I mean, there will be some collectibles, but paying two employees who work full time and paying a few thousand in rent, nah. "I don't think this industry, in retail, is left in 10 years," he says. Jason Brassard, owner of Trade N Games in Fenton, Mo., gives the same five-to-10-year timeframe. "I'm not sure that I think it's gonna be around in 10 or 20 years," he says. Riplie, who eventually plans to double down on online sales as an exit plan, gives his retail business five to 10 years.
In 2017, even mainstream retail chain GameStop has been struggling to keep up as more and more players buy games online. It's an old story at this point - internet sales and large corporations have made it harder for small stores to compete, and the game industry adds its own challenges. He's been in one of his current locations for more than seven years. He keeps a warehouse with enough stock to open 10 stores "tomorrow" if the situation presents itself, he says.īut in recent years he's seen less demand from those looking to buy him out. and kickstart dozens of small businesses. The strategy has worked well for Riplie, allowing him to live across the U.S. "Any time somebody calls in, we go to the warehouse and dig out an inventory and we open another store," he says, initially taking my call in the back of his shop, away from customers, because he thinks I might want to buy it.
Calling each Video Game Exchange, he approaches them like a reality show - he finds a location, fixes it up, stocks it with games, gets the business running smoothly and then, when the right offer comes along, he sells it. Since 1985, Joel Riplie has opened 45 video game stores.