FRANCHISING PROSPECTUS

“Geek Retreat is a business founded by geeks for geeks, and as a self-

confessed geek, taking on a franchise where my job would centre around
everything that I love was a no brainer!”
Existing Franchisee

stephen.walsh@geek-retreat.com Geek Retreat,

38 Queen Street,
0141 548 8065 Glasgow,
G1 3DX
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WELCOME TO GEEK RETREAT!

• Geek Retreat is an Entertainment Retailer specialising in geek culture' — everything

from Batman to Game Of Thrones, Marvel to Magic: the Gathering. In essence, we're a
comic book store and gaming café — we sell merchandise like action figures, posters,
clothing and, of course, comics; and we serve food and drink, like burgers, milkshakes
and American candy.
But we've innovated beyond this to become a recognised host of daily events, from fan
meetups to trading card games tournaments, which we hold in our stores
each and every day.

The very first Geek Retreat store began trading on Star Wars Day in 2013 (May the 4th
be with you!) and Geek Retreat Franchising was founded in 2016. As of Oct 2019 we have
seven busy and growing franchises around the UK with many more opening soon.

We love that we've created a profitable business out of our hobbies and passions, and we
want everyone to have the chance to come and join the Geek Retreat party! We're setting
out to be the first brand in the world to occupy the Entertainment Retail space for geeks.
Which is why we're offering the opportunity for outgoing, enthusiastic, passionate geeks
like you to live the dream and open your very own store by buying a Geek Retreat franchise.
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HOW DOES A GEEK RETREAT

FRANCHISE WORK?

Geek Retreat founder

Stephen Walsh, with
a local cos-play group.

Buying a Geek Retreat franchise means you will set up your own store under the guidance
of Geek Retreat Head Office. You will own your own business and simply run it under the
Geek Retreat banner with our help. Our significant input will guide you through all the
steps necessary to run a profitable Geek Retreat store —from setting up your company,
through store fit-out, buying stock, running the café, hosting events, marketing,
accounting and more.

We charge an monthly management fee, based on a percentage of your store's turnover,

meaning all the profit that your store makes is yours to keep.

We love franchising because it creates the perfect symbiotic relationship. We're

encouraged to perform at our best to support you to perform at your best - so
everyone wins.

New, unproven businesses are a huge risk. For this reason financial institutions are far
happier to lend to new businesses operating within a franchise network and framework.

90% of new businesses fail, 90% of Franchises succeed, because they operate under a
proven business model. When Geek Retreat won the Scottish Edge business awards their
direct quote on why we won was ‘For creating a world class business model !
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THE GEEK RETREAT MODEL

Unlike our traditional retail

competitors, Geek Retreat uses a
cram-packed events calendar - drawn
from years of testing and a lot of trial
and error - to attract and retain
customers. Ultimately what we offer,
besides some of the most
competitively priced merchandise
and most delicious milkshakes on the
market, is entertainment.

This means customers use us

differently to traditional retailers,
coming in more regularly, staying
longer and fostering a stronger brand
loyalty. As a Geek Retreat franchisee,
you'll get to capitalise on this unique
model, share in our exciting events
calendar and benefit from being part
of a fresh and growing brand.

If Geek Retreat were a person, we'd be fanatical,

alternative but, above all, sociable. We love what
we do and so do our staff and customers. And
we're also very, very geeky. But we break the
stereotype of the bedroom-bound geek
because we love to share our enthusiasm.
We exist to meet geeks, talk all things geek,
play with other geeks and altogether geek out!

As a Geek Retreat franchisee, you'll get to do all

of the above. But you'll also be earning a living
and building a valuable business that belongs to
you, while benefiting from full Head Office
support and our expert guidance, ensuring
everything runs smoothly for you from day one.
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WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

Geek Retreat is actively seeking geeks

with vision who want to run their own
store and be part of a new and
growing brand.

If you are a geek - in any sphere of

geek culture - who is ambitious,
dynamic and opportunity-hungry,
then you're the one for us.

If you have retail experience, great.

If you have experience running your own
business, brilliant. But overall you must
want to work in a retail and hospitality
environment, have a desire to organise
and operate a vibrant and diverse events
calendar and actively enjoy engaging
with staff and customers. We can help
with the rest, including help with
accounting, staff management and
industry regulations— allowing you to
concentrate on building the best
business possible.
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WHAT DO WE OFFER YOU

In a nutshell, we're offering you a proven
business model. The chance to open and
operate your own store with minimal risk
and under the wing of our experienced
Head Office team. You'll benefit from being
part of a brand, with increased presence
over independent competitors and
enhanced group discounts from suppliers.

Geek Retreat Franchisees have access

to exclusive discounts from major
suppliers. Quite simply this means that
Geek Retreat stores make more profit
margin on their stock than an individual ,
independent retailer could ever hope to.

We are also at the stage where we don't

AS A FRANCHISEE YOU'LL GET TO ACCESS: have to chase this, the suppliers come to us!
• The Geek Retreat brand name and image, with full store design and fit-out
• A timetable to take you to store opening, including full purchasing list from stock to
teaspoons
• Business plan, cashflows and financial templates
• Guidance for property selection and dealing with lawyers and landlords
• A full Induction Training Programme & ongoing training support covering:

- All our in-house systems, from our cloud-based EPoS system to our Loyalty Module

- Store and staff management

- Event organisation
- Financial management
- How to sell our products
- On-site training at our stores
- On-site training at your own store

- Full operations manual, including official events instructions and recipes

- Sales policy, product supply and pricing advice
- Power of group buying
- Access to all our marketing material, marketing assistance and PR
- Fully tested, fully supported business control systems
- Full opening set of branded promotional material, including window posters, banners and
flyers.
- Office hours and emergency out-of-hours Head Office support
- Ongoing support visits
- Continual national marketing support
- A superb business opportunity
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WHAT WILL IT COST ME?

Our initial fee is £5,000 + VAT which covers our work on establishing your franchise as
a legal entity and the training and support we give you to get your store opened. This initial fee
is payable in two portion, the first £3000 + VAT is payable to reserve your territory and to allow
us to get started finding you a property and securing your funding (this first portion is fully
refundable if for any reason you decide not to proceed). The second portion of £2000 + VAT is
payable just before you get the keys to your store and most franchisees pay this from the
funding that has been secured.

The other main costs are securing and fitting out and stocking your store — typically between
£25,000 to £50,000* for an average Geek Retreat store with a 2000 square foot sales floor and
additional storage space.

Ideally, you'll have some of this capital saved and ready to invest. But if you don't, we can help
you to finance all or part of your investment, as we understand finance can be an issue for
some. Just ask us what your options are.

Geek Retreat has extensive relationships with financial institutions who specialise in getting
new companies the finance they need to open a franchise. Geek Retreat takes new franchisees
through the entire funding process. What this means is you don’t need to have a big pile of
money sitting in the bank or under the mattress.

If we think you are right for us, we’ll make sure you get the funding required, with template
forms already filled out. Template business plans of the highest standard just requiring details
for yourself and location. Financial spreadsheets, documents and projections all based on real
LL I MAKE?
world data. You don't need to have the business accum for this part, just running your own
store to the highest standard possible.
HOW MUCH WILL I MAKE?
Because we've run our own Geek Retreat stores we have solid data which tells us how
much a store should be making from opening day onwards if you follow our proven
model. We caveat this by saying that naturally some responsibility falls to you. If you
were to be nasty to customers, burn your food and not bother to run events, maybe
you'd make nothing at all! But by using our tried and tested model you'll mitigate much of the
risk facing new businesses.
Follow our friendly, passionate and hard-working lead and by year two — once you've found your
stride and established a loyal customer base — you could expect to turnover£350,000
per annum and make an annual net profit of £45,000**.
This is with all running costs and our monthly management fee taken into
consideration. Basically, that £45,000 is your money to keep, spend... or reinvest in
opening another Geek Retreat store.
Of course, because our management fee is based on a percentage of turnover, it's in our interest
to help you maximize your revenues. So if you're falling short of what we'd expect,
we'll be in like a shot to help you boost your turnover. By achieving incremental increases in the
number of customers you serve and how much each customer spends, you can significantly
boost your earning potential.
Take the above example - by welcoming just 5 more customers each day and increasing your
average transaction value by 70p your turnover would increase to £400,000 per
annum and your net profit would grow to over £65,000.
We're confident that by working together we can concentrate on exceeding your and our
expectations... the sky's the limit!
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WHAT ELSE IS INVOLVED?

While we take care of the Geek Retreat side of business, you will need to do some
work on yours. We require a business plan from all of our franchisees (but don't worry,
we'll give you a template and expert support in doing it).

It just means we know you've fully thought through and evaluated every part of
the operation on your own terms and have the necessary knowledge and
understanding to do the brand — and yourself — proud.

While you do this we'll be providing you with professional advice on where to locate your
premises and a full turnkey package of shop-fitting, equipment and opening stock.

THE FUTURE

We're growing Geek Retreat to be the first, market leading, Entertainment Retail brand
dedicated to geek culture anywhere in the world.

We'll be capturing the UK market in the next 3 years then going international.
When a Geek Retreat store opens in your city, it's up to you if you want it to be yours.
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HOW DO WE GET GOING?

First, let's talk!

We'll arrange a time to have a face to face meeting, to find out a bit more about each other and
see if we are a good fit.

Then, visit us

We'll arrange for you to visit us in-store and see for yourself the inner workings of a store. You
can find out more about the business, the model and what would be involved in running your
own store.

Now, reserve your patch To reserve your territory (the city where you want open), you put
down a refundable deposit and both parties sign a Deposit Agreement. This is a statement
of intent from both parties: we'll hold your desired territory for you (no one else will be invited to
play there) and provide you with a full copy of the Franchise Agreement and business
plan template so you can get to work.

Next, find your store You draw up a short-list of suitable locations, with our help as to what
criteria will work. Well take a look to advise on what's best. Then we give the green light!

Sign on the dotted line Once you're store location's greenlit, both parties sign the Franchise
Agreement. It's official!

Getting up and running Now the hard work really starts! While your shop-fit gets underway,
you'll be training with us to get ready for opening day, recruiting your staff, marketing your
store and much more... all with our help of course!
To get your franchise:

Call us: 0141 548 8065

Email us: stephen.walsh@geek-retreat.com

Send a carrier pigeon to:

Geek Retreat, 38 Queen Street, Glasgow, G1 3DX

'All figures are exclusive of VAT. In addition to the Initial license fee, a management service fee of 8% of turnover is
payable, together with a contribution of 1% of turnover towards business development costs. Lease funding could
be available for some of the equipment. The shopfitting cost Is based on a suitable building with no building work
needed.

The above figures are an 'indication only of what we expect can be achieved by franchisees. Not all franchises will
achieve these figures. These figures are not guaranteed and do not constitute any representation from Geek
Retreat that you will achieve them.