I will start off by letting it be known that this place has the largest inventory of retro games and consoles of any store I've visited in the state. My complaint is with the behavior of the owner. I have been collecting Videogames for almost twenty years and each time I come into the store he goes into this entire backstory about his father and just how many games he has. I have called or visited the store multiple times throughout the years asking for Neo Geo games and every time he tells me that he doesn't display them. They don't sell because they're too expensive and take up too much room. I'm just confused because I ask specifically for an item and I obviously know how expensive they are, so I wonder if he feels that people can't afford them? Also, why tell me you have something but you don't have it with you, and you don't ever plan to make it available? It's like he always wants to make sure that I know for a fact, that he has something I want but just doesn't want to sell it. Whatever the reason, it's a terrible business practice and of course he's explained that he doesn't need to make money. He's even gone on a rant about how he is waiting until he has more space (he said this in 2016 and also two days ago) and that now with Covid19 hopefully, some business owners will get evicted.
Now I don't even care that he said that, and yes I know he was probably joking. The point is, why go out of your way to make excuses to a customer on how you just don't feel like selling something to them? It's unfortunate because I used to love going to this shop a few years back, but the behavior of the owner and whichever employee they have working is just ridiculous. The exceptions being the owner's wife and father who also work at the shop, they have always been respectful.
I don't hold grudges, I just want the store to sell me the damn Neo Geo games. If, he really has thousands of them. The funny thing, I truly believe the owner when he goes on about how large his collection is and his store does have a larger selection than that of, say Game Over Videogames. But at least at that shop, they will have the rare, expensive Neo Geo and TurboGrafx16 games that apparently don't sell very well. Those items don't last more than a day at those shops, so I'm confused when he tells me that he chooses not to sell them. I know Propaganda Palace gets a great amount of traffic and it's great for the gaming community to have an independent store to shop at.
I don't mind the slightly high mark ups on price as long as the items are in good condition and I would much rather buy a game or console from a local business than order it from eBay. The owner even suggested that I order what I want from eBay, and I just don't understand. If you don't have the item or feel like selling it to a customer, why not just say, "we don't carry those" or "I'm sorry I don't have those in stock". The need to brag about their inventory or rubbing it into a potential customer's face seems to be a priority. read more