Business of Gaming Retail
Why? What does that mean?
Mad Cash
Mad cash might be an exaggeration, but War Dogs was, financially, the best thing my wife and I have ever done. It was good to us. My service-based business, in which I write plans and troubleshoot existing stores, has no value aside from my personal skills. It's a business that provides a living, but it's not an asset that I can sell. A store is. If something happens to me, my wife can sell our share of the store and get some use out of me.
Credibility
To some people, the longer it's been since I ran a store, the less relevant my game store advice is. Sure, I read news, industry shop talk, and I stay in touch with local game store owners and read publisher websites, but...perception is everything. Putting me back in a store means that this material is very relevant to what I do. Experiencing things first-hand gives me stronger credibility.
One of the reasons why it took so long to get into this is that it had to be under very specific circumstances. I need a partner so that I'm not spending all day every day in the store, leaving me time to help you guys. I need a partner who is competent and trustworthy. It's hard to find, but I have both now.
Experimenting
I have wanted a chance to put into practice many things that I've heard about or discovered, and I want to test their value for myself. The EDDM article I posted a while back? Yeah, that's near the top of my list. I've seen it used in other industries, but it brings the medium cost down enough to where print ads are cost-effective for the gaming industry for the first time. I want to be able to report that success to you with real numbers.
Games at Cost
Actually, one of my favorite benefits of the game store wasn't buying new games at cost, but the ability to cherry-pick collections of used games as I bought them. This goes to me, that goes to the store. It's minor, but it's a point in favor of the store.
Those are the whys and the wherefores. For for the future.
New Material
Being in the thick of things will give me more material to work with for this column. That's a worthy goal by itself.
New Direction
This column will change slightly, from general advice by topic to a play-by-play describing my experience with the store. I'll delve into the reasons why I do things so that you can decide if a procedure or technique I describe is something you'd like to add to your arsenal or if it doesn't apply to you.
I plan to begin next week with a recap of the actions I took getting this started. Already, I'll have to reveal some flaws in my planning. But the point isn't for me to look good—it's to give you good advice.
Lloyd Brown
www.lloydwrites.com
