Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Yesterday was just one of those days in retail when you shrug and write it off; a bad day.

I was responsible for at least part of that. Started talking to a guy who had some unique inside knowledge about some former and current competitors. I wasn't actively ignoring customers -- in fact, I would break away and make sure they knew I was there. But people tend not to interrupt what they perceive as deep discussions. I decided it was worth the trade off.

Inside information! Rare and Golden!

And it wasn't breaking any real confidences, either. Just information I didn't have.

Pretty much confirmed most of what I had already guessed. I was probably a little low on both my estimates of sales and of costs, but I got the proportions mostly right. I seem to have a real talent for guesstimating from the outside how other stores are doing.

It isn't all guesswork, though. I constantly and actively try to gather information. It has always amazed me how little curiosity most store keepers have. Half the time, they haven't even mined their own outlets for information, much less what they could glean from looking outward, or browsing the internet, or just plain paying attention to the competition.

It's a survival tool.

5 comments:

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Rare & Golden?

C'mon! Tell us what it is!

Duncan McGeary said...

Just stuff that is useful to me, but probably no one else.

Other than that D Hobbies is apparently moving to the space next to the old Movietyme location. 5000 sq. ft! Wow. At least 1.00 a square foot when I looked into it. That means, at 40% margins, they have to gross 12,500.00 a month just to pay the rent.

There must by a whole lot more money in paint ball than I knew! This is just rumor so far....

They apparently are going to start setting up a Warhammer space when they're done.

Which sounds like it will be six months or so after Gambit closed their doors.

Duncan McGeary said...

Rent is the big stress-out. The big bill you can't avoid every month. One of the big mistakes people make is too much store for the level of sales.

On the other hand, it's location, location, location.

I've always been willing to pay a much higher percentage of my income on my housing, and a much higher percentage of my sales on store rent, than is recommended.

But I've also learned not to jump to a higher rent location just because it has more space or is more visible.

It's probably the trickiest thing any store has to decide.

Duncan McGeary said...

I don't suppose it matters to Gambit Games, now. My estimates of their sales and their expenses was probably off by a third on the low side. But my percentages were right on, so it doesn't really change the fundamentals much.

Also got some insight into the mentality of the gamer community; and especially the Warhammer people.

I'll just say, I think I made the right decisions.

Also got my first whiff of someone contemplating opening a game store.

Jason said...

It's probably the trickiest thing any store has to decide.

It can definitely make or break a business. I think we've all seen plenty of fun stores try to move to a bigger or better space. It doesn't have to be the end, and some businesses make it work just fine. But for every one successful move, it seems like there are several that end poorly. You have to be sure.