Play & Trade UK retail chains in 2009

[Profit]

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/29479/US-retailer-heads-for-UK

They're hoping to find a UK franchisor to start even sooner.

I don't give them much hope; most retailers will be reluctant to compete with the only dedicated GAME retailer. Their stores also look like GS with neon lights.

[Leon Retro]

I don't like the design of that store. Looks too bleak and those neon blue lights are stupid.

Why can't a gamestore be like those nice cosy bookshops you find in big towns & cities. Nice warm decor, spacey, and they don't smell.

[wakka]

Why do they think I would want to shop in some sort of futuristic dystopian steel-and-neon nightmare?

That's not 'the future of games retailing', that's just retarded.

[MattyD]

That's pretty much how the Game in my town used to look about ten years ago, except all the lighting was the hot purple colour of their logo. That was before they went all friendly and brightly-lit to attract the proles.

[wakka]

Another thing: why are games stores always so pokey? They're always around the size shown in the photo above (in my experience anyway - I believe the Birmingham Gamestation is an exception). There's no reason why they shouldn't be big and roomy

[EvilBoris]

I guess they only sell small products and bigger shops cost more to rent?

[Profit]

Yep rental prices - cheapest place in the UK, places like Rhyl costs £10k/year, average (Wrexham) £40k/year and £100k/year in big cities (Cardiff).