I've worked in a handful of game stores, managed two of them, and seen every single one circle the drain and go out of business while I was powerless to stop them because I couldn't overrule the owner. Hell, the first one I ever managed the owner basically handed the store over to me at the end, but there was no way to climb out of the hole he had dug. The only reason he didn't go out of business a couple years earlier was because of the crazy amount of sales that were generated by the releases of 3E and the Vampire the Masquerade Revised. You wouldn't think Vampire would be such a big deal, but larping was really big in the area at the time and since they included live action conversions for all the new stuff in the clanbooks, they sold like hotcakes. Think we sold 10 of the new Tremere clanbooks the day it was released.
But then he would do shit like order 20 of the limited edition hardcover Mage the Ascension LARP rule book because he loved mage and the hardcover vampire rulebooks were super popular. Nevermind the fact that there was no mage larp anywhere in the area, and the national organization that governed the larp group didn't allow PC mages (storytellers could use NPC mages for plots at their own discretion within reason), he loved mage so he ordered 20 of the books. Think he still had 16 or 17 of them when the store closed down.
Another place I managed was half consignment store half game store, but I eventually realized the store only stayed in business because the owner was supplementing the sales with cash from the disability checks she got for herself, her son, and her mother. I don't know if her mother was even still alive. And she did a brisk business ripping off the younger Pokemon, Yugioh, and Magic players in trades, which was something I ordinarily went out of my way to prevent. I noped my way out of there after a couple months, once I'd gotten as much fun as I could out of her Captain America and The Avengers cabinet. I wonder if she still has it, or has any idea what it's worth. It was in great condition and the only one I saw after a quick google search was over 2k.
*edit*
I'd kill for the capital to start my own, but there's currently no room in the town I'd open it in.