Behind the Counter
This past year has been a great one for Titan Games retail store in Battle Creek, Michigan. I went through a divorce, got remarried to a wonderful woman (talk about trading up!), sold my .com site to a competitor, grew our eBay wing of things, and got elected to the Gama Retail Division Board of Directors. We started a game club locally, and have had a lot of fun this year.
Overall - I am happier now than I have ever been, and I am enjoying my business more now, too.
Thinking back at the past 22 years of business, I think I could sum up some of my experiences as being lucky, even when the luck was bad. And, as such, came up with a list of things that I think every retailer should know, or will need to know at some point. Maybe knowing some of these things early would prevent some folks from going into the game retailing business - and that is not my goal. I want MORE people to be games retailers, not less.
So, here is my top-10 things a retailer should know before opening their doors:
10. You need to know that you don't know anything yet. I remember when I opened my first game store in Anchorage, Alaska, I recall that being 1986. I had essentially a desire to do it better than the local shop at the time. I figured I knew everything, when in fact, the only thing I had was a strong desire to own my own business.
9. Education, Education, Education. Since retailers don't usually have a "degree in gameology", they need to constantly seek education in their new field. It took me a couple years to realize it, but being a retail shop owner is either your VOCATION, or your HOBBY. To me, deciding it was my vocation meant all the difference. There are a lot of ways to educate oneself, or to become educated, in this industry, including:
- The GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas each year. If you cannot afford to spend $1000 to attend this show, don't waste your money on opening a store.
- Alliance and ACD Open Houses.
- The GIN and GSRF Forums.
- Game Trade Magazine, Game Buyer Magazine, Comic and Games Retailer magazine.
- The Specialty Retailers Handbook by Dave Wallace.
8. Lease Negotiation. Man, you have just GOT to take your lease to an attorney for review. Things like triple net leasing, CAMs, buy-out clauses and such are very important. When negotiating for a new lease, YOU have the power. Once you sign it, the landlord has the power. Learn about leases before signing one.
7. Business Insurance. Make sure you do some research into insurance before you buy. Make sure you are covered for things like a car driving THROUGH the building, a tree falling on your building, etc. Obviously, if you live in the flood plains, you need flood insurance. In my location, insurance against flooding is not needed (we are at the top of a large hill), but at this busy intersection, protection against a vehicle running INTO the business - important!
6. Employee concerns and costs. Having an employee who makes $10 an hour costs you about $14 an hour (with unemployment taxes, etc). Hiring, firing, payroll and other concerns are going to be important as your business grows. It is important to learn about these things before you are neck deep in trouble.
5. Accountants and taxes. It is vital to have a good accountant, if for no other reason than to be sure you are doing everything you are supposed to be doing. It is really important to pay sales tax, and other taxes, on time. Penalties and interest can be FAR MORE costly than the tax itself.
4. Licenses and permits, inspections and certifications. I cannot even tell you all the mazes which fall under this heading. For me, I have to have a business license, a use permit, a fire inspection, a health inspection and a safety inspection yearly. Signs often require permits. Even my fire extinguishers require inspection (though, I do not have to have fire extinguishers, if I do have them, they require inspection - go figure).
3. Long hours. I have often felt that there are few obstacles that cannot be overcome by working harder. Another retailer told me his mantra was "If you are not getting out of your business what you want out of it - work another 10 hours a week. Repeat until you are getting what you want out of your business.". While it is not possible to work more than a certain number of hours, I am constantly amazed by how GOOD this advice is. I buy up closed shops all the time, it is a major part of my business strategy to acquire liquidation merchandise. And, a great number of those retail shops were owned by people who thought that 40 hours a week was plenty enough to work.
I average 60 hours a week, though there are weeks when I have worked as much as 105 hours in one week.
When you gotta get something done, the cheapest way is to do it yourself.
Another part of the long hours is promotions, and outreach. We go to conventions to broaden our sales opportunities. We put up flyers at the local grocery stores and laundrymats, and we offer deals to scouts, church groups, game clubs and other organizations. We have to constantly strive to bring in customers - and earn their repeat business.
Ya can't do that on 40 hours a week.
2. Diverse Skills. 22 years ago I certainly didn't have the skills I have today. Along the way, I have learned a fair deal about wiring (electrical work), plumbing, carpet laying, changing ballasts in a light fixture, rewiring display cases, brick laying, storage, and especially about hand building display racks, shelves and cases. Having gotten a D+ in shop class, I was pleased a couple years ago when my shop teacher came in and saw my store, and asked who had built our custom display racks - and I said I had. My shop teacher remembered my "birdhouse" which was glued together because I couldn't hammer a nail straight, and laughed at how nice our racks were here. My, how things have changed.
I certainly didn't want to learn all this - but, pricing out display cases at $600, and being able to build them from scratch for $77.50 each - well, I saved a LOT of money by building them.
1. Location and Product Diversity. If your shop is going to be in a large metropolitan area, you may be able to make it on just games, or games and comics. We can't. So, because we are located in a small city (or large town, not sure which), we had to choose to either diversify our selection, or close the store.
As such, I now deal in:
- Video Games and systems (Atari through PS3, even though I have never played anything except a super NES).
- Movies (DVD and VHS) (we have over 2500 of each)
- Music (CDs and Records - we have over 5000 of each)
- Comics (new and used).
- And, most oddly - rare coins (I have collected coins for 35 years).
This makes for a very odd kind of game store. One where less than 20% of our sales are "games". But, one where we are fairly successful at what we do.
Okay, that's my top ten list. Taking a bit of my own advice, I went, this past weekend to the Alliance Midwest Open House, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. At the open house, there were seminars, a great line up of publishers showing off new games, and other retailers to talk to and network with.
Some of my highpoints were:
The WizKids presentation, which let retailers know that the new distribution partnership with Diamond/Alliance has cut back internet sales in a MAJOR way. Which has resulted in the sales of Hero Clix jumping UP. The newer MARVEL set (Avengers) has outsold the previous MARVEL set (Supernova). From the way the information was presented, I felt it was assumed that sets had been dwindling in sales, but the new UPSWING in sales was a very, very good thing. And, from my own perspective, I must say - that must be right. We have yet to sell through our initial order of Super Nova, but have sold 4 times as much Avengers as we have Super Nova. A great trend for WizKids, and for retailers too!
Seminar Presenters who deserve come recognition for helping their peers in the industry, include:
- Putting Game Play to Work for Your Business - Speaker: David Niecikowski – Educator, Writer, Games Expert
- Satisfying Your Customers' Yen for Manga - Speaker: Vince Letterio from DC Comics, John Wagenski from Lost World of Wonders and Lisa Richards from Toykopop
- Extreme Makeover: Your Store Design - Speakers: Stephen Sinex from Family Game Store
- Location, Location Location: Opening a second store - Speakers: Chris Powell (maybe the most selfless comics retailers in the country) – Lone Star Comics, Gary Dills – Phoenix Comics/Laughing Ogre.
Note: Comments on Chris Powell are purely my own. Chris is a guy who has helped a lot of retailers with advice, me included.
Well, thats it for this month. I did want to mention that it's nice to hear from you all, and thanks for the emails, and letters that come to the shop.
See ya next month,
Marcus King
Titan Games - Owner
637 Capital Ave SW
Battle Creek, MI 49015
269-963-3773
titangamesinc at aol dot co
