The Cut-Throat World of Owning a Video Game Store
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ธ.ค. 2024
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One thing I've noticed about all these successful retro game stores is that they aren't just game stores. Action figures, cards, movies, comic books, music. They are really more of a general collectibles/nostalgia store that happens to have a big selection of games rather than a game specific store. What that suggests to me is that being a retro game dealer is not lucrative by itself. You have to sell a big variety of retro things and collectibles to keep the lights on.
I think you are spot on!
I've noticed the less than successful stores are usually run by someone who is fixated on not getting ripped off by the customers. It was brutal for a few years during the whole grading/financialization scandal. Things have finally settled down though. You can pick up working carts at reasonable prices again. The full in box titles are still outrageous, but that's not why I collect the games, I actually play them on the original hardware. I need a new CRT though, and those can be iffy, but goodwill usually has working models for less than $50.
@@SaanMigwell My brother has a comic book store mainly with other collectibles. YOU HAVE TO BE ONLINE particularly ebay also. Brick and mortar alone is basically dead.
@@polishpimp4233 brick and mortar can only really be successful in a city centre where there's a lot of foot traffic, people don't tend to go out of their way just to browse.
I think so too, a wider range of goods with (for the most part) overlapping interest groups makes more sense here than having a narrow but deep assortment of products. Many shops nowadays offer more varied products/services than they used to and the same is true here.
I love how Chris actually gives practical advice. Many business owners just give theoretical ideas, but Chris was much more concrete. Great video, Caleb!
Chris is the man
That is how the real estate agent background helps him. Those guys need to be able to:
1) appraise the book value that is the current value of the assets the house is made of,
2) what price points the local economy can tolerate and
3) what the current market is like i.e. what people are willing to pay for it. Usually the book value is the highest, the economy value might require waiting for and current market one usually is the lowest.
It’s is probably another reason he does well in business. In a situation were most people are just trying to make a sale he just kept it straight forward. From my experience people will pay a lot for that
Physical media is the best, knowing that you bought a thing and you own it, you own it forever.
Digital too. And even better when you pirate wuajajajaja.
That's not what my neighbor said when i burned their house down
@@HappyYummmyyou just incriminated yourself good job
@@KirksCORNER1983 will that unburn their house? doubt it.
@@HappyYummmy That's what backups and insurance are for. It's unlikely that any physical media that people have in this respect can't be backed up or replaced.
I personally, rip it all to disc, and then store the necessary conversion information and original on my disk, which gets backed up off site. The converted files go to my NAS for actual use. The likelihood of anything being destroyed in a way that I wouldn't get compensated for is extremely remote.
This guy’s a beast. Handling the stress of hosting the conference in the other doc like a boss. Respect to the entrepreneur spirit
Me and a friend just opened a physical game store June 2024 and I’d say retail is still alive and well. We opened in a small country town and still do every well. Haven’t had a negative month since open!!
If you want to do it and are willing to give full effort you can do it!
Wheres your store located?
None of these people talk about how much you make. How much profit are you making? How many sales do you make a day? These are some things you should talk about because it is cut throat for all businesses out there.
@GordonFreeman307 Well like op said they're in a small town, garentee they are the only game shop in a 20 mile radius. I'm from a small town, and a game store opened a few miles away from me. I quit going to game stop that was like 25 miles away. This was back in early 2000s. The guy is still open to this day.
You are in honeymoon phase. Best of luck but keep your fresh baby goat of a perspective out of the light until you have a few years of success under your belt.
I have a friend who owns a game Shop Called Smile Games in Landshut Bavaria and He makes plus big time
"The first year is a breakeven" 😱 if you know business you know that's remarkable
I agree with your general sentiment, but it depends on the business, the market, and the location. If your business is solid, and you’re providing a product / service that’s in demand at the time in an area that under-serviced, you can not only break even but make money
But, there are many smart people out there, so those opportunities can be few and far between. But Retro Gaming was an emerging market when this dude started his stores, so it’s not that surprising he was able to break even and then expand
@26:10 Physical media is important. If you cant hold it, play it, put it away, and use it when you want to, you dont own it. I've taught my kids this and they appreciate the physical media I grew up with and are reliving my experience with physical media.
Hands down the best videos on this channel. Caleb knows the right questions to ask and these always end up being the most fascinating videos to watch.
This is a good video, I also enjoyed the ones on the trading card shops.
I was excited to watch this and enjoyed all of it
Chris is such a knowledgeable, kind, humble, and cool guy. Wishing you many more blessings
Like only 2 video game pin ball machines existing? Pac-Man pinball machines exist. Def more than 2!
Super impressed by how transparent this guy is, great interview 👍
Superficial I know, but it’s Refreshing to see a games guy who’s in shape and looking good.
You made this guy feel like a star. Youre a great interviewer. I went from a farm town in oregon to follow my dream playing music for a living in southern california. Have been following my dreams my whole life so i love stories like this
That first year story hits home as someone who recently opened a shop. The first three months were brutal with almost no customers and in our first ten we got him with a charge back fraud which was soul crushing. These days we make more in a single month than we did in those three.
How did the charge back even follow through? Most banks or institutions would consider it as an authorized payment, especially since it's in store and the nature of the products,no?
@@420rollinup3 They claim their card was stolen and used unauthorized even if it's their card. Even though we had a signature and receipts the banks kept asking for more info to prove it wasn't a stolen card. I asked my bank rep what I could have done to prevent this and they said nothing, it's just a cost of doing business and they charge you a fifteen dollar fee for the charge back processing. It got to the point the other bank, the one from the card holder would request things like if I had a license reference for the customer and when I asked if they were asking me to photograph licenses they said they wouldn't ever ask that but how else would I provide them with a license reference?
There was another time where the bank payment process randomly lost a hundred dollar transaction from an Amex gift card. The world of business is brutal when it comes to such things.
Since I've gotten into video game collecting I've seen Kris around online quite a bit and I always looked at him slightly differently than the rest but I never knew why. Until today. I actually shopped at one of his Connecticut locations when I first started collecting, without realizing it was his store. Unfortunately I had a negative experience, however one of his employees called him up on the phone and Kris wanted to make things right for me. I was given replacements for the items I received that didn't function properly and I have a deep respect for business owners who want to treat their customers right. Never put his voice on the phone to the face until this very day, but I'm glad I finally can.
I stumbled onto this place a few years back, and it is by-far my FAVORITE video game store.
Decent prices and resale value, a great variety of stuff on sale, chill staff, and those retro demo kiosks are always fun to see no matter how many times I go.
Even if it is very out of the way for me, I'll always make a point to stop by if I'm in the area.
I’m retired from medicine and music.Ive sold guitars out of my garage for 40 years and am too busy now with my 2 adult autistic sons and my 45 animals ,so I’m liquidating all my instruments and video games (I competed in pinball back in the 70’s and arcade games in The 80’s) I was so inspired by Chris that I want to keep going,but every day I feel more and more tired and know I’m just lucky and blessed to be finishing my careers and need to take care of my family,but man I love doing business. Good luck and God bless to you guys and your families!
lol 2 autistic adult sons... that's something! My sister have an autistic kid and it's kinda nightmare
Chris, you are a class act being willing to share so much of your learnings and insight. It is clear you are head and shoulders above most of the collectable retail business in both leadership and business acumen. I wish one of your stores were near me. All the best!
Phoenix, really well done interview. Great questions!
"Changing my 2-year old's diapers in the backroom", being able to spend those formative years with my step-son are my fondest memory of the 22 years I owned a retail store. I would love to go back to retail ownership, but the high cost of retail space, the insane cost of health insurance, and the long hours are what keep me from going back.
Whoa, I go there from time to time, this place is just down the street. This is an awesome store. I have bought Garbage Pale Kids from here several times for my daughter. This is a must see store.
The owner is fascinating and incredibly articulate and educated about the market. Really fun watch!
This man is very good at what he does.... Hes selling a experience from something near and dear to his heart more than he is products. The store itself is a nostalgiac experience that fills a need in MANY people who grew up in the 90's and 00's and watched forms of media blow up then seemingly overnight become obsolete and disappear from the market and demand... But they represent a key part of many peoples life experience.
Him setting up the gaming stations and selling non traditional forms of media like VHS and trading cards is pure genius ... This is something MANY 90's babies miss greatly, going into Walmart as a kid and sprinting to the electronics section and hopping on the Xbox and having to have your family pull you off!
I just happened upon this video out of curiosity only to find his CT shop is like 10 minutes from me. Wow, I’m so excited to go check it out.
go buy
Kris, you’re a true inspiration and there is so much value and knowledge you’re bringing to the community. Thank you for sitting down and talking about your business expertise and experiences over the years. Caleb, great interview and questions, you’ve made this so enjoyable to watch. Bravo fellas!
I live a few blocks from the retro games plus in Lawndale, CA. I’ve actually bought a few games from there. I like to pop in once in awhile to check out what’s in stock
This is the best interview yet! I appreciate Kris for being honest and open about what people should actually expect. There were a lot of parallels between what he experience in his early days and our early days except I was out of my house.
Everytime I need a gaming item, I cal my local 2nd hand gaiming sotore, its more expensive than online sometimes, but you gotta keep your local stores alive bro. Dont fall for the amazon mirage.
If you can save money on Amazon do it. Otherwise you're throwing money away.
@troonlegend8317 Agreed. As a consumer, I want the best value I can get. I'm not gonna shop at a B&M store that charges more than online just because "we need to save them". I dont owe them anything.
Hats off to small business owners like him. The odds are so stacked against you. The hours are grueling. And you don't normally make that much money, even if you are profitable. It has to be a passion and a labor of love. That is your only shot. That and one hell of a work ethic. I can testify how much work goes in to just having an online card store. Just keeping up with the latest prices and trends on tens of thousands of cards is exhausting. I'll give a little plug to Shopify. That was one part of the business that was easy to learn and they have tremendous support.
I went here all the time when I lived in Trumbull CT. Keep it going! Big gamestores are trash and these are the ones that really bring back that feeling of excitement when heading into a game store.
One of your best interviews to date. Chris seems like such a genuinely good guy and this video was really insightful. Quality content right here.
As a current finance major student and lover of video games I love this video and hearing the numbers behind the retail video game industry
You asked great questions. This was an excellent interview bro. You got my like for sure.
I’ve spent decades reading & watching business ideas, economics, entrepreneurship, news, real estate, stocks, video game reselling content, etc. and your TH-cam interview was one of the best videos I’ve ever seen! In fact, I'm so inspired, I'm writing a letter to Chris right now...
Did you send the letter?
I started tearing up at Chris telling his story of his darkest time. Amazing video man.
Same here, reminds me of my struggle when I decided to hustle on my own.
Thank you Chris for being you. Your honesty and passion is inspiring. Excellent interview. Much love
Chris, hearing your story is inspirational! I live in Massachusetts and visit your store as often as I can when I'm in CT. It is indeed, the best video game store in CT for sure! If it wasn't such long drive everyday, I would beg to get a job at one of your locations lmao
Dude this is a great video. You are a great creator and this is one of your best videos. I love Chris and everything he does
The only surviving retail stores are because the owners like this man come from a savvy business-oriented background with a modern outlook and know how to navigate a difficult business environment. If I wanted to start my own video game store, I would literally move to LA and work for this man as one of his managers and learn everything I can from him.
I own a video game repair shop called Chatt Fix and looking to expand my retail side of the video games. After watching this video I can say its all about the focus on your business and having a strong business plan. Thanks for the info!
Damn i watched the video
Credit to how good informative it was
Im glad to see the quality of your content going up
Sooo, no-one else see's the irony of a reseller making a video about how hard it is to run a brick and mortar?
Bro I saw that and was like -___-
Explain?
@@Heyhey7764-e8s think... 🤔
@lohey7887 they are competition to each other. Most people buy games online. not many people go to actual game stores anymore. Not nearly like they used too.
@larryjohnson7246 but these are retro games (mostly not having online releases) , completely different from regular game stores... I'm still failing to see the irony. Is it that a 2nd hand store is complaining about sales , while the "1st hand" store is already struggling ? Not quite ironic since in this case they have different markets, no ?
Wow, man. Love these types of videos. Excellent interviewing skills on Phoenix’s part and Chris was a great subject. He seems like a cool guy to hang out with and seems super knowledgeable. More of these!
Amazing. And Chris was so generous in sharing his experiences and even the numbers... This interview was special. Thanks Caleb!
Thank you Caleb for taking the time to do this interview! I appreciate it greatly and you are an awesome guy and friend 😊🙌
Chris seems like the most genuine and nice dude.
Love that dude! Chatted him up for a bit at the Socal auction. Super chill
What a fantastic interview. At first I thought the run time seemed kind of long, but then I was glued to my screen the entire time. Great stuff.
Thank you Chris for having a sitdown and being transparent about how to run a business, how to work with others and running the expos and celebrate gaming. Caleb ty for having the best questions to ask and offer a great point of view. Mad respect for all your alls additions and preservation to the gaming community. Keep up the awesome work. It was awesome meeting you at the SoCal expo.
These are the type of videos I like seeing. All those building collection videos just to sell them at the end are repetitive. These are the types of stores I can spend hours in looking at stuff
I lived right down the street from the Orange location for years. I miss seeing the Mario Turtle car driving around. Thank you for bringing us the story!
Not normally a big fan of these type of videos, but love that guy Chris and thought this video was really interesting..
What an amazing interview with Chris’ great storytelling and honesty. Credit to you for such great questions and fantastic production quality. Congratulations and very excited to check out your other videos!
26:40...spoke the truth there. Im 44 and watching this video made me teary eyed tbh. I remember the lines we formed when our favorite games would launch. The banter, shooting the breeze with fellow gamers, exchanging gamertags...oh those times will never come back if we continue with this online trend. The Gamestops around my way shut down. Just found out yesterday. I miss those times!
Great video haha the owner getting nervous as u slowly walk closer and closer to him.
Low-key funny asf 🤣
Kris a great human being, entrepreneur and I appreciate this video, behind the scenes and hearing his story. I hope he continues to grow and the conventions continue to thrive. If it was all about the money, these types of stores and events wouldn't exist. So thank you for the work, caring, love and support to the community.
Theft from employees is an unspoken darkness by most people. This guy is legit, real and told some hard truths and realities.
Love the video man! As an owner of a TCG store and has been open for just over a year I can attest to what is being said here. Keep them coming!
It would be cool if he had another section of the store with some decent arcade cabs, mainly fighting game cabs with maybe a lounge area with a couple of sofas and a couple of TVs where people could hang out and watch big tournaments like EVO and Capcom Cup.
I just stumbled upon this channel (no idea how it popped up).
great questions asked and amazing answers given!
Subscribed!
I just opened my game store 3 months ago, it’s been doing decent so far but this video really gives me a positive outlook for the future. Thanks for sharing!
Most people missing the fact that the host of this video being the reason why video game stores are closing (due to online resellers) is actually hilarious.
Lame take. What's your solution?
Not their fault no one’s buys physical media
@@okokokok1457 not true, I just brought physical copies of Pocket Bravery and Blazing strike for my switch and ps5,alongside digital copies. Nothing like owning physical copies. Digital feel impersonal and alot of times games can get delisted and in some cases we consumers lose the right to the game, also if we didnt buy dlc, we lose that right too.
@qewrasdf So you think communism is the answer. Ok.
@qewrasdf
>there's lots of solutions
>How this is done? Theres more experts out there than me.
How do people type things like this and then think it's a good idea to post it?
I feel like physical media will have several rebounds not just because of nostalgia but because it is an physical experience. You go to a place, talk with real people, handle a physical object. That's why there are more card game shops opening up where people go and buy and play their card games. Retail stores will be selling experiences and in the future you will probably see stores that are combinations of similar but different ideas.
Low key interviewing in front of a Steel Battalion controller on the end cap. I love it!
Every step you take towards him he takes a step back 😂
Major props to the owner (Chris I believe) for being so generous with his time and his dark secretes. Not many people would be forth coming and it is a vert valuable thing to have a successful person tell you their challenges and down times. Admitting to questioning himself and feeling trapped is is a big deal, often successful people pretend it was always that way and letting other people know they may have these same experiences is golden.
First time I stumbled across this channel. Enjoyed the content, but also, you did a good job with the interview, too. Asking good questions that got good answers.
This content keeps drawing me in helping a lot with my depression
Keep your head up
Yr not alone
I always love these behind the scenes talks with store owners and entrepreneurs. I think the one thing that I don’t ever really hear talked about though is not only is Kris super successful at opening stores and running two gaming conventions, but he has also created a whole ton of jobs, employment that is actually fun and brings people joy. For me that’s the best part of growing a business, is all the peoples lives you improve along the way.
Hey! I used to live in ct they had great stuff. Got two fresh n64 controllers from them. Cool video glad it’s going well
You made a commercial ad before I could be even close to engrossed in this video.
Love Kris. One of my favorites - such a relaxed, level headed guy and as genuine as it gets.
I remember the first play-n-trade. I knew the owner. He was a great guy and said it was his worst decision
I tried being the "Mickey" for my local Play n Trade that was run by a married couple who were originally house flippers. They never listened, fought constantly, got a divorce and let the business crumble, all while also receiving little to no support from PnT franchisors, other than being gaslit into buying crazy amounts of big box bullshit game titles. Great interview, love to hear from someone who's been through so much!
I like Chris a lot he has good vibes always around everybody. He acts the same chilled Dude around everyone hes around!!!
Thank you for this content, a guy who loves games and inspires to open a store also. This was needed this morning to keep PUSHING!
I honestly love when you do these videos! The video you did of Mark’s store was honestly the first phoenix resale video I ever watched.
Shoutout to Micky! Goes to show your employees are what makes a business succeed and is just as important
Best video next to your Burbank Sports Cards video that you have made between your channels. Thanks for doing this, it's a great look at how you can turn a passion into a career.
This video is truly such a help in my life. Such a push, thank you.
Thanks caleb! One of your best videos so far! Ever since i saw chris on the other channels i really wished they could do an in depth interview with him about his business. This interview was really great! Hope chris will do a sort of masterclass about entrepreneurship because he seems to have it dialed in with his stores and expos!
Amazing interview. I love the interviewer doesn't yap and just lets the guy talk
Keep doing what you love. You are doing a great job and your videos are amazing!!!!!
Awwww sweet just got a 2ds from his store in CT, very happy with it. Awesome store kept my fiancé busy with Simpson bowling arcade while I looked around. 10/10
We have a retro game store in our Santa Maria mall. It’s called World 1-1 games. It’s so cool. They started out in a little shop, then went over into a space 4 times the size…now, they moved into the old skate park/one way shop into the mall. They put a big arcade center in the skate park and sell their merch in the one way shop. It’s always popping there.
Wow wow wow! Love Chris and the gang so the fact that you made a vid about him and his stores is awesome. I would love to Know/Learn more about this. If Chris ever wrote a book I’d buy for sure
Mah boi Kris!
Man I will tell you these nostalgic retro items brings backs memories things you forget about as you get older. Sometimes items can be priceless because of what they meant to you and the memories they bring back.
seeing kris at the expo, dude was loving life. big ass smile. love the passion
It really is not that complicated when you think about it. He takes the approach of running it as a business rather than a hobby or for internet Fame like so many other people do. You got to look at things like marketing, profitability, payroll, cost of goods, utilities, lease, etc. It's really not that different from any other business but what happens a lot of the time is that video game Geeks don't think about these things and they think that it's just a matter of plopping down in a building and the money will roll right in. There's also the matter of location, some areas of the country are severely neglected when it comes to these types of stores. And some like he said can feel like they have a lot of competition but they are big population centers and thus the pieces of the pie are big enough for everyone to eat.
Chris has an attitude that goes a long way especially in a successful business
We can all learn alot from how he handles himself
This whole ecosystem is gonna eat itself alive. The moment when a hobby turned into a race to buy a $200 cartridge before someone else is where we all should have collectively realized what's going on.
I just can't explain how good these videos are. Just amazing
this guy is a true human being. I love that he gives credit to old employees
Omg I went to the original store all the time when I was in high school. I’ve moved away but so glad to see he’s still operating!
"I built my own prison."
That's the same thought I had right before I started selling my collection.
Awesome Interview and Kris is a great business man. Really enjoyed his answers and learned a few things
Amazing video. Great questions and I really love this dudes passion, drive and vision to free his life and live on his terms while doing what he loves its fantastic!
Great interview. It's so fun to listen to Chris talk about his business's. If you take anything from this, it's definitely his planning. Big corporations are big because they have methods of operations in place. Just because you have a small business doesn't mean you shouldn't have instructions for your different tasks and systems. Stay organized and be successful because of it. 👍
Who knew selling games for more than they're worth would be hard?
Love these videos. Great work Caleb!
great stuff, nice work Chris and Caleb!