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I expect my situation is unusual to say the least, but the GW in my town is actually better than my local indie store, which is more of a MTG/board game store that happens to sell a few of the major wargames. The indie store has a whopping 0% discount on their citadel models, and their employees actually seem annoyed when I try to spend money in their store, like I ruined the guy's day by asking for a box of Ork Boyz. Meanwhile the guy manning the GW jumps to attention as I approach the store, and his ridiculous up-selling attempts are always good for a laugh.

Me: "Hi, I need a box of 10 Ork Boyz"

Guy Manning the GW: "Why not get a Battleforce instead?"

Me:

I used to only buy smaller kits from GW and make all of my larger 40K purchases from MiniWarGaming for the ~15% discount, but they got purged by the Inquisition. So now the local GW has no real competitor for my 40K business, and the only reason for me to shop at my Unfriendly LGS is for Reaper and FoW stuff.

 Lorizael wrote:

 Grimtuff wrote:
On the subject of GW stores competing. Just realised this after browsing a few store's FB pages. GW is once again rigidly sticking to their opening hours of the one man stores, so the last shopping day in them directly is Sunday the 22nd December.

Yes, let's ignore 2 days of last minute purchasing because the 23rd and Christmas eve fall on days the store is closed. Some nearby FLGSs must be jumping for joy.

The manager of one of my local GWs was putting up his xmas opening hours poster today- he's shut 23/24 too. I asked him about it and he said it was entirely up to individual managers' discretion. He reckoned it was a pretty even split between managers who were opening and who were staying shut. Personally he said those days were fairly dead for the past 2 years, and he has a family he'd like to spend some time with over christmas...

Completely anecdotal, but many years ago when I worked in a store I remember the last few days before xmas were pretty busy - of course those were the days of 3 full time staff and a part timer even in a tiny store, so we drew lots for which of us would work those days (I lost ). Remember being pretty rushed off my feet with some desperate looking dads coming in and not knowing what the hell they were looking for (similar to the kind of thing you get if you've ever worked in a music store.. "I don't know the name.. she's got blonde hair, does that song 'mmm.mmmmm... mm.dumdum, do you know who I mean?" ) and then some sod in another store sending a customer my way to pick up a single blister pack of something or other so I ended up closing at normal bloody time

 Pacific wrote:

 Lorizael wrote:

 Grimtuff wrote:
On the subject of GW stores competing. Just realised this after browsing a few store's FB pages. GW is once again rigidly sticking to their opening hours of the one man stores, so the last shopping day in them directly is Sunday the 22nd December.

Yes, let's ignore 2 days of last minute purchasing because the 23rd and Christmas eve fall on days the store is closed. Some nearby FLGSs must be jumping for joy.

The manager of one of my local GWs was putting up his xmas opening hours poster today- he's shut 23/24 too. I asked him about it and he said it was entirely up to individual managers' discretion. He reckoned it was a pretty even split between managers who were opening and who were staying shut. Personally he said those days were fairly dead for the past 2 years, and he has a family he'd like to spend some time with over christmas...

Completely anecdotal, but many years ago when I worked in a store I remember the last few days before xmas were pretty busy - of course those were the days of 3 full time staff and a part timer even in a tiny store, so we drew lots for which of us would work those days (I lost ). Remember being pretty rushed off my feet with some desperate looking dads coming in and not knowing what the hell they were looking for (similar to the kind of thing you get if you've ever worked in a music store.. "I don't know the name.. she's got blonde hair, does that song 'mmm.mmmmm... mm.dumdum, do you know who I mean?" ) and then some sod in another store sending a customer my way to pick up a single blister pack of something or other so I ended up closing at normal bloody time

Heh - I remember when I was shopping in Border's one of the customers came up to a sales girl (the girl that I am currently dating, as chance has fallen) and wanted help finding a book - she described it as 'it's thick and has a red cover'.

I amazed Meagan by telling the customer to go two aisles down and look at the end cap. (She was looking for The Dangerous Book for Boys, but didn't know the title - as soon as she said that the book was thick, with a red cover I knew exactly what book she was talking about. And, for the record, The Dangerous Book for Boys is pretty danged awesome.)

The Auld Grump

ahzek wrote:
Please note this isnt a GW bashing thread (yeah i know), nor is it directly a pricing thread

We all know it costs more to buy models firectly from Games workshop than from independents, but I was wondering what the guys in the stores can do to compete with those Independent traders.

Im sure price is a huge deciding factor for a lot of people, but what about convenience, or customer service? Or maybe gaming space, specialist knowledge (?)

Iv been thinking this because my local GW closed down recently because it wasnt making enough profit (Newport, Wales)

Like I say this isnt a bashing thread, Id ike to see intelligent comments :p

I live in newport but work in cardiff so usually visit that store wasnt aware it had closed... no more emergency paint runs accross the bridge.

 aliusexalio wrote:

 Strombones wrote:
I feel like this is all a strange paradox like situation. Most GW stores cant compete with FLGS that offer discount off retail and gaming space. Most FLGS have a hard time competing (in tabletop games) against the full 20 to 25 percent online discounters.

Maybe in a slightly ironic way we are destroying our own community areas?
Certainly GW stores could generate more traffic by space and time, but in an age of online discounters, GW and FLGS will not be able to compete for long. Even the most loyal store fan succumbs to discounts from time to time. It is after all, perfectly rational .

This is of course in reference to GW products alone. If GW did not wholesale to independents then they wouldn't have this problem. I wonder if they would ever take that step and what actual consequences (intentional and unintentional) it would yield.

The presence of a GW in my area is actually eliminating any presence of a lfgs in my area. All retailers that did sell WHF40k quit selling it with the arrival of the GW shop.

Vrai. I guess I'm thinking about this through a North American context. Like many in the US and Canada, who played 40k since the 90's, I never saw a GW store until a few years ago.