Starting a game store (General questions)

[dafejj]

Finding someone to share the lease with is a good idea assuming they wont be late with the money etc. I personally would not open a gaming store that wasnt in a mall. a Mall's ability to draw foot traffic is just to big to ignore. If i where you i would go to a few of the moderate malls near you and just ask questions of the mall manager. Ask them how much per square foot a temporary lease would have to pay, what the would require to start etc etc. Recently a gaming store opened down the street from our headquarters. We drove it out of business in a year. We did not actively attack them, but our shear draw power kept customers coming to us and not them. As for comics, if you dont know anything about it, i wouldnt get in to it. Its a headache you wont be prepared for. All im saying is find a product that you know will make you constant money that compliments gaming. Brainstorm and figure out what that is and carry that product. Toys and comics go well, but if you dont know anything about them you will be far out of your league. Maybe the best way for you to compliment your store would be to have a large online storefront. Its a good way to make money if you are sitting on product and helps your exposure.

[H W Raney]

Just so - couldn't get them to link for some reason
Wayne

[Andon]

Online... have NO idea why I didn't do this before.

As for computer repairs - The only other place around is a Computer Doctor place, and their service can be a little less than desirable. I have no idea if a 'Best Buy' is anywhere near, and the closest Circuit City is next to the 'local' mall - 45 minutes away. The closest game store is 20 minutes away, the closest GW is about 35-45 minutes away.

The building in question also happens to be pretty much in the middle of the town. Rent will probably be a bit higher than normal, but I think that the location would be a good one. Especially since a LOT of the school buses going to the High School go past it every day. And, in the summer, it is a boating town. There are a ton of people that go through the town, past said building, and to the water for the boating. Sure, they are less interested in games or computers, but it's still more people that will see it, and they know people.

The overall location, for both the computer repair and the game store, would be very decent for a lot of people, both in my town and the other ones that are nearby.

[dafejj]

Acctually if you put the computer store in the gaming store and have huge computer LAN games and such it would be HUGE. Also having 16 player halo 2 tournements can make alot of money as well. best 2 of 3 with 4 teams, 5 bucks a head, you do the math;) Kids love that stuff.

[Andon]

Reading through the second forum, it seems like having the following would be helpful:

Gaming room (Was planning on this anyway)
Display models (Didn't even think about it, but a good idea. Especially on the windows near the sidewalk and the door)
Posters and other paraphernalia (Near the respective locations. Not going to have WarMachine posters near the 40k stuff. Have a bit of all of it in the 'Gaming' section, just because it would be used by everyone)
Used Miniatures (Possibility, see below)

For the used stuff - a few ideas. Rather than having a bin of stuff, the people would sell the model to the store and the store would then put it into a case. Interested people would have to ask about it, but it would have less clutter and mayhem for me as the store owner

[Andon]

Oh, as for the LAN setup - Seems to be highly expensive, but well worth it. I'm just wondering if there would be enough room in the building for all of that.

Though it was a restaurant, so removal of the kitchen would free some space.

[SteveBerenyi]

LAN is a fairly easy thing to set up with little space involved the server is a computer and the hub is about 2 in thick x 12" x18 inches for a nice one with lots of peripherals. the space could be solved by Flat screens.

hope this helps.
Steve.

[Lormax]

The LAN party/tournaments would be a GREAT idea to get people/kids/parents into the store...parents will love to have a place where there is supervision that they can drop their kids off for a few hours. It also sounds like you don't have too much competition for computer repair either...if your buddy is going to do computer repair, he'll be able to setup a LAN for you as well, no problem...Halo 2/3 tournies, Supreme Commander, Starcraft 2 is coming, etc...lots and lots of opportunities there.

[dafejj]

The only problem with people selling you stuff is that it costs you cash. Most gaming stores are normal money poor but product rich. Buying people used minitures, even at 10% of MSRP will be a huge cost. Might not be a good idea. If you do decide to do it make sure youd ont get overstocked on a bunch of the same crappy item. Also always lowball people when you buy. these might seem like poor business practices but its the way to buy alot of product that will inevitably sit around forever. Go by this rule of thumb. if you are gonna buy 10 pieces, always assume you will only sell 5.
Jeff

[dafejj]

While you can make money on LAN, just remember, like having CCG tournements, it means you end up being a damn baby sitter. Hope you are good with kids;) We have ccg tourneys in my store. kids drive me up a wall, but its also fun to boss them around and give them a hard time. Make sure you have strict food and beverage rules when they are around. accidents abound.
Jeff

[Andon]

If my friend can't do a network for the LAN, then my brother-in-law could. Setting it up wouldn't be an issue, it would just be the cost of the computers.

And I was thinking - Would a LAN thing charge by the hour per person? Or per game per person?

Maybe tournaments would be different, but when there are no tournaments going on, would it be a 'Game time' type thing, with perhaps $3 per hour per person to just hop in.

And on the used mini thing - Maybe have store credit or a small discount on some purchases instead of paying them outright?

Another thing for the LAN - I'd say have no food or drink in the same room as the computers. I'm pretty sure the building has two or three separate rooms - One for the LAN/Computer place (Computer repair wouldn't take up an excessive amount of space compared to the game store), one for the 'Game Room' and one for the Game store. Simply make it so that no food or drink is in the LAN room and it'll be fine. If there are only two rooms, then the LAN/Computer would get the second, to keep things simpler.

[Lormax]

Instead of buying and selling used miniatures, have the owners sell them through the store on consignment. That means that there is no out of the pocket cost for the store, only the space used to display the models. Then the store will take a portion of the sale price (say 5 or 10%)? Toss in a few rules for it, meaning only painted mini's in the cases (so you don't get them full of badly glued, primed white mini's filling your case) and yur all set there.

[Andon]

Good idea.

I'd say have a display case and a list of other items - So if someone wanted to sell the badly assembled white primered minis, they could put them up on a list.

[dafejj]

Standard conssignment percentages are 25%
Not food around computers is a great idea
And, if you are gonna have a computer repair guy in with you you could probably get him to have floor models usable for tournements. This would be a win win scenerio, you could runt he tourneys and demo the computers at the same time. As for pay per hour it could work either way, you just need to tweak it so your making money, not breaking even

[kturock]

take classes in busines and small business. most community colleges offer night or weekend classes in these areas. you'll be surprised what ideas the right teachers can give. also where to network.

i had 1 saturday only class, that starting a new business was our project. each student had to do it and submit a paper at the end. the instructor was a business analyst. he got paid by companies, big and small, to show them how to make more $$ and how to open or run a business better.