Gaming Retail Manager

[elprez98]

I've been offered a job in California as a retail manager for a Game Crazy. My wife and I had already been planning to move back out there, so this is just icing on the cake.

Question:

Anybody know how much I should ask for?

Got a college degree + 5 yrs of store manager exp.

The cost of living in California is pretty high, so I was wondering if anyone is a manager of a Game Stop or Game Crazy type store and can give me some guidance on what the going rate is out there.

The job is hourly pay(I'm moving from a flat salary, which I'm loving BTW).

[elprez98]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

Feel free to PM me if necessary.

[boomhauertjs]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

...

[elprez98]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

...

Thank you, boomhauer.

[mgoblue]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

Figure out your current salary in hourly pay and go from there. I'm also assuming they have health insurance, other benefits...if not, then you have to factor that in (contract jobs pay a lot more an hour because you've got to pay health insurance out of pocket).

[elprez98]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

Figure out your current salary in hourly pay and go from there. I'm also assuming they have health insurance, other benefits...if not, then you have to factor that in (contract jobs pay a lot more an hour because you've got to pay health insurance out of pocket).

True. I was adding in the California cost of living too. I was in ATL for the last 5 or so years. Actually now that I'm thinking about it, I moved to Atlanta around the same time I joined OS(go figure).

I stayed out in Cali for about 10 months, and one thing i found out was, its expensive as hell out there. I've got health/401k/paid vacation+holidays+sick, but its still hourly. Something about a lawsuit that Hollywood Video store managers launched a couple years back in Cali, makes them have to pay hourly. But again, I digress.

Just trying to get a ballpark figure. I know there are some GameStop managers on here. Ya'll don't have to hide. :wink:

[CS10029]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

Pretty sure the make somewhere in the 30,000-38,000 area.

[dkgojackets]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

Ask for 20 an hour, but expect to get 15.

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

Go work at Wal Mart, make $30+ an hour with your experience.

[elprez98]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

I'll pass on that. Walmart is open 24 hrs a day, which means I'll have a department with fools calling me all times of day or night.

Game Crazy is open 10-8 during the week 10-10 on the weekends. I'll take a pay cut for the fewer hours and customer headaches to deal with.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

Take your current annual salary and divide by 2080 (52*40), to get you average hourly rate. Then take the increase you expect in your cost of living (namely rent and fuel and any other expenses you know are higher in Cali) and add that to your wage. I'd take that amount and add an additional 10%.


Also, as others have said, how do their benefits compare to your current ones? Will you have to pay more for medical/dental? If so, request that as additional base wage as well.

Finally, ask for reimbursement for moving. I moved to Texas from Cali for a job and they covered pretty much all of my moving expenses.

If you are not reimbursed for moving expenses, save your receipts as this will be a pretty nice deduction on your taxes.

What part of Cali would you be relocating to? LA, San Diego and the Bay Area are much more expensive than other parts of the state.

As someone who works directly with the store operations group of a major retailer, I know that a good manager is worth extra money. If you can manage payroll, inventory and generate sales, you are a huge asset to the company.

Good Luck.

I used to work at PacSun when I was in high school and I know the average store manager made about 40-45 a year, but that was about 8 or 9 years ago.

[elprez98]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

Take your current annual salary and divide by 2080 (52*40), to get you average hourly rate. Then take the increase you expect in your cost of living (namely rent and fuel and any other expenses you know are higher in Cali) and add that to your wage. I'd take that amount and add an additional 10%.


Also, as others have said, how do their benefits compare to your current ones? Will you have to pay more for medical/dental? If so, request that as additional base wage as well.

Finally, ask for reimbursement for moving. I moved to Texas from Cali for a job and they covered pretty much all of my moving expenses.

If you are not reimbursed for moving expenses, save your receipts as this will be a pretty nice deduction on your taxes.

What part of Cali would you be relocating to? LA, San Diego and the Bay Area are much more expensive than other parts of the state.

As someone who works directly with the store operations group of a major retailer, I know that a good manager is worth extra money. If you can manage payroll, inventory and generate sales, you are a huge asset to the company.

Good Luck.

I used to work at PacSun when I was in high school and I know the average store manager made about 40-45 a year, but that was about 8 or 9 years ago.

Thanks. I'm moving back to Salinas, CA. I'm guessing that's still considered the Bay Area. Its very expensive out there, compared to the A. Was out there for a while, as my wife is a travel nurse. When she went to Cali, I took my saved up vacation days(about 2 months) and the rest on "unpaid vacation." My RM, was surprisingly cool with it, but I guess leniency is given when you produce results.

Anyway, she's taking a permanent position out there, because we really loved the atmosphere in California. I know this sounds bad, but the housing crunch is actually making it a bit more reasonable for a permanent move to an expensive place like California. I'm guessing they will probably base it on revenue for that store.

I don't want to sound greedy, but I sure as hell don't want to be underpaid.

[crques]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

This probably isn't going to help you that much since you're in California, but I have a cousin with a management degree and 4+ years of managing experiencing at Bob Evans. He recently moved to Virginia and manages a GameStop there making about $32,000/year with a decent health plan package. I'm sure the cost of living in VA is nowhere near that of California though.

[the_future420]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

$17.50

[burnwood]

Re: Gaming Retail Manager

I've been offered a job in California as a retail manager for a Game Crazy. My wife and I had already been planning to move back out there, so this is just icing on the cake.

Question:

Anybody know how much I should ask for?

Got a college degree + 5 yrs of store manager exp.

The cost of living in California is pretty high, so I was wondering if anyone is a manager of a Game Stop or Game Crazy type store and can give me some guidance on what the going rate is out there.

The job is hourly pay(I'm moving from a flat salary, which I'm loving BTW).

Well you didn't list which city in CA so I researched the zip code 90210.

Here's the URL with the pay range for a retail manager. http://tinyurl.com/3rkpm8 [salary.com]

Don't worry so much about being greedy as much as you should be thinking of how much you are worth with a family in mind. It's not like companies give you whatever you ask in terms of salary. Use a higher point as a gauge and hope to negotiate something in the range you expect.