Advice for a New Game Store

[Mystery.Shadow]

A Friend of Mine is going to do it. He's going to open a Game Store!!

I know it's a bad time, and the Economy is horrible, but....

What could possibly go wrong??


If YOU were going to open a Game Store, what would you do? Thanks all.

[crazyredpraetorian]

A Friend of Mine is going to do it. He's going to open a Game Store!!

I know it's a bad time, and the Economy is horrible, but....

What could possibly go wrong??


If YOU were going to open a Game Store, what would you do? Thanks all.

I owned comic/game stores for over 10 years. My advice is

1. Don't have a partner(s). If you do, have a good attorney.
2. Be there as much as possible. Don't trust employees to run the business for you. NO ONE cares as much as you.
3. Don't try to do the store on a shoe string budget or on credit alone.
4. Remember it is a business not a hobby.
5. Presentation is everything, don't go cheap on fixtures or build out. But, do as much of the buildout yourself as you are able.
6. Have as diverse a product line as possible.
7. Keep the store clean.....I mean spotless and smelling good...... Especially, the bathroom.
8. Reinvest in the store. Expand your stock whenever possible.
9. Make sure you have a good landlord, talk to the neighboring businesses about them before signing a lease.
10. READ YOUR LEASE CAREFULLY. Try to get a year lease, if possible. If not, try to have the landlord give you an out(30-90 day notice), just incase....and avoid any kind of profit splits with the landlord.
11. Pay your state taxes(Comptrollers Office) early to get the discount and keep them happy.They can be your friend or your enemy.
12. Likewise with the IRS...except they'll never be your friend.

[entendre_entendre]

CRP nailed it, the LGS closest to me also found that actually stocking some of the 'direct only' (eg. kasrkin, extra noise marine sonic weapons, etc) items helps (at least for GW stuff)
also, spread the word! no one will come to the store if no one knows it's there!

[Lord Anubis]

Actually, I'd toss one more thing out... make sure you have ample parking.

There are two nice, independent game stores here in Los Angeles, both of which are closer than the local GW store. I never go to either of them because there's no lot-- only street parking. Which in Los Angeles means 90% of the time there's no parking.

So I can look for parking for fifteen or twenty minutes and then walk six or seven blocks to their store and back to my car... or I can drive an extra fifteen minutes and park in a huge mall structure 30 seconds after I pull off the street.

[EmperorEternalXIX]

A Friend of Mine is going to do it. He's going to open a Game Store!!

I know it's a bad time, and the Economy is horrible, but....

What could possibly go wrong??


If YOU were going to open a Game Store, what would you do? Thanks all.

A friend of mine had a brilliant idea for a place that has only two things:

1.) A really nice set of tables for warhammer
2.) A bar.

A liquor license is tough to get but even the lower end ones that just allow you to sell beer would make a pretty huge difference. At almost every game club I've ever seen there are a ton of people and there's never any means to buy food other than sodas or candybars. Imagine if you went to a place that allowed you to saunter up to the barkeep during your opponents' deployment to score some nachos and a guiness? (Of course, the food at least would have to not be allowed in the gaming area).

His idea was for more of a bar with gaming tables in it, then a gaming store with a bar in it, but the principle seems like it'd generate at least enough revenue to break even.

[Grabnutz]

1. Get a strong online presence going before you take the store. Engage local gamers there first. Find out what they play, what they buy and wehre from.
2. Supplement the store with an internet mail order busienss. Having the store means you can get decent trader discounts from most publishers and you can some of these onto your online customers (like Wayland Games).
3. Watch how GW keeps its local crows loyal. Hobbyists running the store and supporting local events.
4. Keep your accounts everyday and keep them honest. The last thing you want is trouble with the revenue in any country.
5. Make sure you know how to run a business - go to night classes.

[Bung]

First of all:
WHen playing people new to the Hobby, let them win, make it though but let them win, dont bring out the worst Combos you can think about.

One local gamestore had to close, cause the owner wasnt able to attract new customers cause of his attitude to win every game.

[Denzark]

My top tips:

1. By and sell second hand minis as well. Sometimes you will make large profits - particulalrly when a parent clearing a loft brings in a load of RT or 2nd Ed stuff they don't know what the value is.
2. Good online presence.
3. My last FLGS had space for 8 networked PCs playing team fortress or some such - constant revenue.
4. If you have space for a games table and a knackk for terrain...
5. In UK you need a food hygiene certificate to sell food. Get this by doing a cheap course. Then sell munchies - microwave pizzas and toasties etc, to the hungry hoards. At a huge mark up.
6. If you can serve beer do it.

[Drunkencorgimaster]

I have never run a store, but I think CRP is correct about a diverse product line. I have seen stores come and go and the fastest to exit are those with all their eggs in one basket. Sell GW, but also sell comics, sell WWII models, sell trading cards, sell hot dogs, etc.

[ThePov]

Agreed, Diverstity is key. The FLGS I was at most recently had a fair area devoted to GW, but they were also a decent-sized sci-fi/fantasy book store, had an entire wall devoted to board games, TWO walls of various RPGs, ran frequent TCG tournaments, noteably Magic, and even had a good bit of more Niche games like Classic Battletech, and since they had an event every day for at least one of the various games, they always had a good amount of customers. The more of the general hobbyist/gamer crowd you can cater to, the better.