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Opening a Game/Comic Shop

CleveraliasCleveralias Registered User regular
edited January 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
I'm thinking of opening up a gaming shop and would be interested in any advice, ideas or resources for getting started - I'm currently envisioning a coffeehouses type environment where people hang out - host regular table top game sessions, organize tourneys, clans, guilds etc.


Any advice or links to resources are greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance!

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Posts

  • KyouguKyougu Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    This is an idea ALOT of people seem to have without ever actually thinking things out. Like the fact that you're going to be catering to a very niche market. Also, I'm not sure on everything, but I do know that profit margins on stuff on games you will be selling is miniscule. Like, ordering from suppliers a 360 game can run from 45-51 dollars, and you will sell it for 60 tops. (Maybe even less to try to compete with other stablishments.)

    Not to mention, do you have any idea what it takes to run a business? Like a degree or some education?

    Kyougu on
  • amateurhouramateurhour One day I'll be professionalhour The woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered User regular
    edited January 2008
    I'm thinking of opening up a gaming shop and would be interested in any advice, ideas or resources for getting started - I'm currently envisioning a coffeehouses type environment where people hang out - host regular table top game sessions, organize tourneys, clans, guilds etc.


    Any advice or links to resources are greatly appreciated

    Thanks in advance!


    1) where do you live?

    2) what is the competition?

    3) what is your budget?

    4) can you be up late (stay open late for tourneys)?

    5) what exactly do you want? (comic shop, lan center, tabletop, coffee shop, etc. You might need to just pick specific things to focus on, like if you're doing comics, drop the coffee to prevent spillage, or if you're doing lan, sell comics, but not a lot of back issues... )


    Answer those and I can give you some advice from there.

    I don't own a shop, but I've known 2 people that have and have seen firsthand how their business practice effects sales (both good and bad) so I can give you some pointers.

    amateurhour on
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  • OdinOwnsYeAllOdinOwnsYeAll Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    If you're hosting games (card/tabletop/etc.) in a dedicated gaming area of the store, my tip to you is to stay open VERY late at LEAST on the weekends if not weekdays also...

    Beware of shoplifters as young people+small packaging+no electronic sensors=theft

    OdinOwnsYeAll on
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  • A-RodA-Rod Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Do some research on the location you are thinking of locating your store. Is there a good market for what you;re offering? What was set up in the location before, and if theres any similar stores nearby.

    A-Rod on
  • SquashuaSquashua __BANNED USERS regular
    edited January 2008
    Don't do it.

    My friend's flatmate opened a semi-successful store down here, but now it's trashed because the location he picked wants to sell the whole place to bulldoze down into a Wal-Mart.

    Now he moved into a shit hole corner and got fucked over by a sign maker, so now he has no sign for his business. He's a very large guy, so I don't see him getting up on the roof to put a sign up anytime soon.

    Essentially, he needs to get a real job to pay the rent.

    - - -

    My advice: DON'T DO IT unless you can get an AMAZING location. And even then, be careful. There's a store down here that moved next to another store that's been in business for years. And both stores are huge and the moved store is fucked because the customer base likes the original store.

    Plus, the original has a Music / Skateboard store, a Tatoo Parlor, a Gaming Annex, and a head shop all within 1 store distance. Moved store is fucked.

    Squashua on
  • ArdorArdor Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    You've got a lot to consider and we're hoping you've taken it into account.

    Start with the location.

    You have to look for a place you can both afford and you think will benefit your business. Keep in mind that leases can run in various lengths of time and have various agreements. You can can find some leases that only really warranty the outside of the building but might be cheaper or they give you a lot more service (beneficial or not) and make you pay for it. Besides paying rent, you will also have to worry about taxes on what you own. Figure out what you want your shop to look like and figure out before approaching anyone about renting/buying because whatever you have in mind will have to be approved by the renter. They may like the idea of a gaming shop, but they might not like some of the changes you want to implement in the event your shop fails and they would be responsible for whatever you leave behind as far as aesthetics go in the shop. Extra counters, modifications to the carpet/floor, etc.

    Supplies.

    Have you taken much look into what you want to carry and how you're going to both purchase it and get it into your shop? You might be able to look for some kind of group discount if you find others who purchase the same kind of goods so that when you purchase together, you can get some form of discount (I forget the name and availability of what this is). Otherwise, before you even consider signing a lease, go find out what it would cost you to put product on your shelves. Try to look at where you'd be buying and what it costs to get it to your doorstep. You may find a cheaper price on goods out of state for example, but getting that stuff shipped to you might not be worth it. You'll also want to check out other shops in the same area or city or surrounding cities to see what they charge for similar products.

    Hours/Employees.

    Obviously, you need to figure out what the store hours will be and how much you plan to pay your employees, if you decide to have any. If not, what will you do when you're sick, on vacation or have some form of emergency? You will need to look into how you need to handle taxes. Depending on your state I believe, you may have to report taxes as much as on a weekly basis. Also, if you want to hire a manager, are you adding benefits? Check with local and state guidelines to see what an employer is required to provide for the employees.

    Advertising.

    Do you plan on advertising anything? Local papers? Internet resources? Look into what it costs to run an ad and for how long.


    Money.

    Will you need to take out a loan to cover the setup expenses of your shop? If so, you'll want to spend some time looking into who can loan you money to cover all of this and find out how much you can afford. You might find out that what a bank will loan you will not get you started or keep you covered for much time at all.

    This is just a small list of some things to take into consideration.

    Ardor on
  • supabeastsupabeast Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    I have known several comic/game shop owners over the years. Of them all, only two turned a profit; one of those two was running a really shady business and only started making money after having run a game store that failed. The other guy started turning a profit after a few years, but was only able to stay in that long because he was a wealthy lawyer and had a lot of money going into it. The rest of them all lost money hand over fist until they sold the business to some sucker or closed the doors.

    My advice is that you can do this, if:
    1. You have enough money to open the business and live off of, while taking huge losses on the business, for at least two years.
    2. You personally know a lot of gamers who will hang out there.
    3. You have experience in retail, running a business, and managing money.
    4. There is no competition within ten miles; thirty miles if you live somewhere rural.
    5. You can get an excellent location people will be able to find and not mind driving to.
    6. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT You are in a jurisdiction that will allow you to sell profitable merchandise alongside the games. I am referring to junk food and pornographic comic books. Without sales of junk food and porno comics, no profitable game shop I know of would have survived the first year of business.

    supabeast on
  • amateurhouramateurhour One day I'll be professionalhour The woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered User regular
    edited January 2008
    supabeast wrote: »
    I have known several comic/game shop owners over the years. Of them all, only two turned a profit; one of those two was running a really shady business and only started making money after having run a game store that failed. The other guy started turning a profit after a few years, but was only able to stay in that long because he was a wealthy lawyer and had a lot of money going into it. The rest of them all lost money hand over fist until they sold the business to some sucker or closed the doors.

    My advice is that you can do this, if:
    1. You have enough money to open the business and live off of, while taking huge losses on the business, for at least two years.
    2. You personally know a lot of gamers who will hang out there.
    3. You have experience in retail, running a business, and managing money.
    4. There is no competition within ten miles; thirty miles if you live somewhere rural.
    5. You can get an excellent location people will be able to find and not mind driving to.
    6. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT You are in a jurisdiction that will allow you to sell profitable merchandise alongside the games. I am referring to junk food and pornographic comic books. Without sales of junk food and porno comics, no profitable game shop I know of would have survived the first year of business.

    I really hate to agree with this, but our comic shop e-mails the special orders every month in case someone wants something, and there's a lot of porn comics in that list, and they are really expensive. Don't have them out in the open or anything, but yeah, they might make up like $400 a month of your business from just four good customers.

    amateurhour on
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  • Xenocide GeekXenocide Geek Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    i agree with a lot that's said in this thread.

    on top of all that's been said, you're going to need to either need to get a loan from a bank, get money from a friend/angel investors, or already have money set aside.

    if you have tangible assets you can borrow against, that'd help you out a lot. (house, car, etc).

    but um... if the business goes in the hole, you're stuck with a fatty mortgage payment, and possible foreclosure.

    i once did the math to figure out how much it'd cost to initially outfit a place with computers/consoles, and it's expensive. the only feasible route i could think of without goes balls deep in debt was to go the console route - but a big allure of the LAN settings is that sometimes people don't have beefy machines to run some of these new games. nor can they afford the games, etc.

    the setting also contributes, too.

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  • grendel824_grendel824_ Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Make sure you really, REALLY love the industry. The way the comics part works is so seriously fucked that any businessman who cared about making money would open up a hat store or a spatula outlet or something. The way returnability and ordering and everything else works, it's a freaking mess.

    That said, I've worked at a local store for almost half of my life at a few different intervals (they're practically family) and I love it. But I'm kinda glad that I'm not running the business...

    grendel824_ on
  • Nitsuj82Nitsuj82 Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    This sort of question seems to come up on every forum I belong to (bikeforums most specifically). The best advice I've seen is this: make sure that you are approaching this as a business person selling product x to make your profit, not a person who is into product x looking to make a profit by going into business.

    Nitsuj82 on
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  • mastmanmastman Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    There's one by my house that does baller business. It stays open late and has a bunch of tables, junkfood, soda and stuff and tons of people just chill there all night playing tabletop games, chit chatting, consuming mass quantities of sugar/caffeine and all the other facets of nerddom.

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  • SquashuaSquashua __BANNED USERS regular
    edited January 2008
    Yeah. That guy I mentioned earlier who owns the slowly becoming unsuccessful shop?

    He sells some Warhammer, but there's this guy who comes in who has a license to sell Warhammer and snipes the gamers, selling them shit on the sly.

    The owner is too much of a pussy to kick the dude out.

    Squashua on
  • TreelootTreeloot Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Squashua wrote: »
    Don't do it.

    Just because your friend hasn't had luck with his business doesn't mean someone else can't run a successful game store. If he won't even kick out someone who is damaging his sales, it sounds like he has bigger problems than location.

    Some dude online writes a column about running a game store. It looks like he has a pretty good idea of how to run a store.

    This site has some great information for small business owners. You'll definitely want to read through their articles and write a business plan.

    Treeloot on
  • SquashuaSquashua __BANNED USERS regular
    edited January 2008
    There was a guy who wrote about his experiences at CBR for a while (I think that's the site).

    I believe he ended up closing his store.

    Squashua on
  • snapsnap Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    I thought about doing this--

    here is an idea I had that you can use if you want: Rent out DnD books. So and so is making a campaign and needs x book but doesn't have 35 dollars to spend. He can rent it from you for a night.

    snap on
  • KVWKVW Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    I think the biggest thing is population. If you live in hickville with 20,000 people, just forget about this right now. You and 3 of your friends might be into it, but there's no way you will make a profit in that area to sustain a shop. I wouldn't know the exact cut off point for population, but Id wager a population of several 100,000 as the minimum for being able to hit a large enough audience for this niche area.

    In Halifax, NS, there's about 100,000 people and they manage to maintain two comic shops to my knowledge. Both are small, cramped spaced shops. One deals heavily in comics and trades. He has expanded with some manga and anime as well as toys and statues. The other has basic comics, some manga and focuses heavily on tabletop with tournaments on weekends and what not.

    There is an occasional new shop opened here and there, but I dont think any has really had any success. If it's primarily a game shop, you'll be devoting a lot of real estate to tables and seating for people, which will cut into profits quite a bit since you could feature other products in that space. Try talking to local shops, find out what's profitable, see if any would be willing to give tips.

    I thinka heavier focus on manga would be a good idea, but it would depend on the distance to a Chapters/B&N store where kids sit in aisles reading them. Manga is fairly small, sits well on shelves and sells well enough due to its lower price and could be a good source of revenue early on if you advertise it.

    I would stay away from back issues, to be honest. While it's great for the odd visitor, early on it will just be a huge money sink and eat up space. After you are on your feet, you could try buying up runs at flee markets or on ebay if you wanted to.

    I'm not big on table top gaming,b ut you should have an idea of what is popular and what isnt. As others have said, you could section off a seating area and have drinks and snacks for sale. Just keep it away from the comics and trades and you should be fine.

    Also, be prepared for long hours for a while. You won't be able to afford any major staff for a while, maybe one or two extra depending on how well you do starting out.

    KVW on
  • supabeastsupabeast Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Squashua wrote: »
    Yeah. That guy I mentioned earlier who owns the slowly becoming unsuccessful shop?

    He sells some Warhammer, but there's this guy who comes in who has a license to sell Warhammer and snipes the gamers, selling them shit on the sly.

    The owner is too much of a pussy to kick the dude out.

    That’s a very common problem for game stores. One store owner I knew would always go to other stores when new Magic sets came out and hang out in the parking lot, selling boxes of cards to players for just above cost.

    supabeast on
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