So I’m perilously close to purchasing a game and comic store. The owner’s nearing 70 and wants out and he and I have been discussing it.
His sales have tailed off a bit…not a lot but the trend is there…and I’d need to turn that around. I’m consulting with established shop owners around the country and sales are actually up in both categories - I’m told and the data indicates - over the last two years following a bit of a slump in 2017. Fine.
The real issue is that the owner hasn’t marketed the place in ten years. He’s got his install base of loyal customers. The come in to play games - MtG, other CCG, D&D and board games as well as generally shoot the breeze with him and the other customers. Good. But we need to build on that. Hell, there’s barely a Facebook presence or any other social media and the website is…minimalist at best.
So I’ve got a manager lined up. She’s got significant retail and game/comic sales experience and is deeply committed to nerd culture. I’m feeling pretty confident there. But other items we can commit to using for outreach is what I’m after. There’s both a retail area and a game area with tables and space for other events.
So help me, people. Give me some ideas for how you would handle outreach in such a store to get more people visiting. The store’s been there for more than 30 years so for some it would be a reintroduction and for some a completely new thing.
You touched on a lot of it yourself - more social media presence, a better website, etc. That will largely be sufficient for the people who are looking for your store.
You should also look at events and promotions. Get a calendar. What movies are coming out this year? Anything big on the game front to be released? Chose some… 1 per quarter, maybe… and have that as your big event of the quarter/month/whatever.
Do not forget about PR. Any local radio shows you can get a segment on? A Sunday afternoon “local business” show, a Saturday morning “games and things” show, something? Write a press release about the purchase/sale of the store and be sure to send it to as many media outlets as you can - sure, 99% of them might ignore it, but 100% of them are guaranteed to ignore you if you don’t let them know this happened, right?
I did “business consulting” as a make-money gig between jobs once, got on a radio show and generated $6k of badly-needed billings from it.
But… and I don’t mean to be a drag, man… but you really need to look at the financials and see what you can afford.
If you understand that the purpose of your marketing spend is to have a positive top-line ROI… and if you develop means to measure this… you’ll be further ahead of the game than 93% of small retailers. So do some research before you start spending, please.
Hold periodic game demo nights advertised to new gamers. Provide free wine or beer (if allowed in your jurisdiction - don’t sell it) while the staff explains the rules for a more complicated game. I would suggest Thursday nights so people can pick something up for the weekend. Casual gamers will be less intimidated and they may even meet other interested gamers.
Offer classes around the ancillaries, like an occasional class in mini figure painting or making costumes. This is a chance to move figures, props, and supplies.
When long-anticipated releases come out, host celebrations with special promotions like a free figure with a complete RPG rulebook purchase. It gets people excited, gets them to buy early, and hopefully consolidates their purchases at your store.
If your product line includes children’s games and things, target stay-at-home parents who are always looking for cheap an interesting things to do with kids. An occasional mid-day “play date” for tabletop gaming might get a few boards to move home at an otherwise slow time. Rotate the games frequently so the kids are always getting interested in something new.
Don’t forget that snacks go well with gaming, so if you already host gaming sessions, capitalize on the captive demand for soda and munchies. Don’t be exploitative in pricing and don’t prevent people from bringing their own food. The best advertisement for food is other people eating.
That’s a fantastic idea - many movie theaters offer free/reduced kids movies at 10, 11am, making their money on the concessions while they show some cheap film that was released 10 years ago. You may wish to look into that idea - kids can be problematic in places with lots of bright, shiny toys and comic books, true - as you can start generating some long-term repeat business.
I don’t do RPGs, but I do some board games and lots of jigsaw puzzles, so I’ve been to many game stores that sell them. They’ve pretty much all gone out of business.
Your biggest problem is to get people to buy games at your store and not online. Building up your in-store player customer base is one way of doing this. See if you can plant a story in the local paper or radio station. Do tournaments. I like the suggestion of doing demos.
I was involved in a GATE student support group, and one of our activities was a game night, where kids from lots of schools came to a school and played a bunch of board games with each other. It was very successful. My wife used to be a toy and game reviewer, so we had lots of games to jump start the activity, though kids were allowed to bring their own games to find other players. This might work for you, especially if you could get a school organization to sponsor it. You might even be able to hold it on school property and sell some games that kids find they like. (If your schools allow you to.) I think lots of parents would rather their kids play board games more and have less screen time.
Good luck.
Yeah, let’s just assume you’re going to lose money at first.
I think the assumption in a bricks and mortar store is that your goal is to attract customers who will individually enter the store and then purchase things. That assumption is probably not a wise one. Convincing people to enter your store can be expensive, and convincing them to purchase things isn’t all that easy even if they’re in the store. Making new customer aware of the existence of the store, which is essentially what you are proposing to do, may win new customers, but it may not win many. It’s very likely the current owner is already getting a big share-of-wallet from the likely customer base. In general, I would suggest:
Obviously, a social media presence is pretty cheap so there’s really no reason NOT to do it. It is, however, very time consuming. Keeping a fresh social media presence, which as others have pointed out means keeping abreast of new developments in gaming, entertainment, film, TV and video games and keeping your social media and product mix current, is a really surprising amount of work.
Tired and Cranky has some good ideas for relatively unconventional ideas. Cost control is key here; selling one copy of Settlers of Catan doesn’t pay for that much wine and cheese. Still, it’s a fun way to make your store seem like more than just a store. Marketing to parents is also wise. Parents who are cheap as hell regarding their own entertainment will empty their wallets to keep the kids entertained.
Look for interest groups. Clubs, groups, Facebook groups, schools, fan organizations. Make special offers to groups.
Make a line of beginner classes for things and push it out. Beginners D&D, Pokemon Cards, Magic and the like. There are a lot of people who are mildly interested in those sorts of things but too nervous to give it a shot (or just plumb don’t know how).
In this same area, have a “make your own comics!” night. Let people come in and draw and craft out their own stories and workshop them with one another. Maybe talk to a local college or high school and bring in art or english teachers to talk about the technical aspects of it.
Is the retail space for only new items or are there older things as well? If there isn’t a used section, try implementing a swap. People can bring in their old comics/games and swap them with other fans for new ones.
Viral is great, but don’t discount good old fashioned advertising either. Do your movies theaters offer to advertise on the screen? I always see ads for it at my home theaters and if it’s a viable option you could have your comic company be on the screen before Avengers/Spider Man etc.
Obviously better social and a website are a must. Can you do some kind of Twitter/Instagram contest or giveaway? “Like and tag a friend and be entered to win a limited edition somethingorother”.
With anything that isn’t online, basically it comes down to BE A DESTINATION. Being a host is going to get people to come into your store and hopefully buy things while they’re there.
There are companies that will design and mail circulars to everyone who lives near you. It’s not cheap, but I’ve never heard anybody but a cheapskate complain.
Personally, I am EXTREMELY driven by loyalty cards/point systems. I shop at the grocery store I shop at because doing so earns me points for the associated gas station I get gas at, and vice versa (gas gets me points towards groceries). I will also buy stuff at Amazon over other places because my Amazon credit card gets me “points” which means cash back.
I will almost always spend a little more to get a little something extra - BOGO Free, BOGO Half Off, buy this get this exclusive other thing, spend X get Y.
That’s pretty much “gamification” of shopping, and I’m here for it. I suspect your target audience is too, being that they’re into games. I’m pretty much your target audience - nerdy 40-something suburbanite with extra income for toys. I’ve spent my life playing video games, sending away for free stuff with 10 UPCs, buying cereal for prizes, etc etc. I can’t turn down a good bonus.
From talking to gaming store owners and employees in person and online, it seems like you need to accept that 50% of your sales are going to be M:tG cards and another 30% drinks and chips purchased by people playing M:tG. Once in a while you sell a D&D book, a couple minis or, on an exceptional day, a board game.
I think you need to look to conventions as templates.
(1) Cosplay contest - This has a strong spectacle aspect. It might make the news and events section. Let websites and other publications know its happening. I’m always looking for things to do!
(2) Local celebrities - Try to bring someone in to sign autographs and take pictures. My wife was a celebrity at one time. As her star faded, she should would go to conventions and her only compensation was a booth to sell autographs. I imagine a lot of stars are in her position and would show up just to make a few bucks and get out of the house. Use IMDBpro or just Facebook to get their contact information.
(3) Expand To Horror Genre - Makeup/ movies/ more celebrities / masks / play up Halloween
(4) Get email addresses and send out regular updates.
(5) Let people know you need them to spend money to stay afloat.
(6) Ask people directly, as in up close and personal, to spread the word.
My local taproom hosts events such as Thursday night trivia (in conjunction with the town library) as well as fund raisers/watching parties/etc. It also includes a generous selection of games and several groups take advantage of the location to host mini-events. It’s as much a community center as a taproom although the brewery itself has reasonable distribution coverage. One is very likely to see families come for parties and other events and, of course, the place is very dog friendly.
Is there something like that in your area where you can present a game night? The brew aspect may attract current clientele and the location can introduce others to the games and your store.
My husband’s a gamer (war/simulation, miniatures, collector card, and euros). I’ve seen a lot of game shops go into and then out of business around here.
The ones that were most popular had open gaming tables, but I’m not sure they really fed lots of purchases. As best I could see, people brought their own games, met up with other gamers, brought their own treats, and MAYBE bought a coke or something. In an indirect way it could have helped, I guess, if it led to those gamers seeing the store as “their gaming store” and making whatever purchases they did make at that store.
Even though my husband likes the local stores, he bought and still buys most of his games at conventions (where the newly printed games are introduced) and online directly from their publishers (again, right when they are newly published). He knows what is coming out and orders it in advance, or if he wants to see it first he might wait for the nex con, go and play it there, often with the game designer or the beta testers, then buy it there if he likes it. An occasional game that he wasn’t anticipating wanting, he would go to the game store to see if they had it in stock. If not in stock, he would buy it online.
I guess, thinking about all that, I would suggest a convention presence, and hosting some new games at conventions. If there are any well-attended ones in your area. Going to local cons would get your face and your business out in front of people who are willing to spend to game.
If you want RPG players, you should look into serving as a venue for at least one of the two big organized-play groups: D&D Adventurers League, and Pathfinder Society. Assuming that you’re in a city of any size, there are undoubtedly groups playing those games in your area. Your best bet is to find out who the local organizer or point-of-contact for those OP groups, and see if they’d like to use your shop as a venue.
Paizo (which makes Pathfinder, which is, itself, a spin-off of D&D 3.5) also runs organized play events for Starfinder (their new science fiction RPG) and the Pathfinder card game.
1 - Keep that gameroom full. Schedule events as close to round-the-clock as possible. Sometimes it can be open tables for free play of whatever, but other times you could charge a cover for a movie marathon night, or a local tournament, or any number of other events that nerds will bring their friends for.
[ul]beginner classes for D&D or Pathfinder[/ul]
[ul]single gamers meetups[/ul]
[ul]ladies only gaming (sadly a lot of the gaming/nerd world can still be hostile to women)[/ul]
[ul]expansion release parties[/ul]
[ul]guest appearances[/ul]
[ul]comic and game art classes[/ul]
Load up on snacks and drinks at Sam’s or Costco and have a decent restroom, and you can probably keep that room full all day.
2 - Definitely beef up the social media and internet presence, posting the events calendars so people can make plans to either use the room during open times or attend special events. Not to mention any specials the store side is running.
3 - I don’t know that you want to get into dealing in used comics, games, or books, that’s really a whole nother can of worms. But maintaining a nice stock of current issues, carrying local publishers and some of the smaller and harder to find pubs, and allowing your local artists to become vendors might be just right. Along with games, fast delivery on custom orders, and the associated accessories and merch, you should be well set up. Be the guy who will track down what’s not in stock on Amazon, and don’t charge too much for it.
4 - I’ve never seen this store but for the love of all things good, please light it well! I haven’t been into a comic/game shop in years that wasn’t all dark corners and dust and mildew smell!
Hire someone to increase your web presence. This is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). You want your store to come up near the top when someone types “comic store city_name”. The social media stuff is good to keep your loyal customers in the loop, but web searches will be how a lot of new customers find you.
How is the location of the store and what does the outside look like? Doing a makeover on the storefront can go a long way towards getting new people to walk in the store.