Every non GW game store near me has gone out of business, even ones that diversified into Magic, and other table top systems. The GW juggernaut drove them under.

Then again don't mine me, just crushing hopes and dreams.

The staff at the Games Workshop was very courteous and greeted me as soon as I entered the store. I talked a bit to the Store Owner (Or manager, he had a black shirt) and we chatted about my potential for a while. A very accommodating gentleman. I didn't interact with the other two gentlemen working there today as they were busy with customers and overseeing the tables. The store had a good flow of walkins, but I saw very few purchases. Presumably because this store was in a mall. I really liked the design of the tables. They were about waist high and looked perfect for playing Warhammer on. I'm going to be using this or a similar design for my future tables. Also, if you look the vast majority of the product is on the walls, this is what I wanted to do with my store, but I'm still restricted by a lack of knowing where I'll be putting my store.

What kind of an uncouth bloody savage wears a hat indoors? How rude.

I met another person there who was extremely excited to overhear my conversation with the blackshirt, as he was from the area I want to open my shop in. He complained about driving all the way out to Orange (30 minutes for him) to play Warhammer and buy models for painting. He even asked to be made an employee!

The manager (I actually got these two images and text mixed up. Whoops!) discussed there are two ways to have a successful game store. Variety of product, or community farming. The GW has a community board in the back, and he even lamented about how small it is.

>>5756393
What exactly are those creatures on the far right? some sort of snotling?

>>5756438
They're called Mexicans

The other store I visited today however, is massive. I didn't get to talk to the store owner, because he wasn't there. When I walked in I was somewhat overwhelmed by the scale of their operation. They have about fifteen rows of product of all sorts. BH has two rows of Warhammer stuff, plus a glass case full of fully painted items. The store is fairly disheveled, with some product being piled up in stacks seemingly at random. I spent about thirty minutes in the store before I interacted with an employee, and I had to walk up to him to ask questions, such as if I could take pictures, and if I could talk to the manager.

>>5756462
I've had several stores like this in my area, and they've all folded. It's too oppressive, and like you say, disheveled. The first store you visited was much smaller, almost uncomfortably so, but it was organized. Ideally there'd be a mix of the two. At my LGS there's room enough to push a few tables together for especially big games. That's always nice

>>5756421
Community farming is the way to go. The LGS I go to has weathered two different GW stores and outlasted a number of non-GW game stores. It's a half hour drive for me to go there, but I still do it because the customer service is so great. I recently special ordered a book from them, but because it's from such a small company they couldn't get it through any of their distributors. When they told me that, I offered to cancel the order and buy something else to make things easy for 'em. Instead, they offered to have a guy at GenCon buy the book at the publisher's booth for me and I could pick it up at the store at cost (which was MSRP for them). I was blown away. It's things like that that make me glad that I've brought dozens of friends there. 'Course, it helps that they also have a great selection thanks to having been in business for 25 years, so it's kinda the best of both worlds...

>>5756453

The Brookhurst Hobbies shop merchandise is really exhaustive. They had every row packed 12 feet high with product. But a lot of the fixtures looked ancient. Peeling stickers, unpainted boards. The whole place is a little dingy. I found a laptop under a stack of M:TG cards. I wonder if it was for sale? This store had a good customer flow too though. Mostly older people, who all purchased something when they passed through. I think I was the only person who didn't buy something. I talked to the employees and they said they didn't currently have playspace, but that they were currently renovating. Between the two employees at the store I didn't see much renovation going on. I also noticed a large cubby space i the back piled up with hobby stuff and under a thick patina of dust. They hold painting classes once a month according to a sign on the door, I wonder if that's where its held?

And this. This is awesome. Is this the normal Nurgle Dread or is this a conversion?

I have more pictures if you guys want them.

>>5756513
Give as much as you like. Like we all want to say:

Anonymous delivers.

Mmmm, loli hair...

>>5756513
Its the Forgeworld Nurgle Dread.
I ordered one not too long ago. Can't wait.

Obviously the entrance.

>>5756493

Hey! Was waiting to see if youd start another thread.

You mentioned before that some people said a real draw would be individual space for RPing, away from the baying hordes of tabletoppers. You said you were thinking of having two back rooms for it.

I was thinking - how much space does a RPer actually need - could you get away with having boothes ala diner style, might not have as much space as an entire room but they would be private and would negate the problem of worrying about people stealing/breaking shit in a back room...

>>5756577
RPGers generally need as big a table as card gamers. Character sheets take up space, and they do need a rolling surface. The LGS I go to has a 3.5x7 table in a room off the side of their main play area, but reservations for it fill up weeks in advance for weekends. The store could easily make money off of it if they charged, but really almost everyone that walks in the door there buys something anyways so it's probably a good idea to not charge. See: community farming.

>>5756577
That's really a great question. Players specified they wanted PRIVATE playspace though. They don't want to sit down for a five hour run and have to worry about annoying 14 year olds walking in and poking their head into the game and going "What's that? What's this do? Why is that fat man crying?" The common thing with RPG groups I see is the four and one set up. Imagine two six siders, on sides four and one set next to each other. I think that's how people want to sit. One is the DM, the rest are the players. They're all in as close as possible and have easy access to a central area.

Feth! I lost my place.

>>5756643
My PLAN was to charge for table reservations ($5 an hour? $30 all day play? Seems a LITTLE steep) but pick up games you can just walk in and use it, unless a reservation comes in then you get kicked out. I think it provides a good balance. A group like a University based club will have monthly funds they can allot to reserve a table and have it whenever they want.

I love me some dice.

>>5756649

So, you could percieve a setup of a diner style table with enough space for the DM to set head of the table - encase this all in some shitty plywood or whatever with a door to encase it and youve got yourself a nice privateish room and one you can have multiples of.

I dunno, just picking ideas out of thin air - I just know from experience that any room set aside for something will eventually become a storage area where you dump all your stock, which is a bad move as it will all end up covered in dust and blablabla - our LGS used to have 2 rooms for painting or playing CCGs or RPing or whatever and its basically down to half a room now as its been filled with crap - this being because its just a normal room with a table and shelves n shit - you need something that you *cant* turn into storage in a lazy moment.

I love the sign that says "Ask for an introduction to our game." I think that's a good way to reach out to customers who may have wandered in and want to know what's going on.

I live not too far from Orange. Where are you planning on opening your shop?

>>5756732
I was thinking real rooms. A couple slabs of plywood will look extremely tacky and be an annoyance. I have a grandfather who is a carpenter, he'll know the best way to do this. Depending on the space I get, these rooms will definitely be part of the budget. I think this may be the cornerstone to my business. I've had so much feedback on getting private rooms. I never thought people would want it that much.

>>5756738
Oh my... that's almost the EXACT same setup as the GW in my area except that the one in my area is in the middle of a parkinglot in a gazebo-esque building and there is more room but less foot traffic. I think the thing is a balance of not too large and empty, allmost impersonal. And not too crowded, make it feel intimate but not claustrophobic.

>>5756784
I probably sold that Rubio's cup in that picture.

>>5756764
Costa Mesa.

This picture is a wicked cool desk that is currently under construction. The torn up parts are going to be a warp storm, and players who fight over this map have to move through four different terrain types. It's gonna be awesome. I REALLY like the design of these tables. My only complaint is that they don't look like they're easy to move. They seem pretty heavy.

>>5756784

Ah see im a britfag where all our rooms are made of manly concrete with 2ft thick walls ... I forget you guys can knock up a wooden one pretty quickly - thatll be fine then.

I guess if the back room is big enough you could always use the carpenter skills to subdivide it if nessicary

And the final picture! This is the thing EVERY gamestore needs.

A SPACE MARINE DOORMAT.

>>5756698
>University based club

They'll also have places on campus that they can play it for free.
The best set I've seen is 4 bucks a player for a gaming session, 2 of which goes to the dm as store credit.
The benefits of a system like this should be obvious, but it guarantees you actual sales which makes it easier to deal with WOTC representatives.
You're also going to want to have open games advertised for people who don't have access to groups of their own.

>>5756807
Thats not a bad place at all. Do you have a building picked out already? ( This is the first one of your threads I have seen) Where is it?

What products are you planning on stocking? Obviously 40k, DnD, MT:G. Are you going to carry Privateer Press stuff?

>>5756833
here, forgot to add that if you plan to play music in your store (generally a good idea) make sure it's harder to hear in gaming section.

>>5756854
I've only been in a few stores that played music in them, but the experience had never been good for me. Even when I enjoyed the music, it seemed to alienate some people ( who may not be into prog-rock or techno or whatever) and it also serves to distract the staff, who are the ones who picked the music and obviously like it

oh holy crap.

I wasn't sure if you were local to me at first because I assumed when you said Block at Orange you weren't referring to Orange County California, because there are several Orange Counties in America, and I figured you couldn't actually be referring to my home state.

Then you went to Brookhurst, and I shat bricks.
If I wasn't leaving the country in the immediate future, I'd hit you up for a job.

Have you been to Third Planet in Torrance yet? That's been my LGS for ten years.

My advice to you as a businessman and a geek in southern california is to open your shop somewhere in the beach cities, as Manhattan and Hermosa are some of the most thriving communities in the state, and there is fundamentally no competition in terms of geek culture there. If you could get a customer base out of them you'd be well funded.

The only existing geek hangout in that area is Comic Bug in Manhattan, and its strictly a comic book operation. Their claim to fame though is that Mike Mignola is a Manhattan resident, so he's in there often.

>>5756841
I don't have a place yet. That's on the agenda for tomorrow. Me and my sister are going to drive all over town to find a place. Or at least one we can use as an example.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/5718433/
That's the only one of four FLGS threads that got archived. It covers my discussion as far as rooms and advertisement goes.

As far as what I'm planning on carrying. Yes WH:F WH:40K, D&D, Dice, I'd like to see some of the other RPG books on my walls. Privateer Press would be nice. Same as I want to see Shirts, a bunch of science fiction/fantasy novels and movies and normal games (Risk, Chess, checkers, etc).

>>5756784
I know from experience people aren't that willing to pay to use a wargames table. The best way to deal with that is set up 2 - 3 standard tables and have flat tables in reserve stored underneath the main tables. Tell them the first few times, you fuck my table up, you're not using it anymore. Don't restrict snacking from these tables because I know i get a little peckish during a game, just don't let people eat their fucking lunch on them. Jesus there are still stains on our tables. Renting out the private rooms would be better, the 5$ an hour sounds reasonable and 30-40 for the whole day isn't bad. Also I hate you, because now I wanna go all the way to California for the Grand Opening.

>>5756876
Munchkin and Arkham Horror are easy/good sellers too. Good luck to you, I will likely buy something from you someday.

Make some /tg/ shirts, imo!

Check out the miniwargaming sebsite (look them up on youtube or something), they seem to have the subdivision done right and really simply with some simple boards (like you see in schools or offices for divding rooms up).

>>5756876
What happend to the anime stuff for the japanophile market (I think it was one of your threads a week or two back)

>>5756875
Third Planet in Torrance. Consider it added to the list. I also need to check out GMI Games and the Adventurer's Guild in Riverside, and The Warhouse in Long Beach.

Do you plan on LIVING in you store if possible?
In ALL the comic/gaming stores in my area the owners live in the building. Either on the second floor or in a wing of the building/add on.

>>5756872
The only music I've ever heard in a store that was tolerable was (low volume obviously) the Lord of the Rings soundtrack.

>>5756916
I lumped that in with movies. I'm a pretty avid Anime watcher myself, I would be distraught if I couldn't include it. And maybe have a movie night.

This is the logo I'm probably going to go with.

>>5756698
$30 a day or $5 an hour is fairly steep. Remember you're competing with people just having the game at a meeting room at a local library (normally free) or at a player's home, and unlike wargames they don't need any special terrain to play. If people are playing RPGs at your store it's for one of three reasons:
1) Your store is actually the most convenient place to meet for everyone in the group.
2) They plan on buying stuff while they're in the store, or they don't consciously plan on it but subconsciously game in the store because of the enticement.
3) Nobody in the group knows each other well enough to game in a more private venue (surprisingly common when groups meet up through store bulletin boards).

>>5756941
In case 3, you'd be losing customers because the trust issue would keep them from pooling funds for the table. In case 2, you'd be cutting down on the actual gaming spending people will be making in the store Having worked as games manager at a comic shop, I can tell you honestly this is a bad thing. The store owner at the comic shop told me I had to start charging people to play in the store. Shortly afterwards, sales of all gaming materials plummeted since nobody wanted to come to the store to game and a lot of our sales came from impulse buys. Soon after, I was laid off because gaming stopped being profitable for the store. You want people buying product and using it in the store because it gets other people buying product. Case 1 would wind up being the only people using your RPG tables at the rates you suggest, and they'd rapidly try to find an alternate venue.

>>5756931
I don't think that's legal in California. I would if I could though. I spend $700 to rent a freaking room right now!

Where is Orange? I'm guessing it is in the USA, but other than that I have no idea.

>>5756950
I do understand your dilemma, though. Unmonetized square footage can be a big problem for retailers, and it's tempting to try to wring out every obvious source of income possible... But you do need to be aware that nothing will move product for the store better than having people in the store playing games as much as possible, and I have never seen a store that charged for table space stay in business longer than two years (note that in this industry you aren't expected to have a month in the black until at least a year in, but if you haven't had a month in the black by the end of your second year you probably never will).

LGS in France tend to diversify as Internet access / LAN gaming, even though it is not a really good idea.

To me, if you could have two floors, it would be better : one for retail, and one for gaming. For once, it allows the gamers (usually your regular consumer) not to be bothered by sight seers, movement around them, and so on.

Problem with allowing RPGs : they tend to be louder than other games, so if you were to allow such activity, you will indeed need to dedicate one well isolated room for it.

>>5756918
for Third Planet you want to go in on thursday or sunday, those are the open table days that draw in the most table top crowd.

the environment is drastically different depending on when you go.

If you go in around 3 you'll get the obligatory crowd of young teens that float the GW business on a healthy diet of space marines, but if you go in during the evening or close to closing time, it will be the varsity crowd that's been patronizing the shop for years. These are the vanguard customers that have stuck with the shop for as long as a decade and will probably provide the most significant feedback for community farming.

>>5756959
Yeah. I've noticed that... like I said. Tables are free unless you want absolute priority over the table. So it's kind of a choice. "Do I absolutely have to have a table for this weekends game for me and my pals?" Maybe if the price were lower, or you got a token with in-store sale for one free reservation or something?

>>5756954
Orange County, California, USA

Page two is Heresy, brothers.

>>5756901
Shirts with my logo, generic nerd shirts, /tg/ shirts. Got it.

>>5756939

The other thing is how many hours do you wanna work? Running nights where you show animu or whatever either for a nominal entrance fee or with snacks for sale sounds cool as well...

>>5756993
North America, Western Hemisphere, Earth, Sol, ZZ9-Plural-Z-Alpha

>>5757062
Make sure you don't plaster your (rather boring) logo on them, just have it between the shoulders on the back or something and put a witty nerd joke on the rest.

>>5757065
>Running nights where you show animu or whatever either for a nominal entrance fee or with snacks for sale sounds cool as well...

and most likely illegal though :/

My friend who opened a game shop used to open 7/7 and 9AM to 9PM, but friday and saturday it's usually nice to have a shop open to 2AM.

Also you have to have in mind that at one point, you'll grow weary of this...

Just my opinion

>>5756993
The free reservation with purchase is probably the best way to go about it as long as you set a minimum on it or you could rapidly find the room reserved 24/7 and almost always empty just from people going "Free? Sure! Why the hell not?"

Another option would be finding some sort of premiums for your players. A good idea would be to set up something like "free gift card with five paid reservations" or something, but not tell your customers. That way when they come in on their fifth session the gift cards are a pleasant surprise instead of just another bargain. Bam. Instant store evangelists.

>>5757065
I'd love to keep it open 10-10 (Close at 11pm on weekends?) every day. I currently work a part time job between 3pm and 9pm that pays for my expenses and not much else. I'd like to keep that job so I have some place to SLEEP and something to eat. I'd be able to open and close personally and I'd need an employee anyway to help me mind the store while I'm in the back checking stock and what have you.

Don't bother applying for the position yet gents, this is all merely a thought excersize until I get a loan.

>>5757120
All the employees at the local GW are super nice and on near friendly terms with them and if we want to stay and play like last night, me and the manager were having a 2000 point game, they have the keys and can close it whenever they want.

>>5757065
This, don't do it too often or you'll flood the interested/ burn yourself out.

Secondly, little kids are your bread and butter, don't let them become isolated or victimised by the older kneckbeards that will hang around your store.
In the same vein, display a sign that encourages parents to not leave their children alone in your store all day.

You may also want to employ a veteran to run intro games/ painting lessons on the weekends (don't know if this has been covered yet).

>>5756952
you might want to look it up. I mean, if you LIVE there, then hours won't matter too terribly bad.

I'm quite fascinated by your endeavour. I have fancied opening a shop a few times, and it would be kickass to live in the shop.

A recommendation from the three LGS in the Denver area that I'm familiar with (both of which weathered the Colorado Mills Mall GW store that flopped, partly because Mills Mall is a shithole)...
Use half-height shelves. Two of the LGS in my area use them, and they make things a little less stuffy and oppressive, and allow the person at the register to see whether or not people are reappropriating their goods. The bigger LGS, Valhalla, has a lot of playspace, but I don't go there at all because it's too far away. The near LGS, Colpar, doesn't have any, and appeals more to train/RC car/model plane types than it does to PnP or tabletop wargamers. Colpar is also a chain, if I recall. The third one, also a chain, is Mile High Comics, which used to have Magic cards tournaments in their backroom and some Warhammer merchandise but mostly moved away from that kind of stuff. They did, however, have a fascinating collection of painted statuettes, which look neat, and sometimes sold. Mile High didn't do PnP or tabletop at all, which I thought was a huge shame, because they certainly had the space.

Hope that helps. West Denver is largely bereft of LGS though, and East Denver is not my part of town.

>>5757112
In fact, Naile's idea for a logo is a rather good one : black tower is really game related (hell, it's a rook), it is a medieval battlement, then related to RPGs and medfan, and it's a defensive building, related to wargaming.

If he uses it with the F alone, as a "shorten" logo, it may become a gimmick to say there is a "F-ing game store in town"

simple and working

Once again, just my opinion

How does I roll the dice on 4chan

>>5757112
In the same vein, opt for a professional look.

While most people wear jeans and a t-shirt and will accept that you're doing the same, make sure that you don't fall into the image of "just running a store for the discounts".

>>5757143
Also, you don't even need to "employ" them, per se. I've seen stores act as "patrons" to local winners of minis painting competitions.The usual arrangement seems to be "OK, you can paint in the store using store-owned paints, sell your painted minis out of our display case, and toss you some freebies every now and then if you'll run short classes on a semi-regular basis, be friendly and interactive with customers, and do the occasional review on hobby products".

>>5757188
I hardly play these games myself. I'm more interested in them as written media and social experiments. Sure, I play the occasional D&D game. I ran a Dark Heresy game on IRC for a few weeks before one of my two players dropped out for school. If I do this, it's mainly as a business and something to occupy the huge gap I have in my day. PLUS it's related to stuff I like.

>>5757165
The F inside the rook would also make for some great custom dice to slip in people's bags as a "while supplies last" grand opening sort of thing.

>>5757270
needless to say, I would ask for one XD

Anon, I approve of your intentions, and offer all possible encouragement.
I and my gaming group live in South Orange, mostly around Lake Forest/Mission Viejo. There's Comic Quest over there, but they don't have any space for gaming, and a lot of their retail area is taken up by uh, comics.

If you're in Costa Mesa, and you make your self boss hog of nerd games, you'll be in a good spot for all of South Orange. Maybe even Pendleton, as I hear the military types are big into pretending to be wizards and shit.

Uh, in Costa Mesa, there's Train Crossing model railroad supply over on Baker, and they sell most terrain modeling stuff there. If you're going to you've got to either under cut them or maybe talk to them about some kind of business referral thing.
To all the nerds in South OC, I recommend going to the Train Crossing at least once. If you thought you and yours were dorks, these guys will blow your fucking mind.

Also there's Orange Coast College over the way. I was taking classes there a while ago, and while there's no gaming club, perhaps the seed could be planted, especially if they had a place to meet that was close by.

>>5757307
People in the military are always looking for good game stores. Always. The downside is that they get redeployed too often to build a stable customer base out of. That said, the first guy to open up an LGS in Hawaii is going to make a mint.

>>5757307
Thanks man. Do you remember what Comic Quest was like... 12 years ago? Place was a blast, and exactly what I want to do now. I don't think I'll even be competition with Train Stop. I've been there before but haven't been in a while. Do they even have Warhammer stuff?

Are we becoming some sort of masonic brotherhood ?

That would be amusing

>>5757307
OCC, IVC, and UCI are all within a very reasonable distance of Costa Mesa, depending on where I end up.

i grew up in costa mesa, there was a game store near the kona lanes on harbor that folded in 2000 and there was one on the other side of the bridge on adams called DARK STAR that folded in 2003?

they were both crappy and i am shocked they survived like they did

costa mesa represent

>>5757354
OH FUCKYEAR DARK STAR. Man I'd forgotten about that place. I didn't even know what this nerd shit was when I went there. I was fucking 10 or some shit. Went in for my comics.

That place and Hailey's Comics. Good times.

If I ever find myself in Cali, I'll go to your shop.

>>5757334
Oh man, they had that upstairs area with all those tables set up. Shit was boss hog. It was nice because it pretty much segregated the people playing games from the people coming through to buy shit or check stuff out.

They got kicked out of their space when they started doing renovations on that shopping area and moved into a place up the road. It's in this little cul-de-sac right next to the freeway. It's like half the size of their old place, kind of lame.

I buy my comics at Nuclear Comics and Skate Shop in Laguna Niguel. I've been going for years, and I know everyone who works there. I've met their kids and their dogs. If I bought comics any where else, I'd be wracked with guilt. But that's a little to /co/ for a place such as this.

>>5757270
Just go with a rook symbol, less chance of the die being fucked during production and it'll look flat out stylish.

Hell even have them

>>5757392
I usually work Saturdays in that area. I'll keep an eye out for it.

Gnight my mini- I mean, elegan/tg/entlemen

>>5756807
Hey Naile, when you open your shop, post on /tg/. I want to give you a brofist when I down to socal to visit family. Costa Mesa isn't too far from them.

Archived at: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/5756362
Also having a few store-copies of games for people to play or try might be a good idea.
New boardgames that they can actually play before buying for example. The downside is less impulse buys, but those kind of benefits aren't sneezed at when choosing what store to go to, no?

Being able to see and feel the stuff you're interested in from the box is a huge plus in general and especially for those of us who're looking for parts to use in conversions.

I have seen several types of LGS, FLGS and GW stores. My comments:

GW products are a potential money maker, but if they see success, they will come over like a vulture and try to push you out by messing with your shipments and stealing customers.

Make sure you are diversified (can survive or make a profit off non-GW merchandise), have a rainy day account (3-6 months expenses?) and be prepared to offer Intro games, tournies, painting sessions and tables for the product discount, then under cut GW offer 5-10% off and poach their customers. Play brutal with them, because they are.

Tables and rooms should be free, but you can reserve them for 2-10 dollars (you can do half days or full days, etc.). Part of the fee should be store credit and maybe throw in a soda discount or something extra (buy 4 sodas for a dollar, get the 5th one free). Something to make your place enticing to come to and play.

You MUST reach out to the community.

>>5758964
I didn't know GW did business like that. That's pretty brutal.

However, I avoided the GW shop in the mall because the people working there were like fucking vultures. I'd just go in to look at the shit with my brother, and every goddamn time they had their fingers up my ass asking "WHAT ARMY DO YOU PLAY?! OH IMPERIAL GUARD?!?!? YOU KNOW THEY HAVE THIS NEW MOTHERFUCKING WHATEVER THAT YOU SHOULD BE SALIVATING OVER!?!?! OH YOU ONLY HAVE THREE DOLLARS AND NEVER PLAY?!?!?!?!!? FUCK YOU!"

Yeah, I was glad when that place went into the shitter.

A good way to do this is a customer discount card, whether a free voucher, buy 10 X and get 1 X free, a flat discount, etc. It is important.

Charisma is an important part, you want your customers to like you and the store, spending more than they would pay online because they want to keep you in business.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

But look at RPG.net under the columns, there are a couple very good articles on how to start and run a FLGS (most of the principles also work well for other retail stores, but he concentrates on the gaming store side with examples)

>>5758985

That's how they killed my FLGS, there were having some financial problems (with the whole currency exchange and online stores), but were still doing well and getting through.

Then GW opened a store nearby and pulled those tricks on the weakened store and pushed them out of business.

The worse thing is that the GW store is small, crowded, filled with obnoxious and malodorous people and the staff is unbelievably pushy and are GW fanatics shipped in from out of town (if GW told them to be suicide bombers for Khorne, I think they would)

http://www.rpg.net/columns/list-column.phtml?colname=businessofgamingretail
http://www.rpg.net/columns/list-column.phtml?colname=counter
Two relevant links.

And OP, I wish you best of luck. A FLGS is important to the gaming community and easy to mess up.

(And I do have some limited retail experience, my father owns a retail store (though not a gaming store) and I knew the owner from the FLGS (not best friends, but we chatted and I asked about what happened and what led to the store closing, I would say names and places, but I would rather not. Comments about GW like that are hard to prove concretely and can be considered libel/slander))

>>5759059

Those two, but I like this one the best:

Business of Gaming Retail by Lloyd Brown
How to run a retail store (profitably)

http://www.rpg.net/columns/list-column.phtml?colname=businessofgamingretail

>>5758985

And GW customer service (in-store) is the worst possible. They try to be high-pressure salesmen, yet fail horribly.

Think about this, many stores will throw you out if they find out you used non-GW part in your miniature/model.

Pig Iron heads to spice up bland cadians? Kicked out

Little kid puts real crystal in his monolith to make it cooler? Kicked out

Added a gun or sword from a different company to spice up your SM commander? Kicked out

>>5759121

Are you kidding? That sounds brutal.

Best of luck!

>>5759121

some stores will do that, and some won't, just like some redshirts are actually great salesmen and most are just fat idiots who *think* they're great salesmen.

i've seen both.

>>5759257

There are always exceptions to the rule, but I have seen more of bad salesmen then good.

With the pay they give, they only get crazies who follow the company line to death and love the discount, here and there you get the decent guy who likes wargames and painting and is nice, interested and not pushy, but you get more crazies, as they are the long term survivors, pushing to become a manager

>>5759257

I actually see more skinny employees, but maybe that is because they only eat GW bullshit...

>>5759308

lol

>>5756939

Op, what state do you live in again? I own: Fortress Cards, Comics and Collectibles in Oregon.

BTW, nice job getting folks to jump in and make suggestions. I never see that much around here.

And to answer a question I saw: Yes, me persoally, I do live in my shop, upstairs in a loft with a second entrance. The laws are really weird and so are most building owners about people living in or even NEAR their businesses.

>>5759697

>The laws are really weird and so are most building owners about people living in or even NEAR their businesses.

What do you mean?

>>5759121

The fucktards in Seattle got pissed because first I wanted to use their painting area, but oh no, their boyfriends always have them reserved and also I converted my Chaos army to have beast man heads and Dwarf long rifles and blunderbusses from the fantasy lines. I was asked to leave. Now.

GW sucks outside of actually owning the models I buy. They can't seem to do anything else right besides that.

>>5759724

Well first I started just a plain card shop that survived on Magic and other CCG's. Mind you it was SMALL. I had the place a few months, almost a year and asked the landlord if sleeping in the back room while I was looking for a new place was possible. He freaked out. Saying crap about zoning for a business and not residential and he could lose his whole building if I slept in the backroom for even a night or 2.

I bailed on him and went on the Convention circuit. Soon I ended up in Oregon. Met 5-6 potential landlords and when I asked about using the back as a crash space I got answers like: You are one of THEM aren't you and so I left. Others got pissed and said ABSOLUTELY NOT, then showed me the door . And "why don't you have a place to live that you want to live in my building!?" This was the regular answer.

Now I am in a warehouse and happy to live here too. Other than storage on 6 floors above and blow me, the managers/landlords love me and I can do almost anything I want within realistic reason.

>>5759736

True, you either suck the GW employee's or manager's dong, let him fuck you up the ass (and he doesn't even give a reacharound), shoots cum into your face and then you have say "Thank you sir, may I have another?"

After that you are in cool with the employees and as long as you keep sucking up and sucking them off, you will stay "friends" with them and they will give you perks and shove everyone else away.

>>5759795

In europe, it is often the norm to sleep over your store (of course in big city downtown, that may change, but often this is true). The limited space makes it practical, and if YOU don't rent the space, there will be someone else.

>>5759799

Agreed, so why would I WANT to hang out there? And seriously they want to know "why not?" I'm happy having a shop 2 blocks from here and a local online Warhammer and 40k group to fall back on when I need stuff and don't have to rely on GW online to get stuff I need. The shop down the street is great, but buying their stuff is still supporting GW and the only things available are the "what's hot" items, or what GW says is the in thing.

I know buying anything is technically supporting GW, but I will let someone else buy the stuff first and then trade it away with something shiny. Like my feeling on people copying rented DVDs. The company got their money from the video store and the video store got their money a few hundred times after that from other people, so who cares what someone does with a rental after that? NOT...ME...

>>5759865

At least GW is getting a reduced margin off the stuff. And if you don't want to support GW, then never order their DO stuff.

>>5759736
>I converted my Chaos army to have beast man heads and Dwarf long rifles and blunderbusses from the fantasy lines. I was asked to leave. Now.

can you give any more info on this situation? i'm not calling you a liar but is that seriously the only reason you were asked to leave? were they GW brand heads/rifles?

>>5759933

GW staff are power mad jerks, nuff' said.

>>5756993

>Orange County, California
>California

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFff

There needs to be more gaming stores in Orange County, Florida, damnit!

Sci-Fi City is the only one I know of, and it's so far away!

>>5759933

It is more drawn out than that, but it came down to:

Me: "...can I paint my Chaos guys here to relax?"
GW store: "No, all of the tables are in use".
Me: "No one is here."
GW: "They are in use by people that will be in later."
Me: "I just wanted to use them now."
GW: "No."
Me: "Ok, mind if I setup my army to sort out models and maybe someone will come by that wants to play?"
GW: Looks at models and comments "I don't recognize those, what are they?"
Me: "Chaos Marine Beastmen."
GW: "Games Workshop doesn't sell Chaos Beastmen for the 40k line."
Me: "Right, so I butchered Fantasy models to get them this way."
GW: Ignored me and walked off...
Me: shrugged and started pulling out models.
GW: "Sir, could you not do that?"
Me: "Umm... Why not, I can play here right?"
GW: "Sir, would you mind leaving? We don't encourage the use of OUR models like that."
Me: "My models."
GW: Technically no. GW owns the rights to them... BLAH BLAH BLAH."
Me: Walked out door with models mumbling about Microsoft and some derogatory profanity including sheep, monkeys and their parental units.

The long version, that help more?

BTW, asking me to elaborate is still pointing out you called me a liar AND you may work for them, but it's cool. I won't be going back. I'd rather be insulted by people at other stores and spend my money there than with you.

And don't worry, your safe too. I called the GW line and they really didn't seem to care and said everything they could to convince me that only the best and socially perfect employees work in those stores and I was obviously the one mistakenly at fault.

>>5757331
Military man here..
There's two halfway decent LGS's in Hawai'i, at least on Oahu (never been to the Big Island).
One's in the warehouse district in Pearl City, by the strip club and close to the Anna Miller's. Pic related

Not all GW stores are that bad. I expected them to be bad after all the bad shit I read here, but I have experienced quite a different view.

The guys that work at the ones in Dallas are all pretty cool. They haven't been to high pressure trying to sell me crap, and they will always help you with painting/modelling advice. Hell, the one guy told me to finish up my current army before i start buying stuff for another army. They seem to push more towards building a decent community out of their store rather than being really pushy on their sales.

And a second pic of the place. There's also a gaming area up top in the back, which is quite nice.

>>5760095

You got screwed then. Ive watched the redshirts at my store kitbash many a model, be it for the staff campaign or for just shits and giggles.

>>5760095
Email [email protected]

I'm a different anon than >>5760095, but I can tell you that the wargaming scene in Seattle fucking BLOWS.
There's one non-GW store up here with play space, and it's folding (Fire and Sword hobbies in Lake City).

The owner is a former redshirt, by the looks of things, and it's basically his gaming club with a storefront. The selection is the contractually required amount of GW stuff and some paint. They do have rental armies, but honestly that's not that much of a draw.

The closest game store I'd recommend is Matrix hobbies in Tacoma (technically, Lakewood). It's even on the bus route, and half the store is play area. The owners are a little Nazi about bags, but it's at least got a halfway decent community.

>>5760095

relax, buddy, you're way too tense. you need a vacation.

seriously though, i ask because i like to keep up to date on the rhetoric that GW can use against people.

also, GW does not own anything after it sells them to a customer or vendor, "technically" or otherwise. that redshirt was lying to you.

>>5759986

What about Orange, NSW, Australia?

>>5760157
>>5760153
>>5760200
Here. As for other places, if you have an hour to kill for transportation, Olympic Cards and Comics in Lacey is probably the best gamestore in western Washington. Head down the 5, take the Sleater-Kinney exit and look for the blue warehouse just past the Fred Mayer. It is what I want >my< store to be like, lots of play area, huge selection, and apart from a space shuttle door gunner Army reservist they put in charge of the 40k tournaments, it's got a fantastic community.

They have a copy of Blood Bowl.

>>5756362
http://www.pandemonium-online.com/

this is my gamestore...go to the about us section
notice the pictures....thats about 1/4 the store...the rest is playing space

note this also

the specialize in Mtg (running tourneys every friday called "friday night magic"FNM....this gets a fuck ton of people

if your gonna do shit

DIVERSIFY

btw buisness is great for them

>>5760095

I don't think you are a liar, the same thing happened to me. (Well I was using some non-GW parts but only to enhance the minis, new guns and heads)

Same as seeing my old cadians with Pig Iron heads and hasslefree guns. They looked damn cool and took away the cadian blandness.

GW:Can't use them.
Me:Why not?
GW:Not 100% GW product
Me:I used non-GW glue, masking tape (to cover the slot for basing) and rocks from the garden for my SM
GW:You what?!? Why didn't you use GW brand glue and basing materials?
Me:I don't like them
GW:What's not to like? They are the best
Me: *keeps pulling models out*
GW: You can't do that
Me: Do what? Play with my GW models in a GW store?
GW:You could get arrested for that, you are infringing upon the GW copyright and rights for the model. You don't own the model, we do. BLAH BLAH BLAH (corporate/legal doublespeak that is blatantly wrong, so wrong that even people with simple knowledge of IP and copyrights can see that it is wrong)....

At this point his cronies joined in and got mad at me for not using the official GW products only.

I left, never to return again

>>5760211
NSW? I've only been as close as Perth, and that's a GW in a shithole mall.

Forgot to mention there's another LGS in Hawai'i - this one's in Waikiki, so it's a bit more spendy, and it doesn't have a play area. Still, they have a decent selection, and some very nice shit on display. Pic very related.

You guys are either fucking liars, or have met some of the worst GW employees ever. My GW store has never, never acted in the way you described. They didn't even mind that I used a few non-GW pieces in my conversion.

>>5760238
>>You could get arrested for that, you are infringing upon the GW copyright

"Then call the cops, I'm sure they don't have anything better to do."

>>5760238
I don't understand how that works. You own the items in question, and personally edited them, to play with privately, with absolutely no intent to sell them. What's the problem with that?

>>5760250
Again, the Seattle GW crew. They have 4 stores up here, and every one of them sucks because they're a circlejerking crop of hardliners.

They've been kicked out of Sakuracon for being assholes.

Twice.

>>5760269

Wow, I'm sorry man. I could never imagine my GW store acting like that.

>>5760250
I could see it happening. It's like mall cops, or airport security douchebags: people escape the shittiness of their job by deluding themselves that they're the last line of defense against... something. Conversions. Non-GW purchases. These people try to become white knights for their cause, but fail hard because a) their cause sucks, b) they're really bad at it.

Gw's "shrinkwrap license" on what you can do with their miniatures is illegal in the United States. There's been several cases on software that certainly apply (barring resale &c).
That said, they can and do reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. And they refused service to you. But that doesn't mean you have to take it.
Call the store manager, let him know that his employees mistreated you, and let him know that you're spreading the word that his store isn't worth going to.
Mention that you can get a 20% discount by buying online, and that the only reason you go to a brick and mortar is to have the chance to play and paint.
Then hang up in the middle of his "perfect employees" rant, knowing that he's drunk the cool-aid and doesn't care about best practices.

Finally, be like me and go forth to spread the word about suckful business. And did I mention the 20% discount?

>>5760267
>>5760258

GW stores are very hit and miss, you get the nice staffers who will let you play necromunda and are okay with conversions (but try not to make it more than 20-30% in case the manager or corporate comes in) and are not pushy. They tend to not last long in the GW culture and leave after a while. The type who stay are the GW Marines, fanatics who have the company line on their tombstone. They eat, live and breathe GW. They tend to be jerks, power-mad, pushy and will never ever think of bending a rule. They have their little followers who do errands for them in exchange for under the table benefits.

You know what I fucking LOVE?
How my local shop is locally owned and operated and is just GW licensed. Shit is so cash to hang out in there play GW games and Privateer Games, along with whatever else you want.

Only GW in North America worth going to is Springfield Plaza. All the rest are dildos.

>>5760211

Jesus, so many Orange Counties. I wasn't even aware that there was one in Australia.

>>5760321

The one in Novi, Michigan isn't bad.

>>5760308
WHERE!

The one thing I hate about GW stores is the way you''re spoken to by the staff.

I realise they mostly deal with children, but when an adult comes into the store, the same shit you pull on them does not work on me. I am not impressed your work for GW and I will not have you talk to me like I'm a fucking idiot or a child.

"I don't think the Ork Kommando models are so hot, I really wanted poseables" - Me
"Duuuuuuh, they're awesome, you have to be stupid to think otherwise"
"I beg your pardon?" - me

>>5760310

Those are the best

Is there something about GWs in the US that breeds these douchebags?

The only thing that Games Workshop demands is that the base model is still recognisably a GW miniature. This is the rule for thier tournaments, and thier stores/Warhammer World in the UK.

So long as you're not gaming with say, Inifinty miniatures in thier store they don't give a crap.

Hey naile, did that other anon ever send you the link with the numbers on FLGS supposedly doing well these past few years?

I still find that hard to believe.

>>5760308
where?

btw yes they are fucktards, in the european GWs I've been in they usually don't bother me.
Partly because I couldn't stand being in those sweat stinking stables filled with spotty snotty nosed brats, and secondly I know what I'm after better than the redshirts.
"I play chaos dwarfs" that knocks them off balance somewhat.

for the person opening a store; good luck you'll need it.
Never whine, that is really good at scaring customers away.

With GW stores the level of zeal varies from branch to branch. Most of the red/blackshirts are overly enthusiast brainwashed GW zombies, but usually pretty harmless, but a couple seem to take it a little too far.

I saw somebody get asked to leave a GW store for discussing the WoW board game once, but it was a very small branch with a bit of a weird in-crowd thing going on, half the customers seem to worship the blackshirts like cultists around a Great Unclean One.

Boy, am I GLAD my local retailer gives club members a 20% discount, doesn't give a shit about what kind of models you play with and also sells all kinds of paints and modelling stuff, not only GW.

Holy shit GW shops suck.

>>5760448

Wut?

I game weekly at Warhammer World (Read: Games Workshop Worldwide HQ). Just yesterday I was sitting in Bugman's *playing* World of Warcraft: The Boardgame with some friends, and had the staff/GW honchos come up and saying how awesome it looked.

Now, my brother did used to write for White Dwarf UK, so most of 'em know me, but still they couldn't care less. In fact Fantasy Flight has most of GWs outstanding licenses - seeing thier stuff can only be good for that.

>>5760238
>>5760258
>>5760267

this comes up in every single thread about GW stores, and every time i have to come in here and remind everyone that it's a load of shit. there is NOTHING legal or otherwise that prevents you from using the products you buy in whatever way you choose, so long as you do not copy them and resell the copies. GW DOES NOT have any rights about how you model and paint the things you buy from them, nor are their products in any way, shape or form "licensed" to you in a way that gives them any legal rights over your property. and don't get confused, once you buy something from them it is most certainly YOUR PROPERTY. it is not your intellectual property, but it is your physical property. any actions taken by GW stores or staff fall under the "right to refuse service for any reason," not copyright issues. GW does not license it's products; it does not rent them; it SELLS them. once you buy them, they are yours, period. you can cut them up, glue legos to them, resell them on a street corner or jam them right up your ass and post the photos on your myspace page. the only thing you can't do legally is make copies of your figures and sell those.

stop propagating this stupid ass rumor.

>>5760344

Not to mention when they are condescending as hell.

>My brother went into a Games Workshop store in Northampton and was starting 40k, picked up Black Reach, Tau codex and a Tau Battalion. The staff member then kept pushing for him to buy lots more Tau stuff, to which he replied that he was new to it and wanted to paint/learn to play with what he had there. The staff member got insistent and my brother said 'its a lot of money to spend all in one go, I'll just take this stuff thanks (black reach and the Tau Battalion). The staff member then said 'well we all have to live within our means don't we, its a shame you can't afford it.'

>My brother then put the stuff down and told the staff member that he probably earns three times the amount that he did, and didn't appreciate being spoken to like that. He walked out and that was the end of his foray into 40k.

Are red/blackshirts on commission? Because they seem awfully pushy for minimum wage retail slaves.

>>5760480
In the UK? I used to go up there whenever I could, it was great.

>>5760480
A lot of their staff are pretty tolerant, but i'm sure you've seen forum postings by GW obsessed fanboys who refuse to play anything other than a GW game, sometimes people like that end up working for GW.

>>5760493
Did he buy a stompa, at least?

>>5760487

I know it's bullshit, the only right they have is to forbid you using them in store. That is their right and they are free to exercise it (even if it is a bad idea).

It's hard to list the specific laws off the top of your head to make a counter argument. If the cops came they would probably laugh at the employee, but why let it get to that?

GW legal are crazy zealots who don't their way around law. They post weird legal rules for using their product on their website, that are complete bullshit.

>>5760535
In the UK you actually have to have 2 armies of GW products to work in the Nottingham stores. Pretty good way of keeping the company within the reach of the fans but it is annoying that you do get the nutjobs that play it getting those positions and scaring off new players.

>>5760520

It's indoctrination, by the end of their training they're so brainwashed they almost can't help it

Wow, I'm so glad my GW guys aren't like that. Our redshirts are hobbyists first and foremost; they don't have this type of insane GW loyalty you guys are describing. Sure, they push the hard sale on you your first time in the store, but after that they treat you like buddies.

>>5760546
When I went to pick up my Space Hulk on Friday, one of the store manager's minions was hanging around the counter and said he'd rather spend his money on a Stompa.

Fucking faggot, I wanted to ram a stompa up his stupid greasy ass.

>>5760520

Nope, but if they don't hit a weekly quota average they get in trouble (and every person who buys the one pot of paint messes up their average big time)

>>5760520

they aren't on commission, but they have to sell X amount of product in order to get promoted.

look, this is the whole problem right here; there are some GW stores and employees that know how to sell things, how to read a customer, and how to run a profitable business. and, there are GW stores that have no fucking clue and whose staff are most definitely not good salesmen, resorting to basically whining at a customer who is a hard sell.

find out the difference, and then don't fucking shop at the stores that suck. if all of the stores suck, shop online. it's that fucking easy. all the fat hambeasts in this thread, whining like little bitches about the "principle" of it all, YOU ARE EXACTLY THE TYPE OF ASSHOLE WHO WORKS AT A GW STORE AND PULLS THIS SHIT. you are your own worst enemy and you are the beginning and end of the same problem.

>>5760604
I'm not sure how you think expecting good service makes you a whiny hambeast.

>>5760526

There's only one Warhammer World, so yes, in the UK ;)

>>5760520

Yes, and no. Individuals don't work on commission, but the stores have a fairly draconian quota to fill each week (which is frankly alot higher than any GW, no matter where it is, could be expected to earn in that time). Each Staff members proportion of that quota is recorded and any that fail to meet thier targets get chewed out by thier regionals.

Most (decent) stores basically "pool" thier sales by letting whoever needs to top up thier intro games/sales/talking to customer numbers take the customers, though I can imagine some douchebags deliberately edging out their colleagues to try and brown nose thier way from red to black.

>>5760535

This. One of them managed to get a job with the local GW here (that I never really go to, instead heading over to Warhammer World). Fortunately all the other staff and customers realised that he was a douche, and he's not getting many hours anymore (stupid employment legislation makes firing people except for gross incompetance nigh impossible - and I don't think the staff are quite ready to let him endanger a child just to fire him, bad for business).

Service is a mix, you will get a nice guy who likes GW products, to a career climber.

I have switched to online sale after I got fed up with GW practices

OP, sell stompas, that is all

>>5756918
FUCK YEAR, WARHOUSE.

Used to be my old stomping grounds before collegefagdom. Lots of products, and the owners are the nicest pair of guys you'll ever meet. It's kind of on the small side though, and there's only one gaming table the staff sometimes uses for extra shelf space, which kinda sucks.

I think GW is trying to kill the local hobby shop in a retarded effort to prevent exposure to other wargaming systems

>>5761000

yes, they cornered the market and then vidyagames were invented

GW are cunts.

Wasn't a good idea to go in while they were trying to shove SPACE HULK down everyones throats...

Hey, I haven't read through all of this thread yet, but it got me to thinking of your RP room designs.

If you want to justify the fee to reserve the room, try adding something in that makes it worth the cost. Maybe speakers that give the room an ambient noise, along with a CD player or the option to jack into a laptop for the DMs? Something to make it worthwhile, rather than just a table away from everyone else. Plus, if you keep the fee optional, customers will compete for the room anyway.

I wish that the only F"L"GS around here wasn't about twenty minutes away and in the heart of the city and expensive. Then again, the store doesn't make the prices.

I wish there was a place around here that was close to me and seemed friendly and inviting and said "come play a game some time!"
I also wish that there were people around here that actually played games. I need to try to set up my own gaming club at the school.

>>5761176

I am a fan of the optional "reservation" fee (especially if you put goodies in it, like vouchers or drink offers). Think of the rooms and tables as loss leaders, they introduce and get people in the store, then you can sell slightly marked up drinks and snacks. (ask them kindly not to bring their own, because you have to pay rent on the floorspace for the rooms, but don't forbid it. Some people will bring their own exclusively, but others will buy your stuff to support you)

A good solid 6'x4' table is the best (ideal for wargaming and rpgs). Maybe put some neat extras, like the basic CD player with speakers, electrical plugs, mood lighting (a must for RPGS)(and by mood lighting I mean dimmers), a padded dice tower (to reduce noise) and a thick cardboard GM screen.

Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done and makes nice room. Feel free to add extras, but this is the basic.

incidentally, if you want to get kicked out of a GW store so fast it;ll make your head spin...

Mention that they used to make suicide bombers for the IG. Rags on their heads and all.

FLGS near me suddenly changes half their selection (by which I mean, half their shelves/floorspace) to GW. Fully half the store is now GW. They got rid of a lot of printed material, nearly half of their 'traditional' board games. Even MtG, from which as far as I can tell, is their main draw for customers (FNM, weekend tourneys) is now 3 feet of space behind the counter.

>>5761839

Now wait for GW to swoop in, open a store and start messing with shipments/stealing customers. FLGS closes, GW laughs.

Now you have no place to buy MtG, RPGs, TT, etc.

>>5756481

GAMES PLUS

Someone needs to make delishus copypasta out of these GW Nazi Jackoff horro stories.

Main reason I stopped giving GW a cent like 10 years ago. Pic fucking related.

Do what smart stores do, OP: carry the minimum GW product to cash in on its brand recognition, while meanwhile showing players better games by other companies (that will, btw, also make you more money & are not cunts to deal with).

>>5760337
your either jon or damain...or someone up their that doesnt know how to play their army

>>5762180

Agreed, Maybe a new thread for GW horror stories, archive it and then do a copy pasta ordnance barrage for pro GW fanatics

OP: If you happen to have weekly Magic: The Gathering stuff like FNM and whatnot, I'd be there like every week. And I'd definitely go if you guys did prereleases and probably buy at least a box and a fat pack (depending on the set). I'm just getting into Magic and I move back to Irvine in a few days to get ready for school. Only problem is that the nearest store that does FNM and prereleases and whatnot is like 10 miles away. Or maybe 16 (I know the one 16 miles away does stuff like that, not sure about the one 10 miles away). Shit sucks since I only have a bicycle. I could take the bus, but it takes like 2 hours.

Anyone know the closest comic store to UCI that does Magic: The Gathering stuff? I mean, I know there's Alakazam or whatever right across the street, but they're too small to have anything going on and only sell stuff (at crappy prices, might I add).

>>5760360
No, no he did not.

Thanks for keeping my thread alive during the night guys. I'm still reading this, getting a lot of great stories and information! I've got to run some errands but I'll be checking in on the thread via my phone.

The GW Store here in Nashville closed. I guess that's a good thing.

>>5762351
FLGS in the Orange County "Area"

Dear Mr Fantazy is super small and really only big enough for Magic.

The Realms is fairly big and does Magic and minis.

Dice House is also small and mostly does Magic.

Brookhurst is very big and does everything.

If you ever have the time, Naile, check out Games Empire in Pasadena. They're my favourite game store, and the owner is very nice.

>>5762549

Ack, all those places are still very far away from me; it'll be like a ten mile bike ride every time. :(

Thanks, though.

>>5762524
Still warning you then that all anecdotal evidence i've ever seen has pointed to the gradual downfall of the FLGS in modern times, and there are better investments for your money than your hobby.

>>5763596

It just means it is harder to do, but a well-run store in a good location should do well.

>>5763637
I don't see why, there is no real new blood coming into the hobby, the old guard doesn't buy many new books, the previous gotta collect em all book buyers tend to just download now, even big names like WOTC and GW are closing down many stores.

The perception of the hobby has only really gone downhill since the 70's in the public.

>>5763667
There IS new blood coming into the hobby, just not much from the places some businesses used to get it. Magic: the Gathering and Yugioh bring in loads of new players. Same goes for board games (since it's really easy to make the jump from Risk to hobbyist board games like Settlers of Cataan). The trick is getting gamers to diversify. Get to know more about them as individuals, and try to figure out what else in the store might be interesting to them. Have a Magic player that you know likes scifi and was thinking about getting into roleplaying games? Try nudging them towards Starblazer Adventures or Traveler. Have a RPer intrigued by steampunk? Have a Warmachine demo day when they're likely to be in, and be sure to stress the fluff of what's going on in the game.

More importantly, make sure that as many people as possible walk out the door happy. You want people spreading the good word about your store, and you want them bringing friends when they come in. The more ways you have of reaching out to the community the better.