Opening a Game Store

[NewOrder79]

Crab Master is a great guy if anyone can do it, it's you.

[Crabmaster2000]

So after a couple brainstorming sessions I've got a list of potential store names. I'd love to hear rfgen's thoughts on them or even other suggestions if you've got some ideas. I'm leaning towards two in particular at the moment, but I don't want to influence your answers so I'll keep it quiet for now. Ideally I want to have 5 that I'm happy with for when I register the business name just in case I can't use some of them. Here is what I'm working with at the moment:


Game Pursuit
Revolver Games/Game Revolver
Game Peddler
Game Quest
Game Hunt(er)
Game Seeker
Star Power Games
Game Crusade
Game Patrol
Game-Knack
Game Guardian
Game-ivore
Game Source

[nupoile]

My off-the-cuff votes:

Game Quest
Game Crusade
Game Source

[Am4zingGam3r]

Game-knack!

[NES_Rules]

How about Papa Crab's Game Shack?

[Crabmaster2000]

How about Papa Crab's Game Shack?

That's already the name of my side business where I sell my Sleeping Tonic and Gamer Juice

[NES_Rules]

How about Papa Crab's Game Shack?

That's already the name of my side business where I sell my Sleeping Tonic and Gamer Juice

Exactly, its all about the brand recognition.

[techwizard]

i really like Star Power Games and Game Quest.

Star Power Games rolls off the tongue nicely and is memorable, and something that people could easily abbreviate; "hey want to go see if Star Power has anything new?"

Game Quest is a nice sounding name too but it also has potential for cool gimmicks. you could do one of those cards some businesses offer where for each purchase over X amount of dollars you get an X on a card, and when the card is full you get some sort of promo reward or discount. it could fit easily into the style of the store name though, call it the "Quest Log" and style it like an RPG quest log checklist. i'm sure there are other marketing gimmicks you could do with this name.

[Am4zingGam3r]

There is a large theft problem up here to begin with so security is something I'll have to take quite seriously. I've got a couple friends that work for a security firm in town so I'll be picking their brains to try and find the right balance of safety and consumer appeal.

A store around here bags up all the loose games and zip ties them to brackets on the walls.  It works pretty well and it keeps theft down more than you'd think. 

Also, if you're looking for a consignment deal with an art vendor I know a guy

Got a name in mind for the store?

Pink Gorilla?

[Crabmaster2000]

Keep the store name input coming in guys!!!

I'm also putting together a survey for my potential customers. Stuff like: What area of town is most convinient to shop in, what store hours work best, most interested in which systems, etc.

Any questions you think would be important to ask?

[Fleach]

My top three votes are:

Star Power Games
Game Hunter
Game Crusade

Your survey sounds pretty thorough. I like it.

[Zagnorch]

How about Papa Crab's Game Shack?

That's already the name of my side business where I sell my Sleeping Tonic and Gamer Juice

Hmmm... Gamer Juice... that might work.

On second thought, that'd give people the wrong idea about your business.

Or the right one, depending on your intentions.

Howzabout something esoteric and upscale-sounding, like Crabs' Pixel Emporium?

[Crabmaster2000]

I'm glad a couple of you guys mentioned Game Quest. That's one of my favorites along with Game Crusade and Game-ivore.

No one mentioned Game-ivore in particular so I want to hear some thoughts on that name. I thought it would be very easy to advertise with some kind of game character chowing down on a stack of games and it shouldn't be too hard to come up with some kind of slogan about "consuming" video games.

Since I'm supposed to submit 3-5 names when I apply to register my business name I'm leaning towards these ones:

Game Quest
Game Crusade
Game Guardian
Star Power Games
Game-ivore

Gonna have to apply pretty soon since I can't move forward with several other things until I have that done and out of the way.

Here is my survey. Any feedback on it would be greatly appreciated. I'm gonna post it on the local facebook Video Game Buy/Sell/Trade and also kijiji and craigslist. Did I miss anything important?

Game Store Survey:

Age:
What area of Prince George do you live in? (College Heights, Hart, Surrounding Area. Etc)
What systems are you most interested in purchasing games/consoles/accesories for? (NES, Playstation, Atari 2600, Game Boy, etc.) Please list 3 at most
What hours would work best for you to visit the store? (Mon-Fri 9-5/Friday-Sunday 12-8 or whatever works for you)
What would your preferred method for keeping up to date with store news be? (new stock, contests, sales, news, etc)? Facebook, twitter, dedicated website, etc. List your 2 favorite methods.

Additional Comments:

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Personally, if you are hosting anything other than sales in the store, later hours would be preferred for holding events, e.g. MtG or whatever else. It separates the types of people (so you don't get the normals mixed in with the hardcore) and also is a good source of revenue for drinks and snacks.

One of the local stores used to do Saturday midnight pen & paper RPG nights. Toss in $20 for the night, line up food and drinks for the night, and run till done.

[Crabmaster2000]

Personally, if you are hosting anything other than sales in the store, later hours would be preferred for holding events, e.g. MtG or whatever else. It separates the types of people (so you don't get the normals mixed in with the hardcore) and also is a good source of revenue for drinks and snacks.

One of the local stores used to do Saturday midnight pen & paper RPG nights. Toss in $20 for the night, line up food and drinks for the night, and run till done.

It'll likely be just video games only at first. Ideally I'd like to run maybe 10-6 Sunday-Thursday and have longer hours on Saturday and Friday.