Friendly Local Game Store: A Five-Year Path to a Middle-Class Income

This book was just a page turner from start to finish for someone like me who once owned a comic book shop that had to close its doors long ago. It is a practical guide to running a small business as well as an honest look at the struggles of running such a niche establishment.As someone who spent years in the corporate world as well, I also reveled in his accounts of the comparison between the two lifestyles finding his observations to be accurate. His management aspirations are noble and realistic without seeming too cliche.I would recommend this for anyone trying to start a small retail business even if the exact numbers don’t apply to your particular business plan.

This book definitely tackles a wide array of considerations into opening your own gamestore, as well as offering helpful advice and anecdotes along the way. I devoured it in one sitting and it helped me to solidify my future dream. This is a great first step for anyone considering the career, as it will definitely make your mind up one way or another.

Great eye opening description of life in the retail world. I have been tossing and idea around of opening a game store for years. I have tons of retail experience, some game store experience and overall am ready to take the plunge. This book is a great reference in what to not do along with pointers on what to do. He breaks down where he went wrong along with the small successes along the way. Wonderfully honest book that gives a snapshot into the struggles of owning a small business in a niche industry.

This book has helped me rethink and improve my ideas of starting a board game business and more.Thank you.

This book has saved me at least $125,000 and years of possible waisted time and effort.I have a dozen reasons why I wanted to open a game store but I started researching reasons to NOT open a shop.This book gave me some very good insights and led me to asking myself and others different questions with answers that tell me that I should not open a game shop.Thank you Gary!!!

My husband and loves this book!! He learned a lot and it’s just great advice in general.

Gary slaps you hard in the face with the realities of opening a small business, which is what you need if considering a career in game trade. It's also a great read for those who frequent game stores. I've gained a new appreciation for those bringing gaming to my community.

When considering starting a small business, game store or otherwise. Start with this book. Before you invest something big or serious, but this book and see if this is the path for you.

Nice paced book, easy to read and digest.I felt the book went through the A-Z of retail with the specific application of a gaming store, in particular the finance side was very clearly articulated.I come from an engineering background with many years of leadership and "business" so the lessons of the applications of these to the gaming retail environment were well articulated. In particular, writing the "operations manual" from day one is a critical item that I have applied over the last 10 years. A great book and thoroughly recommended.

Reading this book provided me with a great point of view on what happens behind the scenes of game stores, the author goes into detail of what to expect and how he overcame some big issues, my only problem with this book was that it's difficult to find a paperback or Hardcover.

A very informative book based on Gary Ray's blogs. If you have read his blogs then a lot of this will be familiar but it is a concise and compressed look at his website.