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Games Workshop Group Plc Annual General Meeting 2008

I don’t know what motivated the change in format for this year’s AGM. But if I were to hazard a guess, I would suggest that someone may have pointed out to the Chairman that the dry, tedious business that was the usual format was glaringly at odds with the company’s prevailing culture.

Whatever the reason, it was a delightful surprise to get an invitation to attend a beefed-up AGM at which it was promised that investors would enjoy not only the standard fare of voting on matters only vaguely understood but also a round of presentations and workshops to explain recent and developing projects and how they were coming together to sustain the company in the long term.

That there would also be a chance to have a chin-wag with developers, managers and executives as well as the proverbial “free lunch” was a tantalizing bonus.

I won’t dwell on the AGM itself, partly because I wasn’t listening and partly because even if I had been listening I wouldn’t have understood was I was listening to. However, I was most intrigued by the explanation of Tom Kirby (Chairman) that only the votes of the attending members counted and that each attending member had one vote, regardless of the number of shares held. The proxy votes were announced but only to ensure that they conformed with the attending vote.

This did seem to suggest that a determined bloc of private, small investors (like myself) could theoretically remove half of the Board of Directors from post. This seems unlikely to me, so I’m open to correction, but it did seem that that was what Tom was suggesting. Not that I recommend trying it.

The meat of the event was in the presentations that followed, and I’ll summarize these:

Global Stock Management

Anyone working in the UK’s hobby centres will probably already be aware of this. The introduction of an automated stock management system in Games Workshop was well overdue. Essentially, it means that the shop tills track the throughput of stock, identifying those areas that are selling strongly or weakly and adjusting the regular deliveries to ensure that stock levels in stores remain high. This is a major change to the old system in which individual managers were responsible for ordering stock after doing a weekly, manual count of held stock.

Stock availability under the new system has risen from 92% to 98%.

However, what this also means is that the hobby centres are going to reduce the “held lines” – i.e. the breadth of product held in the stores is going to come down, focussing on the fast-moving stuff.

For the less-popular lines, there will be an in-store web terminal, where customers can order products direct to the store from the distribution centre in Nottingham (or the local distribution centre in Memphis or Sydney or wherever) and then pay for the ordered products at the shop’s till. Of course, this will mean coming back to collect your product later, which is mildly inconvenient but which doesn’t noticeably affect sales revenue.

In some follow-up questions I discovered that the in-store terminals are not rolling out in direct parallel with the GSMS. Some stores already have terminals linked to the existing website. More stores will get new terminals once the new website goes live (already live in the US, goes live in 2 weeks in the UK).

In addition, the reliability of the new stocking system is such that, should a product from the “held lines” be out of stock when you go in to get it, you will receive free mail order of that item to your home.

Distribution

The presentation from the Distribution team was less about improvements in the distribution system that it was about improvements in the distribution team. This was nice but I have to say that my bulls***-o-metre was swinging into the red on several occasions throughout the presentation.

Not, I hasten to add, because the meat of what was being said was bad, per se, but because the presenter was talking with the voice of the new convert. As an HR professional, I see this all the time (even went through it myself). A person with no experience of training management or personnel development, usually someone with a manufacturing background, is sent off on a course full of cynical low expectations and dismissals. But at some point the light bulb goes off in his (or her, but it’s usually a bloke) head and he realizes that it just might work and from that point on becomes a sort of sponge for everything they chuck at him.

All this stuff is then regurgitated when he gets back.

So – Development guys – don’t get me wrong. The management of the team and the processes being used for developing the team and distribution processes is great. The Key Performance Indicators show a consistent improvement and highly-effective operation.

But, please, stop calling it the “Team Journey”. Stop talking about “Critical Business Improvement Tools” and “Business Development Tools”. And give your whole “team building exercise” programme a second look, because it’s hopelessly out of date.

Products

Now, I know this is what the online community’s really interested in, but we didn’t get shown sneak previews of anything you haven’t already seen. Yes, the drop-pod’s cool. Yes, Codex: Space Marines is brilliant. We also got hands-on with the new army bags (fabulous) and modular plastic gaming tables (stupendous) but I that should all be old-hat to you lot by now.

The important thing was what I heard from the representatives.

Max Bottrill, head of the Design Studio, made the following points:

1. The aim of Games Workshop Group Plc overall was to continue to provide support to the Games Wokshop hobby from now until the Age of Ending. The business decisions made at every level are driven by that prime directive: sustain the hobby.

2. “People want plastic” but GW doesn’t foresee a time when they will no longer make metal models. Plastic is popular with the vast majority of customers and we can expect to see the range of plastics continue to expand, but metal models will always have their place.

3. Regardless of the movies, GW intends to continue supporting and expanding its Lord of the Rings range which has proved very successful in attracting new players. Especially, apparently, more girls. Go figure.

4. The object of the development process in the Studio is to ensure that new rules “never” invalidate models or armies and that new core rulebooks “try hard” not to invalidate old codexes and army books. There are, Max, admitted, exceptions but these are either accidental or, in their opinion, trivial.

5. In response to a question about the customer demographic (i.e. is GW chasing the pocket-money market at the expense of the veterans?), Max insisted that the hobby centres give a distorted view of the hobby population. Younger enthusiasts tend to “hang around” in the stores more, whereas veterans either dash in and dash out or do most of their purchasing via the website.

George Mann, Head of Black Library, had the following points to make:

1. The Black Library imprint of BL Publishing (no mention was made of Solaris) is principally there to “recruit” and “retain” customers of the hobby. For those already involved in the models and games, it allowed them to continue to immerse themselves in the background and imagery when not actually at the gaming table or painting station, sustaining their interest (and, by inference, desire to buy more stuff). For those not yet involved in the hobby, the books offer a new access route to the hobby by engaging people’s imagination up front.

2. In further conversation, George emphasized that Black Library’s main objective was to “tell good stories”. He agreed that some points in certain novels could, perhaps, have benefited from the editor’s red pen (a certain multilaser was mentioned) but was at pains to explain that, just as each hobbyist tends to interpret the background and facts of the Warhammer and 40k worlds differently, so does each author. In essence, each author represents an “alternative” version of the respective worlds. After pressing him further, he explained that only the Studio material (rulebooks, codexes, army books and suchlike) was canonical in that is HAD to be adhered-to in the plots and background of the novels. There was no obligation on authors to adhere to facts and events as spelled out in Black Library work.

3. In terms of forthcoming products, George said that more audio books were a definite plan. He also said that a Calpurnia Omnibus was definitely being seriously discussed although nothing had physically been done to produce it yet and that no sensible release date could be suggested.

Tony Cottrell, Head of Forgeworld, didn’t have a lot to say that wouldn’t have been familiar to hobbyists, but it was nice to see the new Minotaur tank up close and the forthcoming Forgeworld “Advanced Modelling” book. No, I didn’t take pictures. Do I sound like a desperate fan-boi to you?

Global Web Business

Paul Lyons, head of GW’s Global Web Team, introduced us to the new website, its background and objectives.

The website, he explained, had grown out of a complete re-think of how GW conducted its business online and aims to provide better service and more efficient transactions. The aim, he said, was to provide a service “as good as the best GW hobby centre” consistently.

Now, he admitted that you couldn’t get the same personal service on the website (Laurie Stewart, another shareholder and Vice-President of the Gaming Clubs Network, mentioned getting a cup of tea in his local GW; personally, I think I’m lucky if I get the time of day!), but with real-time inventory updates (linked to the GSMS, so that if the online store says something’s in stock then it’s actually, definitely, physically present in the distribution centre, fo’ sho’!), free shipping to local stores and a faster dispatch (88% same day), they’re aiming for quality.

However, he also explained that the website was intended to become a tool to encourage customers to go to their local hobby centre to get the personal service that GW considers its bread and butter. For example, you will be invited to enter your local store when you make an order. You will then be placed on a database so that, if your local store has an event or promotion, you’ll get a letter or email notifying you of the fact. Likewise, if a new store opens (more relevant for non-UK hobbyists) that’s closer than the one you indicated, you’ll get notification of its opening and new location.

The US website is, of course, up and running. The UK website will launch on 9 October 2008. Next up – although not with a definite date – will be Germany, France, Italy and Spain, whilst last in the queue will be Canada, Australia and the rest of Europe. But, unlike the current system, the local sites will all essentially be “tweaks” of a single website run out of Nottingham. So whilst language and price conversions will be managed by small local teams, the supporting code, design, layout and content will be managed centrally so that one page in the US is identical to the same page in Italy except for language and the currency used.

Hobby content on the website is now integrated with the store, unlike the current two-site system. Hobby content is being coordinated out of the White Dwarf office and should, again, be unified across the different countries so that everyone has the same material (expect in the local language) rather than having to go to the US site for one article and the UK site for another etc.

Development of the US Hobby

Despite being a Brit, I actually found this by far the most interesting and exciting aspect of the whole day. Ernie Blake, head of US operations, was there to explain the new, structured and (above all) American approach to GW operations in the US.

Apparently, three years ago, the turnover of managers in the US was 114%! The average manager lasted only three months before he was either sacked or resigned.

The new recruitment and promotion system is based on a 24 month process of learning and assessment that sees the average Red Shirt (his term, not mine) go through 4 tests and a final course to move from hobby specialist all the way to manager with incremental pay increases comfortably above minimum wage. At a recent recruiting assessment centre, they had 174 successful recruits out of 580 first-round attenders.

He also explained the new strategy for locating stores. In each targeted urban centre, they locate a store by identifying “a really great High School” and then put a “Standard” Hobby Centre in the nearest shopping precinct (rather than out-of-town mall). This allows them to target those middle class, affluent families that are more likely to be interested in the hobby. In each cluster of Standard Hobby Centres, there will then be two “Recruiter” Hobby Centres positioned in those big, sprawling out-of-town malls that Americans seem to love so much. These are there to attract the weekend and holiday trade but not (interesting, this) to take their money, although they’ll be able to do that, too. No, these Recruiter shops will be tiny little places whose primary role is to demonstrate the product and then to re-direct the customer to their local Standard Hobby Centre. Clever, eh?

Finally, each cluster of Standard shops and Recruiter shops will have one Bunker – a larger store with its own gaming room, painting stations, club and events. This is the flagship store that provides those without the means to indulge in the gaming aspect a place to meet and play.

Frankly, this is all so cool that I’m starting to wish I was a yank and that’s not something I ever thought I’d say.

The process is well-established (but far from finished) in Chicago, Baltimore, Washington DC, Los Angeles and Seattle, and underway in Detroit, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia. There are currently 54 stores in the US, but Ernie refused to be drawn on how many he thought there eventually would be. Nevertheless, the impression from the Directors was very much that the potential of the US market had barely been scratched.

I challenged Ernie of the question of market domination when he claimed that a PriceWaterhouseCooper market-analysis had ascribed Games Workshop 94% of market share in the wargaming hobby market. I was understandably sceptical. Now, I’ve not seen the report (I’d love to), but Ernie assured me that this market share incorporated not only traditional miniature games, but the new collectible miniature games, HeroClix, CCGs, historical games and RPGs. More interestingly, GW does not, apparently, wish to increase this market share. The belief is that the existence of this 6% competition serves as a “revenue-neutral” recruitment path for new players and customers of the GW hobby.

Conclusion

So, that ends the first of what I hope will be my annual report from the AGM. Other than the fact that Tom Kirby was rude about my hair-style (at least I’ve still got mine, Tom!!) I came away with a very positive impression. Particular thanks go to George Mann for being refreshingly straight, to Paul Lyons for giving me Jervis Johnson’s email address and to Jim Butler for taking me through the new Space Marine codex. I should also say a big thank-you to the Warhammer World and Bugman’s staff for being their usual friendly, efficient and welcoming selves.

I live in hope that one day my shares might actually turn out to be a good investment.

Thanks a lot for that report.

I normally wouldn't read business stuff having no background in it. But that was very interesting, partly because of being concerned with the company making my favorite hobby, and partly because of your thorough content analysis and writing style.

Cheers

Its really interesting to hear GW from this perspective. Good read, thanks for sharing and taking the time to write all that.

The US thing is certainly interesting, with the local HQ and then Satellite stores.

Does anyone know if this is a new strategy (doubt it) or it has been pinched from elsewhere (much more likely!)

Thanks very much for the report.

Did the FW report have anything on revenue/popularity/business plan.

SOunds interesting on the US plan. We have something similar in Sydney and Brisbane here in Oz, don't think its in Melbourne yet though.

It's been adapted from standard retail planning strategies, such as those used to plan the location of supermarkets and other retail outlets. But, as with many things, GW has given it their own "spin" to fit with their unique corporate nature.

I didn't mention this before, but when I first arrived in Nottingham, I went up to the main building before being redirected to Warhammer World. The receptionist there let me in and I saw a reception desk with all the usual paraphernalia: telephones, visitor books, computer etc. But, right in the middle, was a row of paint pots, a cup of water, a brush and a half-finished squad of Terminators! Show me another company like GW...

R.

@Gonads - Only thing I got out of Tony Cottrell with regards to FW's big picture was that it was "doing very nicely, thank you". Oh, and that they weren't planning on doing any 54mm models any time soon. Dammit.

The process is well-established (but far from finished) in Chicago, Baltimore, Washington DC, Los Angeles and Seattle, and underway in Detroit, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia.

Um, maybe someone should tell him that there are zero hobby stores in DC. South of DC there are two GW hobby stores (one in a strip and one in a mall), and lots of Indies, but the closest bunker is baltimore (for me about a 2.5 hour drive on a good day, upto 6 in bad traffic).

I challenged Ernie of the question of market domination when he claimed that a PriceWaterhouseCooper market-analysis had ascribed Games Workshop 94% of market share in the wargaming hobby market. I was understandably sceptical. Now, I’ve not seen the report (I’d love to), but Ernie assured me that this market share incorporated not only traditional miniature games, but the new collectible miniature games, HeroClix, CCGs, historical games and RPGs. More interestingly, GW does not, apparently, wish to increase this market share. The belief is that the existence of this 6% competition serves as a “revenue-neutral” recruitment path for new players and customers of the GW hobby.

Hmmm. GW drinking their own kool-aid. I too am skeptical. I'd be amazed if GW was even 50%. But at least it explains why they think they don't need to attend GenCon!

GW intends to continue supporting and expanding its Lord of the Rings range which has proved very successful in attracting new players. Especially, apparently, more girls. Go figure.

On the other hand this doesn't surprise me one bit! LotR is a far more accessible game than either of the other two core games. Its iconography is at once more recongnisable and less "silly" than the Warhammers. That LotR-gamers are as rare as girls in stores and in forums such as this says more about the fatbeards that tend to inhabit them than LotR players...

He also explained the new strategy for locating stores.

Sounds like a sensible plan. If they can do it without crapping all over the Indies, they could be onto a winner.

Regarding the stock availability, it sounds like the kind of thing that management would get excited about, but the customer couldn't give a flying fig about. Sure it'll mean customers of those stores where managers used to cock up stock control regularly at least will now get a half-decent service, but its not going to generate them many new customers really. Sure it should be done for the sake of modernisation, but it ain't gonna save the company.

Good to see that Max recognises that they DO have customers over the age of 12, even though they don't see them in stores! That's a relief. For a few years back there I thought they had forgotten that!

someone should tell him that there are zero hobby stores in DC

I can't comment on the absence of a Bunker store in DC, I was only reporting my info (although he did say that the process in those areas that were mentioned was "underway" rather than "in development" as it is in the latter-mentioned cities. So if you don't have a Bunker, you soon will.

However, he did also point out that, whilst he describes the stores as being "in" the cities, in practice they generally aren't. He used Chicago as an example, where there are considered to be six stores "in" Chicago, but none of them are actually in Chicago - they're clustered around Chicago in the suburban areas where people can reach them.

R.

budro wrote:

The process is well-established (but far from finished) in Chicago, Baltimore, Washington DC, Los Angeles and Seattle, and underway in Detroit, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia.

Um, maybe someone should tell him that there are zero hobby stores in DC. South of DC there are two GW hobby stores (one in a strip and one in a mall), and lots of Indies, but the closest bunker is baltimore (for me about a 2.5 hour drive on a good day, upto 6 in bad traffic).

First off, thanks for the thread, I found it very interesting.

As to the US and its expansion plans, there info. for Dallas isn't accurate; there's a whole one GW store for the metroplex and it's at the out of town mall geared toward tourist (Grapevine Mills Mall). Sure they keep saying that more stores are in the works but they've been saying that for several years now. For those that follow business and economic news, it should be noted Texas has the best demographics in the US. Highest population and net job growth in the country, lots of young people, etc. If Dallas and Houston aren't at the top of the list for expansion by GW, I don't know what demographics they're looking at. The hobby bunker concept sounds cool, but I don't know that the smaller satellite stores will offer anything above what the local indies provide.

Worth pointing out that they can't open new stores without people to put in them. The whole staff development process and the process of opening new stores are linked. In other words, as the development process spits out a new manager, they'll have a store ready for him to open.

It takes 2 years to train up a specialist into a manager. They are taking *no* direct management applications and so far they've done the specialist-to-manager process for 34 people. So if you've not seen local growth as promised, that's probably because the staff-generation process is taking a little while to reach full-steam.

Of course, I'm not here as an apologist for GW. I just didn't want to information-dump the whole day's activities. I took masses of notes and have loads of information provided by GW. If you don't see a change by this time next year, I'll be happy to go back and challenge them with current data. But, based on what I heard yesterday: watch this space.

R.

He also explained the new strategy for locating stores. In each targeted urban centre, they locate a store by identifying “a really great High School” and then put a “Standard” Hobby Centre in the nearest shopping precinct (rather than out-of-town mall). This allows them to target those middle class, affluent families that are more likely to be interested in the hobby. In each cluster of Standard Hobby Centres, there will then be two “Recruiter” Hobby Centres positioned in those big, sprawling out-of-town malls that Americans seem to love so much. These are there to attract the weekend and holiday trade but not (interesting, this) to take their money, although they’ll be able to do that, too. No, these Recruiter shops will be tiny little places whose primary role is to demonstrate the product and then to re-direct the customer to their local Standard Hobby Centre. Clever, eh?

As mentioned in an earlier response, the Chicago shops are nowhere in the city. I'm
glad they've realized that the tiny storefronts were both out of the way and too small to
contain a gamer once you got there. If I'm going to travel, I'm either going to want
more space to geek out or at least a less annoying commute. Please note that even
at their current locations, a car-less gamer in Chicago is going to find traveling to GW
shops a challenge.

Tazok: They're probably moving on it, though. In Chicago we've been hearing
rumors of GW shops opening up and they have opened up in the last few years. Probably
the most successful one is the Oak Park location (a Western suburb). We heard rumors
of a Skokie GW up to two years ago and it just came through recently. And there was an
interview on 40k radio where a recruitment person for GW announced they were looking
to open more locations around Chicago.

First of all, I wanted to say thank you very much for taking the time to write a review on the AGM. Makes being a shareholder that much more enticing, though the trip to Nottingham each year is something I'd A) Look forward to and B) Dread cuz of cost. Either way, thanks for your efforts!

precinctomega wrote:It takes 2 years to train up a specialist into a manager. They are taking *no* direct management applications and so far they've done the specialist-to-manager process for 34 people. So if you've not seen local growth as promised, that's probably because the staff-generation process is taking a little while to reach full-steam.

As a veteran that spends a lot of his hobby time in GW stores here in LA (At the bunker or one of the nearby "standard" shops), I've seen the management change at one of the shops 3 times in the last 6-8 months. I've seen the management at the bunker change once. The 2 year program is a great idea, don't get me wrong, but they've really gotta work on their retention of their people. When the manager at the bunker left to work on his own venture, a number of the good red shirts went with him. I've watched a lot of the good red shirts leave the standard shop, tired of the way GW treats them. No problem, they get new people in there. A number of the new recruits at the standard shop were great red shirts when they started out...they helped bring their store out of the hole. Now, once again, they're disillusioned with the company and I fear they'll be walking again soon. Perhaps it's a manager issue? What does GW have in place to discover, monitor and deal with this sort of issue? Perhaps it's a GW as a whole issue?

What's my point in all this? Retention, taking care of your people. Incentives. It doesn't all have to be raises. In-house staff only sales contests is an idea? Contests for free product? The biggest gripe I hear from them is that they don't believe the company gives a crap about them, but that they are supposed to go above and beyond for the company. These stores are only as good as the people working there. Keep your hard working, good people happy and you'll see it reflected on your sales sheets. These same people are going to make your best future managers...Not the guy thats mediocre at the job but has been molded into a "company man".

I challenged Ernie of the question of market domination when he claimed that a PriceWaterhouseCooper market-analysis had ascribed Games Workshop 94% of market share in the wargaming hobby market. I was understandably sceptical. Now, I’ve not seen the report (I’d love to), but Ernie assured me that this market share incorporated not only traditional miniature games, but the new collectible miniature games, HeroClix, CCGs, historical games and RPGs. More interestingly, GW does not, apparently, wish to increase this market share. The belief is that the existence of this 6% competition serves as a “revenue-neutral” recruitment path for new players and customers of the GW hobby.

Man, That has got to be the biggest crock of gak I have heard in a long time. "Price Water House Cooper market-analysis" I realize that GW is popular here,but there is no way they are that popular.

The belief is that the existence of this 6% competition serves as a “revenue-neutral” recruitment path for new players and customers of the GW hobby.

Wow, talk about blowing smoke. For one thing I have a hardtime believing that the Privateer Press, Rackham, Battlefront, and the Clix games make up 6% or less of the market. As for "revenue-neutral" I think revenue-negative is a better term. PP thrives on recruitng disenfranchised GW players.

malfred wrote:

Tazok: They're probably moving on it, though. In Chicago we've been hearing
rumors of GW shops opening up and they have opened up in the last few years. Probably
the most successful one is the Oak Park location (a Western suburb). We heard rumors
of a Skokie GW up to two years ago and it just came through recently. And there was an
interview on 40k radio where a recruitment person for GW announced they were looking
to open more locations around Chicago.

Malfred, glad that Chicago's been making some progress, but lets just say I'm skeptical based on the rumors I heard of a GW store coming to San Diego, (that was 5 plus years ago when I lived there and still no store in that metro area) and the current rumors for more shops and a battel bunker in Dallas. Hey I hope I'm wrong and GW grows aggressively in my area. For both of these you would think GW could transfer a qualifited manager from LA or Houston respectively to speed things up. When I worked retail ages ago, that's what the chain I worked for did when they opened a new store, transfer the manager and promote the assistant manager to replace them. Or in rare cases, the reverse--have an assistant manager be promoted to take on a new store. I guess that's all a mute point if GW can't retain good employees for more than a year or two though.

First off, thank you very much for that facinating report on the stockholders meeting. I was however a bit skeptical of the following:

I challenged Ernie of the question of market domination when he claimed that a PriceWaterhouseCooper market-analysis had ascribed Games Workshop 94% of market share in the wargaming hobby market. I was understandably sceptical. Now, I’ve not seen the report (I’d love to), but Ernie assured me that this market share incorporated not only traditional miniature games, but the new collectible miniature games, HeroClix, CCGs, historical games and RPGs. More interestingly, GW does not, apparently, wish to increase this market share. The belief is that the existence of this 6% competition serves as a “revenue-neutral” recruitment path for new players and customers of the GW hobby.

Considering both anecdotal evidence of FoW and Warmachine sales, as well as the sale of Clix/Star Wars miniatures in non-hobby stores, I expect that there is no way that this is true unless "wargaming hobby market" is targeted to mean "male gamers in the UK who buy miniatures and play games regularly with large armies". I would be extremely curious to see this report.

Thanks again for the interesting information though, particularly that they are planning on more stores and bunkers in the US

Lormax wrote:As a veteran that spends a lot of his hobby time in GW stores here in LA (At the bunker or one of the nearby "standard" shops), I've What's my point in all this? Retention, taking care of your people. Incentives. It doesn't all have to be raises. In-house staff only sales contests is an idea? Contests for free product? The biggest gripe I hear from them is that they don't believe the company gives a crap about them, but that they are supposed to go above and beyond for the company. These stores are only as good as the people working there. Keep your hard working, good people happy and you'll see it reflected on your sales sheets. These same people are going to make your best future managers...Not the guy thats mediocre at the job but has been molded into a "company man".

As much as they push the staffers to make sales, some kind of commission structure would turn your average redshirt into a sales machine. But you are correct, the average Red Shirt does feel like a lowly Grot when he's humpin' a ruck all day, pushing product and really does not see anything else but his measly paycheck at the end of the week. Although, that 60% discount is sweet, they still doing that for staffers?

It's 50% discount for staffers, though they are "encouraged" to purchase, assemble and paint armies to be used in the stores, on their own time with their own money. I could be wrong, but I believe that "encouragement" recently went as far as having them each purchase a Black Reach and create a 1500 point army with it, and other purchases.

Interestingly, this means that all of their purchases are now tax deductible. Unfortunately, they'd have to spend a good chunk of change to get over the automatic deduction everyone gets anyway.

I can back up Lormax, as I hang out at the same local GW store. The Staff is great, aside from the manager. My GF recently started to play fantasy, yes a female gamer, and she is uncomfortable with the manager. I personally think his style of management is horrible and I have heard how he speaks to the "red shirts." As a former GW employee and a recent Management candidate, I would quit if he was my manager.

Fantastic report thanks alot for doing this. Its very interesting. Would like to see that market share report and see exactly what data they are using to state a 94% market share my self.

As far as the GW stores go well, I have worked in plenty of shops from the early 90's and seen GW from its Gangster style sales tactics to the new superbly improved LFGS relations. Never been close enough to a GW store to be able to work one but have a few friend who have and the feeling is pretty much as has been posted. They just dont seem to be able to retain folks. Long hours high expectations and little to no support on their end of it.

It seems as if this new training period will at least give them a chance to evolve with the compnay. Sort of wish they would open on here in Hawaii thought I am sure it would do serious damage to local shops GW sales. Then again it all depebds on who is behind the counter. Very interesting.

Man, the situation with the GW in Atlanta borders on the ridiculous.

The local manager quit, and took the whole redshirt brigade with him. They've been (temporarily) replaced with out-of-town managers, who are less than thrilled to be randomly told to relocate to ATL and communicate this to customers.

Rumors are rife that GW is closing up shop in Atlanta as part of its whole "Get Out Of The South" initiative, sort of a followup to the nixing of our games day. The line they are peddling in the store, however, is that the lease is good till 2010, and then its moving to a strip mall. Dramalicious.

I for one would be sad to see GW skip town. ATL's scene is absurdly balkanized (like 4 or 5 places/times with like 10 folks each), and a GW is a good neutral ground, where you occasionally run into a gamer from another club. I just wish it had more tables.

What the heck caused such division in the ATL scene?

on topic: That was a really interesting report. Good job, and thanks. I do sense some BS in there, but meh.

Lots of interest on various forums about the alleged PWC report. I wish I could add more detail. It was discussed in conversation with Ernie and, like I said, I was sceptical. Take with salt to taste.

However, as far as the retention of staff thing goes, Ernie went into a lot of detail about this. I mentioned the turnover of managers 3 years ago; well the turnover of red shirts was 170%!! Ernie told us that the average time in post for a manager had increased from 3 months 3 years ago, to 11 months today. He agreed that this still wasn't enough and that incentive plans were being developed to increase this figure further.

However, it was his opinion that 11 months for a manager in retail was not exceptionally brief for the US. The incentive programme for managers wasn't expanded upon. However, he did say that for specialists (i.e. red shirts), each successfully-passed competency test (termed RAGE, BLUE, ORANGE and WHITE) would be accompanied by a 25% pay increase. Pay for red shirts in the US begins at $8/hr. To Brits, this sounds scandalously low but it's a good chunk higher than the federal minimum wage which, I believe, sits at $5.75/hr.

40kenthusiast's comments about the out-of-town temporary manager are interesting, because Ernie specifically mentioned how the METRO model would allow the clusters of stores to mutually support each other with staff as required. I wonder whether he had Atlanta in mind?

R.

I worked for $8 an hour when I was in college. That, plus product discount, plus motivation
to paint would have either made me or broken me hobbywise.

The wages break most of the Hobby incentive in staff.

There's been rumors about more stores in Philly for years now. But all we have is a bunker store located in a demographically-wrong area. Maybe the two excellent Showcase Comics stores are essentially filling the role of the satellite stores for them. Which is fine with me.

malfred wrote:I worked for $8 an hour when I was in college. That, plus product discount, plus motivation
to paint would have either made me or broken me hobbywise.

PS: I worked for a library in college. What I meant was that equivalent pay, a discount,
and job incentive to paint would have made me give up or get better.

This metro model sound similar to the one they had in Sheffield UK. One city centre store, one mall store and a 'bunker'.

That PWC report really does sound off base. If my maths is right it indicates that the rest of the wargaming industry was worth 6 million last year.

precinctomega wrote:4. The object of the development process in the Studio is to ensure that new rules “never” invalidate models or armies and that new core rulebooks “try hard” not to invalidate old codexes and army books. There are, Max, admitted, exceptions but these are either accidental or, in their opinion, trivial.

If that's the case, then why...

But if this is true, then...

How come they...


GAH!


No. It's too obvious. Even I can't do this one.

Nice report though.

BYE