by Jonathan Albin

Created on: April 05, 2007   Last Updated: April 13, 2007

Retail is a funny business. If you start out in a good location, business traffic flow can shift away with a new road, new strip mall, new schools. If you start out on a shoestring, you might not have the budget to be in the best of locations to begin with. In any case, the physical footprint of your store can be feast or famine. This issue, we are going to look at what to do in a famine, to improve sales and regain perhaps presence as a business center, rather than just a casual walk-in location.

BE the CENTER of things. Don't get me wrong... A store with a great location and a considerable amount of foot traffic will have steady, if not loyal, sales. But if you find that your store just does not elicit draw, consider becoming a "GO TO" location... Somewhere that by its own merit drives the necessary foot traffic. Here are some concepts.... Some are obvious, and many of you are already active... Others may be less so...
1. Tournaments and contests... Invite your best buyers to come in and compete for product, discount, whatever. Bringing them brings sales, or at least the opportunity to sell them.
2. Regularly scheduled game times... Creating a kind of game college, schedule time to teach games in the store. Dedicate one or more volunteers or staffers to educate potential buyers how to play games. By scheduling, you give the community the feel of having to be there... To schedule time to learn the games.
3. Have school fundraisers... Offer a 5% rebate to a chosen local school for all sales in a particular period... One evening during the week if you have later hours, or a Saturday morning... Some time that usually has less foot traffic...This will help particularly if your store is positioned to carry children's games as well as the more mature titles... If you set up regularly occurring such events, you can build a steady traffic flow from parents, administrators, and students.
4. Game Signings and "Play the Designer" events. Research local areas, and discover if there are game designers near you. You might find it surprising where game designers are, and game signings, like book signings, can build participation and traffic. Be sure to advertise each as much as you can, to build awareness well in advance.

Search out the traffic. In addition to giving people a reason to come find you, go where they are...and invite them back. Local market nights and street faires often give a means of outreach. Go where they are, and host events intended to drive the clients

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