Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 9, 1995 TAG: 9507100035
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Distance doesn't matter, because in June, McCoy's business, Fun-N-Games, made its merchandise available to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection.
In two stores in downtown Blacksburg and Radford, McCoy offers an assortment of role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons, as well as comic books and a small stock of computer games.
The new Fun-N-Games On-Line Shop appears on the World Wide Web and allows customers to browse through a list of 800 to 1,000 items. Once customers decide on a purchase, they complete a mail-order form that calculates the charges and sends the information back to McCoy in Blacksburg.
Over a thousand people "visited" the online store in its first two weeks, McCoy said. Some placed orders, others asked about other games that McCoy doesn't offer but might add to her inventory.
When she decided to go online, McCoy compared the cost of setting up the web site to opening up a third store.
"This is cheap," she said of the web option.
Buying the computer and hiring Biznet, a local company that helps businesses get online, were the major expenses, she said. Her employees entered the inventory - a time-consuming task - and will periodically update the list as new games become available.
So far, the investment seems to be paying off. McCoy says her business is up by 10 percent because of the online site.
The early success of the online store is not so much a surprise as it is the achievement of a goal, she says.
"We try to keep an attitude toward the store that's very progressive."
Most of her customers are 18 to 25 and "those folks know what's cutting edge, and we have to keep up with them," McCoy said. "We want to keep a hip image for the store."
McCoy's on-line customers talked about the new business in interviews conducted - how else - by electronic mail.
"They have the best selection of games (in-house and online) anywhere," says Trent Phillips, a 1993 graduate of Virginia Tech who lives in Falls Church. "There are some other stores here in the Washington, D.C., area that have the same type of selection, but not the same service, depth of product and knowledge."
Phillips said a friend who still lives in Blacksburg told him about the online store.
For one customer, shopping at Fun-N-Games is more convenient than visiting a store in his area.
James Murdock, a 23-year-old Georgia Tech student, lives in midtown Atlanta and says, "I don't have a car and actually getting to a game store takes a bunch of time and effort."
Murdock said he stumbled onto the store while surfing the web.
Edwin Vanderwal, a 19-year-old college student who lives in Holland, said he spends about $10,000 a year at online computer shops.
He likes shopping by computer because it's easy. He also liked Fun-N-Games's prices.
Credit cards make Aaron Brasket think twice before placing an order on the Internet.
The 27-year-old graduate student at the University of Colorado in Boulder has browsed at Fun-N-Games, but he wants to wait and order several items at one time to save on shipping costs.
He doesn't do much shopping by computer yet because of concerns about fraud.
"Online shopping won't really take off until secure credit card transactions are possible on the Internet," Brasket said.
Out-of-town customers are not the only ones McCoy hopes to attract to her online shop.
Local customers also can place orders by computer and then pick up and pay for their purchases at one of the stores.
The store's web site also contains an industry page for game buffs and a list of magazines customers can subscribe to through the online shop.
McCoy hopes the industry page and magazine listings keep customers coming back to check out the store.
She'll probably hire someone to monitor and update the online store full-time as its volume increases.
The Fun-N-Games On-line Shop can be found at http://www.bnt.com/fungames/ and can also be reached through the Blacksburg Electronic Village home page.
by CNB