In business and in life I spend a lot of time looking ahead and projecting. Will big box retail hurt my sales? Will my staff perform above average, or just average? Will I remember to order playmat tubes if I leave myself a 5th reminder message? Whatever it is I’m dithering over, 90% of the …
Part of running a game store, or any business, is customer acquisition and retention. One of the big struggles a game store faces is, somewhat counter-intuitively, what kind of customers to pursue, charm and win over to their fold. Some of this is based on the demographics of a stores’ region, but much of it …
Read more “3 Game Stores in the Wild and How to Identify them”
Customers occasionally ask me “Isn’t Kickstarter bad for game stores?” They almost ask this like they want me to be pissed off about it. Or like they want me to agree “Oh yes, it’s killing me, and your total comes to $145.62, would you like a receipt?” Or they wonder how we can possibly be …
Lots of blogs out there will tell you the cost of opening a good game store. I’m here to tell you not to do it. This is not going to be a polite post; I’m not being discouraging or encouraging, I’m being pragmatic and blunt. If that offends you, you’re not ready to open a …
I see a lot of store owners sweating their competitors. Mostly the ones who apparently operate without business sense or an infinite advertising budget. Or a trust fund. There’s lots of those, in every industry, but far more important is to recognize the good, healthy competitors you have and work with them. Aren’t your competitors …
How much money a seat at an event in a game store should generate comes up frequently in game store retail, or at least, how much to charge for a seat at a game. It matters to customers too – how much should you spend? Is a store justified in expecting you to pay a …
HOW TO SHOUT IT OUT? This is part of a series of articles written by James Mathe on his old website. I have brought select articles over here, for reasons that are mostly personal. All author credit remains with James Mathe’s estate. He is credited here as a guest author. Advertising – Yes, you need to do it. …
HOW TO DO IT? This is part of a series of articles written by James Mathe on his old website. I have brought select articles over here, for reasons that are mostly personal. All author credit remains with James Mathe’s estate. He is credited here as a guest author. Timeline – Create a timeline to open. Use it …
This is part of a series of articles written by James Mathe on his old website. I have brought select articles over here, for reasons that are mostly personal. All author credit remains with James Mathe’s estate. He is credited here as a guest author. I own 3 game stores in the Milwaukee (Game Universe) area and …