Should I open a video game store?

acumenza

My friend and I are considering opening a video game store in our town. The location is perfect as it is based right in a residential estate with many others around and there is no competition since Xtra vision closed. There are also allot of schools very close by including a secondary school and many primary schools. The amount of possible customers would be surreal but I could only imagine the rent. So if anyone has any business experience, or owns their own gaming store, please, share some advice!
Thanks,

Sir Arthur Daley

You should of course.

Danger781

I'm under the assumption that you're pretty young. Why do you think Xtra Vision closed? Because physical media is becoming a thing of the past. I'm honestly surprised there are any Xtra Visions, GameStops, etc. still making money.

delahuntv

Even in far southwest Kerry I am getting downloads speeds of 12mb+ and with 4g & fibre being rolled out, average speeds will be 30mb+ within a couple of years.

And that will be the end of video & game rental stores.

Even now, Xtravision have a very small rental area in their stores compared to what they used to have. Then in addition travelling to other towns is very easy and the choice would be a lot larger.


If you really think there's a market, maybe work in a store for a few months and learn the trade.

Lord TSC

Danger781 wrote: »

I'm under the assumption that you're pretty young. Why do you think Xtra Vision closed? Because physical media is becoming a thing of the past. I'm honestly surprised there are any Xtra Visions, GameStops, etc. still making money.

Yeah, even with my limited knowledge of the behind the scenes of such stores, as an avid gamer I think that brick and mortar stores are going to keep going in the wrong direction. I've only ever seen a single independent games store in Ireland, and it barely lasted 6 months because they couldn't compete with the likes of Gamestop and Xtravision, and the reality is even they are struggling to stay open and keep customers flowing.

Gaming is moving more and more towards digital exclusives; the developers rather this so it cuts down on 2nd hand sales, which they don't get paid for. When you look at the rise of Steam, the way Xbox and Sony are doing regular digital sales, and the way the newest generation all have Day One downloads....

And that's presuming you're a store in the middle of a busy shopping center. While it may sound good to put such a store in a residental area, the reality is I'd imagine that would drastically LIMIT your buying audience.

miju

As a gamer and someone who games with ALOT of hardcore gamers I will give you this simple fact to ponder:

Since buying a next-gen console their overall spend on buying games is up massively, however their spend on physical games is €0 .

These gamers are in remote Kerry, Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Meath and so are widely spread

Danger781

miju wrote: »

As a gamer and someone who games with ALOT of hardcore gamers I will give you this simple fact to ponder:

Since buying a next-gen console their overall spend on buying games is up massively, however their spend on physical games is €0 .

These gamers are in remote Kerry, Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Meath and so are widely spread

Last time I bought a physical game was a few weeks after the release of GTA 5. Before that? Probably when I bought my PS3..

Cianos

RAGE on Fade St, Dublin seem to be doing well. They're a small shop that specialise in retro games, hold gaming competitions and other events and are very active on Facebook with a big fan base. Maybe a good example of how you can still make an aging model work by focusing on a niche and using social media etc. However their location would be as good as it gets really, it wouldn't be doable outside a city.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

@Cianos By doing well do you mean high EBITA or that they have plenty of footfall during peak hours? Having "secondary school and many primary school" pupils near a premises does not necessarily translate to profit, 9am - 3pm would be very quiet. Selling a product others use as a loss leader also isn't something to be recommended either. You'd really need to study the numbers, but in the near future people will be downloading games and cutting out the middleman. Hence you dont want to be the middleman when that happens.

msdoc

@Cianos - Rage may be busy but that doesn't necessarily doesn't mean that they're profitable. They may be pumping a lot of person money in to the business, not taking salary, have a huge overdraft. Or indeed they may be raking it in. You could stick your neck out and go in and talk to them. You're not going to be in their territory so they might be open to giving you the low down.

Eric Cartman

Not to put a negative cloud on this but in my past experience of installing CCTV for retail clients, particularly the ones who sell products desirable to young people (video games, dvd's , sweets, low end jewellery ) , being near a secondary school creates a huge cost problem in terms of cleaning, anti social behavior , stolen goods, damaged goods and a drain on staff time ejecting loiterers out of the shop. Groups of youths outside a premesis can also put off actual money spending clients as they can be quite intimidating if theres a big group.

im not saying itll definitely be a problem, but I would not look at a close proximity to a school to be a positive in the retail sector (unless you sell school books)