LONDON (SHARECAST) - Model and war game retailer Games Workshop expects profits this year will come in some £5m ahead of market forecasts as cost cutting benefits and royalty income come through strongly.
In a statement, Games Workshop, which is best known for selling the Warhammer range, said pre-tax profits in the year to 30 May 2010 are likely to be "materially ahead" of current market expectations even though sales in the first half of the year to 29 November 2009 declined slightly in constant currency terms. Trading in December was satisfactory, it added, while gross margins improved.
The outlook for royalties receivable in the current year also remains good, although not as significant as in the year to 31 May 2009, it added.
Hmm.. " royalty income come through strongly. " . No surprise with regards to this, I guess we can expect more of this...
...which would lead, one would imagine, to (further) stringent protection of the GW IP. They'd best be careful with the Hobbit stuff I guess.
Hmm.. " royalty income come through strongly. " . No surprise with regards to this, I guess we can expect more of this...
...which would lead, one would imagine, to (further) stringent protection of the GW IP. They'd best be careful with the Hobbit stuff I guess.
How do you reach that conclusion? Royalty income is described as payments you receive for the use of your property, that are based in some way on the number of units sold. Dawn of War II, Warhammer Online, Blood Bowl are royalty income for GW, and I know 2 of those 3 have been moderately successful*, hence they "come through strongly". How do you link that with future "further stringent protection of the GW IP"?
*There is also a 40k MMO, Dawn of War II expansion and the Space Marine action/RPG that are in the works that developers paid GW to use the IP, so may count as royalty income as well.
...which would lead, one would imagine, to (further) stringent protection of the GW IP.
How do you reach that conclusion?
GW only seems to have two responses to anything if the last few years are an indicator... send out C&D letters to fansites to "protect" their IP and "adjust" prices upwards to account for identical/lower/higher expected profits.
Hmm.. " royalty income come through strongly. " . No surprise with regards to this, I guess we can expect more of this...
...which would lead, one would imagine, to (further) stringent protection of the GW IP. They'd best be careful with the Hobbit stuff I guess.
How do you reach that conclusion? Royalty income is described as payments you receive for the use of your property, that are based in some way on the number of units sold. Dawn of War II, Warhammer Online, Blood Bowl are royalty income for GW, and I know 2 of those 3 have been moderately successful*, hence they "come through strongly". How do you link that with future "further stringent protection of the GW IP"?
*There is also a 40k MMO, Dawn of War II expansion and the Space Marine action/RPG that are in the works that developers paid GW to use the IP, so may count as royalty income as well.
He can make that conclusion because GW only gets royalties from official uses of there IP...if random fansite is using GW's IP without giving GW a dime...then GW doesn't get any royalties. So if your not paying for the IP...then you get a C&D
Hmm.. " royalty income come through strongly. " . No surprise with regards to this, I guess we can expect more of this...
...which would lead, one would imagine, to (further) stringent protection of the GW IP. They'd best be careful with the Hobbit stuff I guess.
How do you reach that conclusion? Royalty income is described as payments you receive for the use of your property, that are based in some way on the number of units sold. Dawn of War II, Warhammer Online, Blood Bowl are royalty income for GW, and I know 2 of those 3 have been moderately successful*, hence they "come through strongly". How do you link that with future "further stringent protection of the GW IP"?
*There is also a 40k MMO, Dawn of War II expansion and the Space Marine action/RPG that are in the works that developers paid GW to use the IP, so may count as royalty income as well.
He can make that conclusion because GW only gets royalties from official uses of there IP...if random fansite is using GW's IP without giving GW a dime...then GW doesn't get any royalties. So if your not paying for the IP...then you get a C&D
I would like to know how much it costs GW to pay the lawyers for that C&D order. No wunder they increase prices all the time.
Hmm.. " royalty income come through strongly. " . No surprise with regards to this, I guess we can expect more of this...
...which would lead, one would imagine, to (further) stringent protection of the GW IP. They'd best be careful with the Hobbit stuff I guess.
How do you reach that conclusion? Royalty income is described as payments you receive for the use of your property, that are based in some way on the number of units sold. Dawn of War II, Warhammer Online, Blood Bowl are royalty income for GW, and I know 2 of those 3 have been moderately successful*, hence they "come through strongly". How do you link that with future "further stringent protection of the GW IP"?
*There is also a 40k MMO, Dawn of War II expansion and the Space Marine action/RPG that are in the works that developers paid GW to use the IP, so may count as royalty income as well.
He can make that conclusion because GW only gets royalties from official uses of there IP...if random fansite is using GW's IP without giving GW a dime...then GW doesn't get any royalties. So if your not paying for the IP...then you get a C&D
If random fansite is leeching bandwidth(which DOES cost money), posting free downloads that take away from the GW's "official" downloads, and claiming to be the 'official XXXX game headquarters"--then you get a C&D.
Has nothing to do with paying for the IP. It has to do with violating the conditions that GW has set forth in using its IP for an unofficial fansite.
I too would guess that Royalty Income = [Income from FFG Games] + [Income from Dawn of War vid game] + [Income from Blood Bowl vid game] + [Income from Warhammer Online] + [etc]
FFG Games = Chaos in the Old World, Rogue Trader RPG, Warhammer Invasion LCG, pre-sales on WHFBRPG etc.
The fact that they cut costs and didn't lower prices but rather kept the money as profit pretty much proves that their "price rise due to rising costs" is mostly just an excuse to kick customers in the face. They easily had it in their power to deal with high costs, but they just left it until they could increase profits dramatically twice, instead of just tackling problems in order not to lose money.
The first being price rises, because I'm sure they don't raise them the exact amount that materials increased in price for, but rather add a bit extra to it as profit. The second being cost-cutting like moving out of malls and into cheaper places. The GW I go to moved out of a VERY popular/expensive-rent mall downtown in Toronto and into a cheaper real estate type area that I would call "uptown", as well as not being in a mall. They are doing the same with a nearby-ish GW too, moving out of a mall and a few blocks away into a regular store. This frees them from high-rent mall situations, and in the long run incrases profits (rent doesnt cut into the revenue as much).
Hey Russ, on that line of thinking, do you have any idea how Fantasy Flight are doing, as a company. Has Dark Heresy et al. been a boon or a burden to their bottom line?
ssREV wrote:The fact that they cut costs and didn't lower prices but rather kept the money as profit pretty much proves that their "price rise due to rising costs" is mostly just an excuse to kick customers in the face.
Oh please! Like GW has ever needed an excuse to kick their customers in the face.
agnosto wrote:It was enough to make share prices jump; sold my stock for a tidy profit. :-)
Should have waited for the dividends (which are likely to be paid this year)
And the announcement that they had secured the rights for the mini game for 'The Hobbit'... cue next share price bubble.
Clearly good news for shareholders. However, I see nothing in that statement that indicates that 40k, WFB and LotR are gaining customers instead of continuing to lose them.
Increasing efficiency is good to one extent in that if protects the business financially, but if the result of that financial "efficiency" is actually the delaying of rules updates and axing FAQ support because no one is employed with the time to do those jobs any more, then its yet another kick in the teeth for the remaining fans of the games.
Whatever the results, GW will always increase prices, the only question is by how much and how often.
I think it's interesting to watch the growing importance of royalties to the bottom line. As long as these remain a steady (and rising) cash cow, the miniatures side of things really doesn't have to do that well except to get more new players (as they will always generate more money than veterans). And as the spin-off things (roleplay games, MMO's, etc) also do that too, it's a win-win for GW. Assuming the planned 40K MMO games do appear, I can see GW's revenues from royalties to grow to a big part of their annual statement.
agnosto wrote:It was enough to make share prices jump; sold my stock for a tidy profit. :-)
Should have waited for the dividends (which are likely to be paid this year)
And the announcement that they had secured the rights for the mini game for 'The Hobbit'... cue next share price bubble.
Can't bet on that since they haven't paid since what, 2007? And I get skittish when a company starts "streamlining" to pad their profit report.
I'll just invest more in tech or cash out and buy some figs.
I like my little stock, Himax (HIMX); it's been fluctuating wildly lately due to some stock restructuring (becoming dual-listed) but they always pay a dividend, .28 cents per share last year even during the global downturn.
Heck even citibank paid me .01 cents a share last January when they were broke; nah, GW not paying a dividend when they are making a "profit" is not a safe bet to me.
H.B.M.C. wrote:Hey Russ, on that line of thinking, do you have any idea how Fantasy Flight are doing, as a company. Has Dark Heresy et al. been a boon or a burden to their bottom line?
I don't have any special info, but I think it's too early to tell. FFG has really only been punching out new GW IP stuff (Invasion, Chaos in the Old World, Horus Heresy Board Game, the new RPG content) in 2009.
In the board game world, I'd say their other games like Battlestar, TI, War of the Ring, Arkham Horror, Descent are bigger hits than the GW stuff. Don't get me wrong, Chaos in the Old World is a GREAT game, I just don't think it has the mass board gamer appeal as some other titles. In fact the buzz about Runewars is much louder than it is for Horus Heresy.
Still, the GW fan base is large, and just because communities like BGG aren't all drooling over the upcoming $100 Horus Heresy game doesn't mean it won't sell like hotcakes to GW fans.
Now all that said, on the RPG front games like Dark Heresy and WHFBRPG are getting a lot of buzz, so those may really be doing well for FFG sales wise.
I think 2010 will tell the story. If this time next year we're talking about still more new GW games coming from FFG, then they are selling well. If FFG is pushing all new or different IP and GW products are on the back burner, well....
Games Workshop's business in North America, which includes 86 Hobby centres in the USA and Canada, a large trade business and the Memphis manufacturing and distribution facility, is the Group's largest operation after the UK and Continental Europe
The Board of Games Workshop believes that the future potential of the Games Workshop Hobby in North America is considerable. To help exploit this, once the formalities are complete, Tom Kirby, the Group's Executive Chairman, will relocate to the Group's North American headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland for a period of 18-24 months. This will bring a renewed and increased focus on this business.
Tom will be back in the UK for approximately one week each month to deal with Group matters and to stay close to the Chief Executive and CFO. He will remain Executive Chairman of Games Workshop Group PLC.
Hopefully Tommy visits my local store so I can meet him and thank him for ending the US bitz service and saved me from spending a ton of cash to convert some CSM Demon Princes that would have been unusable when the new codex came out.
And thank him again for the delays in the release of the Plastic Demon Prince that has saved me even more money because I'm now no longer interested in the model and the money that I had set aside to get 4 has been redirected to non-GW Hobby projects.
Howlingmoon wrote:Hopefully Tommy visits my local store so I can meet him and thank him for ending the US bitz service and saved me from spending a ton of cash to convert some CSM Demon Princes that would have been unusable when the new codex came out.
And thank him again for the delays in the release of the Plastic Demon Prince that has saved me even more money because I'm now no longer interested in the model and the money that I had set aside to get 4 has been redirected to non-GW Hobby projects.
reds8n wrote:What's Maryland/Baltimore like anyway ?
Baltimore is an incredibly violent cesspool outside of a few block "Tourist" area. And people have been shot/stabbed/beaten to a pulp there in broad daylight the past few months. Most of Baltimore is also a bad place to be white in these days.
The rest of Maryland is a disfunctional conglomerate of white trash, welfare trash, crooked democrats and unconcerned rich people that live further out in the rural counties.
Sorry, I meant more the GW complex rather than the general area.
..oh, that is what you were talking about .
I assume it's little more than an industrial site then ? It's not got anything akin to Warhammer World there or anyhting has it ? Is it a Battle BUnker or anything ?
Howlingmoon wrote:Hopefully Tommy visits my local store so I can meet him and thank him for ending the US bitz service and saved me from spending a ton of cash to convert some CSM Demon Princes that would have been unusable when the new codex came out.
And thank him again for the delays in the release of the Plastic Demon Prince that has saved me even more money because I'm now no longer interested in the model and the money that I had set aside to get 4 has been redirected to non-GW Hobby projects.
He will then pull a roll of hundred dollar bills out of his pocket, set them on fire with his cigar and then laugh at you. Silly consumer...
Expect bodies drained of blood and cash to start appearing on the streets of Baltimore any time soon!
So, business as usual?
Meh, I've been walking these lands draining souls for Millenia...
Seriously though, thats kind of strange. Headquarters is not shifting and there's no tax reason for being here. Does he the Irish mob some money or something and had to get the heck out of Dodge?
reds8n wrote:What's Maryland/Baltimore like anyway ?
Baltimore is an incredibly violent cesspool outside of a few block "Tourist" area. And people have been shot/stabbed/beaten to a pulp there in broad daylight the past few months. Most of Baltimore is also a bad place to be white in these days.
The rest of Maryland is a disfunctional conglomerate of white trash, welfare trash, crooked democrats and unconcerned rich people that live further out in the rural counties.
reds8n wrote: Sorry, I meant more the GW complex rather than the general area.
..oh, that is what you were talking about .
I assume it's little more than an industrial site then ? It's not got anything akin to Warhammer World there or anyhting has it ? Is it a Battle BUnker or anything ?
After these two posts now I´m imagining the GWs place like some kind of grimdark fortress with spotlights, barbed wire and watchtowers around.
What's this strange Kirby person going to do for three weeks a month in Baltimore? I assume he must be a Raven's fan or something of that sort. Ultimately I think Kirby would love to get GW out of the model business entirely and that (and the cheap outlet malls) is why he'll be jumping the pond once a month. It's the brand that sells and videogames movies and such are a much cheaper and more profitable way of exploiting that IP. I suspect there is an analysis somewhere that shows that for every 1000 copies of Dawn of War sold, 2 people buy miniatures. Factories and metal and such are so nineteenth century.
Hmm.. " royalty income come through strongly. " . No surprise with regards to this, I guess we can expect more of this...
...which would lead, one would imagine, to (further) stringent protection of the GW IP. They'd best be careful with the Hobbit stuff I guess.
How do you reach that conclusion? Royalty income is described as payments you receive for the use of your property, that are based in some way on the number of units sold. Dawn of War II, Warhammer Online, Blood Bowl are royalty income for GW, and I know 2 of those 3 have been moderately successful*, hence they "come through strongly". How do you link that with future "further stringent protection of the GW IP"?
*There is also a 40k MMO, Dawn of War II expansion and the Space Marine action/RPG that are in the works that developers paid GW to use the IP, so may count as royalty income as well.
reds8n wrote: Sorry, I meant more the GW complex rather than the general area.
..oh, that is what you were talking about .
I assume it's little more than an industrial site then ? It's not got anything akin to Warhammer World there or anyhting has it ? Is it a Battle BUnker or anything ?
Actually, in all seriousness, yes. The GW building in Glen Bernie (just outside of Baltimore) is a giant industrial park. There's a smallish store in the front, but it's nothing compared to Nottingham. GWHQ is really pretty neat. The Glen Bernie headquarters is a cesspit.
So, who's down with taking out the king idiot himself while he's here in America?
This posh goes there, he's going to close it down.
Seriously, between the Walmart crap next door and the maze that it is located in, It is time for a location change.
I went there, thinking it was going to be something like going to a serious gaming headquarters, I ended up sorely disappointed.
You get off of 301, go down to a cross section where you need to make a U turn and come around. Be careful that you don't miss the enterence, which is between the McDonalds, and the Walmart area. There is a little sign that says Games Workshop, and then you come up into a warehouse area.
The Battle bunker is crap, the area that GW is located in is crap, and its more then likely "King" Kirby is looking to realign the company even more, or fix that marketshare even more by closing this location down.
as for coming to Baltimore?
To say Glenn Burney is Baltimore is like saying Hamburger is made out of steak.
These two areas are night and day. Don't go to Baltimore thinking GW is there, you are liable to get more then your feelings hurt.
reds8n wrote: Sorry, I meant more the GW complex rather than the general area.
..oh, that is what you were talking about .
I assume it's little more than an industrial site then ? It's not got anything akin to Warhammer World there or anyhting has it ? Is it a Battle BUnker or anything ?
Actually, in all seriousness, yes. The GW building in Glen Bernie (just outside of Baltimore) is a giant industrial park. There's a smallish store in the front, but it's nothing compared to Nottingham. GWHQ is really pretty neat. The Glen Bernie headquarters is a cesspit.
So, who's down with taking out the king idiot himself while he's here in America?
Been there many times. Business Park, not industrial park. Several large brick buildings with lawns in front and parking lots. Offices, not factories. The GWHQ connects to a bunker, nothing like Warhammer World, but quite good for a GW store. 20 or so tables, decent scenery, nice atmosphere. The GWHQ is basically offices, and areas for mail order and trade sales staff. Big rooms filled with people who have miniatures all over their desks. Along the walls are cases of figures, armies, old advertising posters. Quite a cool place to work. Very nice little deli right next to them.
And I have no clue why you think it's a cesspit. Glen Burnie is a pretty typical american suburb, you turn off a typical 4 lane street into the business park with the GWHQ, look for a big spacemarine on a pedestal sitting on the lawn.
I'm very, very interested in what they will be doing in the US and their plans for expansion. Have to be, since they are 35% of my two stores business. GW been very supportive lately of the projects I've been working on, including the new Gaming area we renting from the mall and are running with the help of local clubs.
Osbad wrote:Whatever the results, GW will always increase prices, the only question is by how much and how often.
This is the case for all businesses. Walmart is the only business that I can think of that doesn’t regularly raise prices, and that is because they crush the manufacturer to compete with other retailers.
GW’s big mistake is over estimating the price inelasticity of its clients. They even say in their financial statements that the market is virtually unresponsive to price increases. That may have been true 5 years ago when marines were 25USD and there were no competitors. But with the wealth of other gaming options coming up all the time and price increases that severely outpace general inflation the GW product has much less value then it did only a few years ago.
I don’t mind some price increase, even if costs go down. It’s a business and GW is out to make as much money as they can. But I think the chosen series of price increases they have gone with actually decrease the money they make as opposed to increasing it.
Indeed! Baltimore's not quite as bad as portrayed up-thread. I'm not really into hookers so I can't really comment on CT's claims (and I'm really not sure if that's intended as a positive or negative to him). There's some scary areas, but the touristy areas are pretty nice. I'd rather go there than NYC, although NYC has better if more offensive smelling mass transit. Just stick to the innner harbor for the 'fun' part of the town.
I've only been to the GWHQ once for a sale years ago. I think it might have been before they moved, but I've heard they're in the same area, just slightly larger. The old location was in a light industrial area, so very small 'workshop' type industrial as opposed to massive buildings spitting out cars. Nice enough, and the GW logo probably goes unnoticed by a lot of people these days as just another small company in an area with lots of them.
Baltimore's kind of a weird city in that it tends to be a bit culturally different from the rest of the state. Every day in the city is not a scene from The Wire however, and it's a good enough place to visit if you have a reason, although I admit not many people decide on Baltimore as a tourist location without a good reason.
This posh goes there, he's going to close it down. Seriously, between the Walmart crap next door and the maze that it is located in, It is time for a location change.
How is turning onto Ordnance Road and going straight for 2 minutes until you see the GW sign/Space Marine a maze? As far as closing it down? Its been there for at least 15 years give or take. Granted its not the most visible location, but its still a high traffic area. Its been like that for more than a decade and probably won't change.
I went there, thinking it was going to be something like going to a serious gaming headquarters, I ended up sorely disappointed.
Plenty of gaming tables, plenty of tables to get your hobby on, crap load of display armies, lots of random hobby pieces for special occasions. What in your mind is a serious gaming headquarters, if not that? The HQ in GWHQ is their corporate offices, thats located in a *gasp* office complex in a corporate park.
You get off of 301, go down to a cross section where you need to make a U turn and come around. Be careful that you don't miss the enterance, which is between the McDonalds, and the Walmart area. There is a little sign that says Games Workshop, and then you come up into a warehouse area.
TLDR, how about "Turn into Baymeadow Drive" instead. Then you'll see the GW sign on the left after about a minute. Sounds like you got lost.
The Battle bunker is crap, the area that GW is located in is crap, and its more then likely "King" Kirby is looking to realign the company even more, or fix that marketshare even more by closing this location down.
See above.
as for coming to Baltimore? To say Glenn Burney is Baltimore is like saying Hamburger is made out of steak.
These two areas are night and day. Don't go to Baltimore thinking GW is there, you are liable to get more then your feelings hurt.
Its Glen Burnie. Baltimore is 5 minutes up the road from the GW store, give or take how good the lights are to you. And Baltimore is a nice town, if you know what to avoid. I've lived in its shadow for most of my life.
You heard it here first
.
And all wrong. See mikhalia's post for the correct, nonbitter at all things version.
Indeed! Baltimore's not quite as bad as portrayed up-thread. I'm not really into hookers so I can't really comment on CT's claims (and I'm really not sure if that's intended as a positive or negative to him). There's some scary areas, but the touristy areas are pretty nice. I'd rather go there than NYC, although NYC has better if more offensive smelling mass transit. Just stick to the innner harbor for the 'fun' part of the town.
Then your slightly foolish. Baltimore is #1 in homicides, beating out Detroit and DC. #3 if you take in cities with at least 100K population, behind New Orleans and St Louis.
To the Baltimore is a cess pool crowd: You are right. It is nothing but burned out buildings and overturned cars where you will be forced to smoke crack and have a one hundred percent chance of being shot. You should stay far away from it.
To the Inner Harbor is nice crowd: You are right. There is very good food, shopping and some nice sights with a bit of history in that small area. There are not more interesting places away from Pratt street. Don't go exploring any further.
I'm going to go hit the town now, I hope I've done my bit to keep the lines short.
This posh goes there, he's going to close it down. Seriously, between the Walmart crap next door and the maze that it is located in, It is time for a location change.
How is turning onto Ordnance Road and going straight for 2 minutes until you see the GW sign/Space Marine a maze? As far as closing it down? Its been there for at least 15 years give or take. Granted its not the most visible location, but its still a high traffic area. Its been like that for more than a decade and probably won't change.
I went there, thinking it was going to be something like going to a serious gaming headquarters, I ended up sorely disappointed.
Plenty of gaming tables, plenty of tables to get your hobby on, crap load of display armies, lots of random hobby pieces for special occasions. What in your mind is a serious gaming headquarters, if not that? The HQ in GWHQ is their corporate offices, thats located in a *gasp* office complex in a corporate park.
You get off of 301, go down to a cross section where you need to make a U turn and come around. Be careful that you don't miss the enterance, which is between the McDonalds, and the Walmart area. There is a little sign that says Games Workshop, and then you come up into a warehouse area.
TLDR, how about "Turn into Baymeadow Drive" instead. Then you'll see the GW sign on the left after about a minute. Sounds like you got lost.
The Battle bunker is crap, the area that GW is located in is crap, and its more then likely "King" Kirby is looking to realign the company even more, or fix that marketshare even more by closing this location down.
See above.
as for coming to Baltimore? To say Glenn Burney is Baltimore is like saying Hamburger is made out of steak.
These two areas are night and day. Don't go to Baltimore thinking GW is there, you are liable to get more then your feelings hurt.
Its Glen Burnie. Baltimore is 5 minutes up the road from the GW store, give or take how good the lights are to you. And Baltimore is a nice town, if you know what to avoid. I've lived in its shadow for most of my life.
You heard it here first
.
And all wrong. See mikhalia's post for the correct, nonbitter at all things version.
No one wants non-bitter from me. I am a Curmudgeon.
Since you want to be a smart guy and pick my opinion apart-
I say they will probibly be moving on account of the location. Maybe you didn't remember it back in the rearly 90's when it first started out over there.
Since your an expert, how much are they paying in operating costs for that location? How much of an increase in costs has it been, and how much have the taxes increased since that location first started?
It tells me that Games Workshop head office is coming down to see how they can streamline thier operating costs.
It worked great in the brick and morter stores, so how would it work in the big dog house?
Remember this little ditty?
"Forge World and Black Library are two small and highly successful businesses which sell, respectively, specialist resin
kits and books based on the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 to Games Workshop hobbyists. Both
businesses have seen strong growth this year, reflecting both the quality of the management and the underlying health of
the Games Workshop Hobby.
Our gross margin strengthened in the second half as we benefited from the metal price increase that we implemented in
the autumn and further cost reductions in our manufacturing and supply chain. Raw material prices have returned to
more normal levels in the second half but we continue to invest in converting more of our range to plastic, both to
improve the quality of the models and make us less sensitive to metal cost fluctuations.
The last few years have reminded us how important it is to be cost conscious and we have made good progress in
restoring this cost saving culture across the business. We have reduced staffing levels in our Hobby centres by adjusting
opening hours to better reflect when our hobbyists are available to play. We have limited our property cost increases by
better planned rent negotiations and relocations to lower cost premises when possible. Our new web store has improved
efficiency in processing orders and allowed us to slim down our direct sales teams. We also closed our Canadian office
and relocated our Italian office to more modest premises outside Rome.
Investment has been focused on two key drivers of performance, opening more Hobby centres, which increased from 334
to 355, and developing more plastic injection tools. These two areas will remain the focus of future investment. Other
non-essential capital expenditure has been cut back. In addition, we have implemented automatic stock replenishment
and streamlined product ranges into our UK and North American Hobby centres to improve our control of working
capital. This is being rolled out into Europe next year." - Games Workshop 2009 Investors Download, Annual Report
Which, bottom line up front is that I surmise that Games Workshop is in all probibility looking to either negotiate thier taxes, or find another location, as well as put on the motivation boots and start kicking thier North American operation.
I saw that Darth Vader film and that is EXACTLY what I thought with the news of him going to Glenn Burnie FOR 3 MONTHS.
If you think he's going there for a holiday, you are mistaken. As with most businesses that are figuring out what is and isn't working, good and bad. This guy is going there for observation purposes. If he doesn't like what he sees, he's going to cut off a few heads, make changes, and report back to head office.
HOW DO I KNOW??? BECAUSE I'VE HAD TO DO THEM MYSELF in a similar capacity.
As for Me.
I DID go in the wrong way. I went under the assumption that it was in BALTIMORE. Not Glenn Burnie, which is HOW FAR AWAY AGAIN?
I went to Glenn Burnie a few times. I go there by going up 301, YOU say you are from thier, but that doesn't do anything for someone who goes there maybe once in every couple of years. OF COURSE you have your way of going.
I went in the days before mapquest, google, and all of the other high speed locators. I did it the old fasioned way, I took a map and followed it.
I'm about as impressed with your remarks as you are mine, so here is Google, go there whoever wants to and look for yourself.
Pay special attention on how special BALTIMORE looks as compared to Glenn Burnie.
When I went through there, I ended up on 97, went down the wrong way, ended up in the city, came back around, ended up missing the damn turn, and then went in there.
They didn't have anything special there, your description is haphazard at best, seeing as it is an office park, you go in the door, there is a retail area, the battle bunker area, and offices.
compaired to what to expect? It looks like what it looks like,
An industrial park. they push product, they have offices, and they have the front sales area with walls with stuff on them and glass cases with new and upcoming models.
When I was there, it was static. If the changed it, then great, they changed it.
I was there two years ago. Aside from the upbuilding of the area, it looked the same.
Corperate. static, and industrial.
Not like you would expect the Games Workshop North American Headquarters.
My opinion is mine. YOU haven't retorted anything to Change it. All you did was make some smart guy comments and really are not saying anything in reply to my post.
It tells me that Games Workshop head office is coming down to see how they can streamline thier operating costs.
Or, that he is taking over operations in the US because someone currently there is leaving/has left.
They streamlined the operating costs at Glen Burnie a few years ago when they moved the offices, took a smaller area, got rid of non essentials, and things that memphis took over, and put the bunker next to the corporate offices. Doubtful that they would do it again so soon, or that any savings would offset the costs involved and disruption to the business. JMHO though on that.
mikhaila wrote:It tells me that Games Workshop head office is coming down to see how they can streamline thier operating costs.
Or, that he is taking over operations in the US because someone currently there is leaving/has left.
They streamlined the operating costs at Glen Burnie a few years ago when they moved the offices, took a smaller area, got rid of non essentials, and things that memphis took over, and put the bunker next to the corporate offices. Doubtful that they would do it again so soon, or that any savings would offset the costs involved and disruption to the business. JMHO though on that.
That is a VERY good possibility, as well. Haven't heard anything about that, but it is a very good possible considering.
I'll stick with the Darth Vader comparison, though.
My opinion is mine. YOU haven't retorted anything to Change it. All you did was make some smart guy comments and really are not saying anything in reply to my post.
Not trying to sway your opinion, just pointing out how your descriptions hardly fit reality. Again see Mikhaila's post.
mikhaila wrote:It tells me that Games Workshop head office is coming down to see how they can streamline thier operating costs.
Or, that he is taking over operations in the US because someone currently there is leaving/has left.
They streamlined the operating costs at Glen Burnie a few years ago when they moved the offices, took a smaller area, got rid of non essentials, and things that memphis took over, and put the bunker next to the corporate offices. Doubtful that they would do it again so soon, or that any savings would offset the costs involved and disruption to the business. JMHO though on that.
That is a VERY good possibility, as well. Haven't heard anything about that, but it is a very good possible considering.
I'll stick with the Darth Vader comparison, though.
Wasn't a guess on my part. But I'll wait until the official annoucement goes out. (Or someone with the internal memo leaks it.)
Kirby took a step upstairs a while ago, and Mark Wells took over most of his day to day duties. It leaves him as a good choice to step into a gap in the US. I expect that they will fill the gap at some point, and Mr. Kirby will head back to the Uk permanently. But it does give him a chance to get a very close look at the US operations, make changes if he wants to, or just go back to the UK with better info.
mikhaila wrote:It tells me that Games Workshop head office is coming down to see how they can streamline thier operating costs.
Or, that he is taking over operations in the US because someone currently there is leaving/has left.
They streamlined the operating costs at Glen Burnie a few years ago when they moved the offices, took a smaller area, got rid of non essentials, and things that memphis took over, and put the bunker next to the corporate offices. Doubtful that they would do it again so soon, or that any savings would offset the costs involved and disruption to the business. JMHO though on that.
That is a VERY good possibility, as well. Haven't heard anything about that, but it is a very good possible considering.
I'll stick with the Darth Vader comparison, though.
Wasn't a guess on my part. But I'll wait until the official annoucement goes out. (Or someone with the internal memo leaks it.)
Kirby took a step upstairs a while ago, and Mark Wells took over most of his day to day duties. It leaves him as a good choice to step into a gap in the US. I expect that they will fill the gap at some point, and Mr. Kirby will head back to the Uk permanently. But it does give him a chance to get a very close look at the US operations, make changes if he wants to, or just go back to the UK with better info.
Knowing what I know about him, it wouldn't suprise me in the least.
Thanks for that, though.
I was wondering about something, and I think this is something tasty for me to look into.
H.B.M.C. wrote:Hey Russ, on that line of thinking, do you have any idea how Fantasy Flight are doing, as a company. Has Dark Heresy et al. been a boon or a burden to their bottom line?
As a person who lives quite close to FFGHQ and knows quite a few people who work there as developers, editors, etc. the impression that I get from them seem to indicate that they are doing quite well with GW licenses. Afterall, FFG are a company that does listen to their customers and takes feedback seriously when intelligently given.
If Dark Heresy was a flop, you can bet your granny's undies that they wouldnt have bothered with Rogue Trader RPG and the numerous expansions coming out for it.
FFG is doing quite well it seems. Thanks due to license agreements like what they have with GW, not to mention the great customer service that Thaad Powell gives in FFG's name, etc.
I would even go so far as to say that FFG is more capable of handling GW's IP than GW is. I dont say that lightly, but since FFG is an actual GAME company and Games Workshop ironically is a miniatures company, it should be hardly surprising to come to this conclusion.
1) Salaries and related expenses are Games Workshop's biggest expense at over £50m. (It's worth noting £350,000 a year goes to chairman and major shareholder Tom Kirby -- more than CEO Mark Wells' £250,000).
2) Less impressive is the online operation. The report boasts it's revamped and rolled-out a new website successfully, but I think the site is somewhat confusing, and hides the products for sale. Direct sales actually fell from 12% to 11% as a percentage of income in the past year; disappointing in our online era, especially given the lower overheads.
3)Plastic fantastic
A further big cost for Games Workshop is the metal used to make its miniatures. This also adds a lot of risk to the business, especially when commodity prices soar quickly like last year. The company is therefore moving its models -- and its fans -- to a plastic range.
Previously, the plastic models seemed to be pitched as a cheaper, bulk option for consumers. But Games Workshop has now invested in new tooling facilities in Nottingham, and claims its latest plastic models are superior to their metal equivalents.
Accordingly, it's putting up prices of the plastic line-up. Given they cost less to make, this bodes well for profits -- provided consumers accept the transition. It also reduces exposure to the wilder commodity swings, though the company will still be affected by oil and energy prices, of course.
A further big cost for Games Workshop is the metal used to make its miniatures. This also adds a lot of risk to the business, especially when commodity prices soar quickly like last year. The company is therefore moving its models -- and its fans -- to a plastic range.
Previously, the plastic models seemed to be pitched as a cheaper, bulk option for consumers. But Games Workshop has now invested in new tooling facilities in Nottingham, and claims its latest plastic models are superior to their metal equivalents.
Accordingly, it's putting up prices of the plastic line-up. Given they cost less to make, this bodes well for profits -- provided consumers accept the transition. It also reduces exposure to the wilder commodity swings, though the company will still be affected by oil and energy prices, of course.
Interesting...
That is almost as good as the comment made in their investor pages a few years back about one of the strenths of the company was its customers did't care about price rises and so were ready for milking constantly (slight paraphrase).
anyway, I thought GW management got paid and fed off the crushed dreams and withering souls of DE players who haunt Nottingham as pathetic mewling insubstantial wraiths saying "they tell me its done but I cannot find it, they tell me its done but I cannot find it, they ......"
reds8n wrote:What's Maryland/Baltimore like anyway ?
Baltimore is an incredibly violent cesspool outside of a few block "Tourist" area. And people have been shot/stabbed/beaten to a pulp there in broad daylight the past few months. Most of Baltimore is also a bad place to be white in these days.
The rest of Maryland is a disfunctional conglomerate of white trash, welfare trash, crooked democrats and unconcerned rich people that live further out in the rural counties.
Man, must be awesome knowing everyone in Maryland! Thanks for the broad sweeping generalization!
Granted, you nailed Baltimore spot on!
I'm not too fond of Glen Burnie, either. Like most places I've been to Glen Burnie has it's decent areas and it's not so decent areas. It just so happens that the latter outweighs the former, in my opinion.
Most of the opinions, again, on Baltimore are pretty spot on. The Inner Harbour is nice, and the majority (I used to live in Baltimore City) is as Howlingmoon said.
I think that Kirby coming to the US does not bode well for the current staff at the Bunker. I've seen more than a few heads roll once the upper echelon comes a-knockin`. I'm not sure if it's all doom-and-gloom yet, but I suppose we will soon find out!
Howlingmoon wrote:Hopefully Tommy visits my local store so I can meet him and thank him for ending the US bitz service and saved me from spending a ton of cash to convert some CSM Demon Princes that would have been unusable when the new codex came out.
And thank him again for the delays in the release of the Plastic Demon Prince that has saved me even more money because I'm now no longer interested in the model and the money that I had set aside to get 4 has been redirected to non-GW Hobby projects.
He will then pull a roll of hundred dollar bills out of his pocket, set them on fire with his cigar and then laugh at you. Silly consumer...
That would be awesome. Because one snap of my camera phone means that I can get him rung up for violating the Maryland Indoor Clean Air Act (ie: total smoking ban) and then send a "concerned citizens letter" to the Secret Service via one of my best friends since high school about a guy that has "Defaced American Currency" (Did you know that is punishable by up to 6 months in prison?)
reds8n wrote:What's Maryland/Baltimore like anyway ?
Baltimore is an incredibly violent cesspool outside of a few block "Tourist" area. And people have been shot/stabbed/beaten to a pulp there in broad daylight the past few months. Most of Baltimore is also a bad place to be white in these days.
The rest of Maryland is a disfunctional conglomerate of white trash, welfare trash, crooked democrats and unconcerned rich people that live further out in the rural counties.
reds8n wrote: Sorry, I meant more the GW complex rather than the general area.
..oh, that is what you were talking about .
I assume it's little more than an industrial site then ? It's not got anything akin to Warhammer World there or anyhting has it ? Is it a Battle BUnker or anything ?
After these two posts now I´m imagining the GWs place like some kind of grimdark fortress with spotlights, barbed wire and watchtowers around.
M.
No. That's the train crossroads farther up Ordnance Road. The GW office and Bunker is a pretty non-descript building. You'll miss it if you're not looking carefully your first time there.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Balance wrote:
Scottywan82 wrote:It also has Charm City Cakes!
Indeed! Baltimore's not quite as bad as portrayed up-thread. I'm not really into hookers so I can't really comment on CT's claims (and I'm really not sure if that's intended as a positive or negative to him). There's some scary areas, but the touristy areas are pretty nice. I'd rather go there than NYC, although NYC has better if more offensive smelling mass transit. Just stick to the innner harbor for the 'fun' part of the town.
I've only been to the GWHQ once for a sale years ago. I think it might have been before they moved, but I've heard they're in the same area, just slightly larger. The old location was in a light industrial area, so very small 'workshop' type industrial as opposed to massive buildings spitting out cars. Nice enough, and the GW logo probably goes unnoticed by a lot of people these days as just another small company in an area with lots of them.
Baltimore's kind of a weird city in that it tends to be a bit culturally different from the rest of the state. Every day in the city is not a scene from The Wire however, and it's a good enough place to visit if you have a reason, although I admit not many people decide on Baltimore as a tourist location without a good reason.
as far as the touristy areas being nice and the city not being a scene from The Wire everyday. I don't think you've actually paid much attention to Baltimore lately.
239 Murders (officially - that's another thing, the local coroners aren't very good with, umm, well, doing their job) in 2009. SIX TIMES THE RATE OF NEW YORK CITY AND 3 TIMES THE RATE OF LOS ANGELES (bold and caps for emphasis.)
Baltimore is also a good place to get your stuff jacked.
Should a major review/revamp of the US group be the primary mission/goal of this relocation, doesn't it seem a little odd that they would use Kirby as driver behind this? It seems to be a LOT of money (in salary/costs) to invest in the role. Note that I ask this question, not really understanding what Kirby's role is within the group as far as day-to-day operations go. If one wants to toss out conspiracy theories, as they're looking to implement changes within Europe (UK?) maybe they want Kirby out of the way to allow them to role out/implement their plans?
Yes, Ernie Baker was the head of the US for the past decade or so. Very nice guy, and quite a good gamer. Does a lot of historicals in addition to GW. Lots of miniatures in his office. Sad to see him go.
mikhaila wrote:Yes, Ernie Baker was the head of the US for the past decade or so. Very nice guy, and quite a good gamer. Does a lot of historicals in addition to GW. Lots of miniatures in his office. Sad to see him go.
Only the past five years actually Mike. John Stallard held the position from around 2000 to late 2004.
mikhaila wrote:Yes, Ernie Baker was the head of the US for the past decade or so. Very nice guy, and quite a good gamer. Does a lot of historicals in addition to GW. Lots of miniatures in his office. Sad to see him go.
Only the past five years actually Mike. John Stallard held the position from around 2000 to late 2004.
Cheers
Dave
Hmm, that corresponds with when I got addicted to Everquest for 3 years. No wonder I can't remember anything from those years. Plus I blame Trent, he was standing next to me as I typed that post and said "yeah, about 10 years". Blaming Nyman is always fun.
Games Workshop Group PLC ("Games Workshop" or the "Group") announces its half-yearly results for the six months to 29 November 2009.
Highlights
Revenue at £62.5m (2008: £61.2m)
Revenue at constant currency* at £58.5m (2008: £61.2m)
Gross margin at 74.4% (2008: 71.4%)
Operating profit pre-royalties receivable at £6.9m (2008: £3.2m)
Operating profit at £8.1m (2008: £3.7m)
Pre-tax profit at £7.9m (2008: £3.0m)
Earnings per share of 21.5p (2008: 4.8p)
Net funds of £4.3m (2008: net borrowings £11.0m)
Mark Wells, Chief Executive of Games Workshop, said:
"Although sales have declined in the first half of the year in constant currency terms, profits and cash flow have increased significantly, delivering a positive cash balance of £4.3 million, up £15.3 million over last year. With improved operating margins we continue to open Hobby centres, confident that we can grow Games Workshop profitably in all existing territories."
What's Kirby's main area of business expertise? Just a bean-counter?
I'm wondering if he's part of a plan to expand/consolidate US GW branches to a model similar to that of the UK, and I'm not just saying that since my 'local' GW is now 95 miles away in Springfield
He was the CEO, so he's a bit more than a bean-counter. And since it's already been noted that the current guy in charge of the US is gone, Big Tom coming over makes sense either as a "caretaker" until they get a new guy or as a "headsman" to clean house and reorg.
"Games Workshop Group PLC wrote:
6 mos Revenue at £62.5m (2008: £61.2m) = STABLE
Net funds of £4.3m (2008: net borrowings £11.0m)
"Although sales have declined in the first half of the year in constant currency terms, profits and cash flow have increased significantly, delivering a positive cash balance of £4.3 million, up £15.3 million over last year. With improved operating margins we continue to open Hobby centres, confident that we can grow Games Workshop profitably in all existing territories."
In a down economy, GW has over 4M GBP cash on hand vs being in hock by 11M GBP .
Looks like their premium pricing plan is working splendidly and that people will pay whatever GW charges.
chaplaingrabthar wrote:What's Kirby's main area of business expertise? Just a bean-counter?
Howlingmoon has it right, he was the CEO prior to Mark Wells. Additionally Tom Kirby was the man that bought GW from Bryan Ansell (now owner of Wargames Foundry) in the early 90's and floated it on the London Stock Exchange shortly after. Tom's the guy who has lead the company forward in leaps and bounds ever since. Sure, sometimes there have been mistakes made (some small, some big), but all along the man with the guiding hand has been Tom.
I have a lot of respect for Tom Kirby and while, no doubt, some of the decisions he'll make in the coming years will be difficult (some mistakes some not), if anyone has the big picture in front of him (not always the details though) it is Mr Kirby.
I knew that Kirby was the former CEO but I didn't know what type of CEO he is. I know it's common in some businesses to use interim CEO's for things like set-up and public flotation*, I was just curious as to what Kirby's expertise as a CEO was.
I may have been overly hyperbolic in my bean-counter description
*I know it's an entirely different type of business, but Virgin F1 hired John Booth as their CEO, replace him for a month with Alex Tai (who's known to be good with start-ups and contract negotiations) and replaced Tai a month later with John Booth (who has a racing background), so it's clear that Tai was a CEO with a specific set of expertise
Tom Kirby was also the driving force behind GW releasing complete boxed versions of their games which included the models. I can't recall if it was 40k 2nd edition of WFB 4th edition ( I think.. High Elves and gobbos wasn't it ? With a cardboard griffon and... chariot ? ) but the production and release of that was mainly his baby.
And that's worked quite well.
I believe he did actually leave the company at some point before being head hunted back again. I think.
Shaman wrote:Wow Baltimore sounds terrible. I am surprised GWHQ is located there if its so bad. I just don't get it.
First, GWHQ is in Glen Burnie, which is outside of Baltimore... Not even the same county, even.
Second, Baltimore isn't quite as bad as some make it. It's not Detroit. (I like to hope that the media image of Detroit as a burned-out wreck is an exaggeration.) There are bad parts to Baltimore, but the nice parts are... nice. Your life is not in unusual levels of danger unless you go looking for trouble.
I was looking for real estate last year, and a couple searches found some very cheap property in Baltimore. There's lots with condemned old houses on them available for a song ($20-$40,000). They're basically sold as investment properties. If you're lucky, you might buy just before a neighborhood is targeted for gentrification and have a lot that can be redeveloped and resold for a half-million. If you aren't lucky, well, hopefully that $40,000 wasn't the kid's college fund.
Anyway, people coming down for events like the Baltimore Games Day aren't going to be killed on sight. Probably.
GW didn't pick Baltimore because of reputation, they picked it for common sense business reasons.
GW was in England and thus needed to ship their products by ship. They needed a location that wasn't far from a major shipping point and who's location was a the time business friendly (low taxes, right to work state) and had nearby access to an international airport. Thus Baltimore was an easy choice and also near major population centers. I think they've had a physical office in the US since the early 90s.
As the business grows and they hire employees (whom might have family in the area) it becomes insanely expensive and disruptive to day-to-day business to move the HQ to another location. Who pays for the staff moving fees? Will the employees move or will they just look for another job? Loss of too many quality employees can impact a business.
Baltimore is now the murder capital of the US (and the syphillis capital too so watch it!), but the core business isn't in Baltimore, its in a light industrial/suburban area.
Having worked there at the GWHQ US for nearly 9 years, the area in Glen Burnie is not terrible at all. Not great, but not horrible either. I grew up on a farm, so population centers are not on the top of my desired living areas.
davetaylor wrote:Actually Jason, it was 1984 that GW US was kicked off. Probably missed celebrating their 25th anniversary last year ; )
I don't know how I missed that. I don't remember them doing anything regarding 25 yrs at Games Day which would have been an opportune time to do that. Did they?
chaplaingrabthar wrote:What's Kirby's main area of business expertise? Just a bean-counter?
Howlingmoon has it right, he was the CEO prior to Mark Wells. Additionally Tom Kirby was the man that bought GW from Bryan Ansell (now owner of Wargames Foundry) in the early 90's and floated it on the London Stock Exchange shortly after. Tom's the guy who has lead the company forward in leaps and bounds ever since. Sure, sometimes there have been mistakes made (some small, some big), but all along the man with the guiding hand has been Tom.
I have a lot of respect for Tom Kirby and while, no doubt, some of the decisions he'll make in the coming years will be difficult (some mistakes some not), if anyone has the big picture in front of him (not always the details though) it is Mr Kirby.
Cheers
Dave
Also, diod some digging. Mr. Baker retired, not a case of "head rolling" that's part of why Mr. Kirby is over here. Mr. Wells and the CFO are apparently in town as well. At least that's what I got from some local sources.
I'm starting to disbelieve the whole "Big Tom is coming to kill people" vibe.
chaplaingrabthar wrote:What's Kirby's main area of business expertise? Just a bean-counter?
Howlingmoon has it right, he was the CEO prior to Mark Wells. Additionally Tom Kirby was the man that bought GW from Bryan Ansell (now owner of Wargames Foundry) in the early 90's and floated it on the London Stock Exchange shortly after. Tom's the guy who has lead the company forward in leaps and bounds ever since. Sure, sometimes there have been mistakes made (some small, some big), but all along the man with the guiding hand has been Tom.
I have a lot of respect for Tom Kirby and while, no doubt, some of the decisions he'll make in the coming years will be difficult (some mistakes some not), if anyone has the big picture in front of him (not always the details though) it is Mr Kirby.
Cheers
Dave
Also, diod some digging. Mr. Baker retired, not a case of "head rolling" that's part of why Mr. Kirby is over here. Mr. Wells and the CFO are apparently in town as well. At least that's what I got from some local sources.
I'm starting to disbelieve the whole "Big Tom is coming to kill people" vibe.
I hope that's the case, as I really like Ernie and would not have liked to see him forced out. Sadly, one source I talked to seemed to feel that was the case. I'll know one way or another when I run into him next.
Mr. Baker was not -exactly- forced out, he apparently chose to retire and voluntarily stepped down because his view for the N.A Business was not working. Word is that Big Tom and company wanted him to stay but he chose to step down anyway because he felt his performance was not acceptable to his own standards that he expects of his people.
That said, apparently heads are rolling at the district and regional management level.
Also, Big Tom seems to be of the mind to let the individual store managers do what they feel is best to grow their local community, if they try something and it doesn't work, they'll got to "have a talk" with people higher up, but if they do nothing, they will be replaced by someone that will.
Mr. Baker was not -exactly- forced out, he apparently chose to retire and voluntarily stepped down because his view for the N.A Business was not working. Word is that Big Tom and company wanted him to stay but he chose to step down anyway because he felt his performance was not acceptable to his own standards that he expects of his people.
That said, apparently heads are rolling at the district and regional management level.
Also, Big Tom seems to be of the mind to let the individual store managers do what they feel is best to grow their local community, if they try something and it doesn't work, they'll got to "have a talk" with people higher up, but if they do nothing, they will be replaced by someone that will.
Nice, so the one's who take a chance will get summarily executed, and the ones who try to play it safe will get axed. Sounds like a really bad time to be a black shirt.
the conversion on curency helped alot this year. many people bought direct because the Euro was strong against the pound. this im sure had an effeect on sales.
Automatically Appended Next Post: this by way of being back to topic.
Mr. Baker was not -exactly- forced out, he apparently chose to retire and voluntarily stepped down because his view for the N.A Business was not working. Word is that Big Tom and company wanted him to stay but he chose to step down anyway because he felt his performance was not acceptable to his own standards that he expects of his people.
That said, apparently heads are rolling at the district and regional management level.
Also, Big Tom seems to be of the mind to let the individual store managers do what they feel is best to grow their local community, if they try something and it doesn't work, they'll got to "have a talk" with people higher up, but if they do nothing, they will be replaced by someone that will.
Nice, so the one's who take a chance will get summarily executed, and the ones who try to play it safe will get axed. Sounds like a really bad time to be a black shirt.
Sorry but you are so off base there. Managers taking responsibility for their stores and delivering the goods is what being a manager is all about. With an established business and it just being retail there aren't exactly big risks to take. Being held accountable and making decisions and living or dying (metaphorically) by them is what management is about. If a manager doesn't realize that then he shouldn't be in the job. Also, a manger doesn't fully make decisions - his regional manager will have some input.
Retail mangement is one of the crummiest jobs, period. I won't even touch it, I'd stay a peon forever rather than try to climb that greased pole.
As the manager, you are totally responsable for everything that goes wrong. However, you are almost always so bound up in corporate rules and regualtions that you can't do anything to fix things that are going wrong in the first place.
The corps hikes prices 3 times in two years, causing people to stop buying your product and therefore your sales don't reach your required sales goals? Manager gets fired.
The corps open a second (or even third!) branch less than a mile away, stealing half (or more!) of your business? Manager gets fired.
Too many managers meeting all their goals and going to bonus? The corps move the goalposts.
Work your butt off to make labor goals? The corps decide that if you managed (barely) with X hours, then you should be able to do it with .75 X hours.
Your reward for putting up with this? Surly employees, clueless customers, promotion prospects that range from dismal to 'yeah, right!' and a paycheck only marginally higher than your hourly employees get - which turns out to be well under minimum wage when you adjust for the 70+ hours a week you work.
Note: There is, indeed, some exaggeration in this post. But not as much as you might think...
EDIT: Sorry, that rant should probably have gone into the off-topic forum...
Mr. Baker was not -exactly- forced out, he apparently chose to retire and voluntarily stepped down because his view for the N.A Business was not working. Word is that Big Tom and company wanted him to stay but he chose to step down anyway because he felt his performance was not acceptable to his own standards that he expects of his people.
That said, apparently heads are rolling at the district and regional management level.
Also, Big Tom seems to be of the mind to let the individual store managers do what they feel is best to grow their local community, if they try something and it doesn't work, they'll got to "have a talk" with people higher up, but if they do nothing, they will be replaced by someone that will.
Explains why the local GW manager is asking customer's what they want to see as far as "offerings" in the store. They offered an "advanced" terrain making class, unfortunately I missed out due to moving. Being a model railroader as well, there's not much that I thought I didn't know about making terrain, modeling (and doing S-Gauge means almost everything you do is customer built) but the guy teaching this class had some cool stuff to teach, techniques that used to take me an hour so he did in under 15 minutes..... (at least that's what I got from people who took the class).
I'm hoping that while corporate is wanting managers to "take charge", that those at the district and regional levels are going to be told to back them up and actually be effective instead of just being bean counters and sales trackers.
Update: Word is going around that Area and Regional Management is being or has been eliminated and that they are planning to go to the "1 Man Store" for the "majority" of the US Business.
Also there may be a large list of positions available for the new corporate office in Memphis.
Howlingmoon wrote:Update: Word is going around that Area and Regional Management is being or has been eliminated and that they are planning to go to the "1 Man Store" for the "majority" of the US Business.
. That aint good. Grab your pitchforks lads, we got a crusade a coming. 
