The Misadventures of a Retail Game Guy: Episode 1
Hello all this is Coldguy and today I would like to start a series that is going to be a little different. In past days of the Internet something called "on line journals" were all the rage, some may claim they still are. This however is an inside look at my weekend job at a game store. Now I will not mention the name of said store just in case the corporate office is watching this and can figure out who it is, I also will not use real names to protect the innocent. So sit back and relax to the new series.
Getting the gig
So how did I land a game store job? Well it was easier then I thought however I should go back a bit to tell you all about the situation. *Cue Wayne's World flashback sound* At the time I was working at one job, a fast food place. I took it because the pay was ok and the hours were nice enough to work in a schedule where interviews came on the fly. The job sucked balls, but I knew this was only going to be for paying the gas in the car and the insurance on that until I got something better.
After a while though someone told me about a company who was looking for a college graduate with a deep level in help desk, thankfully I was not a bum in college and attended a myriad of help desk positions. So I applied and got interviewed there and was hired. (This will only be known as the main job in protection of the innocent). I love my main job it is awesome, the people are amazing, and the pay is great for my experience. I was lucky to have had it.
However if you worked any sort of job you know the fact that sometimes you need to get some additional cash in order to pay the bills. So I kept the fast food place for a while. At first it went well, but with every shift and every time I looked at the place of business I got sick of it. I stayed there too long and then realized I could not stand working there another goddamn minute. However knowing that it is a good idea to have a second gig I went out to find the replacement. *End Wayne's World flashback*
In my travels I came across the game store. Now at first I was not aware of the store in existence so I did a little research. This game store is a franchise location that is independently owned and operated by the Owner. Now the storefront had a "coming soon" message on it. So I popped in and checked it about once a week until I noticed that it changed. There was a phone number on it one day so I called it and talked to the Owner.
The Owner then emailed me a copy of the application, I filled it out and called the Owner back where the Owner wanted to see me for an interview. A date was arranged and we agreed to meet at the store. I could not tell you how nervous I was for this interview, granted my main job kicked ass and if I didn't get it, it would not be the end of the world. However I despised the fast food place so much that if I didn't get it I would be afraid burger flipping would be my only side-job I could land.
The night before the interview I noticed an error on the application, for some reason I lost sleep due to this fact and forced myself to redo the entire application. Now granted I want to let you know that my resume was done and redone more times than I would like to remember, however at that moment I was treating these pieces of paper as my actual resume. In hindsight it was obsessive, but at the time it felt necessary.
So I went in and it turns out someone else tried to take my spot! The Owner had an earlier interview that canceled, however since he was there and was running late, to avoid a tongue lashing he pretended to be me and I just caught the Owner before the Owner left. Now the interview was more of a conversation and I noticed a few things about this place:
- The look of this place is what a game store SHOULD look like. Very sharp, very crisp, the layout vertical and narrow. Each section is divided by a TV which is pulled into the wall where consoles can be placed behind the counter to let the customers try before they buy. Whoever thought about this is a genius.
- Each store is independently owned and operated, seriously. The Owner is at stake in buying the materials, products, displays, etc. When I saw this, I knew some snags were going to be in the works down the line.
- The Owner didn't want to stop with this location. The Owner was all in with 3 locations, this was store number one where the snags can be corrected and the potential to move up appeared to be a foregone conclusion since I was one of the few who actually responded to the help wanted sign.
- "The key is to make money on used games and accessories, and I need you to sell them and make sure the customer has to come back to the store." No shit, really? I was about to turn and run at this point since it was sounding like more of a number's game rather then an actual customer relation area. After asking a few questions it quickly was apparent that numbers are good, however was not the end all be all.
- There is a disc repair machine at this store! Or will be, nice to know I can resurface crap to make them like new again without shipping them to Mexico, huzzah customer service!
- The key to this job, like most other jobs from small places, is don't lie. The Owner trusts the feedback from the people and will monitor cameras on the store. Common sense there, but always good to know.
- The Owner is clueless about games, but sharp as a tack on legalese and business. She managed to network a deal with a local distributor so that "Sold out" is something we never have to mention to a customer. After seeing the 13 Wiis on the floor, I knew the Owner was not kidding.
The one thing she was impressed with was my business knowledge, since I took it as a minor in college and knew about games (especially the retro variety) this made me a valuable asset, enough for the Owner to hire me on the spot. I was a bit taken aback at this since she had no interest in looking up my references or doing a drug/background check. Granted this could be due to me working at my main job and she saw it as an opportunity to assume I was clean.
All in all I was relieved to say the least that I was hired and was looking forward into meeting the rest of the staff. Now stay tuned for part 2 on the pre-opening procedures and the joy of inventory.
This article was done by Coldguy
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