Wasn't the supermarkets.

You were always overpriced (except on 3 for 2 offers), your shops smelt (the 3 I went in anyway, not as bad as CEX but close), were dark, and had loud nu-metal or emo playing most of the time, not a recipie for success in the mainstream, I was fine with it but I used to see people walk in and walk straight back out again.

Really sad to see the nice people that worked in these stores lose their jobs.

I along with many others in the Games Industry had the utmost respect for Eplay. Ajay, Ash and everyone throughout the company had a true passion for gaming and truly understood their customers.

Here's hoping that everything is resolved positively for all concerned

Are Indie stores are becoming an extint spieces on UK marketplace like the US? Publishers and Gamers should find that troubling since they kept the balance of prices and service with mega chain. Also, you can find cool older games or imports that are available as supermarket. Rise UP! Shop at your local game store!

Its a 2way street tbh. Yes I think people should support local shops but the shops got to be worth supporting.

I think my store manages that well, a large part of that is down to what I said at the start of this sentence. "My store" I don't own it I just manage it BUT it is still MY store if someone leaves here disappointed etc it annoys me I take my job of serving the local community seriously and do my best to help people. I don't think of this shop as just a indie game store but more an old fashioned local shop I remember everyone, what things they like and don't like etc. and people always come back.

Though I guess as you get more and more stores that gets harder.

Enough blowing my own horn I guess.

Actually Graham not enough of you blowing your horn, you've shown the reason your still going, concentrating on what you can do, where you can add value and operate faster than the large multiples. Good for you.

As you said, a store has to be worth supporting.

As for the US, As far as california is concerned there's a fair few out there, though they seem to be small chains rather than one offs.
Indies should get more support from the games publishers and hardware makers, if for the sole reason that you don't want to be at the whim of supermarkets and large chains....

Yes it is the supermarkets, and of course all the other retailers keen to take a slice of the video games pie. All supported by the publishers and distributors of course in an attempt to sell more. My own company (very simalar to Eplay) went the same way 2 years ago when I could buy my stock cheaper from Tesco than I could from official distribution. Im sorry to hear that Eplay have now gone the same way - my only surprise is how they manged to last so long.

I work for ePlay and love every bit of it even the smelly bits!
The people that work and have worked for ePlay are good people and will at least tell you their honest opinion on whether something is **** or not!
and to you "Mr Jolly" you obviously don't know descent music or you're just old and wrinkly.

Its consumerism, Publishers looked for growth from these outlets. Let’s face it they jumped in during the 8 bit days and then jumped out. The reliability of consoles has allowed for simple high volume sales. Supermarkets don’t do trade in games they have to reduce titles to make small profits. If they sell at a loss for long periods they will drop the whole thing as it’s in there nature to do so. The publishers ALL need to stand firm on this issue but setting rrp's is a nono so what do they do refuse to supply, illegal. Ask yourself would the rest of the market support publishes, let alone the Indies, on back catalogue or would they continue to fill there stores with 2nd hand games and lets face it everyone has bought grey import stock at some point. The industry is in turmoil, due to the success of the likes of Eplay and the Softwarestore, the supermarkets are only feeding from their success. And even our friends Game suffer just the same but employ people to see beyond shop floor and generate revenue in advertising (Nice try AJay but just not big enough). Count how many indie record stores sell new music, its 2nd hand, If you can find one. Play or Amazon talk about giving revenue away it’s as if nobody has heard of the internet. GTA 4 will be 30quid when the consumer would pay 60 remember super street fighter in a tin with a badge. I do and consumer lapped it up no question asked.

I work for ePlay and love every bit of it even the smelly bits!
The people that work and have worked for ePlay are good people and will at least tell you their honest opinion on whether something is **** or not!
and to you "Mr Jolly" you obviously don't know descent music or you're just old and wrinkly.

Its consumerism, Publishers looked for growth from these outlets. Let’s face it they jumped in during the 8 bit days and then jumped out. The reliability of consoles has allowed for simple high volume sales. Supermarkets don’t do trade in games they have to reduce titles to make small profits. If they sell at a loss for long periods they will drop the whole thing as it’s in there nature to do so. The publishers ALL need to stand firm on this issue but setting rrp's is a nono so what do they do refuse to supply, illegal. Ask yourself would the rest of the market support publishes, let alone the Indies, on back catalogue or would they continue to fill there stores with 2nd hand games and lets face it everyone has bought grey import stock at some point. The industry is in turmoil, due to the success of the likes of Eplay and the Softwarestore, the supermarkets are only feeding from their success. And even our friends Game suffer just the same but employ people to see beyond shop floor and generate revenue in advertising (Nice try AJay but just not big enough). Count how many indie record stores sell new music, its 2nd hand, If you can find one. Play or Amazon talk about giving revenue away it’s as if nobody has heard of the internet. GTA 4 will be 30quid when the consumer would pay 60 remember super street fighter in a tin with a badge. I do and consumer lapped it up no question asked.

The prices at eplay were fair in todays game market. The only reason you can get better prices at supermarkets is because they will make a loss on the games knowing their profits will come from their groceries.

Mr Jolly, I have a problem with what you say from the beginning about the atmosphere at the stores. They were what made eplay great. They didn't spend all hours of the day bothering with corporate bull****. They just got on with telling you if stuff was worth buying or not. You don't get customer trust in a shop without investing time in them like they did.

As for the music, everyones got their own choice, if it kept certain ones out then so be it, at least the stock didn't get robbed.
Heres a hint for the music problem though if you want to listen to pop and stuff like that get an mp3 player and help cut down noise pollution.
Love peace and chicken grease.

Its consumerism, Publishers looked for growth from these outlets. Let’s face it they jumped in during the 8 bit days and then jumped out. The reliability of consoles has allowed for simple high volume sales. Supermarkets don’t do trade in games they have to reduce titles to make small profits. If they sell at a loss for long periods they will drop the whole thing as it’s in there nature to do so. The publishers ALL need to stand firm on this issue but setting rrp's is a nono so what do they do refuse to supply, illegal. Ask yourself would the rest of the market support publishes, let alone the Indies, on back catalogue or would they continue to fill there stores with 2nd hand games and lets face it everyone has bought grey import stock at some point. The industry is in turmoil, due to the success of the likes of Eplay and the Softwarestore, the supermarkets are only feeding from their success. And even our friends Game suffer just the same but employ people to see beyond shop floor and generate revenue in advertising (Nice try AJay but just not big enough). Count how many indie record stores sell new music, its 2nd hand, If you can find one. Play or Amazon talk about giving revenue away it’s as if nobody has heard of the internet. GTA 4 will be 30quid when the consumer would pay 60 remember super street fighter in a tin with a badge. I do and consumer lapped it up no question asked.

I agree with fartpants. I happen to know the staff at the bull ring branch. You gave the staff at the shops that you were going to close ten mins warning. All I will say is , you get back in return what you do to others. I hope you and your partners never find work again.

Did you read my posting - as I said I was fine with it, but the customers weren't as the music put them off, a mistake way too many shops have done in the past, trying to create an atmosphere and a "cool" shop when they should have concentrated on making money. That atmosphere puts off many of the punters, hey it's not my money going down the drain is it? I'm not out of a job today. The smell in the cheltenham store when we visited made my missus leave and I saw others do the same, it was worse than Rathbone CEX. You may be happy with it but you need the mainstream to put cash in that till and if I'm having to tell you this then no wonder things shops go juggs upwards.

I used to watch them walk in and walk back out at the Milton Keynes store, nice staff but so many conversations were people yelling over the top of really loud music and it puts people off. Being the most expensive store in the Mk CC didn't help either.

As for decent music I like loud bone crunching Metal myself (though due to my age and taste I prefer the likes of Priest, Pantera and Slayer, I'm a classic rock reader rather than kerrang) but I certainly wouldn't put it on in a store when I'm trying to get grannies through the door to empty their pockets. Too many people try to make a store with Atmosphere, edge or cool - well try making one thats profitable concentrating on used games, rentals, trade-ins , retro and all those other things that supermarkets etc. can't do.

sean fitzgerald - "I agree with fartpants. I happen to know the staff at the bull ring branch. You gave the staff at the shops that you were going to close ten mins warning. All I will say is , you get back in return what you do to others. I hope you and your partners never find work again."

Then I put it to you that you don't understand the nature of going bust/closing down a business. You think the owners wanted to close? To lose their stores they (I guess) invested a large chunk of their lives into? I wonder how many sleepless nights they had leading up to that happening and have had since. For you to wish them that much ill will I guess you can't and don't understand how much it willhave hurt and upset them to close down a large section of their lives.

Enough of that though. I to am a Rock/metal fan but again would never consider playing it in the shop I work in. No we have the annoying music on the demo pods to scare away the grandparents...and drive me insane...damn brain training music I hear it in my sleep now!

Mr Jolly, how do you get a pic of a dog next to your comment? :) lol. Sad news about Eplay. Is there database up for sale?

Sean Fitzgerald, you couldnt of said it better. Ash and Ajay are the worst directors i ever had the misforturne of working for. I put in a good couple of years for that company, and for nothing. They paid me off to leave by saying that they couldnt cater for someone of my 'culture'. I went to take further action with this but was threatened with black listed employment. That company was only interested in one thing. Money. They wanted to be the next Game. Why even consider to challenge a rival like that? They should of stayed the local, friendly shop. Things would of been fine. I also hope you never find work again. And im proud of ordering that £15 steak when you took us out for a staff dinner. They gave me the dirtyist look. Sorry to rant, but its about time that company went down. All my love to Matt in Soton, Red Dave in Bullring, Marc the goth, and Nate dawg in MK. you guys made that place bearable

I am sorry to hear about this we have dealt with Ash and Ajay they are both great blokes who dont deserve this. I hope that everything works out for them.

Sean Fitzgerald, you couldnt of said it better. Ash and Ajay are the worst directors i ever had the misforturne of working for. I put in a good couple of years for that company, and for nothing. They paid me off to leave by saying that they couldnt cater for someone of my 'culture'. I went to take further action with this but was threatened with black listed employment. That company was only interested in one thing. Money. They wanted to be the next Game. Why even consider to challenge a rival like that? They should of stayed the local, friendly shop. Things would of been fine. I also hope you never find work again. And im proud of ordering that £15 steak when you took us out for a staff dinner. They gave me the dirtyist look. Sorry to rant, but its about time that company went down. All my love to Matt in Soton, Red Dave in Bullring, Marc the goth, and Nate dawg in MK. you guys made that place bearable

I also worked for ePlay for a few years, first as a store manager and subsequently as an area manager. It saddens me to see this happen and a lot of very enthusiastic and dedicated staff losing their employment.

Let's not forget that this was one of the larger independent game retailers that won several awards within the industry including some from MCV - that shows how successful the company were but ultimately the current climate of huge corporations (Tesco, Asda, Game et al) made it extremely difficult to compete.

To see a company the size of ePlay leaving our High Street is indicative of the loss leading tactics used by these massive companies and they are as much to blame as any mis-management on the part of Ajay and Ash or poor staffing/premises.

I'd just like to wish everybody involved a bright future and to say it was always a pleasure to work with you and for you.

Is that you Calvin? you were the worst out the lot!

I also worked for ePlay for a few years, first as a store manager and subsequently as an area manager. It saddens me to see this happen and a lot of very enthusiastic and dedicated staff losing their employment.

Let's not forget that this was one of the larger independent game retailers that won several awards within the industry including some from MCV - that shows how successful the company were but ultimately the current climate of huge corporations (Tesco, Asda, Game et al) made it extremely difficult to compete.

To see a company the size of ePlay leaving our High Street is indicative of the loss leading tactics used by these massive companies and they are as much to blame as any mis-management on the part of Ajay and Ash or poor staffing/premises.

I'd just like to wish everybody involved a bright future and to say it was always a pleasure to work with you and for you.

No, it's not Kelvin - another great guy who did a lot behind the scenes to build the company up and who would be a credit to any employer going forward.

It seems to me, Phil, despite the fact that I never had the "pleasure" of working with you that you have an extremely large chip on your shoulder.

For the record, I had to deal with several disciplinary hearings while working for ePlay, some of which resulted in staff being asked to leave. My conscience is clear as each and every time those staff members had done something to warrant dismissal. I think it's pretty telling that you didn't proceed with taking ePlay to a tribunal as anyone with grounds to do so would have done it in an instance. Including me.

Anyway, I'm not, unlike you, in the habit of issuing personal attacks (it's easy to hit people when they're down, I guess)

Once again, good luck to all who find themselves in a difficult situation

Thank you pastyman for you kind words. Its obviously clear that the eplay 'Mechanic' has saturated your mind also. Im sure that for a 18 year old man, just starting out in employment, the threat of being black listed for employment would of obviously made me jump in with 2 feet into a tribunal with the company. Along with the fact that i was paid 2 months wages to, and i quote Ajay, "leave quietly", that this was obviously a fair dismissal.
Fortunaltley i am not so different to yourself. I will not kick people whilst thier down, And i wish all the staff the best of luck in finding new emplpoyment.But those directors do not deserve such luck. I joined that company with a passion for computer games and gaming as a hobby. The only thing working for eplay can do is destroy this passion and turn us into mindless, lying selling machines. I do always feel safe in the knowledge, that, unlike yourself, I have the ability to stand up for what is right. And to realise when I am being unfairly treated, and not just shy away, and hide from the issue. I like to call that, "balls".
But i do wish you all the best in finding future employment Pastyboy. Im sure your skills will be put to good use

No, it's not Kelvin - another great guy who did a lot behind the scenes to build the company up and who would be a credit to any employer going forward.

It seems to me, Phil, despite the fact that I never had the "pleasure" of working with you that you have an extremely large chip on your shoulder.

For the record, I had to deal with several disciplinary hearings while working for ePlay, some of which resulted in staff being asked to leave. My conscience is clear as each and every time those staff members had done something to warrant dismissal. I think it's pretty telling that you didn't proceed with taking ePlay to a tribunal as anyone with grounds to do so would have done it in an instance. Including me.

Anyway, I'm not, unlike you, in the habit of issuing personal attacks (it's easy to hit people when they're down, I guess)

Once again, good luck to all who find themselves in a difficult situation

Can I just say to Phil that you weren't 18 but in fact a 22yr old spoilt brat...

Ahh the anonymous poster! grow some ******* balls you *****

Can I just say to Phil that you weren't 18 but in fact a 22yr old spoilt brat...

So another Indie closes because he cannot compete with the supermarkets.

This trend will continue -- more indies closing down.

Then what happens? Well the Distributors that call you everyday to sell you stock will soon have a diminishing customer base. Then the staff at these Distriobutors will begin to lose their jobs because they cannot sell enough stock to Indies AT RIP OFF PRICES.

Distributors: only those staff selling to the big chains will have jobs. Those of you selling non-competitively priced stock to Indies will soon be out of work.

What comes round, goes round.

Can I just say to Phil that you weren't 18 but in fact a 22yr old spoilt brat...

Or is that..."What goes round, comes round..." !!!

Can I just say to Phil that you weren't 18 but in fact a 22yr old spoilt brat...

my last comment was deleted. i apologise for swearing. i miss eplay. maybe thats why im so critical of it

Can I just say to Phil that you weren't 18 but in fact a 22yr old spoilt brat...

I wish i was 22..... again.....i cant remember being that old when at eplay. but oh well. hey lets turn on the eplay love. come on guys, show your little faces. lets catch up. so must hostility. pff

Can I just say to Phil that you weren't 18 but in fact a 22yr old spoilt brat...

I wish I was 22 again too ;-)

Guys, if you want a dog register for the MCV site, sign in and then you can pick an avitar.
And, once you've posted don't hit reload, leave the page and come back as it reposts your last comment if you reload.

I feel very sorry for all those out of a job, good luck on finding something else, I know the feeling only too well.

Group hug?

I think its time for a group hug. Im sorry if i offended anyone

I wish I was 22 again too ;-)

Does anyone remember fraggle? he was a legend!

Fraggle is a good guy who deserves good fortune. I sure miss him calling me and asking "Alrrrriiight, mate.......... played the latest RPG yet?" Lol!

And what about the rest of us? ...

Couldnt agree more pastyman. he was ace. he came to our store sometimes to help out. Always brought a smile to my face! Hope he's doing ok. wherever he may be

Fraggle is a good guy who deserves good fortune. I sure miss him calling me and asking "Alrrrriiight, mate.......... played the latest RPG yet?" Lol!

I'm only answering anonymous if you reveal yourself! ;-)

how about you pastyman? who are you behind thats online shroud? which store did you work at?

Lol! Bognor - that should give it away!

Bognor!!! wow!!! i cant really remember the names but i remember you guys, you were one of the new stores. You used to get a good telling off for mucking around on emails....... just like us!!!!! who is anon?? come on anon. i dont mind you calling me a spoilt brat. i forgive you!

I was also an employee of the company for 3 great Years. I certainly owe a lot to my peers for giving me the chance to eventually manage my own store. In my opinion our eventual demise was due to increased pricing pressure from our competitors. Its one big market share war between the bigger companies who have significant buying power, & are able to make a loss on a game by marking it down to £24.99 when the RRP should be £39.99. This is all in order to gain a small piece of dominance. Many of the staff I have met & have spoke with in my time with the company have always had high regards for everyone at Head office.
In summery I don’t think this is the last indie to die out, I think unfortunately there will be many more. Soon certain supermarkets will be in EVERY town & will be undercutting all forms of trade.
So support your local indies! :)
I want to wish everyone of my colleges (previous & current) all the best in the future, including Phil “The Bum” Davies! ;-) (I disagree strongly with your comments)

Lol! Bognor - that should give it away!

Wow, this is just like being back at ePlay on the emails...... ;-)

I have been sat here reading all of the above comments and thought it was time I commented.

In terms of the smell and music this could be easily explained but seeing as though whats going on is this really relevant. Some one commented on the staff only getting ten minutes notice. All I can say to that is you are lucky that you have never been within this position and have not dealt with administrators.

I just want to say thank you to al our customers and everyone who helped and supported us within the industry. Its been a great seven years and I will greatly miss everyone.

Last but not least a big thank you to all the staff of ePlay, past and present. I hope you all manage to find employment quickly. Please stay in touch.

I just got a few things to say to Phil...

1. If I remember correctly it wasn't steak but sticky back ribs.
2. I still think you and Kyle cheated on Halo 2.

Regardless of the reasons surrounding your departure, just remember the good times we all had.

Kelvin

Tip of the cap to you Kelvin. We didnt cheat, but maybe we should all hook up again online for the big halo 3. id look forward to playing with you guys again. And Hi to Ed Folco too. nice to hear from you. I want to take everything i said back. Like Kelvin said, lets remember the goodtimes. And those, there were plenty of. I want to wish you all the best in finding new employment.

For anyone looking for a job i'd say look at your local shoe zone, sad but theres always vacancies going and they've just taken over shoe fayre so they're pretty secure and it can be a laugh there too, okay no games but you can still take the mick out of all the customers!

Halo 3? Bring It On Phil! :)

Well, my gamertag is Pastyman72 so bring it on, Phil & Ed............

Although COD4 is really where it's at!

Hell yeah!! Lets go folco! have you got an email address i could contact you on or something? or whats your gamertag?

And ill you too pasty. its gunna be like old days!!

My gamer tag is folco, add me & i can give you my mail address, look foward to beating you & kyle again ;-) ROFL!!

Oh folco, your going down this time mate!! i cant wait for this game!! :)

Sad to see another indie close. People who say that supermarkets and national retail stores (ie, game, gamestation, hmv etc) are not killing indies are talking s***. How can an indie survive when they can go and buy games from places like tesco and woolworths cheaper than distributors. This has to stop before it is too late.

Hello Pasty boi!
Guess who - a clue i have seen you in your Y fronts, then again so has everyone!
Nappy boy :P
and ha! to anonymous im 22 ;)

Go fart on them fartpants. Knowing you as i do that would be the kiss of death

Mr Jolly, I trust your not on the MCV awards panel?

Is the 'Best Independant Retailer' Award a curse?! Didn't 'The Software Store' Close the year they won it too?

MVC, MusicZone, Fopp and now ePlay. There doesnt seem to be anybody left!

Speaking of CEX, how on earth are they continuing to expand in such a difficult time?

They've completely ruined my trade in Doncaster and I wouldnt be surprised if its hurting the rest of competition here.

"Indie power" am afraid it’s the way of the consumer market.
My kids are 5 and under and they wont remember retail shopping like this. Nobody cares about independent anything. It’s all about the price. And we are all to blame when we pick up cheap beans and bacon. The global corporations are today’s evil but they are tomorrows norm. Happy shopping people I love my £5 jeans from Asda and as they dissolve in the washing machine I will buy another pair. As for Eplay it’s sad when companies close and people are laid off so it’s understandable you’re angry. As far as I knew the company was in a good position so it was a surprise to me. But when marketing cash becomes the means to all negotiations and you don’t adjust to the markets price structure the consumer will lose out and walk out. There are about 250 small Indies making good money and staying in business because they never lose sight of there objective keep it lean and keep em
keen.

Having been an employee of ePlay and having had first hand experience of Ash and Ajays treatment of staff, (trust is not a word they like to use when concerning staff), I can't say that I'm sorry to see them go.

Indie power: If the only thing you can think of to compete with supermarkets is price then no wonder they're going bust, the prices make conditions difficult but there's LOADs of other things indies can do to compete and carve their own niche, if I have to explain it then it's no wonder so many of them go bust, it's a sign of not understanding running a store and not having the imagination and flair to run a sucessful business.

I assume all of you moaning about supermarkets go out and shop at indie food stores and pay the extra?

Having been in the biz since 87, I was quite surprised when someone on the phone at EPLAY wasn't interested in receiving any offers from us of products which I know we offer at a price better than that of the market........"HI WE'RE NOT OPEN FOR BUSINESS"

Scouse you are talikng rubbish. How can an indie adjust when mark-up is so low, how can indies adjust, tell me? As long as publishers and distributors look out for nationals first all indies will slowly die.

Also its a bit of a double edged sword. They specalise in games and that is where they are supposed to make money but they are lucky to break even. You then tell me they should take the chance and stock some gimmick to make money. I know you need to spend money to make money but I dont agree with gambling the little Indies seem to make on a fad.

Mr Jolly, do you work for GAME or something?

Well let me see. Firstly you stay an Indie; you don’t expand to an unmanageable size and think you can compete with the major retailers. Chips don’t own anywhere near the 35 stores they own about 10 (maybe a few more now) and they survive on the high profits preowned makes and finding the best deals and other lines such as trading cards and figures. Just reading these comments it sound like Eplay tried to maximise the margins on new games and didn’t offer great trade in value. Don’t get me wrong this isn’t an easy market anymore but I would say that even the Game store in the Bullring isn’t the most profitable but other stores make up for that with lower rents etc. As far as I know Ajay and Ash were great guys but over the last few years got caught up in the whole "pay us to put posters up" thing and lost sight of selling games at low margin but in strong volume. Now that’s simple because Tesco do it. Remember all Indies bleat on how they are specialist. Well they are but its obvious nobody cares as there going to a new specialist called Gamestation or Game its mass market and consumers feel comfy with a brand name, they both started of with 1 shop. I worked for Virgin Games Centre many moons ago it was classed as a national chain it had 12 shops. Less than Eplay, Chips or Grainger games now. I don’t need to tell you what they turned into.
Eplays plan was to build up and sell off. To who as the competition already had outlets in the places they did and Gamestop wanted better positions. Stay under the radar and make good profit on 2nd hand that’s a start.

Tis a sad day.... especially for us here at the Finchley branch, who have been here for such a long time (too long some may say :p)

Ray, Chris, Steve, Sean and myself are sad to see the place go, some of us rememeber when the first store opened under the old name of Microplay and Wolf was the guest opener (makes me feel old :S)

Lord Flashheart (aka Alex)

John Graham - You can add Eclipse to your list of demised stores.

Pink Planet too as they stopped stocking New Games years ago, so in my book stopped being a Games Retailer.

Whats happened to Eclipse?

I would like to add for your information Pink Planet has never stopped selling new games, just reduced the amount due to shrinking margins it would be worth getting your facts right before making yourself look stupid

I Dont agree with the first comment.... it is mainly the supermarkets fault, when big stores such as asda buy games from a supplier they buy in stock, which puts the price down thats how they manage to get prices down, this puts smaller buisnesses such as eplay out of buisness... eplay isnt expensive, its a nice environment, the music is a mixture, and im really going to miss it.!!

Re: Eclipse. Their Preston And Kirkham stores are now Chips.

To my knowledge their stores in Blackpool, And Cleveleys are still open.

Tasha - My apologises, it was not my intention to make myself look stupid or make a false representation of what Pink Planet do. However, from my experience of shopping in Pink Planet they do not stock New releases.

If I were to go into one of their stores tomorrow, how many of the Charttrack top 40 would I find?

Thanks stuart for your return comment, i'm sure your not stupid !
Your quite right you would probably only find the top 5, but you would find a full range of new consoles, peripherials and a huge pre-owned chart in which we specialize.
We have been a Games Retailer for 17yrs and counting and feel that it doesn't matter what the balance between new & pre-owned is and its always open to change as conditions (Margin*****it.

Happy Ga*****veryone
Tasha

Although I had only been working at ePlay for just under a year before the sudden closure. I feel that we offered members of the public a worthwhile alternative to GAME and Gamestation and will be missed in Cheltenham. Customers would often comment that they respected our judgement and honest opinion on both new releases and pre owned games. Although trade in our store was always constant and we a good base of loyal customers, recently we could not compete with trade in prices offered by GAME round the corner. In the last few months customers where taking their trade-in's elsewhere causing us to be lacing in ‘new' pre-owned stock. The store also had a vast amount of older games in stock which were always decreasing in value and becoming increasingly hard to shift could not of helped the companies future. I would just like to say good luck to everyone one I had the pleasure of working with during my brief time at ePlay and I wish you all the best in the future.

Hey,
If anyone who knows Kelvin Smith reads this can you ask him to call back please
thanks
tasha
Pink Planet

I will call you tomorrow. Are you in the office?

I will be in the afternoon or if you still have jasons mobile give him a ring after 3.00pm
Thanks Kelvin
Tasha

I dont have his number. If you let your staff now in Frome that I will be calling in a minute and its ok to give it to me. I can then call him this afternoon.

i have just phoned the office to tell them they will give you his number, but jase is v busy shop fitting today so prob best to give him call tom after 3
Thanks
Tasha

Just so you know I now have the number. I will call tomorrow.

Thanks

I eyes hurt from reading those messages, it is a bit like reading the emails back at work, i was only part time at the worcester shop (i never really saw us as an indie shop, just a shop), but i was there well over a year and it was enough time to realise that eplay had passion for games and ga*****very friday i would have to go to game and gstation to do a competition check and i'm sorry gstation smelt bad game were ok, but if we had some smelly people come in the shop first thing we would do is get the spray.

I cant remember who it was but how c****ay i hope you never get jobs , WHAT THE F*** do you know!

My 360 gametag if anyone from eplay wants it is: iadadump.
yes iadadump

p.s I am the best at games PERIOD ha ha ha ha

dont know what happened to that last message,

anyway phil if u read this, i enjoyed our drink last night and also you are coming for a chinese on my blday next month I will let u know more closer to the date.

Halo is ace! sorry. just had to share the love. Folco lets hook up on it.

Inides will continue to close unless they adapt to the market conditions forced upon them. I think its wrong that supermarkets are allowed to work in the way they do-that is sell at or below cost to 'use' our products to sell food.
Ive always said it: GAME sell food..! give them something to worry about! The government should do something in the same microsoft, BT etc have been looked at instead of shamelessly ingoring this problem but of course they enjoy the HUGE taxes/vat from them.
But for now i say to indies-adapt, use your strengths. In my indie store we offer phone unlocking, pc upgrades and sell other products not just games but all are related.
Try asking a member of staff to unlock a BB5 Nokia and watch the puzzled look. These areas are where we can and will always be better than them-knowledge, use it!

shame that company went under. at least the staff in the bristol store Show,Paulie,Fraggle and Dave always made the customers feel welcome, unlike Game who have lost it big time in Bristol.

I am blame them moving out of they fantastic coloured pink store on merchant street!

lol everyone in eplay are legends especially the bristol boys ; ) i wish everybody the best of luck in the future. lets just hope computer game shops as a whole survive against the whole online prices and the download market (war hawk etc)..

Sniffles....i miss everyone from ePlay :*(

/sadface...
i never knew about any of this untill my WoW subscription ran out and i NEEDED to get a new one.
i nearly cried when i saw Eplay on my road has closed..
and i loved the guys in there, always seemed to happy, and glad to be working in an environment they loved.
i really hope it comes back...

Hi,

When i first started going to Eplay in Finchely North London back in 2004/5 they were so cheap on games and really competitive.

Then we got 2006-2007 all of a sudden the prices rocketed and they never had stock of any of the new games, always selling out.

I remember in the last 4-5 months i went 4/5 times and never got a thing there anymore, just too expensive. I bought more stuff on play.com or Cex.

A real shame because at one stage they were good.

Shame. Eplay was good in the beginning, but as the old stock built up it seemed they got snowed under with unsell-able junk frankly. Perhaps the trade-ins were their downfall?

What I want from an indie:

1. Choice
2. No number 2 you crazy fool!

There was also a noticeable change in the atmosphere in the stores for the last few years towards closure. Things felt very uptight in there, as a customer I felt a little uneasy in the shops I went in.

Whatever the problems, the staff on the floor were awesome. You'll all do great I'm certain. You deserve better guys. x

what about the people like me who have money on an account card, suppose we will get f all

Might be a bit late with comments...
But than again better late than sorry. :P
I didn't work long for ePlay. (nearly 2 years)
But I did have a really great time.
I have also been given great oppertunities.

I do miss everybody at ePlay.
Havn't heard of anyone in ages.
I know they are all Facebooking. but that place is giving me a headache :P

I think we need to find a way to get together again for a nice drink in the Southampton park :P

And for anyone wondering i did found another job... At GS :P

ePlay was my 2nd home.. and I still miss it..

G

http://confluence.public.thoughtworks.org/display/~buy-xanax-no-rx - xanax http://confluence.public.thoughtworks.org/display/~buy-tramadol-no-rx - tramadol http://confluence.public.thoughtworks.org/display/~buy-valium-online - valium http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=buy-ambien-online-without-prescription-buy-ambien-10mg-5mg - ambien http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=buy-xanax-online-buy-xanax-2mg-1mg - xanax http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=buy-fioricet-online-without-prescription-buy-fioricet-cod - fioricet http://connections.blackboard.com/people/50273d6fc2 - tamiflu http://tapestry.formos.com/wiki/display/~buy-tamiflu-winthout-prescription - tamiflu http://boinc.vanderbilt.edu/CSB/view_profile.php?userid=5324 - ambien http://confluence.public.thoughtworks.org/display/~ativan4r5r - ativan http://confluence.public.thoughtworks.org/display/~buy-ambien-without-prescription - ambien
shallow chemistrya pulls eere simply broadly clucas