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My local gaming store, FTW Games is closing. This was the best gaming store I've ever been to. It had many gaming tables and there was never a shortage of gamers. They carried most lines, even Relic Knights. It was a fantastic place with a huge community, but then suddenly they closed without warning. They have an on-line store, (Spiky Bits) so I suppose they're still technically in business. Also, my pre-ordered Operation Ice Storm should be on the way, but I don't know what's going to happen with that.

Basically, this whole situation sucks.
Have any of you encountered anything like this?

No, but the silver lining is when this stuff typically happens, they do a liquidation sale. Are they closing down due to poor business? And is there another store close to you? Maybe you and the gamers can rally around a new store and keep your hobby area alive

Isn't the Spikey Bits store the one that posts all those unboxings on BOLS/youtube? I appreciate the videos but their "reviews" are very light on content and almost useless. They love everything no matter how silly or forced it sounds but it is still nice to see the insides of things I haven't bought yet or won't ever buy.

To answer the OP's question, it did happen to me when I was a kid. The big FLGS that was by my house within walking distance closed down due to flat out mismanagement by the owner who would refuse to stock popular items that sold but would have rows and rows of incredibly niche things he was interested in along with expensive decorations like suits of full plate armor costing thousands of dollars standing around. They also didn't have any signage at all indicating it was a store; for years, I thought it was a dentist's office as that was the only name on the front door as they owned the building and leased the upper floors. It was pretty much the worst case of historical mini snobbery but I was still sad to see them go. A few months before they went belly up, they decided to do a last minute splurge on popular items to try and generate last ditch sales and picked up a bunch of GW stuff... about a month prior to the edition swap that made the products relatively useless. Needless to say those 2nd edition 40k codex books sat there while everyone else bought 3rd edition elsewhere. They opened up again a few years later 15 miles away in an industrial district strangely but I don't know how that went as I moved across the country soon after finding out they were back.

Lack of FLGS is basically the reason I got out of 40k back in 2002 (although not the reason I have changed my mind when debating to get back into it since). Although I had a really major falling out with the game store and wasn't welcome there at the time they closed, or the successor that started up with the same patrons (who remembered me).

For a long time the closest game store was an hour away, so I just ended up giving up on wargaming from 2002 until December of last year when I wanted to start 40k again, saw how it had become over the years, and picked up Warmachine instead in February of this year.

Yeah, my interest in the hobby took a hit when the 2 FLGS's closest to me closed down. One of them was the store I bought my first box of miniatures from as a 10 yo and had a good relationship with the owner, the other hadn't been around as long but had lots of tables and a thriving community.

It sucks, both because I liked the owners and I liked the shops, also because now my closest wargaming store is a GW that is 15 minutes drive away or another FLGS that is 30 minutes drive away, not terrible, but not as good as the other places that were only 5 minutes drive away, lol.

That sucks. I only visited there once a year or two back and it was awesome. I was living in DC (before moving to AZ) and came down for a demo day they were doing for games.

I just steered someone who lives in Richmond to FTW on another forum. Guess I'll have to tell them the bad news.

i hope you get your Icestorm box, MW...
have you been able to contact the owner???
i know i post a bunch on their Facebook page, so maybe try getting in touch there before the page disappears...

sad day:(...

cheers
jah

I enjoyed their youtube offerings. It was nice to see the inside of kits and White Dwarf, however unlikely it was that I would purchase said item. Sad to hear that they've gone out of business and that there are gamers without a home now.

I've been trying to get in touch but so far, no response. Granted, it's only been a day, but sooner they let us know what's going on, the better.
I did stop by the store and found it locked up. It was a surprise to everyone. Just last week they were announcing a 40k tournament and one of the guys was talking about a WHFB league.
Even a refund would be preferable to nothing.

This is at least the 2nd store I know of that Rob has been a owner or co-owner of that has closed. He also had a stake in "Legends" which was in Hampton (I think, it's been years since I've been back after graduating).

Not sure if that means anything, but just an interesting fact.

 warboss wrote:

To answer the OP's question, it did happen to me when I was a kid. The big FLGS that was by my house within walking distance closed down due to flat out mismanagement by the owner who would refuse to stock popular items that sold but would have rows and rows of incredibly niche things he was interested in along with expensive decorations like suits of full plate armor costing thousands of dollars standing around. They also didn't have any signage at all indicating it was a store; for years, I thought it was a dentist's office as that was the only name on the front door as they owned the building and leased the upper floors. It was pretty much the worst case of historical mini snobbery but I was still sad to see them go. A few months before they went belly up, they decided to do a last minute splurge on popular items to try and generate last ditch sales and picked up a bunch of GW stuff... about a month prior to the edition swap that made the products relatively useless. Needless to say those 2nd edition 40k codex books sat there while everyone else bought 3rd edition elsewhere. They opened up again a few years later 15 miles away in an industrial district strangely but I don't know how that went as I moved across the country soon after finding out they were back.

Warboss... Did you grow up in Chicago and was that store Emperor's Headquarters?

I believe that the owner of SpikeyBits and FTW Games is a dakka-naught, yes? Hopefully he will come in and explain a bit..

-Porkuslime

My guess, with a "sudden" closing like that, is that it was seized by a tax authority for failure to pay. We lost a long standing store here for that years a few years ago.

If this is the case, you are pretty much SOL on any pre-orders and possibly any items you had stored on location. Unless there is clear documented evidence that you own a certain item, proving ownership to the taxing authority would be tough.

Odds are, all stock will be sold off in the coming months at auction to recoup the lost tax revenue.

Closing a store is no easy decision. It sucks, it is embarrassing, and it is depressing. Everybody bitches that their clubhouse closed. But, in a lot cases those are the same people that bought their minis from the cheapest source, not from the FLGS that provided their clubhouse.

@MWHistorian, I'm sure Rob will get right with you on the order, give him some time to get things sorted.

 crazyredpraetorian wrote:
Closing a store is no easy decision. It sucks, it is embarrassing, and it is depressing. Everybody bitches that their clubhouse closed. But, in a lot cases those are the same people that bought their minis from the cheapest source, not from the FLGS that provided their clubhouse.

@MWHistorian, I'm sure Rob will get right with you on the order, give him some time to get things sorted.

I really hope you're right.
And for the record, I only bought and ordered through them. I know the worth of a local gaming store. Years ago there was a Games Workshop bunker with the best employees I've ever seen. They were the kind to get people, not just interested, but passionate about the game. I have no doubt that if GW had kept that store open, I'd still be playing 40k now.

I'm sure there are a number of places in situations where the closure of one store would effectively mean the end of gaming in that place.

In Ireland, I was lucky because there was one reliable and fairly awesome FLGS there plus a GW very close by.

Now that I'm in the US, it's more of a problem.

I grew up in Erie, PA, and there were always 2-3 stores in the area, but they would all sort of last a few years and then close.

Unfortunately, it seems that most of the time, people who are interested in running a gaming store frequently are not the same type of people with good business sense.

 slowthar wrote:

Unfortunately, it seems that most of the time, people who are interested in running a gaming store frequently are not the same type of people with good business sense.

Simply being passionate and knowledgeable about something doesn't make you good at drawing a paycheck from it. I suspect that's the problem with most businesses that fail, not just gaming stores. I feel for anyone who has lost their livelihood, but it's a whole new level of suck to lose your own business

Can we change the title of this thread to "Spikey Bits Has Closed Shop", please?

Well this is news I could have gone all night without hearing...

Bummer - hope all is well with Rob - he's a good dude.

I have Spikey Bits on my FB thread and saw the news today, bummer that he's closing the store and from the blog post it sounds like the online store is going away as well.

As of this morning, their online store is closed for maintenance.

 crazyredpraetorian wrote:
Closing a store is no easy decision. It sucks, it is embarrassing, and it is depressing. Everybody bitches that their clubhouse closed. But, in a lot cases those are the same people that bought their minis from the cheapest source, not from the FLGS that provided ...

This sentiment is accurate in my view. The local shop I frequent is going under and the situation is similar. I feel for the owner.

 brendan wrote:

 crazyredpraetorian wrote:
Closing a store is no easy decision. It sucks, it is embarrassing, and it is depressing. Everybody bitches that their clubhouse closed. But, in a lot cases those are the same people that bought their minis from the cheapest source, not from the FLGS that provided ...

This sentiment is accurate in my view. The local shop I frequent is going under and the situation is similar. I feel for the owner.

It sucks for everyone involved.

Businesses close for a lot of reasons, and its not always that they "failed" due to mismanagement of the business.

Some examples:
- Owner wants to retire and no one else wants to operate it, because it is a boat load of work.
- Land lord keeps jacking up the rent for little or no reason.
- An unexpected maintenance cost.
- A bit of city/road construction

I've looked into it and the margins for the small business owner in the FLGS industry are pretty thin. There are literally thousands of ways to make a buck that are easier, cheaper, and more convenient.

Owning a game store never seemed like it was something you did to actually turn a profit, it always seemed more like something you did for side income or when you were retired or similar. Nothing about it seems to indicate that it's something you do to make money.

Sadly, Rob had to close FTW Games, and now he and all his employees are out of a paycheck. Having just talked to Rob, I know this was no easy decision and it has caused him a lot of stress and other complications. He had to close shop due to lease issues and it is now a bankruptcy issue. I expanded more in the News and Rumor thread.

growing up in the rust belt iam so use to things closing and people losing their jobs. Sucks. The place I worked at closed 2 years ago and it was hard seeing your friends lose their jobs.

So glad I didn't preorder Operation Icestorm from them.

 inquisitorlewis wrote:
So glad I didn't preorder Operation Icestorm from them.

Yup, just lost $120. Is it weird that I'm more upset about not getting the exclusive pre-order figure?