View from the Game Store is a column by Marcus King, Owner of Titan Games & Comics in London, Kentucky.  This week, King shares some of the lessons he’s learned in his 30 years of owning a game store.

I have owned a game store for 30.5 years now.  In that time, I have had a store seating up to 120 for Pokemon and Magic, and as little as one table for demo games only.  Since 1998, I have derived 100% of my income from owning a game store, but, to think “I have this figured out” is absolutely foolish.

In the years I have owned a game store, I have carried other merchandise to supplement the sales of the store. Some of that has been hobby stuff, collectibles, general merchandise, and high margin “entertainment’ stuff,” as well as used merchandise in a wide range of categories. I envy a store that can provide a solid income for a number of owners and employees on just a couple product categories - but in rural Kentucky, it is definitely not something I can do on tabletop games and comics alone.


Here, in London, Kentucky (Off of Exit #38 on I75, stop by) we have nearly 5000 square feet of merchandise ranging from Magic, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Force of Will and Dragon Ball Z card games - including singles, - through a ton of pop culture product: plush, blankets, flags, posters, and beach towels. There are also board games, war games, video games and consoles, and much more.  Our needs for seating for gaming events have changed over the five years I have been in this location - from seating for 60 when we were the only gaming store in the area - to seating for 30 now that we have a lot of competition in the area.  

Flexibility in what we carry, our hours, events, staffing needs, buying practices, and other business strategies are the key to our success. Tracking sales trends per category over the five years here is another way we keep up with things.  Knowing that Bushiroad CCGs have grown 500% in sales over the past 2 years, for example, provides us with the knowledge that we must keep six to eight boxes of every release on the shelf, pretty much all the time. Knowing that RPG games seat more players per week than anything else we have going allows us to justify the inclusion of 12 different RPG lines as “complete” lines.

Luckily we have a great staff, and that is one of our most key assets to the store.  Another is building relationships with our customers.  Knowing customers’ names, interests, and in many cases, connecting at a social media level to stay in touch with them throughout the year, allows us a much more connected feel with our customer base.  

Recently, we have also added a new component to this: an electronic Customer Loyalty Program that tracks customers’ spending habits, and allows us to tailor our outreach to specific areas, such as comic customers, Magic customers, or just customers who buy liquidation items.  If you are interested in my recommendation for a Customer Loyalty Program, drop me a Facebook Message, and I will send you the details on the one I use, and love.

Another key to our success in a rural community is connecting with customers who don’t have a lot to spend, and teaching them how to be a valued customer in our store.  We take trade-in games, and buy collectibles for cash as well.  This includes comics, video games, board games, and a plethora of other merchandise that customers can sell us for cash, or use to get store credit toward other items they want.  This is something I teach all my staff: How to Buy from Customers.  I have a 12+ page guide for my staff, and if you want a copy, please drop me a message on Facebook, and I will provide it, free, if you own a game or comic store.  Or, if you just have a bunch of stuff and want to trade it in.  

Lastly: Outreach.  I have a wall in my store covered with dozens of awards and letters of appreciation from conventions, organizations and charities thanking us for our participation, donations, or efforts on their behalf.  Schools, churches, veterans groups, charitable organizations, youth groups and scouting groups all get donations from us on a very regular basis.  We also connect with people through Facebook, other social media, even Craigslist, classified ads and other online places to get as much “Community Awareness” as possible. Current projects include: having a new website designed for the store, organizing a new layout of the gaming area, and building more fixtures from scratch. More on that next time...

If you want to follow my experiences and thoughts, or connect as friends, please consider visiting my Facebook page.

I run an online forum for store owners, and if you own a store, fb message me for access.
 

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.