Photos by Thom Stratton
Not everyone is bemoaning the economic downturn and the resulting slowdown in construction. ABU Games, just off Fairview Ave. near Meridian, is heaving a big sigh of relief. That’s because ABU Games, while visible from Fairview, is actually on N. Wildwood, and there’s a large field between the store and the main road. When the video game, DVD, and collectable card game business first opened in late 2007, a new development project was planned for that empty field within a few months.
That was a year and a half ago. The development was postponed, the store remains visible, and ABU Games has built a profitable business. Bill Greenway, manager of the store, attributes much of their success to radio advertising. ABU Games has produced a series of ad spots featuring Greenway and other store personnel in spoofs on various video games, cartoons, television shows, and viral YouTube videos. The ads, which tap into current youth culture, play only on FM 100.3 “The X”, which targets the key teen demographic.
Considering that adults as well as teens often cite the ads, they must be working. Greenway clearly enjoys making the ads as silly as he can, but never strays from hitting the key points: product and location. One ad, a spoof of a popular Dragonball Z YouTube Poop, is little more than the store’s address being repeated over and over. Stupid? Yes. Effective? Evidently. The store was making a profit within six months, and business has steadily increased ever since.
Lately the company has branched out into television ads with a parody of the infamous Enzyte “Smiling Bob” commercials. The ad spots will be airing on KIVI. Greenway advises viewers to pay special attention to the scrolling text at the bottom for more of that quirky ABU Games sense of humor.
Greenway acknowledges that, should the planned development ever go forward, the lack of street visibility could make things more difficult for the store. That’s why he says he’s working hard now to bring in customers, and then make sure he and his staff treat them right so they’ll keep coming back. It’s almost ironic that while the store has thrived during a down economy, an end to the recession could actually make things more difficult.
Disclaimer: Since writing this article, the author has become an employee of ABU Games. The author received no compensation for this article in any form.
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