FatMikel

Hi guys

I'm just doing a survey.

I live near Warrington, in Cheshire. When I want to buy computer parts, I have a myriad of options when it comes to ordering online. However, if it's 3pm on a Saturday and I need something urgently - I'm stuck. There's PC World or Currys and I'd rather burn my money than spend it there. The nearest 'showrooms' are Scan in Bolton (which is a nightmare to get to) and Microdirect and Aria on the other side of Manchester.

So I ask: is there space in the market for a new computer store in the North West? The locations that are being considered are 5 minutes away from major M62 and M6 junctions, 10 minutes away from Warrington's two train stations. So it would be quite accessible for anyone living in Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside or Greater Manchester. Now, so far as I know, all that exists in this area at the moment are small independent retailers selling no-name stuff for as cheap as they can and two outlets of the big overpriced chains.

It would initially offer only branded products. I'm talking Corsair, Antec, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, Noctua, Thermaltake, and so on in all the required areas for building your next computer - with more product lines being offered as it grows.

Also on offer would be a custom build service. Know what you want and how you want it? Great. They'll just build it and install any software you want on it (you could even send in software you currently own for pre-installation). If you need any help in choosing what you want, they'll help with that too.

Now a few ideas are being banded around at the moment, but one that the proprietors would like to offer is a sort of... testing room. In this room, you could come and try out ANY of their products before you buy it. Want to know how Left for Dead 2 runs on XXX graphics card? No problem. Want to see that new 26" LCD in action? No problem. And so on. Custom built computers would also be showcased in this room for customers who opt for it for them to come and test and try out before they take delivery of it.

They would also offer online shopping as per the norm, albeit with a much condensed and much more quality focused product line.

One thing I wanted to ask specifically was whether or not you would want a new retailer to sell games? With the continuing domination of Steam and so forth - would you need that product offering from the new retailer? As a computer store, I guess they'd mainly be selling games to people also buying computer hardware so I'm not sure whether that's something that's wanted or not.

Now there's nothing definite yet. The technicalities are still waiting to be worked out. It's just an idea. However, feedback and suggestions would be much appreciated... even if it's just "No. Go away."

simonw

While I do not live in the UK, the "testing room" sounds like a fantastic idea. I like my PCs to be quiet, and there are times when I've bought fans or gpus that were too loud for my liking, the testing room would definitely be beneficial.

No issue with having a quality focused product line either, I think most people who build their own PCs won't choose no-name brands anyway.

Mousey

You're not very clear in your original post, Let's clear up the big question first. Are you trying to open this yourself or just expressing a little fantasy?

With the ridiculous cost of importing products from other cheaper sources due to fuel inflation hardware's only getting more expensive in the UK, I haven't seen a decent price drop on almost any UK Site for a while. This in turn leads to making it almost impossible for small businesses to make even a dint in the market, 1 Computer shop in my town is about to close down and another one's already making preperations to sell up and move.

I like the idea, It's a good one, But in fiscal terms i don't think it'd happen.

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Takaharu

So your company is basically made for out-of-hours service for when big name online retailers can't deliver to people that don't have patience?
I don't think it would last.

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Mousey

Nah definately not, And after you've factored in running costs such as the massive electricity bills for the all the equipment running constantly during opening hours and that's not even considering the massive costs which are only going to rise as i mentioned earlier due to fuel of importing and buying equipment which 9 times out of 10 comes from overseas.

On top of that you've also got the cost of marketing and advertising since social networking and free utilities such as forums (Which HH is NOT For btw) can only get you so far without appearing in something such as a magazine or perhaps even on the TV.

It's a bit of an unrealistic dream unfortunately.

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BabylenTatarsky

I live in St. Helens and would probably go to this new shop every weekend. I say go for it.

Whereabouts you from, btw?

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Liqourice

The turn-over on these kind of things are so small that you'd have to sell a huge amount just to break even. That's why the only choise today are the big chains and webshops that doesn't need a costly showroom.

There is a shop like this close by to where I live and I never ever see any people shopping in there so I wonder if it's just a front for something more shady....