Tales From Retail

I did work in retail for two different video game stores. One is EB Games(which was bought out by Gamestop) and the other was a local mom and pop game shop in LA. It was a good experience to work at both. I started at EB Games during the holidays. After the holidays my hours were cut drastically and I ended up working at the mom and pop shop. After things at the small shop weren't going so well I was asked to come back to EB Games and came back with plenty of hours.

There were many things I liked and disliked about working in each environment. I disliked working for the big chain because your job was to sell, sell, sell. If you liked a product or not, you were forced to sell it. There was one time that within a 4-5 month span we were promoting 3 different football games. One month we were pushing people for one game, another month a different one, and then finally a third. You learn to find things that differ from each game, to validate why you "changed" your mind each month. In the small shop you can simply push whatever you think is the hottest game or the best game. (Usually the games that were pushed at the big chains were good games, so it's not like you were forced to sell dug up ET cartridges.) If you did do good sales you would get bonuses. This could come in the form of money or products. Occasionally a store would get free copies of games or swag and if you had a manager that didn't hoard them, they with share with the employees. You never got any bonuses at the small shop. The small shop had a limited selection compared to the big chain. Some of the most popular games would sell out or wouldn't come into the shop until a week or two after it's original release.

With all of that said, for someone who is a gamer and not simply a salesman, the mom and pop shop should have been the better choice. However at the shop I worked at it wasn't the case. The person who owned it didn't know how to run the business anymore. They would constantly change prices. They would have empty boxes for products that they didn't actually have. The store was robbed a couple of times. There were also some illegal practices going on with lunch breaks and late checks. Needless to say I would gladly push magazines, warranties, and games for a practical working environment.

It's not to say that working at EB Games wasn't fun. I loved working at EB Games. I probably would have continued working there for a long time if I felt there was a career there for me to pursue. I especially loved a lot of the people I worked with. I wish I still was in touch with a lot of them. I hope they are all successful now(although I know a lot of them no longer work for EB/GS).