GEEK RETREAT REPORTS STRONG GROWTH IN CHALLENGING CONDITIONS
Geek Retreat, the geek culture retailer, gaming café, community hub and events venue, has
announced that combined revenue from across its entire retail estate for the first nine months of
2022 is 138% higher than the same period in 2021 and 550% higher than in 2019, before the start of
the Coronavirus pandemic. The retailer has also seen record monthly sales this year and in April hit
over £1 million in monthly sales across its store estate for the first time. It has since beaten this
record three times.
Having enjoyed rapid expansion, the strategic priority of the business now is to make sure it is as
financially strong as possible, with a commitment to making every Geek Retreat store a success for
both the franchisee and the local communities they serve.
Geek Retreat has enhanced its business strategy to ensure its stores continue to increase turnover,
profitability and customer feedback ratings in a challenging economic climate and as the cost of
living crisis bites. This includes significant investment and support to help its franchise stores
become profitable and resilient enough to weather the ongoing economic uncertainty and cost of
living crisis, as the high street recovers from the devasting effects of the pandemic.
A new enhanced Franchise Success Team has been established, which provides training and support
on specialist operational areas, including finance, marketing, HR, operations, products and events,
media, and community outreach. Franchisees can access high quality training, on-boarding, 1-2-1
support, a library of templates and marketing materials, an extensive operations manual and access
to a peer-group community of other franchisees to share positive news, ideas and experience.
Store coverage
While 2022 has seen the closure of a number stores due to poor financial performance or changes in
franchisee circumstances such as illness, which meant the stores were no longer viable, the Geek
Retreat management team is working hard to get as many of them reopened as possible because
they offer something important to communities that are not widely represented in mainstream
society.
Improved performance
The new strategy is already yielding results by delivering record-breaking days of takings in a store in
the last three months, setting a new record for highest sales a single store has achieved in a week
(Glasgow in July). In April this year, the business hit over £1m of sales across the store estate for the
first time. It has now achieved this four times during 2022.
New research shows that customer satisfaction is also extremely high, with three quarters of Geek
Retreat customers rating the stores as 9/10 or 10/10 and achieved a Net Promoter Score (the
likelihood that they would recommend Geek Retreat) of +65 or ‘excellent’ (+70 is gateway to world
class).
Peter Dobson, Chief Executive of Geek Retreat, commented: “Like many businesses on the high
street, the pandemic had a big impact on us and made us think differently about what success
looked like. We want all Geek Retreat stores to maximise their potential, both financially and to
provide our incredibly loyal customers with a safe, inclusive, and entertaining environment.
“Our new approach is working well as we continue to achieve record sales days. This year we have
achieved an important milestone of £1m of sales in a month across the estate and we have broken
that record several times over since. Like all businesses in today’s economic climate, we are keeping
a close eye on performance, but I am confident that we have the best possible team and resources
in place to help franchisees who want their stores to succeed.”