|
|
|
|
By Tina Manzer
"Why did I open a game store?" said Martha Folsom, considering the question I had just asked. "The story goes something like this-my husband, who has always been in business for himself asked me what I would do if I could own my own business. I had never even considered the concept; I was a librarian and drove a huge bookmobile. Without even thinking, without even recognizing that anything was there, I said, 'I would have a game and puzzle store.'"
The Old Game Store in Sunderland, VT
(formerly located in Manchester) became a
reality five years later, in 1993. It was born of a lot of research and consideration not only of the business aspects, but also the personal. Her children are grown and scattered from Vancouver Island to North Carolina, and it literally opened up a world of choices for Martha and her husband. From their vantage point in Canada, they researched, investigated and chose small, rural Vermont. "My husband, Rich, still has a full time career in Ottawa, but he's the gratis part-time worker here," said Martha. "He virtually never has a day off, because he's either working at his job, or making the eight-hour drive here, or working at my job. He's a great help."
Other than Rich, it's Martha and another part-time person. They keep The Old Game Store open 361 days a year, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., 5 on Sundays.
High-quality games that use the players' mind - Martha has loved games and puzzles since she was a little girl. "I played a lot of checkers with my grandfather and he never let me win. I remember to this day the first time I beat him." "It's OK if kids lose at games," she asserts. "How else are they going to learn how to deal with frustration? Parents will come in and ask for 'cooperative games' because with those, all the players have to work together. They're all winners. I don't necessarily believe in the concept-children need to learn how to win, and they need to learn how to lose. You can't go through life assuming that you're not going to lose."
"However, I do carry one cooperative game," she continued. "I couldn't help myself-it's such a great game. It's called Marsh Master, and it's an environmental game with beautiful graphics. It plays so well. There's an element of competition because you're trying to get all the animals into their habitats before this one little character, Arnold Pathetic, makes it around the board."
When I asked her what customers are looking for in games, she answered, simply, "Quality games that use the players' minds. It doesn't matter who the customer is or what kind of game he or she is looking for-word, strategy, card-the game has to meet those same two criteria. It's what all my customers have in common."
With a game, it's not just the play that's important, explained Martha. A game is enjoyed more if its parts are unique and substantial-wood or metal playing pieces, a heavy cardboard game board with a lovely graphic quality, dice that have indents on them, not labels with dots that are going to rub off. "These are the things manufacturers cannot skimp on. The feel and beauty of a game goes into how much it's enjoyed." But what about the price? "Some companies, when they make a game, have envisioned what the price should be, what the game should sell at," explained Martha. " So when they produce it they cut corners to make it come in at that price.I don't think it should be a consideration, unless you want your game to eventually be bought by a mass market retailer that's going to sell it for $19.95. If it's a good game, and it plays well, and it's well made, people are going to buy it." Besides quality, games have to challenge your brain. It's the Part Two of what The Old Game Store customers have in common: they all want to use their brains. "Games teach you how to look for possibilities, interact with people-but it goes beyond being social. There's a lot of mental learning going in. Games make your mind solve problems, and that's important for adults, as well as children. If adults don't play, they get old in the head. Your mind stops working if you don't use it. Tests have shown that word games, for instance, help seniors keep their memory. Games are exercises for the brain."
Regulars versus tourists versus strangers -
Martha laughed when I asked who her customers are. "I think there's a rule that says if you're in business, you need to know that. I used to worry because I guess I'm supposed to have a particular person in mind, and I don't! Everybody comes to my store, and we've already mentioned the things they have in common."
The biggest surprise is the "missing" (literally) 30 percent-who are people she's never met! "They've heard about me form my newsletter, or they've read about the store in a newspaper or in a book, we had the good fortune to be featured on 'Good Morning America' a few years back, and we've been mentioned in a syndicated news column. Anyway, people from as far away as Montana and Louisiana-gosh, Louisiana! -have somehow been given my name and I send them my newsletter. They've become regular customers. They order every Christmas, every birthday, and though they've never been to Vermont, we ship stuff to them all the time. I truly did not know that I would develop such a strong mailing list, or that I'd make such good friends with people I'd never met."
-by Tina Manzer
by permission,
|
|||||||||
|
[Events][Business Directory]
[Local Lore][Towns & Villages]
[Arts & Culture][Publications][Links][Search][Forums]
[This is Vermont home page] |
||||||||||
But when she considered who her customers are, Martha was able to describe them this way: about 30 percent of her business is from the local clientele, and by "local" she means as far away as Albany, NY, and hour-and-a-half drive. Another 30 percent of her business is from tourists. Some of those are just passing through, others have a second home in Vermont. They actually become regulars, visiting at the same time every year. Another ten percent is from people who just walk in.