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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 7/19/2007 4:05:30 PM
Posts: 1,
Visits: 2
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Wondering if anyone else has heard of "play n trade" stores? I saw one in my area and I thought they had a very nice merchandising set-up - everything faced out and well presented - but I was somewhat concerned about their inventory as it looked very light compared to others like EB and Gamestop. Also, shortly after opening up I started getting several promotional offers from GameStop so it doesn't look like they'll be allowing start-ups into their backyards anytime soon, but I was wondernig if anyone else has had experience with these guys? Especially in terms of having to deal with larger competitors? I would hate to put all my seed money into an operation and then just get blunted right out of the gate. Any other video game opportunities out there?
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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 3/18/2010 2:18:20 PM
Posts: 4,
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| I took a look at P-T and I had several concerns. The biggest concern was how long can this business model stay around? Video games are being downloaded and I think this will be the method in the future. Block Buster has changed from the way it started and I think you will see the big player like Game Stop really going long on the downloads. They have the brick and mortar stores now but they can shut those down as they ramp up the online sales. I am not a fan of 5 year contracts with franchisors. P-T has a 5 year with a 5 year option. I am old school and would rather have a 10 - 10 . This keeps the franchisor from bumping your royalties up at year 10. P-T alos owns Yakety Yak wireless and that business seems to be crawling along for the amount of time it has been open. If you plan to be an area developer with P-T , I think they have an unfair development schedule and you will not meet your goal for the number of stores that have to be open in your area. The franchise agreement states that you will be in violation of your agreement if you do not meet the development agreement number. The company was not willing to bend on this when I talked with them. Just my thougths..Good luck to you...
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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/20/2007 1:25:22 AM
Posts: 1,
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I just learned in October/November ‘07 all 8 Play n Trade stores in laceName w:st="on">SalelaceName> laceType w:st="on">LakelaceType> laceType w:st="on">CitylaceType> went under and were sold to a new owner and the Branson, MO store also closed. These added to the previous 6 recent closings (Vegas, Blaine, MN, Farmington, NM, Plano, TX, Colorado Springs, etc) makes a staggering 15% of the existing 100ish Play N Trade stores have gone under and/or been sold. This is an alarming track record for anyone considering purchasing a franchise. Play N Trade seems to do a great job selling franchises but once open, the stores have a devastating track record. Worst of all, the ones taking the hit are the franchisees while corporate keeps selling the overly rosy story. Meanwhile, GameStop's soon to be offering franchises, themselves,(see link) http://www.franchisepundit.com/forums/index.php/topic,177.0.html
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Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/20/2007 11:15:36 AM
Posts: 17,
Visits: 15
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| For a while now I have been amazed (and concerned) at the fast development of Play N Trade. While I am not interested in becoming a PT franchise owner, I did a little research on my own, just to satisfy my curiosity. I called 10 PT franchisees, randomly selected and told them I was looking into getting a PT franchise and I wanted to ask them a few questions. My biggest concern was the support received. At my biggest surprise, 9 out of 10 franchisees told me if they had to do it again, they wouldn't think twice about it. Apparently, PT offers an outstanding support to its franchisees.
FranchiseBrief.com
Franchise | Franchise Opportunities | Franchise Blog
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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 1/21/2008 4:08:18 PM
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I am just curious, of the 10 PNT owners that you called,. how many were profitable in their business (decent ROI)? I also have been looking at PnT and wanted to know of any successful PnT's out there, after reading about a good handful that have failed. | |
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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 8/14/2008 3:16:04 PM
Posts: 3,
Visits: 3
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| For info on play n trade, you might want to go to bizbuysell.com, they have some play n trade stores listed for resale, and you can get an idea of how they are doing. In terms of other game franchises, you may want to look at Disc Replay. (discreplay.com) They sell used video games, used video game systems, used dvds, and used compact discs. Everything they sell is used, which is where the higher profit margin is. Their franchise fee is very reasonable, only $12,500. And their royalty is only 2.5%. They have about 15 stores in Illinois and Indiana, but are gearing up to expand nationwide with franchising.
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