Ideas for More Video Interview Questions for Store Owners

[racketboy]

So I'm doing more indie game store owner video interviews soon. I'm trying to come up with more good questions that you guys would find interesting. Here's my list so far -- can you think of any others -- new or something that builds off the others?

• How long has the store been around?
  Any significant changes during that time?
  What percentage of your stock/sales are retro?
  Any interesting/surprising trade-ins over the years?
  What's the most rare or valuable game you've ever had? still have?
  Which retro platforms have been selling the best lately?
  And phases in sales over the years for retro games?
  What is the typical demographic of people buying retro?
  Do you get many parents buying retro for their kids?
  Have digital download services like XBLA, PSN, Virtual Console helped or hurt sales of retro goods?
  What are the biggest challenges in running an independant game store?
  Tell me about your store's online presense -- How long has it been online?
  What can your store offer local gamers to compete with eBay, Amazon, etc
  Any special events at your store?
  Any advise to give to other store owners/those thinking about opening a store?
  Your personal favorite retro platform/genre?

[CRTGAMER]

Really not kidding. Advice for opening, maintaining overhead costs.

How much of your store profits are based on YLOD and RROD repairs?

Local Retro store back room has stacks being serviced. Only way they can keep the Retro sales going.
Maybe the breaker to help an Independent to survive. An idea to help the stores you interview.

[final fight cd]

for the older stores, have they seen a big rise in retro games being bought within the past few years? and if so, by what percent?

where do they come up with their prices? all of the independent stores around my house seem to be overpriced, especially with the retro games. and after reading comments on this site, it seems like most stores are overpriced when compared to ebay.

how many 'regulars' do they have come in specifically for the retro stuff?

after stadium events sold for mad bank, did anybody call asking if they had that game in stock?
by anybody i mean some random person who has no idea and just read about or saw it on the news.

[J T]

I would like to know more about what types of people buy which types of games. Factors like age, gender, style of dress... can they guess what a person will be interested in just by looking at them? Do they see a lot of people that are not tech savvy? What are their peak hours of business?

[Josh]

Can we suggest places for you to interview? And is this video only or call in?

Anyway, for questions. To the owner, how long have you been gaming? Has gaming always been a passion of yours? What made you want to open a retro store? Maybe stuff like, What was your favorite game growing up? etc.

[racketboy]

Actually, there are all on-location. I usually try to do some when I'm travelling.
I'm going out to Oklahoma and I'll be passing through St. Louis.

[Flake]

-How do they plan to adapt their business strategy as more and more classic stock begins to wear out? NES, SNES, and Genesis batteries are dying in droves these days and many of the most profitable classic games are affected by this. Replacing those batteries is pretty expensive in some cases and that kills the bottom line.

-Ask why they do it. Is it profitable or an act of love?

-What kind of relationship do they have with the local monster gaming stores (i.e. Gamestop)? Do they offer referrals or is there no love lost?

[CRTGAMER]

Maybe expand on most valuable question to most unusual and or rare?
Controller?
System?
Game?
Collection Series?
Store Kios or peripheral?

[dedalusdedalus]

I'd like to know whether the owner also maintains a personal collection and if so, what consoles does he or she prefer to collect for?

[noiseredux]

talk about the challenges of keeping it open. The one near my house overtheedgegames.com just went bankrupt and closed with no warning. (Wish I had scooped up their GB stock first...)