Hobby shops find a place selling merchandise at GAMES15

Dubai: Away from the major exhibition stands of XBOX, PlayStation and major distributors and merchandisers, GAMES15’s Artists’ Alley provides a venue for hobby shops and hobbyists.

Stallholders said they came to the event because video games is their hobby and it provides a great venue to market products.

Abood Rabbat of Toy Box Tokyo, which sells geeky and game-related collectibles, said turning a profit required business owners to be tactical, but he regarded it primarily as a marketing event.

“The profit aspect is for how much you’re renting, how many people are coming and if you have the right stock to turn a profit. At this type of event, I don’t think that most people would turn a profit based on their costs. They might break even — but as a marketing event, that’s free marketing,” he said.

Shaikha Al Hattab, 30, acquired a table to advertise her mobile phone covers and books covered with images of geek icons. She previously took a table at the Middle East Film and Comic Con in April, and hoped Games would help increase her presence.

“Selling does not break even, but I love meeting people especially geeks and this is a great place to do so. My products costs me Dh5,000 and the table is for Dh1,000, so the cost is high for me,” she said.

Others came to test the waters of the Dubai market. Rak, from a Japanese company called Zipango, was selling Japanese-made toys and video games. The company is looking to expand into the Dubai market.

“We are just marketing products here, so this is a great venue to test our products. This is not for selling products per se. We would like to make profits but we want to know what the market wants,” said Rak.

Target audience

Bret Benson, General Manager of the Contagion Run charity race had a booth for runners to buy tickets. The event — a cross-country run with runners pursued by zombies, is scheduled for Halloween each year. Benson said that Games 15 helps him target “great audience” despite the expense.

“When I was doing gaming it was for the geeks. Now it’s for everyone, people who are gaming, people who are sporty, so it makes sense to be here,” said Benson.

Alizee Sarazin, manager of the Dubai Moving Image Museum, had a table to display the museum’s products, and had tailored her stock to appeal to the gamer crowd. The museum had a partnership with the event organisers so they was able to negotiate a lower rent.

Omnia Ibrahim is a trainee at Gulf News.