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

your store sounds awesome. good luck. you should try expanding somewhere in westchester, ny where the property isn't extremely expensive and there are tons of spoiled kids who buy games at full price (you'd be amazed looking at BB and EB).where else style and trendiness (which your store has going for you) makes a huge difference.
 
[quote name='nuttyturnip']I went to a PNT in Asheville, NC over Thanksgiving, and I wasn't impressed. The prices on used games were crazy, and although new games were a few dollars less than other stores, they didn't have much to chose from. The store itself was very small, and I don't recall that they had any kiosks set up.

One of these days I want to check out one of the PNTs in Maryland, since I've heard good things about the chain.

My question (without paging through 28 pages) is how much does it cost to start a PNT franchise? I make a decent wage working for the federal government, but my dream job would be running a video game store. I've wondered about PNT as a possibility, but I have no idea if I have the capital necessary to invest.[/QUOTE]

The initial investment differs because different areas and such but I would say, you would need around $160,000 but I would recommend a Small Business Loan. If you have a SCORE office, they can help you with questions about that. Family and friends help and there is no way I could have done this without my parents' help.

As far as franchises go, it is far less then what you may think like a Subway.

If you PM me your information, I can put you incontact with people that can help you out.
 
[quote name='Tirade']Not sure if this was asked or not.. there is a PnT set to open in Huntsville, AL (Hampton Cove) soon. Do you have a date on that? I see the store is there, just not sure when it opens. I havent driven by it in 2 weeks so no idea if anything has changed,[/QUOTE]

I emailed the owner so hopefully I will have an answer for you soon. Glad your interested.
 
I think tournaments and such are a waste of time and get in the way of the customer.

Also when your allowing customers to come in and play for free your letting them try out a game they might buy from you so they may decide they dont like it.

Id say something I havent seen is a card where if you buy so many used games you get any used game free even a newer more exspensive one...that kind of thing would apeal to gamers without risking them hanging around in the way of a mom and dad buying a game for there son.

And last have a 5% off card anyone that comes in gives there myspace addy with proof of a banner promoting ur store gets one of these cards free for a year. They wouldnt have to even have a name on it just like a coupon.
The employee could look up the myspace page quickly as the customer checks out requesting there card.
 
[quote name='Skelah']I think tournaments and such are a waste of time and get in the way of the customer.

Also when your allowing customers to come in and play for free your letting them try out a game they might buy from you so they may decide they dont like it.

Id say something I havent seen is a card where if you buy so many used games you get any used game free even a newer more exspensive one...that kind of thing would apeal to gamers without risking them hanging around in the way of a mom and dad buying a game for there son.

And last have a 5% off card anyone that comes in gives there myspace addy with proof of a banner promoting ur store gets one of these cards free for a year. They wouldnt have to even have a name on it just like a coupon.
The employee could look up the myspace page quickly as the customer checks out requesting there card.[/QUOTE]

I completely disagree. There has been alot lost with playing with actual people and not just on xbox live or online. Seeing the person's face when you destroy them or talking smack inches away. We are starting to see that again with the Wii and Guitar Hero and Rock Band where people are actually getting together. I also believe it builds a gaming community and is a good way to then make more friends or trade your xbox live name so you can play online too. It just adds to the experience sadly missing since the death of the arcades.

Also with the try before you buy, what is wrong with making sure a customer gets what he wants? Sure he may find he doesn't like that game, but may find a game that he does enjoy. You can't do that anywhere else.

As far as a getting a free game card, we do have the 10.10.10 program and that saves you an additional 10%... so if you were to buy a game at the same price 10 times, it would be like getting the game for free anyway. It is possible that we might do something like a pre-order bonus.

The whole myspace thing, it is ok but not a lock as far as how long that would last. I will mainly be using it to promote offers and special events. They are free to join us if they wish.
 
I was looking again at a spot just north of the PA/DE state line in Glen Mills, PA. Seemed pretty nice but we will see, I really did have my heart set out on opening a store in Delaware though. Hopefully I hear some good news next week at the mall.
 
[quote name='Tirade']Not sure if this was asked or not.. there is a PnT set to open in Huntsville, AL (Hampton Cove) soon. Do you have a date on that? I see the store is there, just not sure when it opens. I havent driven by it in 2 weeks so no idea if anything has changed,[/QUOTE]

The owner is hoping to open this Saturday, so might want to check it out this weekend. Hope that helps
 
Thanks for pointing me to this thread, and good to hear there are more PnTs opening up around the country.

Like I said in the other thread, I work at one of the Cary, NC stores and have enjoyed our first five 1/2 weeks of business.

I believe the store I work at looks almost identical to your own, though your store seems a bit darker. (looks cool btw)
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']The owner is hoping to open this Saturday, so might want to check it out this weekend. Hope that helps[/quote]

That is GREAT news. Maybe there will be some opening specials.
 
[quote name='Tirade']That is GREAT news. Maybe there will be some opening specials.[/QUOTE]

Depends on the store and the owner, but typically they do try to hook you up and get you to be a customer for life. I wouldn't judge the store completely though till it's grand opening. Their inventory will be pretty low, as with their used games. If you have any trade ins, they will be willing to take it and you might get a pretty good deal. I posted a coupon on the Play N Trade Daily Price Changes forum, so I would use that also.
 
One thing that I will never do is buy a used system. It sucks to come home after buying something then find out it's broken and then have to go back and exchange/return it for another one. I know Gamestop doesn't even test most of their system trade-ins.

Do you have policies for trading game systems in?

For example: If a customer tries to turn in a broken one (knowingly), will you actually test the all game systems before you give the credit?

Any word on the Riverside, CA store? They said they would be opening at the end of Nov. but I havent seen anything happen yet.
 
[quote name='sasukekun']One thing that I will never do is buy a used system. It sucks to come home after buying something then find out it's broken and then have to go back and exchange/return it for another one. I know Gamestop doesn't even test most of their system trade-ins.

Do you have policies for trading game systems in?

For example: If a customer tries to turn in a broken one (knowingly), will you actually test the all game systems before you give the credit?

Any word on the Riverside, CA store? They said they would be opening at the end of Nov. but I havent seen anything happen yet.[/QUOTE]

It depends on the store, but PNT recommends you test the system before trading it in. This goes for PS2 especially with testing all the game disc. We will still accept broken systems, but for parts mainly.

The benefit that PNT has is we repair consoles and we can test the console for you and you can play it before you buy it. It doesn't help us to sell a broken product.

I will check on that Riverside store.

UPDATE: It still states "Coming Soon" but here is their number: 1-951-688-PLAY(7529)

Sometimes it is harder to open during the holidays because you just don't have the inventory yet. Maybe they decided to delay it. Also sometimes it comes down to permits and something goes wrong.
 
Is there a difference in trade-in value between a broken system vs a working system?

Obviously you arent going to make as much using broken system for parts versus reselling a used working system.
 
[quote name='sasukekun']Is there a difference in trade-in value between a broken system vs a working system?

Obviously you arent going to make as much using broken system for parts versus reselling a used working system.[/QUOTE]

Yes there is a difference. Typically a PS2 might get a trade in value of $50 while a broken one will be $10. Depends on the condition of the system too. But the parts get gutted for repairs. Say someone needs a new disc plate, you know the front where it shoots out the drive, or a part here or there. There are so many models of the PS2 that its good to have these on hand. Even the plastic shell can come in handy.

Say someone has a cracked PS2. They want it either repaired or want to trade it in... you take it and you make a profit on that, using parts on the old one.
 
hey bingbang. where in delaware are you looking to open up? i live in west chester, just north of you. ive been looking into the play-n-trade franchise for a little while now. im curious to where you are looking to set up shop. send me a message if you got a minute. thanks.
 
Hey OP, I've been looking at opening a Play N Trade. My dad is big on franchises, and since P n T seems to have a low ass franchising liscence deal (compared to his $600,000 a peice resturants) he is thinking about being my financial backer (I'm only 22, so $125,000 for franchising fee's is a little out of my reach). How hard was it to work with the company about placing the store? I have a specific area in mind. Also, are you seeing any profit yet? The area I live in has a Gamestop that I used to be assistant manager at, and I remember 3 years ago (and our first year open) I was bringing cash deposits of $10,000 a day during Christmas time.

Thanks in advance.
 
Ok... here we go.
I have been working retail for about 12 years. Started with Music, went to video games, now work for an electronics retailer. I worked for Babbages for about 3 weeks, before flat out quitting. First and ONLY job I have ever just quit. Why? Upper management was a huge pain in the balls... but thats not my point in this post...

I'm a gamer.. I love games, Still have my Atari, Nintendo, etc... Played competitive FPS online, competitive fighting (tekken tag) games.. I also have a disfunction of not being very boastful, but love shopping down the guys that do boast. Prolly about 50% of the game stores you walk into are ran by overly arrogant elitest gamer. They think they are so bad ass, and so cool along with there other cool elitest penis measuring friends. Talking about how bad ass they are at halo, what system they think is the best. Usually these overly boastful shitbricks litterally smell like shit, havent been laid in years if ever, and have the worst personal hygene of most society. Their stores are NOT being run like a business that is interested in serving customers, and more being run by a bunch of immature premadonnas.

So anyway, what would make a gaming store sucessful? Less fucking dorks hanging around bragging about how big their Wii controller is, more people that are honest and forthright about helping people with what they are looking for and less interested in projecting this 'badass' image of themselves. Its really not to difficult to do what EB and GS does better... its all about the personality that you bring into it. I wish I had a game store I actually appreciated outside of get something cheap and get out. With franchised chains, you definitely have a nitch that you can slip into with more customer satisfaction and appeal to true gamers. GL!
 
[quote name='MetalGearDizzle']Hey OP, I've been looking at opening a Play N Trade. My dad is big on franchises, and since P n T seems to have a low ass franchising liscence deal (compared to his $600,000 a peice resturants) he is thinking about being my financial backer (I'm only 22, so $125,000 for franchising fee's is a little out of my reach). How hard was it to work with the company about placing the store? I have a specific area in mind. Also, are you seeing any profit yet? The area I live in has a Gamestop that I used to be assistant manager at, and I remember 3 years ago (and our first year open) I was bringing cash deposits of $10,000 a day during Christmas time.

Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]

I have not opened my store yet, but the franchise fee, at least when I got it, was $22,000 not $125,000 so might want to check that again. I have had a difficult time finding a good location and didn't think that would be the hardest part. I have tried a number of locations and I am on my 8th or 9th site... I think it is just the area and also the way some larger companies just block you out. PNT isn't a huge brand yet so its harder to get into some places.

You want somewhere you feel you are going to be successful.

PM me and I can help you more.
 
[quote name='Lupuri']Ok... here we go.
I have been working retail for about 12 years. Started with Music, went to video games, now work for an electronics retailer. I worked for Babbages for about 3 weeks, before flat out quitting. First and ONLY job I have ever just quit. Why? Upper management was a huge pain in the balls... but thats not my point in this post...

I'm a gamer.. I love games, Still have my Atari, Nintendo, etc... Played competitive FPS online, competitive fighting (tekken tag) games.. I also have a disfunction of not being very boastful, but love shopping down the guys that do boast. Prolly about 50% of the game stores you walk into are ran by overly arrogant elitest gamer. They think they are so bad ass, and so cool along with there other cool elitest penis measuring friends. Talking about how bad ass they are at halo, what system they think is the best. Usually these overly boastful shitbricks litterally smell like shit, havent been laid in years if ever, and have the worst personal hygene of most society. Their stores are NOT being run like a business that is interested in serving customers, and more being run by a bunch of immature premadonnas.

So anyway, what would make a gaming store sucessful? Less fucking dorks hanging around bragging about how big their Wii controller is, more people that are honest and forthright about helping people with what they are looking for and less interested in projecting this 'badass' image of themselves. Its really not to difficult to do what EB and GS does better... its all about the personality that you bring into it. I wish I had a game store I actually appreciated outside of get something cheap and get out. With franchised chains, you definitely have a nitch that you can slip into with more customer satisfaction and appeal to true gamers. GL![/QUOTE]

I agree. For some reason, customer service in the electronic's industry has been spiraling down and it has been a given that gamers don't deserve the same respect or customer service as someone buying a fridge.

They are told to push pre-sales and subscriptions no matter what. I could tell them I only have a Nintendo 64 and they will try to presale me GTA IV. Doesn't make much sense.

At my current job, we push customer service extremely hard and when I go to other stores I just have an overall lack of experience and lack of even achknolwding my existence.

How are they going to get my dollar if they can't even say hi or look at me?
 
Okay, finally an update. I have finished my side on paper work on two locations just outside the DE border in PA. Again, I am trying to find the best site and if that is out of state, so be it. They are in Glen Mills/Chadds Ford PA.

Hopefully this will be a good fit. I did really want to get a store in Delaware and I will down the road. We are looking at possible locations in Dover as well. I know toward the end of next year there are a number of plazas that are being built so if one is in PA and one is in DE, that would be fine with me. Good thing the business cards I got were free :p

Anyone live in that area of Chadds Ford?
 
Hi, im new here and I'm also looking into Play N Trade. The thing that scares me is that the Video Game industry does not seem very profitable in the retail section. I looked at GameSpot's Income Statement and it shows that each store is only averaging out to 40,000$ per year. Maybe i did something wrong? Here is what i used and this is how i used it.

Link to gamestop's financial statement.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=gme

Add up the "Net Income" to all four quarters and you should get somewhere around 226,000,000$ total. Now divide that by the total number of gamestop stores which is around 5,000 stores. You should end up with around 45,000$ average per store.
 
Are gamestop locations all o/o? My guess is that they franchise out and the income of those stores wouldn't go to Gamestop, only franchising fees and whatever else they tack on.

Of course, they might all be owned by Gamestop, I really don't know. Seems unlikely though.
 
What does o/o mean? Gamestop is a corporation so they do not franchaise anything out. All the profits goes back to a location in Texas. A 45g average per year would make me weary since gamestop is much more well known then Play N trade. Of course there are other things that come into play such as location and management that could turn the tides in your favor.
 
The other things to consider with a national corporation is what the stores have to 'pay' for. In otherwords, each store is budgeted ammount to pay for say advertising, along with many home office payrolls, DM payrolls, etc etc etc.

But no, there isnt much money made in gaming at all. $332 is the approx cost for a 360 Pro system. Halo 3 cost is approx $50.. Usually gaming store margins on the hardware/games are in the single digit/low teens. All their money is made with trade ins. But just like any other business. If you do it better then the big guys, you will get a lot of dedicated customers.
 
^^^ That would be same thing as Play N Trade. In order to buy that brand you have to pay a 4% roality fee per year on top of the initial 22g license fee. Gamespot probably does have a few extra fees here and there but it wouldn't change the average by much.

In fact it would probably even out considering some of the gamespot sales are made at their online website.
It should also be noted that gamestop operates Game Informer magazine which is another source of revenue.
 
[quote name='EnhancedLogic']Hi, im new here and I'm also looking into Play N Trade. The thing that scares me is that the Video Game industry does not seem very profitable in the retail section. I looked at GameSpot's Income Statement and it shows that each store is only averaging out to 40,000$ per year. Maybe i did something wrong? Here is what i used and this is how i used it.

Link to gamestop's financial statement.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=gme

Add up the "Net Income" to all four quarters and you should get somewhere around 226,000,000$ total. Now divide that by the total number of gamestop stores which is around 5,000 stores. You should end up with around 45,000$ average per store.[/QUOTE]

I am slightly confused on which figure you used though. Sorry I don't see it. Do you have the exact number?

The thing is that, it depends on the store and how it is run. You make a majority of your profit from used games. Thats how it works. Consoles you don't make much at all. New games you make very little, but you use those to get people to trade in games. It is slightly hard to understand, but if a game keeps getting traded in and sold over and over again the cost of goods drops drastically.

If someone wants to buy in Orange Box... and the game cost $60. They trade in a few games... lets just say they trade in 3 games for $20 trade in value of each game. So you sell each game for $40. So you make 50% mark up. Then say those games get traded in... it drops again and keeps repeating.

Its very odd and strange. So, if you say that while they may only get $45,000 per every Gamestop store, they maybe ok with that. They open more stores and get $45k or more every year. It also depends on the store, some may do more or less.

But Gamestop is making money. It may not be Wal-Mart money, but it is still green.

It just really depends on how you run your store and your vested interest. As you can read, I really want to work to make sure this is successful. I plan to open more down the road and spread the PNT brand so customers are given a choice.
 
many stores have like two or three playable consols instore, and usally 2 of them your not allowed to play. what if you set up some old consols and mix it up, i wouldnt mind going into a store to play old supermario and then pick up a copy and buy a remake nes (that is if your store is also retro.) i think if you do something like pink godzilla in seattle your set. Bigger insize though, and if there is a new game out, dont be afraid to pop a new copy out and stick it in your store consol to play

http://www.pinkgodzillagames.com/

this is a good small store, it sells imports from japan, and retrostuff, but also english release of sony and nintendo (i dont remember if they have microsoft.)

they also have alot of nice imported game related things. like game cases, i picked up a really useful ds case made by nintendo for like 20 bucks that wasn't shitty like stuff they sell at gamespot. they sold special edition club nintendo stuff too and those cool ds stylus' that Cheepyd had a Video Cast about.


never mind i thought you were opening your own unique store not a franchice
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']I am slightly confused on which figure you used though. Sorry I don't see it. Do you have the exact number?

The thing is that, it depends on the store and how it is run. You make a majority of your profit from used games. Thats how it works. Consoles you don't make much at all. New games you make very little, but you use those to get people to trade in games. It is slightly hard to understand, but if a game keeps getting traded in and sold over and over again the cost of goods drops drastically.

If someone wants to buy in Orange Box... and the game cost $60. They trade in a few games... lets just say they trade in 3 games for $20 trade in value of each game. So you sell each game for $40. So you make 50% mark up. Then say those games get traded in... it drops again and keeps repeating.

Its very odd and strange. So, if you say that while they may only get $45,000 per every Gamestop store, they maybe ok with that. They open more stores and get $45k or more every year. It also depends on the store, some may do more or less.

But Gamestop is making money. It may not be Wal-Mart money, but it is still green.

It just really depends on how you run your store and your vested interest. As you can read, I really want to work to make sure this is successful. I plan to open more down the road and spread the PNT brand so customers are given a choice.[/quote]I really honestly believe you are going to do VERY well. Best of luck. What area are you looking at setting up in?
 
[quote name='sfriedlander']many stores have like two or three playable consols instore, and usally 2 of them your not allowed to play. what if you set up some old consols and mix it up, i wouldnt mind going into a store to play old supermario and then pick up a copy and buy a remake nes (that is if your store is also retro.) i think if you do something like pink godzilla in seattle your set. Bigger insize though, and if there is a new game out, dont be afraid to pop a new copy out and stick it in your store consol to play

http://www.pinkgodzillagames.com/

this is a good small store, it sells imports from japan, and retrostuff, but also english release of sony and nintendo (i dont remember if they have microsoft.)

they also have alot of nice imported game related things. like game cases, i picked up a really useful ds case made by nintendo for like 20 bucks that wasn't shitty like stuff they sell at gamespot. they sold special edition club nintendo stuff too and those cool ds stylus' that Cheepyd had a Video Cast about.


never mind i thought you were opening your own unique store not a franchice[/QUOTE]

I know its a kinda long forum thread, but it will have 8 wide screen LCD tv's and you can play any game in the store. This includes NES & SNES. Imports though are iffy, the main problem is that if there is not a demand for it, then you are sitting on the product. Also getting a vendor is an issue where there might be problems. I think in Seattle there is a large Asian population that really takes advantage of these import games. Also being on that side of the coast, their shipping rates might be less. So, typically if someone wants an import game, they will order it online ala PlayAsia. Because I would have to charge more in the store for it then they would be able to get it themselves.

I do like the great accessories and cases that importers do offer, that might be a possibility.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']
100_0355.jpg


8. No rentals. Sorry, but honestly you have Gamefly for that already. New games you don't really make a profit from at all. So say giving a game to someone to loan for a week for $8 thus making it used. You can try the game before you buy it. Although that doesn't make it a "used" title. I know people get fishy about that but its more like a service for you to try. In addition you can rent a game cheaper than $8 a week.

9. On getting new games on time. Well that is an issue with all stores. The vendor system is the same used by Gamestop and EB. I won't be pushing pre-orders. Sure we can inform customers, but then again your profit is not with new games. So, might not get the new release on the exact day but then again, I don;t have 20 people pissed that I don't have the game. Possibly like a free call program where we can inform you when a game you wanted is in. That way there is no money down.

10. Imports are hard because your profit just looses right there. Can't really order a game in bulk that is in japaneese. Well not unless I open up in Japan. Sorry no luck there, there is a major reason why you don't see import games in stores, well Best Buy just started. Go to PlayAsia for that fix.

11. I don't know about accessories and such, especially on items that are already packaged with the box. Your talking power cables, av inputs. Controllers and memory card are a yes, but you won't see 30 power adapters.

12. Will be located in Delaware, home for your tax free shopping!

Again, it is pretty early on but every sign is point at yes so far. Just hope everythign goes through ala Small Business Loan and that stuff.[/QUOTE]


Have you found a location yet? If not, I may have a perfect one for you and I have a huge background in advertising and retail sales/management. I also own a few businesses right now. I would be interested in doing a side by side store with you. I would sell HDTV's, Computers, etc. You: Video Games. Our stores would definitely compliment each other. Let me knw if you are interested as this is a prime location with no videogame stores for 30 miles(besides Walmart) and is located inside a community housing 20,000+ people.
 
Free BEER (Root Beer I guess if you don't like drunks) and peanuts....oh, and lots of free tournaments! Even if prizes are cheap (t-shirts, caps) it will attract a lot of traffic for you. Have workers that treat non-hardcore gamers like people, not like idiots. I hate it when a GS or EB employee questions me like I don't know jack sh*t about games because I'm not an uber-geek like them. Good for you....you know a TON more than me about video games but don't rub it in. I'm only a casual player but when I find out about games I think I might like, I'll do the research. I'm too busy to be playing games all that much considering I work 50+ hours a week. But I still love me a good fraggin' contest every now and then. I used to work at a GC and honestly I think what most customers want is just some courtesy and respect.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']I am slightly confused on which figure you used though. Sorry I don't see it. Do you have the exact number?

The thing is that, it depends on the store and how it is run. You make a majority of your profit from used games. Thats how it works. Consoles you don't make much at all. New games you make very little, but you use those to get people to trade in games. It is slightly hard to understand, but if a game keeps getting traded in and sold over and over again the cost of goods drops drastically.

If someone wants to buy in Orange Box... and the game cost $60. They trade in a few games... lets just say they trade in 3 games for $20 trade in value of each game. So you sell each game for $40. So you make 50% mark up. Then say those games get traded in... it drops again and keeps repeating.

Its very odd and strange. So, if you say that while they may only get $45,000 per every Gamestop store, they maybe ok with that. They open more stores and get $45k or more every year. It also depends on the store, some may do more or less.

But Gamestop is making money. It may not be Wal-Mart money, but it is still green.

It just really depends on how you run your store and your vested interest. As you can read, I really want to work to make sure this is successful. I plan to open more down the road and spread the PNT brand so customers are given a choice.[/quote]
I'm sure you will do well just because you have the drive to succeed. Now, i'll show you how to read an income statement if you don't understand it.

GameStop Income Statement
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=gme

The most important thing you want to look for is how much a store is making a year and it's called the "Net Income" located at the very bottom of the page. "Total Revenue" just means the total sales they make before paying any bills. Net income is what they make after all bills are paid, including employees.

A year for gamestop consist of 4 quarters and the numbers are 51,957, 21,810, 24,723, and 129,803. Those numbers are in "Thousands" so you should add 3 more zeros to each number. I got 228,293,000 for total net income. Now divide that by the total number of gamestop stores (5,123) in the world and you get 44,562$ average per store.

If you plan to work in the store at least full time then it is safe to add your pay to the average. I'm assuming a gamestop employee gets paid 7 an hour and you will work at least 40 hours a week, so we'll leave it at a rough estimate of 12,000$ per year.

So to sum it all up, if you work in a gamestop full time and own the store then you can have an expected average of around 56,562$ per year.

One last thing that you might want to consider is that you will be paying back loans. I'm sure their loans and payment plans with the banks would be considerably lower then yours. I only took one accounting course in college so figuring out the type of loan they pay is difficult for me. You need to figure in the type of loan you have to make a year and compare it to gamestop's loan to get a much better estimate of what you will be making the first year.

But like you said earlier, 56,000 is just an average and it could be more or less depending on how big is the store, the location of the store, and how well managed the store is.


Here is gamestop's 10-k form
http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/fetchFilingFrameset.aspx?dcn=0000950134-07-007555&Type=HTML
 
BigBangBoom, when you finally open your store could you PM me and let me know what figures you are seeing for a year? I'm still considering opening a Video Game store because 55g a year average seems really nice just to sit around and play games with customers. :lol:

What is the total investment you expect to put into your shop and how much cash on hand do you need after the initial investment? Also, in the business plan they gave you will you be making money the first year? What i mean by that is, will you make enough money the first year to be able to pay all expenses and loans with a little cash left over?
 
[quote name='rexflexall']Free BEER (Root Beer I guess if you don't like drunks) and peanuts....oh, and lots of free tournaments! Even if prizes are cheap (t-shirts, caps) it will attract a lot of traffic for you. Have workers that treat non-hardcore gamers like people, not like idiots. I hate it when a GS or EB employee questions me like I don't know jack sh*t about games because I'm not an uber-geek like them. Good for you....you know a TON more than me about video games but don't rub it in. I'm only a casual player but when I find out about games I think I might like, I'll do the research. I'm too busy to be playing games all that much considering I work 50+ hours a week. But I still love me a good fraggin' contest every now and then. I used to work at a GC and honestly I think what most customers want is just some courtesy and respect.[/QUOTE]

That is a focal part of the business model. Alot of stores you go to, there is not that customer relationship and thats how you get repeat business. There has to be a level of respect and frankly caring about the customer and what they need.
 
Honestly, no matter how hard i look and how much research i do i still don't believe a video game store can compete with Best Buy, Walmart, and other such stores like gamestop. The market is to crowded unless you can find a really good location. Also, you have to worry about new content being downloable from xbox arcade, virtual console, and other such media. The general public has a crap load of ways of bying old and used games, not just in a retail gaming store. It is just extremely risky.

Are you going to let us know if you're profitable, BingBangBoom? Because frankly the market seems really bleak. Maybe you really work for Play N Trade and you're trying to sucker people into a failing franchise.
 
[quote name='EnhancedLogic']Honestly, no matter how hard i look and how much research i do i still don't believe a video game store can compete with Best Buy, Walmart, and other such stores like gamestop. The market is to crowded unless you can find a really good location. Also, you have to worry about new content being downloable from xbox arcade, virtual console, and other such media. The general public has a crap load of ways of bying old and used games, not just in a retail gaming store. It is just extremely risky.

Are you going to let us know if you're profitable, BingBangBoom? Because frankly the market seems really bleak. Maybe you really work for Play N Trade and you're trying to sucker people into a failing franchise.[/QUOTE]

Of course I will share my future with you as far as how I am doing and I do not work for Play N Trade. Well... I mean I do own a store thats not open, but thats besides the point.

I understand there is a certain amount of risk, there is that risk with everything. I do see a very good outcome for what Play N Trade is doing. I will ask you this though... go to those stores and pretend you are a "Mystery Shopper". Mystery Shoppers are used by companies to scale how a store's service and sales are. They are used throughout the retail industry.

But walk into those stores... are you getting the best experience?

Go to Wal-Mart... can you play the game and test it out? Do they even know what the game is about? Heck most the time there is no one there to help you. The worst kind of feeling is that you don't even exist. Walk throughout Bestbuy or Circuit City, does anyone even say "Hi" or offer assistance?

Thats why I feel there is potential. Because we are smaller and it is a franchise and I will have invested time and money and well everything, it matters more to me then it does to someone at those other stores. You build up that word of mouth and it travels, especially if you help them.

Sorry, don't mean to get preachy or defensive. But there is great potential there and it will only benefit the customer if it does change the industry.
 
[quote name='EnhancedLogic']I'm sure you will do well just because you have the drive to succeed. Now, i'll show you how to read an income statement if you don't understand it.

GameStop Income Statement
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=gme

The most important thing you want to look for is how much a store is making a year and it's called the "Net Income" located at the very bottom of the page. "Total Revenue" just means the total sales they make before paying any bills. Net income is what they make after all bills are paid, including employees.

A year for gamestop consist of 4 quarters and the numbers are 51,957, 21,810, 24,723, and 129,803. Those numbers are in "Thousands" so you should add 3 more zeros to each number. I got 228,293,000 for total net income. Now divide that by the total number of gamestop stores (5,123) in the world and you get 44,562$ average per store.

If you plan to work in the store at least full time then it is safe to add your pay to the average. I'm assuming a gamestop employee gets paid 7 an hour and you will work at least 40 hours a week, so we'll leave it at a rough estimate of 12,000$ per year.

So to sum it all up, if you work in a gamestop full time and own the store then you can have an expected average of around 56,562$ per year.

One last thing that you might want to consider is that you will be paying back loans. I'm sure their loans and payment plans with the banks would be considerably lower then yours. I only took one accounting course in college so figuring out the type of loan they pay is difficult for me. You need to figure in the type of loan you have to make a year and compare it to gamestop's loan to get a much better estimate of what you will be making the first year.

But like you said earlier, 56,000 is just an average and it could be more or less depending on how big is the store, the location of the store, and how well managed the store is.


Here is gamestop's 10-k form
http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/fetchFilingFrameset.aspx?dcn=0000950134-07-007555&Type=HTML
[/quote]


Trust me, their stores have more than a 4% profit margin, you cant compare a public corporation to a single store LLC or GP or SP for a ton of reasons. Using your logic, I went to Domino's Pizza's web page, and doing the exact same thing, A Dominos Pizza store would make 12,697 a year in profit. GS stores in malls average 1.2mill in sales and their strip mall stores average 900k.
 
Did you get a lawyer to read over the contract that you signed? (I forgot the name people normally call it...CFTO or something like that) When you read over the agreement, did you see any type of litigation? I've read that the franchisor is required to include any litigation that might be in the process.

Anyway, i'm just concerned because i've been riding around some franchise forums and it's not all happy like many of you would believe. Some franchisors like to screw over the franchise in the contract that they sign, such as they can only buy from their suppliers which happens to be at a higher price.... Also, i've read that 60% of Quizono's restaurant can barely pay their bills. One owner even went as far as to shot himself. (suicide) I haven't read much positive reviews on Play N Trade because it is new. I've only read about how a number of stores have closed down or sold.
 
[quote name='EnhancedLogic']Did you get a lawyer to read over the contract that you signed? (I forgot the name people normally call it...CFTO or something like that) When you read over the agreement, did you see any type of litigation? I've read that the franchisor is required to include any litigation that might be in the process.

Anyway, i'm just concerned because i've been riding around some franchise forums and it's not all happy like many of you would believe. Some franchisors like to screw over the franchise in the contract that they sign, such as they can only buy from their suppliers which happens to be at a higher price.... Also, i've read that 60% of Quizono's restaurant can barely pay their bills. One owner even went as far as to shot himself. (suicide) I haven't read much positive reviews on Play N Trade because it is new. I've only read about how a number of stores have closed down or sold.[/quote]

Alot of food franchises are having problems, not just Quizono's. Food costs are skyrocketing, so you either raise your prices, or try to ride it out. It all comes down to how you handle your debt load, unless you paid all out of pocket, you have a SBA loan, a home equity loan, term loan. Another factor is how are you advertising your store, word of mouth alone wont cut it. Your goal should be to pay you debt off asap, not paying your self with a new car, shit like that. Owners that use their business as their personal piggy bank while carring a large debt load go out of business.
 
[quote name='Sodapop']Alot of food franchises are having problems, not just Quizono's. Food costs are skyrocketing, so you either raise your prices, or try to ride it out. It all comes down to how you handle your debt load, unless you paid all out of pocket, you have a SBA loan, a home equity loan, term loan. Another factor is how are you advertising your store, word of mouth alone wont cut it. Your goal should be to pay you debt off asap, not paying your self with a new car, shit like that. Owners that use their business as their personal piggy bank while carring a large debt load go out of business.[/QUOTE]

Yeah the one thing I have seen with alot of stores is that they don't advertise because they don't want to spend the money. Thats one of the reasons some PNT have closed. When stuff starts slowing down, they said one of the first things they do is cut their advertising to save money.

You have to be consistent with what you do and do it well. Constantly getting out there and spreading the word about your store. Its just simple, but I know two Quiznos have closed around where I live and the owner would basically talk to customers about selling the store. I don't think she really advertised at all. Kinda sucks cause I did like Quiznos. It was in a bad shopping center with not alot of foot traffic. Ironically that spot is available and I don't want it, no offense it is good for a "female" oriented store. It has a Hollywood Tans, Nail Salon, Hair Salon, Curves etc... not ideal for me.
 
[quote name='bingbangboom']Yeah the one thing I have seen with alot of stores is that they don't advertise because they don't want to spend the money. Thats one of the reasons some PNT have closed. When stuff starts slowing down, they said one of the first things they do is cut their advertising to save money.

You have to be consistent with what you do and do it well. Constantly getting out there and spreading the word about your store. Its just simple, but I know two Quiznos have closed around where I live and the owner would basically talk to customers about selling the store. I don't think she really advertised at all. Kinda sucks cause I did like Quiznos. It was in a bad shopping center with not alot of foot traffic. Ironically that spot is available and I don't want it, no offense it is good for a "female" oriented store. It has a Hollywood Tans, Nail Salon, Hair Salon, Curves etc... not ideal for me.[/quote]
Actually, i disagree with that. Quiznos is just like a Subway. They should be advertised only by franchisor, not the franchise. Franchisors are responsible of taking care of the company as a whole. When the 60% of the chain is dieing then something is very wrong with the franchisor. Don't be so quick to blame the owner. If it was only 10 or 15% of the chain then yes, you can say something the owner is doing wrong. I forgot where i read 60% but just from the article below it says any Quiznos in the last 12 months that opened can barely pay the bills. IT's a 2006 article though so i can't tell you if it's impoved. However from your statement about a lady closing down her Quiznos, i'd have to say the chain is still doing bad.

Article about quiznos.
http://franchisepundit.com/index.php/2006/01/13/quiznos-sales-profitablity-summary-report/


Here's an actual quote from one of the franchise
My suggestion is DO NOT OPEN a Quiznos. .It will just perpetuate their image. . YOU WILL CONTROL NOTHING you give them $25k for the right to pay them 11% of everything you earn or DON’T EARN. .with NO CONTROL over your own business. . better just go work for McDonalds. . at least at the end of the Week you get a pay check and possibly some benefits. You have ALL THE RISK the Franchisor has NONE but they have all the control. A LITTLE ONE SIDED

11% is much higher then the Play N Trade 4%
 
BingBangBoom..

There is only one sure fire way to make it work. If you want your business to succeed then there are two things that you MUST do. First visit the very first Play N Trade store and study the demographics, competition in the area, and how they market their product. Next visit at least 3 owners who sold or closed their Play N Trade and make a comparasion.

It's very easy to just say, "they didn't advertise enough". You need to go out and look for yourself.
 
[quote name='EnhancedLogic']Actually, i disagree with that. Quiznos is just like a Subway. They should be advertised only by franchisor, not the franchise. Franchisors are responsible of taking care of the company as a whole. When the 60% of the chain is dieing then something is very wrong with the franchisor. Don't be so quick to blame the owner. If it was only 10 or 15% of the chain then yes, you can say something the owner is doing wrong. I forgot where i read 60% but just from the article below it says any Quiznos in the last 12 months that opened can barely pay the bills. IT's a 2006 article though so i can't tell you if it's impoved. However from your statement about a lady closing down her Quiznos, i'd have to say the chain is still doing bad.

Article about quiznos.
http://franchisepundit.com/index.php/2006/01/13/quiznos-sales-profitablity-summary-report/


Here's an actual quote from one of the franchise
My suggestion is DO NOT OPEN a Quiznos. .It will just perpetuate their image. . YOU WILL CONTROL NOTHING you give them $25k for the right to pay them 11% of everything you earn or DON’T EARN. .with NO CONTROL over your own business. . better just go work for McDonalds. . at least at the end of the Week you get a pay check and possibly some benefits. You have ALL THE RISK the Franchisor has NONE but they have all the control. A LITTLE ONE SIDED

11% is much higher then the Play N Trade 4%[/QUOTE]

Play N Trade requires the owners to do the advertising for their store. You have more control of how you would like to do it and they help you with that in a number of ways. This can be for services, the store itself or tournments and events. They strongly recommend underground advertising as it is cheaper such as handing out flyers and car wraps. So not all franchises are the same.
 
I've browsed the Play N Trade in Pensacola and its a nice place. Been meaning to go for a tournament, but I always forget. The location isn't really perfect, but it's very populated. I also like the fact that there are older strategy guides and games for sale.
 
My suggestion, fair market value for all used games/trade ins, don't get greedy like GameStop which buys a game for 1/2 of it's value and then sells it only $5 off the full retail price.
 
I got a call today from a PNT store owner in Maryland that was slightly disappointing, he is closing his store. He wanted to sell me his fixtures, but I have no store open. He has sold all his inventory and has only been open for 5 months. When I did ask why he was closing his store, He said the return on investment was not there for him and that he was making more money on his old job.

From talking to him, I just got the feeling that he hasn't really worked retail or that it was not what he expected. He just didn't like it so he is not doing it. He did state that Play N Trade is a good company, but that he was putting alot of time into it as he was the only manager with a couple employees. He said it should be better for me because my brother will be working with me.

I was just kinda sad at this news because I don't like hearing any store close, PNT or otherwise. But I just didn't hear any sort of like passion from him, he was more concerned with getting rid of his fixtures if anything. Just shows that there is a risk and I do wish that people would be more aware what they are entering.

Was just a weird conversation, but figured I would pass on that bit of news. He was liquidating the fixtures pretty cheap so it was tempting, but I have no location yet, so nothing I could do.
 
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