While many small businesses shy away from competition with the bigger guys on the block, Dearborn Heights resident Wissam Merhi and his Game Headz video game retail franchise have a different philosophy.
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| Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly at the ribbon cutting on November 13. |
“We like to differentiate ourselves from Best Buy and Gamestop by having a one-on-one relationship with our customers,” Merhi said.
The grand opening featured a radio broadcast from 95.5 FM, Middle Eastern food, and photo-ops with popular video game characters such as Mario from the Super Mario Bros. games and Ryu from the Street Fighter series. Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly was also on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“We think that this is a prime location and so far in the first three weeks we’ve seen our highest volume of any of the stores,” Merhi said of the new store on Mercury Drive and Ford Road next to Ollie’s Restaurant.
Game Headz is sure to be a welcomed outlet for customers as sales of new games heat up in November and December and many other locations become overly crowded. The store has a policy of beating competitors’ prices on games and trade-ins of old games and also carries classic games and systems such as Atari 2600, Nintendo, and Super Nintendo items in addition to newer Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii items among others. Customers can also try before they buy on flat-screen TV’s.
The Dearborn store will be run by franchisee Michael Davis. The idea for the Game Headz franchise began in 2003 when Merhi began selling games out of the gas station where he worked before opening the first true location, which spanned 3,000 square feet, in Melvindale.
Merhi is hoping to expand the business, and franchising opportunities are available by contacting him at 313.995.5376 or by visiting the company Web site at www.gogameheadz.com.
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