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A friend of mine and I were talking the other night, hanging out in the local card shop, when we had an interesting idea...

We want to open a game shop, dealing in various Miniature, CCG/TCG, and Role Playing games, as well as integrating some sort of LAN center into the mix (starting off with a half-dozen Xbox 360s along a back wall, or something to that effect), and we just started to hammer out a rough idea of what we, as miniatures and card gamers, would look for in a game store, starting with a practical standpoint and just sort of letting the idea flow.

Here's a list of what we came up with:

Location - Quite possibly the most complex of the parameters we took into account, a good portion of this had more to do with places nearby that our customer base would spend money and time at outside of our store. As one of those all-day type of gamers, when I make the effort to hit up my comic shop or FLGS to play some M:tG or 40k, I tend to make a day of it, or, at the very least, a rest-of-the-day of it. That's not to say that I won't step out of the store, though. When I go for provisions, I go hard. a pair of 2 liter bottles (Mountain Dew and/or some tasty variant of Dr. Pepper), and a bag of chips will generally sate me for my time at the shop, but then there's that wicked gamer hunger that often accompanies an 8-12 hour gaming binge, requiring a meal of some sort. Depending on time constraints, this can be covered by a few different options... Either delivery from a pizza/chinese/other place nearby, or a trip to the trough of convenience across the street or within the same strip for carry-out, or hitting up the Denny's/IHOP/Big Boy/Steak and Shake/Waffle House/Other 24 hour diner close enough to both the shop and the freeway that it's not out of the way. Ultimately, this boils down to the following:

-Within a 7 minute drive of a 24 hour diner
-Across the street or down the strip from a convenience shop (unless we offer a snack bar, which is a likely option)
-Across the street or down the strip from a sandwich shop or other quick food establishment
-Both the sit-in feed pit and the shop close enough to the freeway to keep from being out of the way

Size- I like to game where I shop, to put it simply. I don't currently have the space to actually have a dedicated table in my home, and there's something to be said about being part of and hanging out with a group of regulars at the local game shop. It gives me the chance to meet new people, play against/watch a wide variety of armies and builds, and presents that great social aspect that you can't really get in a forum (sorry, Dakka, but I do prefer spending time with actual people over sitting in front of a screen). That being said, we want to provide not only retail space, but a place to play/build/paint as well. Even beyond that, we're looking at the possibility of a LAN center (as stated, either expanding into one or starting with one and expanding that), which will take up a decent footprint as well. All this aside, there's also a note of parking spaces, and given the nature of the store, we know that we want a parking lot, as opposed to having to deal with feeding a meter. Boiling this all down, we come to this:

-Enough room to give us ample shelf space
-A stock room to keep excess inventory
-Space for tables and somewhere to keep folding chairs

We have other considerations, but after going through what we were looking for in a shop, I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to ask other gamers what they looked for in a FLGS.

Dronze wrote:What do you look for in a FLGS?

Friendliness, being local, and games. It has to have games.




Ghidorah

Ghidorah wrote:

Dronze wrote:What do you look for in a FLGS?

Friendliness, being local, and games. It has to have games.




Ghidorah

I just facepalmed a little... but I probably would have said the same thing, to be honest.

I like not to be assualted buy fanatics who shout,"Buy this,buy this!" as I walk in the door.Apart from that friendly help,and a drunk man as the welcomer just for the hell of it.

I already have the prefect FLGS: The Game Preserve Greenwood in Indiana.

Plenty of stuff, ample gaming space, and a great friendly staff that pushes NOTHING. THey know what each regular customer wants, and they tell them if something new came in, or just show something interesting in general. Great guys (and gal).

Also the base for the Gaming Club in the area.

Emphasis on Friendly. If somebody greets me when I walk in the door I will be more likely to purchase something. I've been to a couple where I've been ignored till I ask for something then they become your best friend.

Local is nice, but since I live in a desert-like gaming state I take what I can get.

As far as games I would prefere that they carry GW stuff, but if they actively support other games and the staff (as well as regular gamers) are cool then I will try new things.

Ghidorah wrote:

Dronze wrote:What do you look for in a FLGS?

Friendliness, being local, and games. It has to have games.




Ghidorah

What he said, them being a store also helps matters.

People to game with, selection to choose from, space to play in, tables AND terrain to play on, and perhaps most of all - time to do all of the above during hours a lot of businesses would be closed.

I am sure there is more that is a bit past the facepalmingly obvious, but shrug.


(Facepalmingly?)

Friendly, but not following you around. It's fun to talk games with them, on occassion, but not necessarily have them stalking you (happens at one store here I go to, unfortunately, not that many options up here.)

Plenty of game space, with a variety of gaming resources. Not the same 4 tables cramped togethor where all the terrain is set in place on the table. Sometimes it's nice to play on a set where there are rivers and such, sometimes it's nice to be able to move the felt around, and place bunkers and such afterward.

Lots of games. Not just GW and CCG, but explore some of the others. I know not all of them sell well, but have some demos of others occassionally. Gaslight is a fun little game, you can use just about any mini out there, and is easily accessable, it doesn't take a lot to learn. Also, consider a RPG selection (more than just D&D), and a rpg night. And please don't 'favor' and one game over others.

If I'm going to be hanging out there, some sort of snack bar would be a great idea. Be sure, in that case, to have adequate restroom facilities. There's a place in town that sells drinks, and some snack food, has a couple tables, but has no restroom that you can easily access.

Tournaments. Nuff said.

Discounts. One of the FLGS' up here offers a good discount on GW products, and a lesser, but still decent discount on all other gaming related items to club members. I do all my shopping there. I'll only go into the other if the first is out of what I'm needing, and I don't have time to wait for them to restock (which they really are good about, but if I got a tournament coming up sometimes it's a bit hard to wait).

I look for not feeling crowded and out of place. I've been to a couple places where it's all CCG's which means children and that crowd is not very accepting for the most part IMHO. I can live with close tables. It would be nice to have a fast shipping rate for special orders. It's taken 4 months to get blood claws once because a store decided two boxes wasn't enough to order until someone else wanted something. A solid selection of games. Diversity in games. Most importantly, the players that are there. I know you don't have too much control over this but it really helps to not play with a bunch of tools. Good luck

Do your homework and start at GAMA the online business group not the show...in the mean time buy a hot dog cart to make some money you'll need the capitol.

nice owners
low number of tools who frequent the shop
able to drink a beer or two.
6 tables or so
late evening hours( being able to play to 6am is good)
modeling station

Most important........

A clean washroom? maybe

Comptetent Staff, Good selection of models and sale inventory, Well run events. Good tables and terrain that is periodically updated and added to.

The store should have at least one awesome gaming table up front and center to pique interest of new customers.

Alright... I'm starting to get an idea, and what people are saying is what we've been looking at anyhow.

@Empire1: Duly noted, I'll have a look at that.


As far as target audience goes, what we were looking at going for is nobody under 15 without a parent, as none of us cares to be dealing with a babysitting situation, and that leaves us a fair amount of leeway in the liability department.

tables, good restocking and employees you can pay to assemble your stegadons and stompas when you dont want to.

Limiting young kids is a good thing... at least until you get to know them. There are kids that play that are under 15.

The big thing is allowing me to look around not harrass me into buying something. or following me around like I am ripping you off... I HATE THAT.

Friendly staff, but they should also be knowledgeable of the products in the store... I f I pick up a box of mini's they should at least know wether they are plastic or metal... You would be surprised.

Seminars/and trial games. Get some interest in other game companies, not just your specific game of choice. I.E. Games workshop stores. While I know thye need to push their product some of the time it is a P.I.T.A. to go in especially if you are like me and look for cheaper alternatives to some models.

Weeend gaming, short tourneys, merchandise raffles are all things that peak interest. Maybe evena consignent area, where people that want to sell painted models can display. for a percentage or a flat rate would ge nice.

Sign up sheets for use of table, if the place is really busy. Always a nice feature.

Nice owners, and if it happens to be a games store I wander into on holiday - OOP models!!

Even though I rarely play in stores, I like to see a lot of gaming space. And people playing so I can watch a little while I'm browsing. Lots of fun events on weekends and display cases full of painted miniatures to look at is cool too.

I also like to see a big assortment of stock. I always go to the store knowing what I want to buy, but when I am there i always browse and usually find something else I just remembered I needed, and the store wouldn't have had that extra sale or 2 if they didn't have the stock. Plus it just looks good coming in and seeing a wall full of blisters & boxes. You don't need to stock every little thing, just have an ample & diverse supply.

Don't jump on people when they walk in the door like in GW stores, a simple "hiya" will be fine. Expect the gamer to come to you if they need help, and try to only offer help to the people who really look lost, like parents.

The Xbox center might be a fun idea but you will sink a lot of money into something like that and you will need to have a way to make money back off of it. The console might be $299, then there's a separate TV for each one. Then there's the fact that the system has been around a few years and you know as soon as you buy them all, microsoft will announce the next one. And you will have to upgrade because if customers go to your place expecting to play the latest and greatest games, you will probably have to invest in them.

Whatever you do, don't follow the Rogue's Den example. It was a great place from a gamer's perspective. It wa cool to play there and hang out. But your place needs to move product first and foremost if you're going to stay in business. Having a club house to hang out at would be awesome, but if you don't make enough cash to pay the bills every month, you won't last long.

Well thinking of it now necros is right about the Xbox lan center thing,it will cost alot to keep going not to mention that one of them might suffer the red ring of death.Also I can't state enough how much I dislike pushy sellers,if I come in and am swamped by eight people each trying to get me to buy a different product I will walk out and leave!

Good lighting, Hygiene of Staff and Customers, and stock.

If I get an urge to buy a unit, I want the ability to buy the whole unit. I understand the idea of low overhead, but consumers are fickle.

Beer...it enchances the gaming atmoshphere. Seriously, I used to own a bar with 5 pool tables and a huge stage in back that we used to play on, and we would to game fridays all night into the afternoon on sundays sometimes. This was before we played WH but we would play AD&D, MTG, Rifts, Gurps, Poker, Pool, Darts, LAN, Wii bowling etc. It was heaven. No kids, good drinks and good friends. Full Kitchen and jukebox. Clean bathrooms. We had about 30 gamers that would come from up to 3 hours away to spend the weekend (we had a few futons in the basement for nap breaks). Anyhow I sold the bar after they passed a no smoking ban in my state and my revenue dropped about 40% in the first 2 months after the ban (.

It was funny to see the looks on our regular bar patrons (we were a really blue collar bar) but the would always come over to see what ever the hell we were playing that weekend. We even recruited a few of them for certain games!

Well to be honest that was the best gaming "store" Ive ever been in, even though we didnt sell any product. Although there was lots of trading and stuff going on. So yeah add some product to that and thats what I look for.

Basically a Gameworks/Gillians but instead of vidya games more WH and AD&D.


That being said, its a really crappy time to start a buisness unless you own a building outright. Wait a year or 2.

Late hours. So many game stores in my area close at 8pm. We have 1 open until 10pm Su-Th and Midnight on weekends. They get all my time. I work 9-5 and then gotta get 3 kids fed and bathed before heading out most of the time.

I also like GREAT tables w/ GREAT Terrain. I'm often told that folks ruin this stuff. My solution would be to check out a box of "matched" terrain at the front of the store.

15-20mm stuff
historical
sci fi city
ice world
Woods.

Etc. Then take a deposit of $10. If it is returned all in one piece in the box then the players get their deposit back. If not.... Oh well.

I also would be willing to pay for table space during peak periods. Nothing worse then showing up to a store w/ 5 tables at peak times and watching 2 players calculating points/lists etc. If you charged them by the hour they'd get come ready to play and get off quick.

I know that I'm off for most folks but I believe this would be a great alternative revenue source for store that has to compete w/ Onling GS for product $$.

Just my 2 cents.


[

Someplace where there isn't a LAN or console section with rabid 'tweens' 'pwning' each other and generally being loud, rude little gits.

Just read your whole post. Sorry.

LunaHound wrote:
Most important........

A clean washroom? maybe

QFT. Seriously one of the most understated yet important aspects of any business. Sorry to plug a not-so local store to me, but Metagame Unlimited in Springfield, MO is really the best stores I've had the privilege of visiting (http://www.mguinc.com). AND they have a bathroom that is generally spotless. This is one of those stores that puts most to shame.

They even buy us pizza at events. FREE PIZZA!

I look for size - the gaming community.

Also to see if they have tournaments.

One of the biggest things I hear from customer/gamers is knowledgable staff (Meaning that they actually PLAY the games they are selling). I've been to quite a few FLGS's from Michigan to Florida and that is the biggie.

Dronze wrote:A friend of mine and I were talking the other night, hanging out in the local card shop, when we had an interesting idea...

We want to open a game shop, dealing in various Miniature, CCG/TCG, and Role Playing games, as well as integrating some sort of LAN center into the mix (starting off with a half-dozen Xbox 360s along a back wall, or something to that effect),

That is a lot of inventory stock. The rest of the thing sounds like you're setting up a clubhouse. To be honest, you guys will do better renting and furnishing gaming apartment for $500/month.

If you guys are really looking at a business, so I think you should search Google about how running a game store really works before you jump in:
- http://www.thegamesjournal.com/articles/OpeningAGameStore.shtml
- http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/columns/counter15oct04.html
Also, join your local small business association and talk with them.

OTOH, if you're independently wealthy, and don't mind flushing $10+k down the toilet, proceed onward!

Just let me know where you are so I can buy cheap when you guys go bankrupt and sell everything on clearance.

JohnHwangDD wrote:

Dronze wrote:A friend of mine and I were talking the other night, hanging out in the local card shop, when we had an interesting idea...

We want to open a game shop, dealing in various Miniature, CCG/TCG, and Role Playing games, as well as integrating some sort of LAN center into the mix (starting off with a half-dozen Xbox 360s along a back wall, or something to that effect),

That is a lot of inventory stock. The rest of the thing sounds like you're setting up a clubhouse. To be honest, you guys will do better renting and furnishing gaming apartment for $500/month.

If you guys are really looking at a business, so I think you should search Google about how running a game store really works before you jump in:
- http://www.thegamesjournal.com/articles/OpeningAGameStore.shtml
- http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/columns/counter15oct04.html
Also, join your local small business association and talk with them.

OTOH, if you're independently wealthy, and don't mind flushing $10+k down the toilet, proceed onward!

Just let me know where you are so I can buy cheap when you guys go bankrupt and sell everything on clearance.

Trust me, we have no intention of just diving in without doing a lot of research in this respect, and as far as this idea goes, it is but a hatchling at the moment, hence the thread. We're very much business-minded, and have taken a rather realistic approach to our talks about it, and we don't intend to make a push for anything until we have the idea supremely fleshed out.

Starting a business costs a lot of money, and there are expenses that most people don't see, I get that. I practically grew up in a business environment and know a lot of the ins and outs.

But call this a filter for ideas... I'd rather see an idea like this chewed up, broken, folded over and ground to dust wherever it can be so we know where our oversights lie, and in so doing figure out what we need to do to address and/or correct them.

Cool people who run a store close to my house that happens to sell games.

That's what I look for.