#33: GAMA Trade Show in Review

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Summary:

A review of GTS 2006.

Go to the column (http://www.rpg.net/columns/counter/counter33.phtml) for more information.

[smascrns]

The seminars at GTS taught me enough that first year I attended to keep me afloat another year, and my second GTS taught me enough to become, finally, profitable.
I'm curious, what did you learn in the first year that kpet you afloat, and what did you learn in the second year that finally made you profitable? (You may have already explained this in previous columns - I didn't check. If that's the case, please point to the same.)

[TitanGames]

Hi. :)

The first year, I attended GTS, 1999 or 1998, memory fails me, sorry - I was finally convinced that my lackluster, shamble of a store needed a major overhall. The list of things I was doing wrong is too long to list, but some highlights include: I would close early or open late, and didn't think it mattered - I had terrible lighting, a rather eclectic selection of stuff (mostly just the stuff I liked), and my fixtures were - well - they were shit. Some were poorly home made, or were picked up for free from places that had thrown them out.

I needed to realize to look at my store the way a CUSTOMER does (Something Chris Watson taught me), and that discounting was killing my profitability (tuaght in a seminar called "the Bottom Line" by Dave Wallace, who owns 7 stores).

Looking at my store as a customer, I finally saw what eveyrone else saw: My place sucked. Bad. REAL bad.

In year two, I learned more about customer service, selection, hours, staff training, how to purchase games, how to display and sell stuff, instead of just putting it on a shelf. I also learned more about internet sales - and this make us profitable.

I am now, and constantly, looking for used fixtures, but not cast off junk. We have completely upgraded our fixtures in the past 12 months, of the stuff in the store, only 1 display case was here a year ago, everything else has been bought, and replaced less pretty, less functional, or less useful fixtures, which were then either sold, given away, or thrown away, as appropriate (some fixtures we had were not nice enough to even GIVE away).

This is a constant cycle for us. Though, with 30+ matching fixtures now, I have maybe 3 or 4 I need to upgrade this year (well, don't NEED to, but would like to).

The thing is, I have learned so MUCH from GTS over the past 7 or 8 years, that I think that most retailers who have been in business for less than 20 years, and certainly any who are doing less than half a mil a year in sales, would be well advised to attend GTS.

I know some store owners who attend my seminars this year told me their annual sales are about triple what mine are, but they learned things from my seminars (and others) that will help them grow and prosper - and that (THAT) is what GTS is all about - learning more, prospering more, and doing more business.

Hope that helped answer some of your questions.

Marcus King
Titan Games - Owner.