In the age of online e-commerce and digital downloads, there aren't a lot of videogame stores that still occupy the high street anymore. Certainly, CEX are a regular fixture, and have achieved unprecedented success on the high street. But from an independent videogame store's perspective, there aren't that many business opportunities left in the bricks and mortar model.
Enter Level Up Games who have been steadily trading as an independent videogame store for 13 years, and are co-owned and managed by the husband and wife duo that is Alex and Gemma Bowness. As part of this, I spoke to Alex Bowness when I stumbled upon his store during a recent day-trip to Canterbury (UK), and got to speak to him about subjects pertaining to videogames retail, the effects of Covid, and how he manages to compete against the likes of CEX. Enjoy!
What was the impetus for you to start your own videogame store?
We rose phoenix-like from the ashes of a previous company that I had worked for who were in a very similar vein of buying and selling guitars, Hi-Fi, musical equipment, videogames, cameras, you name it... So a very similar idea to what we do now.
What was the company called?
It was X Electrical. They had a branch down here in Canterbury, and th...