Chips: Christmas Come Early For Franchisee

The Franchise Magazine:

Plumber Stephen Osborne has hung up his wrench to open his very own video games store at one of the most exciting times in the industry. The 34-year-old is now immersing himself in the fast and exciting world of Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo Wii after opening the latest Chips video games store in Longton, Stoke-On-Trent.

Chips, which has more than 30 outlets across the country, buys, sells and trades consoles, games and accessories.

Stephen, who lives in Milehouse, Newcastle Under Lyme, discovered the CHIPS franchise on the internet. ‘I had worked in retail before becoming a plumber and decided I wanted a retail franchise. When I typed that into the internet I found CHIPS. The more I investigated the more I realised it was the store for me,’ he said.

‘With the launch of the Nintendo Wii on December 8 and the new PS3 in March, combined with the great games on the shelves for the Xbox 360 and hand-held consoles this is the perfect time to open a games store.’

After securing a site with the help of CHIPS in The Strand, Longton, Stephen embarked on an intensive 2-week training course while his store was expertly fitted out. ‘It was fantastic and the more I spoke to other CHIPS franchisees the more excited I became at the prospect of opening my own store.’