Beware franchising a Play N Trade

[Xonticus]

@pepharytheworm:

Most businesses don't want to hear that. You could be thinking it when you go into work every day, but you tell the boss your main goal is to sell and to make the customer happy enough to come back. If someone can't find what they are looking for at our store, I will go out of my way to help them find it ASAP. These people usually buy something regardless, or come back later.

More and more businesses are sticking to the Gamestop way of selling things; sell them as much as you can even if they don't want it, push the preorders, push the magazine subscriptions. They don't care how you get results, they just want to see the numbers. I think if a business focused on making the customer happy rather than increasing their wallets at the expense of the customer, and still do great economically, you'd have the competition beat.

[AppleQueso]

We only have one Play N Trade in town, and it hasn't been open for more than a few months. It seems to be doing decently despite being within walking distance of a Gamestop. I hope it doesn't succumb to the same problems a lot of them seem to.

[JordanPlayer]

I found that there used to be 4 of these Play N Trade stores in the Houston/Conroe area; however 2 of them have since closed. Now that I know that a couple Play N Trade stores exist in my area I think I'll have to make a trip to try and visit one to see what it's like. What are the prices like at Play N Trade?

There are only a couple other game stores in Houston I know of that sell games older than Gamecube/XBox/PS2; one is Player 1 Video Games (just opened this year) and Games Plus. I have only been to Games Plus (since Player 1 is over a 2 hr round trip) but they jack the prices up on almost any older game that is good or somewhat uncommon. They were selling Battletoads for NES that was in a black NES sleeve for $35; think I'll pass on that lol. I am finding that Houston is one of the hardest cities to grow a retro gaming collection for the older systems because there aren't very many game stores around (aside from Gamestop).

[Limewater]

I am finding that Houston is one of the hardest cities to grow a retro gaming collection for the older systems because there aren't very many game stores around (aside from Gamestop).

What cities have you lived in that have had many game stores around that aren't Gamestop? I'm pretty sure what you describe is the case for most of the United States.

[BlackDS]

I've never seen a Play 'n Trade in my life, They should open up in pittsburgh. Im pretty sure they would make good money, There is only one real retro game franchise here (The Record Exchange), and they only have 3 stores anyway.

[swiftzx]

My favorite store that sells retro games here in NC is Edward Mckay

[Shabba]

Richmond, with a metro population of 1.1 million, had 4 PNT's at the end of 2009, way too many. One of them closed around the end of the year and he gave little to no warning to many customers. A lot of people lost money in trade in credits because the owner was a douchebag and didnt warn anyone. To say that it hurt the other stores is an understatement and therin lies the problem with the franchising. It's so cut-throat that one store impacts the others in ways they didn't anticipate. 4 stores is too many for a small city like this...maybe 2 would suffice and I think the market will see to that. The three remaining stores seem to be doing really well so I hope the market knows better than I do. All 3 remaining stores are owned by fantastic guys that are open because they genuinely love gaming and hope to make a decent living selling them.

[presicion25]

I think the Game Stops here used to be either Software ETC or Electronics Botique.

3 Play N Trades opened here in Tampa, Florida in 2008. They're all still open. They each usually have a glass case with retro systems and more sough after games at the counter. Then they have a section not too far in front of the counter with more common retro stuff. The rest of the store has the newer games for Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PSP and DS. They also hold game tournaments every other month, which gives people a reason to come back. Also by selling retro stuff people with go there rather than Game Stop because Game Stops here don't sell anything older than PS2. They don't even sell old Xbox games anymore. None of the Game Stops here sell retro stuff, neither do they have tournaments. So, my guess is, Play N Trade is just picking up on the extra slack, like selling retro stuff, that Game Stop wont. There are 3 play N Trades here and about 8 or 10 Game Stops. Another thing Play N Trade does here is repair broken consoles.

I agree with the thread starter that its not easy to start a retro game franchise. It was even mentioned on the Podcast live from PAX East. You cant price stuff too high like Flea Markets do here in Tampa, because then no one will buy.

Flea Markets here are ridiculous. Why would I want to pay $10 or $15 for NES games that I could get on ebay or Amazon for $2 or download the ROM for free? There is a retro game store at a Flea Market here, that has literally 30 or 40 milk crates full of loose NES games. Those games will always be there too, because no one will pay their ridiculous prices. Those places prey on the ignorant people who don't know about Ebay or Amazon.

[Jrecee]

Some of you may be right that the owners didn't do their homework or thought they could half-ass it and rake in the profits. But at the same time, gamestops are all over the place and I haven't watched a single one go out of business. I'm not sure that people opening a gamestop are so much smarter than those opening play n trades.

Part of it is obviously that gamestop is the bigger brand, and if you open a play n trade near one, you may have problems. The one by the mall had a gamestop and bestbuy 1/4 mile away. . . yet it still lasted longer than the others.

One of the ones with a poor location (in the corner of a strip mall next to a nail salon and bird feeder store) was also about a 1/4 mile from a gamestop. . . the gamestop was in a packed strip mall next to an ice cream shop and a starbucks. No big surprise that that store failed.

[dedalusdedalus]

But at the same time, gamestops are all over the place and I haven't watched a single one go out of business. I'm not sure that people opening a gamestop are so much smarter than those opening play n trades.

Gamestop doesn't franchise. All the stores are company-owned.

This explains why Gamestops seldom close. Even if an individual store is losing money, corporate management might opt to keep it open for strategic reasons, in an attempt to preemptively choke out competition. And as long as the stores in that area are profitable in aggregate, the corporation is happy.