I discovered something terrible this morning. Omocha Souko, the retro game/toy store just up the block from my place, will be closing at the end of this month. This is the best Retro Game store in Kyushu by far, and I`ve gotten some of the most amazing deals there (CIB Gimmick for 100 yen, Twin Famicom for 300, etc etc) so this has me massively bummed out. Did a little post on my blog about it:
http://famicomblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/excuse-me-im-little-verklempt-worst.html
Anybody else lose an amazing retro game store and want to commiserate about it? This is the place.
I'm terribly sorry to hear you lost what sounds like such a grand establishment, sadly I cannot relate, as here, there aren't any game stores that have old games to begin with. =/
Hopefully you'll be able to get some good stuff there while you still can, but I could imagine how sad it would be losing a great place like that.
Thanks! They are actually having a sale now so I have been stocking up on some stuff. Unfortunately since they aren`t buying stuff anymore they dont have any new deals on the shelves though :'(
Damn. :'(
I wanted to visit it just once...
But on the other hand with such unbelievable prices it's no wonder that they go out of business. :-\
And you still have the store in 新宮, right? That is totally in "bicycle reach". :)
well manuel you still have time till the end of the month to visit it :)
We used to have a pretty sweet arcade that closed down in like....2008. Our retro gaming stores are still around though. Since I live in canada there's really no such thing as an "amazing deal" out here, that's why I stopped visiting the local stores to buy stuff. Really all the best stuff around here is held by private collectors like myself.
Here's a video of the arcade I used to go to that closed down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxA2WRqtUkk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxA2WRqtUkk)
Quote from: manuel on March 05, 2012, 05:27:35 am
Damn. :'(
I wanted to visit it just once...
But on the other hand with such unbelievable prices it's no wonder that they go out of business. :-\
And you still have the store in 新宮, right? That is totally in "bicycle reach". :)
With such low prices, they probably didn't generate enough revenue and that's what's wrong... they could have still been cheaper then other souko's but still had prices that would bring in more fundage.
Quote from: tonev on March 05, 2012, 05:34:42 am
well manuel you still have time till the end of the month to visit it :)
Too far away. :'( Plus, this month I'm very busy. I still haven't done my taxes. Waaaaahhhh!!
Oh man that's rough!
Sorry to hear the news. I really enjoy all the stories you have shared from there. Heck, some of the stuff I bought from you probably came from there. So I guess the closing affects all us buyers too. :-[ Hopefully you can find another hidden gem shop to write about.
Robert
Quote from: senseiman on March 05, 2012, 05:10:58 am
Thanks! They are actually having a sale now so I have been stocking up on some stuff.
What do they have there? Let us in on the deals! Don't be selfish. ;)
Quote from: manuel on March 05, 2012, 05:27:35 am
Damn. :'(
I wanted to visit it just once...
But on the other hand with such unbelievable prices it's no wonder that they go out of business. :-
And you still have the store in 新宮, right? That is totally in "bicycle reach". :)
Yes, it would have been nice if you could have visited. It was the greatest store for a retro game collector ever.
The Shingu store is still open but it is nowhere near as good. Their prices are too high and their selection isn`t so good. The Omocha Souko that is closing would get new Famicom games and other stuff in almost every week. The Shingu one almost never.
Plus Shingu is 45 minutes away, while the one that is closing is almost on my front doorstep so I could visit almost everyday (and I did)!
It is a dark day for Fukuoka retro game collectors.... :'(
Post Merge: March 05, 2012, 04:44:35 pm
Quote from: The Uninvited Gremlin on March 05, 2012, 05:50:15 am
Quote from: manuel on March 05, 2012, 05:27:35 am
Damn. :'(
I wanted to visit it just once...
But on the other hand with such unbelievable prices it's no wonder that they go out of business. :-
And you still have the store in 新宮, right? That is totally in "bicycle reach". :)
With such low prices, they probably didn't generate enough revenue and that's what's wrong... they could have still been cheaper then other souko's but still had prices that would bring in more fundage.
THat is probably true. Selling stuff that is actually worth 5000 yen for only 300 is a sure fire way to bankrupt a business. I`m going to do a post on my blog about the causes of the closure sometime this month and that is a big one.
Post Merge: March 05, 2012, 04:46:24 pm
Quote from: Jedi QuestMaster on March 05, 2012, 03:26:49 pm
What do they have there? Let us in on the deals! Don't be selfish. ;)
Stay tuned to my for sale thread, I`ve been picking up a few things for it. Unfortunately though the best deals at Omocha Souko were always the new stock that they would get in each week. Since they stopped buying stuff they aren`t putting that out anymore and what they have on sale is just their regular inventory. There are a few things worth having but unfortunately nothing exciting.
Post Merge: March 05, 2012, 04:47:40 pm
Quote from: cobracon on March 05, 2012, 03:08:28 pm
Sorry to hear the news. I really enjoy all the stories you have shared from there. Heck, some of the stuff I bought from you probably came from there. So I guess the closing affects all us buyers too. :-[ Hopefully you can find another hidden gem shop to write about.
Robert
Thanks. And yes, almost everything on my for sale thread came from Omocha Souko. I`ll probably have to stop selling stuff on here now that they are closed. :'(
related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grImbZ7csjU&feature=related#t=2m17s)
Unfortunately I can`t watch that video in Japan for copyright reasons....
Just updated my blog with a look back at the 15 greatest retro gaming bargains I ever scored at that one store:
http://famicomblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/omocha-souko-part-1-greatest-retro-game.html
Sigh....
Quote from: senseiman on March 05, 2012, 09:21:20 pm
Unfortunately I can`t watch that video in Japan for copyright reasons....
Just updated my blog with a look back at the 15 greatest retro gaming bargains I ever scored at that one store:
http://famicomblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/omocha-souko-part-1-greatest-retro-game.html
Sigh....
Wow, after reading that, it's clear how amazing that place is. Like, I couldn't even fathom going to a local store around here, and getting a Genesis/32X/Sega CD all for 3 dollars. Deals like that seem rather surreal.
Quote from: Jedi QuestMaster on March 05, 2012, 07:08:55 pm
related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grImbZ7csjU&feature=related#t=2m17s)
Oh now that is just kawaii.
Yeah, it is kind of surreal. Even in Japan most shops don`t sell them for that cheap normally. I was really lucky to have that place close by for so long ;D
You got a Gimmick! for 100 yen?! :o
I won't be able to sleep... ever again.
Quote from: Jedi QuestMaster on March 05, 2012, 11:54:14 pm
You got a Gimmick! for 100 yen?! :o
I won't be able to sleep... ever again.
Yup. CIB at that. I actually paid more than that for my copy of F1 Race. Bargain of a lifetime.
In conclusion, you are what killed Omocha Souko!
I am sure it was everyone taking advantage of the Mega low prices.
Quote from: The Uninvited Gremlin on March 06, 2012, 03:51:00 am
In conclusion, you are what killed Omocha Souko!
I am sure it was everyone taking advantage of the Mega low prices.
Could be, but if I hadn`t bought the stuff somebody else would have! ;D
What is really odd is to think that if they were selling them so cheaply, how much were they buying them for?
Quote from: 80sFREAK on March 06, 2012, 06:02:33 am
It's time to "pick the stones"
This. Sensei, if they happened to have a copy of Choujin Sentai Jetman for the Famicom, feel free to hook me up. ;D :gamer:
So do you have any other shops in mind once this one closes? Or is it just to early on in the break up ::)
Quote from: senseiman on March 06, 2012, 05:20:42 am
Quote from: The Uninvited Gremlin on March 06, 2012, 03:51:00 am
In conclusion, you are what killed Omocha Souko!
I am sure it was everyone taking advantage of the Mega low prices.
Could be, but if I hadn`t bought the stuff somebody else would have! ;D
What is really odd is to think that if they were selling them so cheaply, how much were they buying them for?
Usually 100 Yen items are bought for 5 or 10 Yen or "it doesn't have any value for us, but we'll take it for free". :/
Yes, that is what I figured. When I was moving 7 years ago we took a bunch of stuff to one of those stores and I think they gave us 10-20 yen each for most of the stuff (books, CDs, DVDs, etc) we had.
We were glad to get it actually, all we wanted to do was get rid of the stuff!
Quote from: senseiman on March 05, 2012, 02:23:24 am
I discovered something terrible this morning. Omocha Souko, the retro game/toy store just up the block from my place, will be closing at the end of this month. ... I`ve gotten some of the most amazing deals there (CIB Gimmick for 100 yen, Twin Famicom for 300, etc etc)
Wonder why they are closing down...
Can have several reasons. But basically because senseiman ripped them off hard. :P
Maybe their prices were just too low to sustain business. Usually it's buy low sell high, but they seemed to buy low and sell low. That usually doesn't work so well.
Maybe that why..
Were they selling anything for profit?
Sorry to hear your videogame pals are closing shop. Your blog is the one link I have in my bookmarks that I always check, sometimes in hope that you'd post more than one article a day. :gamer:
About why the shop closed, the prices probably hurt them a bit, though that buy low/sell low strategy can work if you get enough product through the doors.
Another factor was probably that they opened up in October of 2008, almost exactly at the time the Lehman shock hit and the Japanese economy started to tank.
I`m going to do a post about this on my blog sometime in the next week or so. Its an interesting thing to think about.
Quote from: Yelir on March 07, 2012, 10:47:16 pm
Sorry to hear your videogame pals are closing shop. Your blog is the one link I have in my bookmarks that I always check, sometimes in hope that you'd post more than one article a day. :gamer:
Thanks!! ;D I wish I had the time to update the blog more often!
Damn that Lehman!