PLAY N TRADE Franchise Stores Closed & Closings
(UnhappyFranchisee.com) The Play N Trade franchise opportunity may seem like a safe, risk-free investment because of the well-known brand name, the great product and positive media hype (which includes rankings and awards from publications that survive on advertising from franchise companies like Play N Trade).
Some Play N Trade franchise owners may have a different opinion on how risk-free buying a Play N Trade video game store franchise really is.
Play N Trade, San Mateo, CA
“Orlando and Misty Megia opened Play N Trade on B Street in downtown San Mateo four years ago but they are closing its doors June 26. Spending money on video games is something people are doing less of in the poor economy, Misty Megia said.” The Daily Journal, June 20, 2011.
Play N Trade, Squamish, BC, Canada
“Squamish Play N Trade has joined ranks with the legion of Play N Trade stores that have closed across Canada and the United States and is embroiled in a lawsuit with the California-based company. The Squamish video gaming store closed on Labour Day weekend…” Squamish Chief, December 3, 2010.
Play N Trade, Butte, Montana
“Play N Trade closing doors. Play N Trade, a retail video game store in Butte, will close its doors Saturday. Owner Jason Manning said the business had been operating in Butte for almost four years, but heightened competition and a down economy forced the closure. It will result in four full-time people being put out of work.” MT Standard, Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Play N Trade, New York, NY
“Play N Trade – CLOSED. 137 E 13th St, New York, NY 10079, Neighborhood: East Village” Source: YELP
Play N Trade, Alexandria, VA
“My local Play N Trade in Alexandria, VA was apparently shut down yesterday. I had only gone to this place a few times, because frankly the people there were unfriendly, appeared to make fun of you behind your back…” Jamisonia, Feb 01, 2011
Play N Trade, Florida
“My local Play N Trade is going out of business. Sadly it’s the last one in the area… I frequented this store and the owner was a great guy, as is his mom. They just weren’t making money and had no choice. The sad day of close is on the 15th of September.” prot8to on Sep.02, 2010. Graphic by prot8to.
Other Play N Trade Reported Closures:
Palmdale Alabama 93551
Avondale Arizona 85323
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109
Smithtown, New York (32 East Main St. 11787)
Elk Grove, CA (2513 Riparian Dr. 95624)
Tustin, CA
Colonie Center, Colonie, NY
Sarasota, FL (4013 Clark Rd 34233)
Miami Lakes, FL
REPORT A PLAY N TRADE FRANCHISE CLOSING OR ADD A COMMENT BELOW.
Email Play N Trade closing photos to unhappyfranchisee[at]gmail.com
@Karl M Yea I had to do that many times, and the funny thing was the morons at corporate would actually tell you to do that, for inventory!! Of the many, many, many problems with Play N Trade, that was probably the biggest, not being able to get any inventory.
If you all haven’t heard by now, Jimmy Kindred is no longer with the company but has not formally announced yet. Not sure what happened but it wouldnt surprise me if he was forced out. I did hear he was in network marketing. I would love to hear the story and any updates on the State of The Mighty Play N Trade. Are they under 100 stores yet? I cant imagine anyone stupid enough to buy a PNT franchise right now. Seriously guys, hopefully you stashed away some of that money you scammed from people that were trying to make an honest living, because you can only hang on for so long. Time to pack it up and move on to the next scam.
I need a good laugh. Does anyone have an idea of how many stores are still open (for now)? Are they still trying to sell franchise’s? I also noticed they finally updated the “key leadership” portion of their website and it only includes Jared Turner, who doesn’t know jack about the industry and the new president. Gone are Charles Tom Bozo and the rest of the clowns. Does anyone know what happened to them?
Not sure this is accurate, but Entrepreneur magazine lists the following numbers for Play N Trade locations in 2012:
Play N Trade
U.S. 133
Canadian 30
International 10
Company ownd 0
The new xbox one and ps4 will make it much harder to trade used games…
digital rights management will be personal…
I will speculate that gamestop will have kind of work around to get their customers options to trade but i don’t see how the smaller operators can do it..it will likely be some kind of digital rights management loyalty program that can organize gamers digital rights (as long as they are “preferred” customers or perhaps as long as they bought through gamestop
Older games will always be tradeable and have value…there is a huge ps3/xbox360 base that will generate alot of cash flows, but over time it will be lower and lower end…it wont be a retro/rarity type of deal like NES…the games are all going to be easily available as usedgames..
The Naperville, Illinois store owned by the regional developer has just closed.
The Idaho Falls, Idaho store has also shut down. One day it was busy and popular, and three weeks later the store had shut its doors. :(
the PlayNTrade in Derry, NH just closed, within the last few days I guess, it’s annoying because I buy ALL of my shit there and they have the only good disc repair machine in the area
After 2 years of storing my “store fixtures”, I went out and destroyed every piece of PNT I had. Hoping to recycle the $5000 Aluminum sign. I was gonna make a Video about blowing it up and send it to the thieves @ corporate but nobody would sell me dynamite.
I see that PNT “acquired” a Canadian gaming outfit and hired a new CEO.
How does a compnay that is consistently LOSING franchisees and money continue to damage the gaming environment by buying things??
Spread the loss???
One of the BEST franchises in the system in IDAHO closed all of his stores!!! If you are consistently top 10 in sales and have to close —what about the bottom 90 stores???
To all the previous PlaynTrade owner out there please email me if you are looking to get rid of any inventory or Point of Sale computer systems.
Despite the many many failures, I see Play N trade will be at a franchise show in February 2014 trying to sell new franchises. Any idea how many have closed?
I find this all very fascinating just as a consumer. It sounds like PnT is one of the worst franchise businesses of all time, would go as far as to say it sounds like some sort of scam. I don’t necessarily think this has so much to do with the state of the industry, but just lack of reasonable help from the overhead. It’s like being a totally independent store, except you’re paying royalties to fly their flags, as if the name really carries any significant draw to customers. Most people have never seen or heard of PnT.
I was surprised when I first learned it was actually a franchise, rather than a company owned chain. It’s too bad store owners are cut off at the knees and left to crash and burn because PnT seems like a pretty cool store model, having try before you buy, disc refurbish, monthly tournaments, and classic games as well. Sadly, it seems doomed as the folks behind it have shown they don’t really care if it ever succeeds or eventually blinks out all together. There’s a clear lack of concern for all of the failed stores, and all the pretending like everything is fine when it isn’t. Why don’t they get someone in there with brains and a plan, and who actually wants to see the chain thrive and grow and profit? Could it be that was never their intention from the start?
PNT Oviedo, FL: Closed
PNT Lake Mary, FL: No longer listed on PNT official website store finder (I presume closed)
PNT Orlando FL: Doesn’t answer the phone during normal business hours listed on PNT official website store finder (I presume closed)
PNT (next nearest): 75 miles away. WHY EVEN BOTHER CALLING?!?!?!?!?!?!?
IT’s not a scam..
It’s just a failed model. As you point out Guy, its a pretty cool store
However, the extra revenue streams were less than expected (parties, tourneys), and the game industry in general didn’t support them
It’s a typical franchise horror story… decent idea, fast initial growth, corporate can’t come thru for franchisees, steady decline but as long as somebody is in the main office they will try to sell franchises
Did I read correctly that play n trade franchise inc has filed for bankruptcy?
@John C, where did you see that? It wouldn’t surprise me if they had, I’m actually surprised that they have lasted this long.
I could not find anything on a bankruptcy.
Its possible some of their franchises had a similar name and they filed??
There is no press release on their website for the last 12 months..that tells you pretty much everything you need to know.
After a little searching, the did file Ch 7 on March 2nd, but their case was dismissed on the 24th for not having their schedules turned in by the due date. they had 55 creditors listed, almost all of the former CEO’s were listed, about 7 different law firms were listed as creditors as well.
Another thing I noticed when looking at, that had listed assets at less that 50k, which would tell me that 1.They dont have many stores open and 2. That just about every penny brought in is going in their wallets. Between 2008 and 2010, they sold 469 stores, so your looking at 8 and 14 million they brought in. When I closed in 2010, they had 200 plus stores open, with royalties, they had to be bringing in close to 100k a month, probably more, not to mention all the kickbacks from build out vendors. Alot of people got rich, just no one who actually had store did!!!
Just pathetic.
They don’t even have the wherewithal to file correctly.
I feel bad for the franchisees that have been gutting this out.
On the other hand, perhaps this frees them up to actually run a business
Hello, Former Franchisee, and all other unhappy Play N Trade folks….
Sorry to hear about your struggles with your franchise, and your debt problems.
My firm, Bridge Management Consulting, helps small business owners, who who are struggling with overwhelming debt resulting from a failing or closed business.
We’ve handled several franchisees who need to get out of their particular franchise hell, and we’ve successfully fought back on behalf of our clients. Don’t give into them!
Feel free to contact:
Ryan Lineham, Director of Client Services
401-390-3800
ryan@bridgemgt.com
Paying royalties on a game store is retarded. The margins in the video game industry are hard fought for. You WILL NOT become a millionaire owning a video game store… However, the industry is lucrative and you can make money if you are supported, have the proper tools, plan,and if you work hard. I support my clients… Set them up…for a one time fee…and take no royalties. My store are way more packed with product then play N trade and they offer nothing….that I don’t do…however.. I offer more than they. If you are researching this company because you are looking in to opening a video game store…I can help.. I’m not here to mud sling…you can simply read the comments here for that. Do yourself a favor and at least look at my site. My clients speak for me! My greatest strength is that my clients are satisfied. I hope to hear from some of you soon. I have a solid turn key product and am trying hard to get the word out!
from the PNT Site…60 stores open. 60! down from a high of 200?? Did the Canadian company that bought them actually invest anything in the Franchisees that still exist or did they just buy a bomb for the sake of buying a bomb and the possible Tax writeoff??
Glad to be gone from this Gong show and I’m proud of the other franchisees to have stuck it out this long.
Directly from the Play N Trade “linked in page” —Play N Trade is an American franchisor operating in the video game and consumer electronics space, with an emphasis on video gaming lifestyle. The company, whose headquarters are in San Clemente, California, United States and Cali, Colombia, currently operates stores throughout the United States, Canada, Panama, Colombia and Egypt and has been referred to as “the fastest-growing video game retail franchise” in the United States, and is the “ second-largest specialty video game retail in the United States”.
But no mention on their own website about the outside of the US stores plus there are store that are CLOSED still showing up on the website!
less than 60 stores since I posted in Nov 2014!
I was a franchisee for three years, I was apart of the beginning of PNT. It all seemed weird at first because they would Never show you the numbers until you were completely committed and invested. By that time you were screwed.
I had one of the best stores in the fleet , I was the first store to introduce the mascot costumes and halo.
In the beginning it appeared that we were making money. Once the accountants dissected the books and reviewed inventory cost and overhead we were loosing money at a huge rate. So much so that it was recommended that we close asap.
I have been closed. Now for almost 7 years and could not be happier!