May 13 2024 58 mins
In this episode, we're talking with Gil, owner of Brother's Grim Games at the Long Island Tabletop Gaming Expo.
Gil's store is located on Long Island in Selden, NY. In 2007, he bought the store, originally named Monkey Head. As a store owner, one of his biggest challenges is knowing how much product to buy. This incorporates recognizing when a product has plateaued and is about to decline. There are no restocks after the initial order when purchasing a product from a distributor.
While competing with Amazon is challenging, Gil says customer loyalty is the best way to overcome that. That loyalty has resulted in a few thousand regular customers. Moreover, new games entering the market bring in new players. Nowadays, he's seeing customers bring friends, families, and parents. Furthermore, sets like Universes Beyond from Magic: The Gathering also have brought new players in.
Gil always strives to make his store nicer. Over the years, he's expanded units to increase the square footage. He's also open seven days a week with four employees. In the early days, Gil would work 100 hours per week but is now down to 30 hours a week. His focus is the store's financials, purchasing, and insurance.
To continue getting word out about the store, Gil attends conventions. He used to travel outside New York attending conventions in about 20 states. The networking opportunities with those in the industry were valuable to him. He still attends local conventions.
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