Game City

Daily store tasks are intuitive and easy to handle, very relaxed atmosphere. Hardest part of the day-to-day are the customers with trade-ins; many people are looking for top dollar and when their unreasonable standards aren't met they can get abusive. Upper management does not support you when this happens; known problem customers are rampant as the company would rather keep their business than look after their staff's well being. Weighs these complaints heavier than their own staff's word regardless of context.

Store management is of questionable need, most responsibilities have been stripped away and are handled by upper management leading to very little freedom of action. Management duties start and end at schedule making and stock orders, the latter of which you are given very little budget with no room for debate. Sales events and discounts are rarely if ever permitted, leading to little if any control over earnings but are still expected to reach goals. Store management is instead made to take on additional responsibilities not outlined in their contract on the company's whim; one unnamed manager was in charge of IT support, graphical design, electrician work, and document drafting while still making starting wage. Be careful of doing any favors, they will expect them on the regular. 

Terrible compensation and benefits system. Nearly a decade in the company, I received a total of one promotion and one raise (in response to the legal minimum increasing). Breaks are unpaid, discount only applies to older product, and limited on the number of friends/family you can give discount to. Sales-based incentive is pathetically small and, when paired with the previously mentioned lack of freedom with orders and sales, is effectively gained at random depending on traffic. Also promotes competition between stores despite upper management forcing the sharing of inventory; you can be stripped of your top-selling items at any time and lose your shot at the bonus. Upper management passed a quarterly 'store inspection' system that directly affects store manager raises and bonuses, but have not performed more than the baseline inspection in almost a full year.

Communication from upper management is abhorrent. Policies constantly change without staff being notified, upper management themselves ignoring these policies when it suits them and uses the lack of communication as an excuse to do so. For example, COVID safety policy was changed to be less strict only after multiple staff agreed to return to work after the lockdown, many were threatened with termination when they wanted to change their mind in response. One member of upper management in particular is the primary reason multiple senior staff have left over the last two years; horrendously unprofessional, regularly falls short of bare minimum expectations, even openly abusive toward staff they disagree with. Expected to follow orders without question; feedback is ignored and in fact held against you.

Upper management aside, regular duties are more or less reasonable (although have been increasing constantly for the last year without any change in compensation or benefits) and the people working the front lines are very cool people. I have met some of my closest friends working here over the years and ultimately do not regret my experience despite the low score. Unless you share a last name with members of upper management, stick to the entry-level position and keep your head down.

Typical day of work is largely sales based, as well as having some specific product knowledge or the ability to find out information for customers.

Management varies. I found on a store by store level, store management was on average fair. The issue comes from upper management who frequently make questionable decisions.

Workplace culture is casual and laid-back, so long as you're getting your duties down accordingly.

Hardest part of the job comes from purchasing goods from customers, and knowing how to defuse some angry people in regards to a not great return policy.

Communication is a large problem, with some stores being made aware of new policy changes, and others not being informed for weeks. 

Unnamed upper management also acts very unprofessional in the work place, and has made many staff members uncomfortable. They likely shouldn't be working in a management position

Average day was sales, helping customers find games and helping with trades, which is decent on its own as long as you know what your doing.

Everyone you work with in the storefront is amazing, store feels like a family, and a lot of the regulars you get to know are awesome, it’s unfortunately when you get to upper management/ owners is where the issues are. No communication from them to management or even each other, they make it clear they have no trust for their staff or managers, even getting to the point of trying to get staff to go against each other.
If your just looking for a part time job or to start in the retro game industry this one is fine but I wouldn’t make it a long term gig.

Having worked here for 6+ years, they locked my wage at minimum wage for the majority of the time with a $0.25 raise towards the end. They locked new hires at a probationary rate for 3 months, and any promotion leads to another 3-month probationary period.

On a store level, most staff are friendly and competent. That changes when it involves upper management, in a lack of understanding of the product and day-to-day operations leading to wasted expenses.

Fine for a part-time job in school, but at any level in management they'll attempt to get you to do extra work outside of managerial responsibilities.

I thought this was a pretty great entry-level job at first, but the rose-tinted glasses come off the more you start dealing with upper management.  There doesn't seem to be any room for any worthwhile advancement in the company unless you're a member of the family that runs it.  

The hiring process took way longer than it should have and they closed the store shortly after.   

The people I directly worked with were nice and fun to be around, but I would rather work at a company where my time and effort is respected by the people who run it.

I loved working at Game City! All of my managers and co-workers were very knowledgeable, hardworking, and generally fun to be around. I learned so much about video games and systems while I worked there, more than I ever thought someone could learn. Working there was a dream come true, so take it from me: if you like video games and want to learn more while sharing your knowledge and passion with both your co-workers and customers, Game City is the place for you.

A typical day at Game City required me to sort and store product. I learned organization skills and time management from my stay there. My boss was a funny guy, he always like to make jokes. The only other employee at the time was the bosses wife and she was a very nice woman with excellent customer service skills. The hardest part of my job was the long hours of sorting and stocking, but the best part was interacting with the customers that came through the door.

Pay and hours given were much lower than it should be considering you take on the position of sales, stock, and buying product from customers. This can be a nightmare on busy weekends where you are alone a good percentage of the time with limited support.

Upper management decision making was questionable causing even further strain on the hours already filled by various other tasks.

Working with retro games is cool but the novelty wears off fast.

The job was alot of fun, had alot of amazing interactions with customer's and co-workers alike. Only down side was that the hours were not as good due to it not being a major chain. Otherwise, company is pretty fantastic.

Game City was the perfect job for me to have as a student. They were willing to work with my schedule and the upper management was incredibly approachable, supportive, and competent.

Working at Game City: company overview and reviews

Game City

Game City ratings

Salary satisfaction

Job seeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected