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Just heard that GW HQ was moving from Baltimore to Memphis, where their production facilities are. So now it makes no sense for Gamesday to be in Baltimore after this year.....Chicago maybe?

Aren't they already selling tickets? What's the location given on the ticket? They can't change it at this late stage.

General Hobbs wrote:

Just heard that GW HQ was moving from Baltimore to Memphis, where their production facilities are. So now it makes no sense for Gamesday to be in Baltimore after this year.....Chicago maybe?

can you back up this info first? Otherwise you are starting rumors that are un substantiated.

That's why they are called rumors, not facts.

I'll back him up on it.

Been talking with several people today about it. An official email went out about it. Kirby wants things moved by July.

lol, so they close almost all of the GW stores south of the mason-dixon line and THEN move the HQ to the south? maybe i'm just a bit bitter as the only GW store within several hundred miles just closed (all of alabama, georgia, south carolina, florida, and tennessee have a grand total of ZERO stores as of wednesday).

Maybe they'll reopen the Battle Bunker. That would be nice.

mikhaila wrote:I'll back him up on it.

Been talking with several people today about it. An official email went out about it. Kirby wants things moved by July.

I guess it would make sense as it would put them next to their U.S factory huh. Also more of a centralized location so cheers for that!

fellblade wrote:That's why they are called rumors, not facts.

yeah,
GW are opening a store on the moon... I heard.


Tell your friends...

Panic

warboss wrote:lol, so they close almost all of the GW stores south of the mason-dixon line and THEN move the HQ to the south? maybe i'm just a bit bitter as the only GW store within several hundred miles just closed (all of alabama, georgia, south carolina, florida, and tennessee have a grand total of ZERO stores as of wednesday).

You forgot North Carolina. We don't have one either.

I'd heard, back when I knew quite a folks at GWUS HQ, that the original plan was to move the HQ to Memphis when they moved the production center. The US HQ staff basically rebelled and said they'd quit rather than be relocated, so the idea was canned.

But there's been a huge turn-over at GWUS since then, so perhaps it's back on. I know a lot of the "old timers" have either quit or been fired.

Vale,

JohnS

LMAO!!!! Come on... You didn't see it coming?

North carolina doesn't WANT GW stores. We're fine with our LGS's, Thank you very much!

Just heard that GW HQ was moving from Baltimore to Memphis, where their production facilities are

This was inevitable and I've been expecting it ever since Memphis facility opened. Not really a question of if all along, just when. Many parts of the offices at Glen Burnie are already dark and unoccupied since last year as more departments were eliminated and more people let go, making this move seem more imminent than ever.

There isn't a lot of office space in the Memphis building.

InquisitorFabius wrote:There isn't a lot of office space in the Memphis building.

Not a problem if you let go enough people to fit into the available space, though, right?

Will the Baltimore bunker stay? Kind of sucks you can't get bitz and specialist games there any more. Takes away a lot of the point out of going there.

About the Bunker, that's a good question. The Bunker exists there largely because the rent was already being paid on all that space for the HQ offices. Now that the offices are moving to Memphis to save money on the higher priced rent in this area, there could be a very good chance that the Bunker will close unless GW decides to spring for the rent for the Bunker only, and that I would think is in serious doubt.

MD as a state is very unfriendly towards many types of businesses. MD decided to tax warehouses by Cubic foot instead of square foot... Which means you have to stack to the ceiling or pay taxes on 'air'. This makes lots of buildings pretty much a waste of space and makes a lot of multi-state companies move warehousing services to another state.

If your primary warehouse and product fulfillment is in Memphis, why keep it in a warehouse officepark in Glen burnie when you don't actually use any of those buildings there?

Makes perfect sense to me being a Marylander.

privateer4hire wrote:

InquisitorFabius wrote:There isn't a lot of office space in the Memphis building.

Not a problem if you let go enough people to fit into the available space, though, right?

Damn, too slow. Nice privateer! ; )

We love you Dave!

How many employees is this likely to affect?

You will have 2-3 WD workers max.
The upper and middle management which would amount to half a dozen.
A few telephone/ordering people.

Should be 20 max as there is no studio, many stores have closed, the GTs have been wound back etc, etc.

US Customer Service works at Glen Burnie, MD HQ as do the US executives, a few remaining creative folks, support staff like receptionists, US Trade Sales Dept., etc. It's a lot fewer people than a few years ago, but still significant.

warboss wrote:lol, so they close almost all of the GW stores south of the mason-dixon line and THEN move the HQ to the south? maybe i'm just a bit bitter as the only GW store within several hundred miles just closed (all of alabama, georgia, south carolina, florida, and tennessee have a grand total of ZERO stores as of wednesday).

So that's why all the locations disappeared off the store finder map.

Oh well, my FLGS is right next to the Mall of Georgia anyway

I'd imagine Memphis would be much less costly to operate than Glen Burnie. Cost of living is also much lower in the South.

Doesn't really affect me either way being in North Carolina.

That is a catch 22, over all the cost of living is lower, but Memphis is not a cheap city to live in.

When I was last in the building, the warehouse staff took up the left frontage of the building, with the break room on the far left side. Center was a small hallway, with a reception desk. Right of that was the Store entrance, then the bunker space. Far right was Southern Region trade sales.

Overall GW is not doing well in Maryland...the stores are usually half empty, compared to how they were filled a few years ago. I can't see them keeping a Bunker level store in Maryland, much less at that location.

In fact, since it seems GW is dying off in Maryland, I won't be buying anymore GW products. No where to play, no one to game with, what is the point of buying the product.

To be honest, the Bunker was a shadow of its former self the last few years, with half-assed tournaments and events. It started to get better with the Baltimore Metro Gaming Club, but then things changed again for the worse.

General Hobbs wrote:Overall GW is not doing well in Maryland...the stores are usually half empty, compared to how they were filled a few years ago. I can't see them keeping a Bunker level store in Maryland, much less at that location.

In fact, since it seems GW is dying off in Maryland, I won't be buying anymore GW products. No where to play, no one to game with, what is the point of buying the product.

This is BS! They're opening a brand new store in Owings Mills, MD RIGHT NOW! It's on their twitter feed:
http://twitter.com/gamesworkshopam

"Do you live around Vaughan, Ontario or Owings Mills, MD? Check out our newest Hobby Centers opening soon!
6:23 AM Jan 21st from web"

They've got one in White Marsh, the Bunker in Glen Burnie, one in Annapolis (Jennifer Square), one in the Arundel Mills Mall, a small one in Columbia... there's GW stores all over MD, especially around Baltimore, and they're doing fine.

I can believe the HQ will be moving, though. I was flying out of MD this past weekend, and I met a lady with a GW wind breaker on... she didn't look like a gamer, so I guessed she was an employee. I asked and she said she was an industrial engineer for them, heading back to... you guessed it... Memphis!

These stores are all empty dude. And Owings Mills is a horrible place to put a GW store. I know the area well....

Not my experience. The Maryland store where I spend most my time these days is packed. Store customer base is cyclical depending on a lot of factors, especially staff. If the staff is friendly and works to build the community you get a good one. If the staff is less talented or awkward dealing with customers, the community drops off. I know one new manager in MD right now who is just rebuilding his customer base after replacing a staff member who made community building challenging.

There are other factors too. Up until last year a certain store where I used to go 3 to 5 times per week was packed all the time for the roughly four years I was going there, but unfortunate changes in the crowd coupled with some unfortunate changes made by GW have driven many people away to other stores for most of our purchases, gaming and hobbying.

General Hobbs wrote:

These stores are all empty dude. And Owings Mills is a horrible place to put a GW store. I know the area well....

I know the area well, too... I've been living in Baltimore for the last 10 years. I think Owings Mills is a fine place for a store.

I agree with BrassScorpion... there's normal fluctuations in customer base, but I haven't noticed anything different at the stores I frequent (mostly the Bunker and the small shop in Columbia, and occasionally the one in White Marsh since it's closer to my work place)