| UltimateUnknown said: Ask the store owner if or how profitable his business is in this day and age where digital downloads and online retailers have become the norm and are even becoming the dominant sales avenue. |
I've actually talked to the owner about this sort of thing before, and he's shared a fair amount of info. In no particular order, here's what I gathered from keeping my ears open and asking ocassional questions:
Basically, the store opened in late 2011, which was apparently a terrible time to open a gaming store since the generation was winding down. However, over the years, he claims to have little to complain about besides the normal stuff that comes with managing a store. (Such as that time I people hid the My Little Pony dolls around the store in ambush positions).
Digital Downloads are apparently NOT a big issue. They are prevalent on mobile devices and PC's, but handhelds and consoles continue to make most of their software revenue from retail. Even the Vita, for all the fans' talk about being a "download-based" platform, apparently sells far more full price games at retail than digitally. The larger hard drives on newer consoles are largely cancelled out by the increasing size of games (a 500 GB hard drive is not that impressive in a world where games are often over 25 GB, and some games have stuff like mandatory 7 GB patches), and internet access is still expensive and slow enough in America so that a for lot of people, buying games digitally is a longer and more expensive than going to a store and doing so.
Online retailers could be a threat, but don't offer some of the things that a physical store offers. For example, no prices on shipping and handling, the ability to ask the guy behind the desk for advice, better deal for large numbers of used games, immediate satisfaction, impulse purchases, etc. Even if online retail became truly dominant, there will probably be a sizable niche for brick and mortar stores.
This store also has the benefit of being able to arrange events. Every weekend, you have people signing up for tournaments to play some iteration of Smash Bros, Pokemon X/Y, Yu-Gi-Oh, etc. These people buy snacks and beverages, packs of cards as necessary, and a portion of the sign-up fee goes to the store. Not to mention birthday parties for kids, which can be held in the back area with the TV's (there's even more space than I show in the pictures) and is VERY fun for kids, since they can pick from thousands of games in the store to play.
The main thing the boss has complained about recently is not about the competition, but the products. According to him, 2013 had a LOT of disappointments from his sales point of view (the Wii U, Disney Infinity, God of War: Ascension, Gears of War Judgement, etc) and little in the way of new blood. Furthermore, developers have been slow in supporting new consoles, so people aren't buying as many new games as usual. The biggest new products as of late are the actual PS4 and Xbone, but these actually turn stores a bit less profit than games despite their much higher prices, and are hard for smaller stores to get their hands on anyway.
Short Version: Online Stores and Digital Retail are bearable for a physical store. A lackluster games industry isn't.
