3 Game Stores in the Wild and How to Identify them

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 …

On Kickstarter and impact on game stores

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 …

The Competition: Working side by side

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 …

So you want to be a Game Store owner? PART 3

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. …

So you want to be a Game Store owner? PART 2

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 …

So you want to be a Game Store owner? PART 1

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 …