name='Flyersfan']Congrats, let me know how it works out, PM me or something. Still looking for a job here. I live pretty damn close to Peoples Plaza if thats still the location you're talking about. I'd like to say I know my fare share of gaming info, even though I really only check up here on CAG for that.[/QUOTE]

Do you have big tits? ROFL
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Do you have big tits? ROFL[/QUOTE]



DD. Tight ass, big lips, long blonde hair. I can also put my legs behind my head for maximum pleasure. I could bring in some big bucks for you if you let me offer my services in the back room. I'd let you be my pimp.
 
[quote name='Flyersfan']DD. Tight ass, big lips, long blonde hair. I can also put my legs behind my head for maximum pleasure. I could bring in some big bucks for you if you let me offer my services in the back room. I'd let you be my pimp.[/QUOTE]

I heard it ain't easy.

BTW I still need a website eventually. Here is one that has a similar design or layout that I like...

http://gamernode.com/
 
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