Starting a game store (General questions)

[Andon]

First: No, I do NOT intend on doing this any time soon. (Especially because I have a little over $4... In change.) I just looked at it as a potential prospect, and I was wondering on a few things. I figured that there are a lot of people here at B-town that would know about some or all of this stuff.

How much (US$) is rent for a (Relatively small) store place? Like in a strip mall, separate building, etc. I'm not asking for exact prices, just an average range.

How long would it take to start earning a profit? This is assuming that the store would be selling more than just GW products - It would have what a typical game store would have in it. Before it started earning a profit, only high-selling stuff would be sold, of course. Rather than have a line of products that a few dozen people know, have a line (Like D&D) that thousands of people know.

How many people would be the best for running a store? Running one by myself would be a little stupid, but it would also be pretty stupid to have too many people

How much would an initial investment be expected to be?

[SteveBerenyi]

uh... depends where you are at mostly strip malls are not the way to go.
they charge rent utilities and a portion of your profits.

rent a small building anywhere from $600 to $2500 US/ month plus utilities.
depending on the ammount of business you do it could be profitable anywhere from 6 months to a year.

it is a big investment. roughly 15-25 thousand us before profit is earned.

probably 2 employees (minimum wage is great for stores like this)

and be open longer than 5:30 pm and be sure to be open ON WEEKENDS as most gamers have either school or a full time job.

My 2 cents.
Steve.

[dafejj]

Here is my advice.
Don't.
I run a comic store. while we do sell gaming we have a large number of product lines to support gaming. General gaming stuff like d&d, boardgames, and Tabletop games tend to sit on the shelf for long ammounts of time. When this happens you dont make money. Now, if you are determined to start a store i would do the following before even thinking about anything else.
Make sure you have atleast 50 people who know where you will be and buy from you on a regular basis.
that being said i believe the best place to have a gaming store in a enclosed mall. I run a store in a small mall and my rent is 1500 a month. For a mall space that is short cash. The secret is to only be on a temporary lease. While it does have its goods and bads it is the best way to go for the money. My store has been around for a year, while i am part of a (small)chain you have to develop your clientel. Malls do this best as you have a large ammount of foot traffic on a daily basis and people will just walk in and check the place out. Also, my store is 3600 square feet. just a fyi for anyone interested.
Personal is a tricky part. if you want to be the boss that can come and go when he pleases you need at least 2 guys, a good full timer and a part timer. if you want to be a workaholic you need 1. Paying people under the table is the greatest. not that i do that:)
As for a initial investment i would say you are gonna need more like 50 thousand or more. signing a lease alone will require a first and last month deposit. adding in fixtures, cash register, and other needed supplies will take up a huge chunk of cash. Then you need to start worrying about stock. In my opinion as someone in the business it is not worth while to stock a line half way. Its either all or nothing. The second you stock half the line people will ask you to get the stuff you dont have, or they will go someplace with a better selection.
While alot of what i have said sounds like a horrific thing and you shouldnt do it, a well run gaming store can make a ton of money. If you do decide to go threw with it make sure you support every game in your store with a place to play, tournements, casual play etc etc. Also, do not neglect CCG's. Naruto, yugioh, and magic are huge money makers even if you hate them. Also with gaming product you can usually sell stuff and make your money back online which is a good resource incase things get tight.
If you have questions for me let me know. i always like to talk and share mistakes that ive seen happen at my store.
Good luck
Jeff

[dafejj]

When i said Dont, I was refering to you opening a pure gaming store.

[AdamSouza]

Another great Idea is part timers you don't really pay anything.

For every game there is a die hard fan who will run sacntioned events for the sheer love of the game, free food, an occasional freebie, and or a store discount.

One our local Brick and motar retailer had:
1 guy running Raw Deal CCG league and tournaments
1 guy running HeroClix Tournaments
1 guy running HeroClix League
1 guy running D&DM League
No one was getting payed by the store. Everyone was doing it out of the love of the game and the freebies the manufacturers toss people who run santion events for them.

Another Brick and Motar store used to give a discount to people that ran events at least once a week for them.

If your smart about it, you, your two employees, and host of suckers...er..um volunteers can run a shop.

Most major games have civilian representative incentive programs
GW has Outriders
Wizkids has too many damn names for me to remember
Comic Images has Raw Deal Managers
SuperFigs has the Sidekicks program

You can get people to do all kinds of stuff for you as long as your nice about and appear appreciative. The occasional gift/bribe never hurts to show how appreciative you are.

[AdamSouza]

Just another quicky I've learned from some smart local B&Ms

Stock JunkFood and Soda and sell it cheap.

People who leave the store because they are hungry are spending their money elsewhere.

Teenagers with disposable incomes will serve you much better if they are spending their allowance on miniatures and junk food than if they leave and blow their cash on McDonalds. Even regular people will sustain themselves on junk food to avoid leaving and coming back.

I've personally been in tournaments where I've spent $10 on $1 sodas and $.50 crackers and candy bars, and believe me I wasn't the only one there doing it.

[dafejj]

All good points. The great thing about paying people in credit is that you pay cost, so that you are essentially getting a discounted pay rate, and they get exactly what they want. A win win in most peoples book.

[H W Raney]

There were similiar topics over in the Discussion Forums from around Feb. Might want to give "Looking to open MILWAUKEE Game store" and "What a Good Game Store Looks Like" both posted by ARPG in the Games Workshop Ranting Forum a look.
Wayne

[Andon]

Thanks for all of the input.

Raney - these topics, right?
http://www.bartertown.com/disc/viewtopic.php?t=900 and http://www.bartertown.com/disc/viewtopic.php?t=899

AdamSouza - The Junk Food is something I wouldn't have thought of, but it is a really good idea. How would you suggest going about doing this?
And having people run things for a discount is something I had thought of. Even if the discount or freebie or whatever looses me a little money, the events would bring in people to buy stuff. Unfortunately, GW dissolved the outrioder program a bit ago, but there are still people that will ruyn events.

Dafejj - By 'Pure Game Store' what do you mean? I'm not intending on going JUST GW store or JUST warmachine or whatever. I'd have other things (Terrain stuff like flock, foamcore, etc. Snacks as listed above. Events. Paints, glues, dice, etc. Maybe even the occasional entire game board) in it, too.

Steve: There actually may be a building that I could get, depending on availability when I'm done with my last year of school (Near this time next year).

Some more questions:
How well would stocking video games, board games, and the like go?
How well would having a partner go? Someone that is interested in making a store? Perhaps even two?

[dafejj]

BY pure game store i mean only having gaming in there. Ive found that gaming goes hand in hand with several other genres very well. Other genres being comics, magazines, hell even as a tobacco type store that sells a ton of magazines, lottery etc. The reason i feel this way is because it is hard to have a game store that makes alot of money and still has a good stock of product.

Also, If you do open a store, make sure you go to the conventions whenever possible. Conventions are a great way to network, buy new product cheap, Purchase peoples blowouts, and find hard to find items.
Jeff

[Lormax]

My 2 cents on a small part here...video games, no. I think of EB Games, Best Buy and Fry's Electronics when I want a video game.

Board games, yes. I think of my local game store when I'm looking for a new board game. I'm not talking about monopoly, risk, etc...let Toys R Us do that. I'm talking about Eurogames and the like.

[dafejj]

Dont do it, the profit margain is next to nil. I think you you sell a 50 dollar game you make 5 bucks. it sucks big time. Same goes for DVD's and music. Its just not worth it since you cant undercut places like best buy and walmart because the purchase in bulk.
MY store gets most of its cheap junkfood and such from Wholesale places like BJ's and Cosco. Getting a account with Coke or Pepsi is easy to do as well, just remember they want you to order large quantity, in my opinion its easier to go to bjs a few times a week if you run out.
Board games are a natural fit with a gaming store. Always carry the catan family, killer bunny family, munchkin family, avalon hill stuff etc. There are a ton of awesome board games out there that people will buy if you carry it. Most big stores dont carry axis and allies anymore. Monopolys for specific topics always sell well too. Ive sold dozons of the nintendo monopoly in the last year.

Partners is a tough one. If its a good friend of yours i would advize not doing it because what if money issues come out and it ends the friendship? Just ask yourself some hard honest questions about the person you are thinking of. if you really thinks its a good idea then go for it and if a problem arises either buy him out or sell out. Its something you really have to decide yourself and all the advice in the world wont help because you will probably get a 50/50 split of opinions.
Jeff

[Lormax]

Oh, one thing to keep in mind, gaming space. is GOLD. I don't know how big the bldg that you're thinking of getting is, but I'd say room for 3 games of Warhammer-esque style gaming is key. It'll leave you enough room for small Magic/CCG type tournie/events as well. Any sort of product can NOT go in this area...the chaotic nature of the area lends itself to theft much too easily.

[Andon]

So basically electronics = no. There is a Coscos near me, and another place IIRC, so that should be easy enough.

Question: How well would having a partner in oening the building but having a separate store in there? A friend of mine is really good with computers and he runs a computer repair thing from his house. If we shared the building, it would get more people going through for both of us (People going for computers would see the games, people going for the games would see the computers, etc)

What specific comics would you suggest? It seems like it would bring in a bunch of people that otherwise wouldn't go to it

[Lormax]

Computer repair + gaming isn't TOO bad of an idea, though in my experience, most computer nerds are gamers...they can fix their own computers....but definitely couldn't hurt to have that going as well as an extra/seperate source of income.

It'll be hard to beat out the big guys for computer repair though... Best Buy's Geek Squad and whatever Circuit City has have much more advertising power.