New UK retailer aims to take Control

A retail start-up calling itself Control is aiming to establish itself on UK high streets in 2005, and "promises to change the way in which videogames are sold in the UK".

Boasting of ambitious growth plans, solid funding and support from games industry veterans, Control announced that it will open a number of stores later this year - with more to follow.

Control's management team is headed up by Richard Hammond, author of "Smart Retail", who spoke of how "Retail is literally the shop-window for videogaming" and Control's desire to "represent our industry in a new and very positive way".

"I'm a gamer but a hardcore retailer too - our plans are based on changing the relationship between gamers and game sellers, tipping the balance back in the favour of players, but doing so in a commercially viable way," Hammond commented. "We will open great places to buy videogames from - stores that customers will want to return to."

"We will be taking games retail somewhere new and on the way we are prepared to shake-up some of the old conventions for the benefit of us all," he added.

More details on the Control concept are set to be made available during 2005.