As my background is in the IT and technical fields, not business, I'm at a loss as to what I need to do before I make a decision as to whether or not this would be a good idea. My questions for everyone are as follows:

I know I need to do some market research, but how and what?

What is the wholesale price of a box of MTG, so I could run profit margin and income calculations?

How much sq. footage do I need to be looking for in a retail location, assuming I want to have ample play space for any and all product lines I may decide to carry?

What questions am I not asking that I need to consider?

Edit: it also seems like you are getting waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay ahead of yourself. If you don't even know that you have a market for this, there's no reason to start thinking about square footage and margin analysis.

Why do you want to open this game store? Do you see opportunity in your town? How many people play magic in your town? How many people does the other store get at FNM? How will you operate differently? How will you build a customer base? How much initial capital do you have? Will you be working at this full time?

There Are people on these forums who run successful magic businesses whether it be store or dealer based. I'm not sure your questions are indicative of a foundation of knowledge to get your project off the ground, hence my suggestion to find someone with a business background.

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2010 Homer Simpson Award Winner

Your customer base are little kids dependent on their moms or college kids... Dependent on their moms or trash jobs while they study.

Are you doing this to make money or to love what you are doing.

If you don't make any money will you still love what you are doing.

How much money do you need to bring home a month 2-3k? (24-36k a year)

In my opinion you are not getting out of monthly expenses for less then 2-3k a month assuming you have zero staff. Did you want to work M-Sat sometimes till the wee hours...by yourself?

So you are looking at needing a profit of a Min of 48k a year. A profit, not sales. Even if you buy and sell boxes and packs at say 4.00 a piece a pack you will need to sell 89k magic packs or 2477 boxes of cards or 7 boxes a day assuming you are open 365

And, if you're a player, it's going to suck any and all fun out of the game for you owning a MtG related business.

Second, I guess I should flesh out the details a bit to get the most accurate and useful responses:

The town in question has one game store that sells only sealed product and "runs" only FNM in so far as the people that actually run the tournament report it through said store.

My store would sell all things Magic: Packs, Boxes, Singles, Supplies, anything else that I can sell for a profit. I would most likely carry Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, Warhammer and its ilk, Clix, and other games I can make money on, although only as sealed product (unless the demand for singles justifies the added inventory/time). I would be running events any and every time I could. Initial plan would be to run FNM (Draft), weekly standard, weekly commander, weekly sealed, and weekly X where X = the current non-standard season format, defaulting to legacy when it's standard season. In addition, I would have no issues selling online or setting up an online store, as the tech background I have would make it pretty simple.

This store would have to profit ~$1000 a month with me being the sole proprietor, as my wife makes a fairly decent salary in her profession.

I would be opening this store because I love games and I've always wanted to own my own business.

The baseline population of the town in question is ~22,000, adding 12,800 college students during the school year. In addition, it would be the only location to buy singles for literally hours to the north, east, and west. The market in the area just seems untapped to me. Close to 13,000 college students should be able to provide a large enough customer base on its own, and expanding the availability of sanctioned events should increase interest, at least that's the way it seems to me.

I know I have a lot of research that needs to be done, and this isn't something I'm thinking about doing in the next 6 months, and it may seem that I'm getting ahead of myself in certain areas. The reason for that is I can only explore what I can think to explore, hence the asking for help and opinions from others.

you'll need to pick up multiple weekly gaming tournaments in order to support ANY business. most tcg stores also sell comics or have video games or computers with internet access to provide supplemental income. you'll at least need judges and TOs for any tcg you support.

expenses add up. if you can't cover them with gaming income, you won't stay afloat without supplemental income.

consider what the community NEEDS above and beyond what the most visited LGS is providing, and whether or not it's worth putting your money into. often after someone makes a business plan, they find out their average income is going to be below minimum wage, which is why more stores don't pop up overnight.

There is nothing like experience and there are a million local card stores which you could probably contact. Speak to people actually doing what you want to do, and understadn their difficulties. Your not a direct competitor with them so there is little reason why they shouldn't share information with you.

My city, about 250,000 people can only support 1 prosperous shop, and we have a significant junior college and a true University just 10 minutes south of us in the city below.

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Originally posted by harbingerofthevoid:
Not to add to the downer side of it but I would think if you don't have 50-100k to basically lose in your first year, it's going to be rough going at it alone.

And, if you're a player, it's going to suck any and all fun out of the game for you owning a MtG related business.

Had friends that both these happened rather quickly to.

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I can testify to the above. Share you 2 real stories.

First, I used to play MTG when I reentered the game in 2007. But by 2009, I was trading so much that I no longer have any time to play the game. Now, I do not play at all. I only have time to work and trade.

Second, my friend opened the only MTG shop in a second-tier China city. He is an avid gamer. After he opened the shop, he continued to focus on playing as opposed to managing the business. Initially, his regulars introduced new players and his shop had a steady crowd.

However, he concentrated on playing, and was biased as a judge (he was the only judge in the entire city), and want to win the drafts/tourneys that he was organising!! His mismanagement and lack of management worsened when he picked up MTGO as its the only place where he can play 24hrs/day (his city does not have many players in the first place and).

First and foremost, I understand that this would need to be a business and not a place where I play cards. Honestly, about the extent of my playing anymore is an occasional draft, EDH with friends, and a casual multiplayer game when my college friends get together. The last time I played in an actual sanctioned constructed event was in March. I went to GP Minneapolis in May and spent all my time working vendors and making trades with the public. I'm finding that I'm much more a collector now than I am a player, and I'd have no trouble putting my collection into the case to sell because I like the thrill of finding and acquiring cards.

I looked into the SBA.gov site and started filling out the business plan section. The goals and objectives are pretty straight forward. The numbers it asks for in regards to estimated cash flow and such are still beyond me but I'm working on it.

As for other product lines, comics are out as there's an established and supported store that has a loyal following. I'd carry board games, other card games, and mini's such as Warhammer, 40k, and whatever the customer base wanted. Since I'm an avid model railroader, I'm planning on looking into model trains as an additional source of income, but the internet has been... unkind to model railroad shops. I would be fine having a couple computers to rent time on. Video games scare me a bit, as the overhead required, especially in the used game market, seems like a big risk.

I am planning on speaking to the local store owners about their knowledge and experience in the matter, and hopefully they can give me more information in the matter.

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Originally posted by valorale:
Warhammer / war machines / malifaux can be fairly profitable because the players tend to be older, with incomes and will be loyal to a store that treats them well.
If its not your area I would strongly recommend building a rapport with locals in the area who do play these games. Offer them discounts / store credit to run events, they have tournament leagues like MTG has FNM.

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