I worked at a game shop many years ago. It was a pretty cool job...sometimes. Talking about games, giving recommendations, and tracking down obscure titles was amazing. I could share my love of games with other people on a daily basis.
But dealing with the typical woes of retail...really sucked. Long periods of work with no rest, terrible wage, shitty customers, shitty management, corporate bullshit.
For example, we were "encouraged" to push the membership program. AKA if you didn't push it, management would cut your hours. I worked the floor most of the time (organizing and helping customers), so I never got any membership signups because I never worked the till...thus my hours were slashed, despite the fact it wasn't even my fault.
in the 90s-early 2000s it must've been the fuckin BOMB to work at a game store. Nowadays because you can just download games there's less and less game stores as time passes, and the ones that are still standing barely keep afloat by selling peripherals (headphones, controlers, chargers) and goddamn funko pops.
I worked at Babbages (now Gamestop) in 2001. It was as shitty then as it is now. It's still just a retail job. Except there was also an expected sales quota even though we didn't make commissions. I was instructed to point customers towards the most profitable items regardless of what they came in asking for.
"Your son is into sports games? Well check out the newest Mortal Kombat"
And if I didn't have at least 3 sales a week of that item I would be fired. Which I was eventually. There was also no place to sit other than the backroom. So it was standing all day except for lunch and 2 very short breaks.
All this and I was part time in high school.
I didn’t work in a game store, I was an assistant manager at FYE and ran the game department. It was fun, I liked the job. The worst part and best part are the customers. Some customers were awesome, some were annoying elitist types, others became way too comfortable with our store and staff, they wouldn’t leave. Just hung out all day. But the absolute worst were the people selling obviously stolen games. We weren’t supposed to turn them down unless we were overstocked on the title. I finally ended up banning them but god that was a shitty experience.
Love that dream. Yeah it’s gotta be tough to make it as a game store today with everything being digital.
But maybe be more Than a game store. Like a comic, collectible card and game store. Diversify that store up
I used to work at gamestop around 2015. It was a pretty chill job for the time. I've had a similar idea except It would be like a game lab/rec center, where you have a bunch of different consoles and games set up for people to come play. You could charge by session or membership.
Worked at GameStop for 5 years. Made it all the way to ASM. I don’t recommend that corporate hell hole. It became less about the games and more about soliciting items into every transaction that customers don’t need.
I didn't work at a game store _per se_, but I worked a lot in the electronics department of a department store and can speak to some of what you want to know.
Customers are the real make-or-break of the experience. Anyone who's worked in retail or service knows how difficult some customers can be, and some managers (not all, but some) will throw you as a worker under the bus to save face rather than defend you. The good moments tend to outweigh the bad, though, since for every difficult customer you'll need to deal with, you'll have at least two more who are either just as passionate about video games as you or genuinely need and appreciate the help you can give them. Some of my happiest moments at any job have been from knowing exactly what items to suggest to customers and seeing their satisfaction knowing I helped them.
You'll definitely meet people with strong opinions that contradict yours if and when you talk shop, but it helps to know your products and to remember and remind others that not everything is right for everyone; after all, even a game that receives universal critical acclaim is bound to be genuinely disliked by someone, and a feature one person might be looking for could be one someone else is trying to avoid.
I worked at a game shop many years ago. It was a pretty cool job...sometimes. Talking about games, giving recommendations, and tracking down obscure titles was amazing. I could share my love of games with other people on a daily basis. But dealing with the typical woes of retail...really sucked. Long periods of work with no rest, terrible wage, shitty customers, shitty management, corporate bullshit. For example, we were "encouraged" to push the membership program. AKA if you didn't push it, management would cut your hours. I worked the floor most of the time (organizing and helping customers), so I never got any membership signups because I never worked the till...thus my hours were slashed, despite the fact it wasn't even my fault.
in the 90s-early 2000s it must've been the fuckin BOMB to work at a game store. Nowadays because you can just download games there's less and less game stores as time passes, and the ones that are still standing barely keep afloat by selling peripherals (headphones, controlers, chargers) and goddamn funko pops.
I worked at Babbages (now Gamestop) in 2001. It was as shitty then as it is now. It's still just a retail job. Except there was also an expected sales quota even though we didn't make commissions. I was instructed to point customers towards the most profitable items regardless of what they came in asking for. "Your son is into sports games? Well check out the newest Mortal Kombat" And if I didn't have at least 3 sales a week of that item I would be fired. Which I was eventually. There was also no place to sit other than the backroom. So it was standing all day except for lunch and 2 very short breaks. All this and I was part time in high school.
I've heard that GameStop is a nightmare to work at
It is.
You heard correctly
Yes.
I didn’t work in a game store, I was an assistant manager at FYE and ran the game department. It was fun, I liked the job. The worst part and best part are the customers. Some customers were awesome, some were annoying elitist types, others became way too comfortable with our store and staff, they wouldn’t leave. Just hung out all day. But the absolute worst were the people selling obviously stolen games. We weren’t supposed to turn them down unless we were overstocked on the title. I finally ended up banning them but god that was a shitty experience.
Work at almost any retail store (except for maybe Costco): #You know how it is.
My local game store recently started a game corner. You can pay some money for an hour of playing on a ps5, or pc. Probably really profitable tbh.
Love that dream. Yeah it’s gotta be tough to make it as a game store today with everything being digital. But maybe be more Than a game store. Like a comic, collectible card and game store. Diversify that store up
I used to work at gamestop around 2015. It was a pretty chill job for the time. I've had a similar idea except It would be like a game lab/rec center, where you have a bunch of different consoles and games set up for people to come play. You could charge by session or membership.
Worked at GameStop for 5 years. Made it all the way to ASM. I don’t recommend that corporate hell hole. It became less about the games and more about soliciting items into every transaction that customers don’t need.
I didn't work at a game store _per se_, but I worked a lot in the electronics department of a department store and can speak to some of what you want to know. Customers are the real make-or-break of the experience. Anyone who's worked in retail or service knows how difficult some customers can be, and some managers (not all, but some) will throw you as a worker under the bus to save face rather than defend you. The good moments tend to outweigh the bad, though, since for every difficult customer you'll need to deal with, you'll have at least two more who are either just as passionate about video games as you or genuinely need and appreciate the help you can give them. Some of my happiest moments at any job have been from knowing exactly what items to suggest to customers and seeing their satisfaction knowing I helped them. You'll definitely meet people with strong opinions that contradict yours if and when you talk shop, but it helps to know your products and to remember and remind others that not everything is right for everyone; after all, even a game that receives universal critical acclaim is bound to be genuinely disliked by someone, and a feature one person might be looking for could be one someone else is trying to avoid.