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 Albino Squirrel wrote:
There's no reason why they couldn't reopen many stores in the US. There are plenty of places where they could. They probably just don't want to have to deal with these government imposed restrictions being different on a state by state or even county by county basis.

Without the distribution network reopening(it's not), those stores in the US that open would probably be open for a week or 2 before closing again due to lack of stock anyway.

I would love to see my local GW reopen, to say hi to the manager and chat, cuz we’ve become friends and have a lot of in-person catching up to do that just doesn’t feel “right” by text. And I want some stuff, same as everyone else.

But I want everyone to stay safe a helluva lot more. So hopefully GW continues to limit contact as much as possible. If online orders go open and that’s it...such as it is. Even order to store and curbside pickup. But safety matters way more than plastic toys.

Hey folks, kindly stay on topic and take all general COVID-19 related discussion to the following thread: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/784835.page

..

With GW not producing and shipping, how long until stores are out of the stuff that sells well and left with small random models like elf sky rangers or kroot.
Surely it won't be long?

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
With GW not producing and shipping, how long until stores are out of the stuff that sells well and left with small random models like elf sky rangers or kroot.
Surely it won't be long?

That's already happened for online stores. Took a couple of weeks. I imagine brick & mortar retailers will be in much the same position (2 weeks of sales, then a possible drought, depending on how fast GW can react to increasing production, and I suspect their reaction will not be adequate to cover demand).

Yeah, I'm less interested in GW stores opening up then I am their warehouse getting up and running and supplying everything.

Even checking out the web stores of my FLGS most of their stock is gone except for a few random blisters. And I wanted to use this Quarantine as an excuse to get into Kill Team...

*laughs in vallejo and army painter as GW paints get sold for £10+ a pot*

Don't see any point saying they'll open shops.
Countries decide what will open.
Unnecessary travel will still be a no no.
You're just making pointless increases in hazards by encouraging crack addicts to go get more plastic.
Stupid.
No wonder they're avoiding UK and US though. Both are treating this as a joke.

EDIT: Ugh, I always forget to read to the end and check for mod stuff before replying.

Fine, I'll be replying in the other thread queen_annes_revenge.

Thanks for catching that! As a reminder, here's the link for the COVID-19 general discussion (non-GW related) thread:

 BrookM wrote:
Hey folks, kindly stay on topic and take all general COVID-19 related discussion to the following thread: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/784835.page

 Albino Squirrel wrote:
There's no reason why they couldn't reopen many stores in the US. There are plenty of places where they could. They probably just don't want to have to deal with these government imposed restrictions being different on a state by state or even county by county basis.

most of the places in the US that haven't been hit by Corna conventional wisdom world wide is that it's because they simply haven't been hit YET. So even if GW could get a supply chain to them they'd likely be looking at watching those communities suddenly having outbreaks etc.
Also GW runs their North American supply chain through a single point.

BrianDavion wrote:

Also GW runs their North American supply chain through a single point.

Is that true? It seems so ludicrously quaint and backwards that I can't quite believe it, logically, yet I know it may well be the case. They're running a billion $ business from Nottingham. This is all well and good, Nottingham is as good a place as any, but even the best of places bow down to Globalism. But not GW, they're giving zero feths about it

It is run out of Memphis, TN which is a major shipping hub for FedEx(which most GW shipping in NA apparently utilizes).

 ValentineGames wrote:
*laughs in vallejo and army painter as GW paints get sold for £10+ a pot*

Don't see any point saying they'll open shops.
Countries decide what will open.
Unnecessary travel will still be a no no.
You're just making pointless increases in hazards by encouraging crack addicts to go get more plastic.
Stupid.
No wonder they're avoiding UK and US though. Both are treating this as a joke.

It's contextual. NZ has shut pretty much everything down with their stage 4 restrictions and are talking about hte possibility of even eliminating COVID within their borders soon(ish), so when they open most retail with adequate social distancing, etc, I can't see it being an issue. Here in Australia, we did things a bit (a lot) more haphazardly and have a federal government that has made some ...strange choices while the states have done their own thing (often, thankfully much stricter) but we're fortunately doing reasonably well compared to other nations and many retail places remain open (with social distancing, etc). Just google "essential jigsaw puzzles" as our PM decided that they were an essential item, so based on that many toy stores remain open. Many retail and food (takeaweay only) outlets that remain open have gone to "preferring" or even only accepting contactless or electronic payments, as well as limiting the number of customers in a shop at any given time. I could see GW fitting in just fine both here and in NZ without "blood on their hands" - as long as they can clear customers and browers out rather than alloow them to hang around chatting with each other and staff. If ANZ were in the more dire straits that the UK, US and Europe are in then I'd be totally onboard with keeping them shut down.

I'd think that reopening the warehouse for mail order only would be a better way to do things, but I guess if they only sold their product via mail order it would be screwing over the retailers that stock their product who remain open (including those who do mail order) - something that would do even more lasting damage as GW don't have the best reputation there - and if they supply other retailers they would probably see a need to operate their own retail outlets or they're screwing themselves.

I mean, I won't be going in. I'm only going out for trips to the butcher, pharmacy, supermarket, hardware, post office, caring for my father and when I need to grab something from work. Even then, I try to stack my trips so I only need to leave the house once, or twice at worst per week, wear a mask, spray down my shoes and bags, wash everything we bring into the house, etc. But everythinmg is contextual to the situation. We're all in this together as far as the COVID situation goes, but unfortunately, the individual situations and circumstances vary wildly from locale to locale and some are much more dire, and really do call to keep all retail shut down for far longer.

From the Games Workshop Amersfoort facebook page:

Hey everyone!

I’m really pleased to announce that this store is trialling a limited re-opening.

There's a few things you should know before you visit:

If you’re after something in particular, ask us in a comment below or give us a call and we’ll let you know if it’s worth the trip.

Activity in the store is suspended for the moment - so no hanging out to game or paint - grab what you need to stock-up and head out.

We will be sticking to guidelines on social distancing.

To aid in the above, we will also be enforcing a maximum occupancy in the store. So you may need to wait outside for a minute before you can come in and pick up your Warhammer supplies.

Stay safe, and we’ll see you soon.

– Grant Peacey

Retail Manager - Rest of World

Store manager has added that they'll be receiving no resupply from GW for the time being, so if they run out of something at the store, you are officially gak outta luck. I've asked him about the mail orders that are somewhere between GW and his store, hopefully I'll get an answer on that soon, would be nice to know where my stuff is at.

edit.

Aaaaaaand they've been sent back to Nottingham, well crap.

Looking at the epidemiological data for the Netherlands, that seems grossly irresponsible to me. New cases per day seems to have levelled off, but it's way too early to say it's falling yet. Adjusted for population, their numbers are actually worse than the UK (i.e. it's likely a bigger percentage of their population is infected).

 Kanluwen wrote:
It is run out of Memphis, TN which is a major shipping hub for FedEx(which most GW shipping in NA apparently utilizes).

Mostly true, though most of their normal ground shipping wanders a few miles south and goes out of the FedEx Ground facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi. (That puzzled me for a while on a couple orders, until I looked into it)

Odds are pretty good any order where you pick free shipping is going to come out of there rather than go towards actual Memphis where the Fedex Air and World facilities are. GW is way out on the edge of the metro area in the middle of the distribution centers, barely a mile from the state line.

 Albino Squirrel wrote:
There's no reason why they couldn't reopen many stores in the US. There are plenty of places where they could. They probably just don't want to have to deal with these government imposed restrictions being different on a state by state or even county by county basis.

Not really true. A lot of GW stores tend to be in high-foot-traffic shopping centers or malls, and it honestly isn't up to them. In a lot of those places whether your store is open or closed is functionally a landlord (or holding company) decision. And now, a state decision. In addition to having stock concerns that decide if opening is even worth it.

I wonder to what extent the return to business would allow for digital updates as well. Originally the spring FAQ was in March, then it got changed to be a few weeks after Adepticon, which this year was start of April. Well, that didn't happen, and we are close to end of April. Will we get balance updates and FAQ fixes this spring?

 Virules wrote:
I wonder to what extent the return to business would allow for digital updates as well. Originally the spring FAQ was in March, then it got changed to be a few weeks after Adepticon, which this year was start of April. Well, that didn't happen, and we are close to end of April. Will we get balance updates and FAQ fixes this spring?

The Spring FAQ was moved to an April release back in 2018:

Sorry, we’re a little behind schedule folks – we were slightly optimistic to think we could get this update out in March, the week after AdeptiCon! In the future, our first quarter Errata and FAQ update for Warhammer 40,000 will be in April...

Y'know, I'd completely forgotten about the Spring FAQ - depending on what the chat volume is like, it might be worth asking on one of the Warhammer TV afternoon hobby streams if they can check.

 Duskweaver wrote:
Looking at the epidemiological data for the Netherlands, that seems grossly irresponsible to me. New cases per day seems to have levelled off, but it's way too early to say it's falling yet. Adjusted for population, their numbers are actually worse than the UK (i.e. it's likely a bigger percentage of their population is infected).

Staring at data sheets isn’t useful much. It is perfectly fine for stores like a GW store to open up (for sales only obviously). They never even had to close down actually. Local game stores and similar sized stores have stayed open here without problems. It’s the large(r) gatherings of people you don’t want.

Small gatherings are still just as much an issue. Whilst one person can't infect as many, the problem comes from multiple small gatherings.

That said if the store isn't doing painting nor gaming and is only selling products then they can certainly be quite safe. Wipe the keypad on the chip and pin system down; don't take cash; don't allow long browsing etc... With a few basic precautions you can limit the issues quite significantly.

 Overread wrote:
Small gatherings are still just as much an issue. Whilst one person can't infect as many, the problem comes from multiple small gatherings.

That said if the store isn't doing painting nor gaming and is only selling products then they can certainly be quite safe. Wipe the keypad on the chip and pin system down; don't take cash; don't allow long browsing etc... With a few basic precautions you can limit the issues quite significantly.

Masks, gloves and staying 2 metres away from each other would all be enforced too. This is how supermarkets are right now

I guess the question is, why take the risk of spreading a dangerous virus so that we can have toys.

 Sentineil wrote:
I guess the question is, why take the risk of spreading a dangerous virus so that we can have toys.

Because this deadly virus isn’t going away. For the next 18 months or more, we will have to adapt to life with the risk of virus as the economy cannot shut down for that long, people cannot manage without getting paid for that long and the mental health of people being trapped in doors needs to be considered. We are likely to see periods where shops can reopen to some degree, same with offices and factories but we may also have periods where we go into more of a lockdown again. It’s a balancing act with no easy solution. The longer a complete lockdown is enforced the greater the risk that some people will be so fed up they ignore them, especially over a warm summer, it’s likely safer to return a little normality when they can to keep people in line. The higher infection risk venues such as cinemas, theatres, conventions and mass participation sporting events I am not expecting to come back any time soon, I usually take part in 2-3 running races a week and I am not personally expecting to run another one this year.

Agreed, you can't just lockdown a whole country for years. Even if you provide everyone with water, food and shelter that's just not enough.

People will resume normal life without the lockdowns lifting because at some point everyone will get fed up. They want to exercise, socialise, meet family, shop, express themselves, make new friends etc...

If you shut it all down for too long eventually you get rebellion. So letting some of the lockdown lift and some return to normality allows you to release pressure on the system. You take some pressure off, with the cost being that yes infections will rise again, but then you can re-impose the lockdown once more.

LiftForSwift wrote:

 Overread wrote:
Small gatherings are still just as much an issue. Whilst one person can't infect as many, the problem comes from multiple small gatherings.

That said if the store isn't doing painting nor gaming and is only selling products then they can certainly be quite safe. Wipe the keypad on the chip and pin system down; don't take cash; don't allow long browsing etc... With a few basic precautions you can limit the issues quite significantly.

Masks, gloves and staying 2 metres away from each other would all be enforced too. This is how supermarkets are right now

Moment I see gloves I'd walk out.
Faaaaaaaar more dangerous than anything they are.

Social distancing in those tiny stores? That isn't really possible.

Blastaar wrote:
Social distancing in those tiny stores? That isn't really possible.

You just limit the stores to the member of staff and one or two customers depending on size (my local store could manage two customers and one staff with social distancing). Other customers queue outside and wait to come in.

Aeneades wrote:

Blastaar wrote:
Social distancing in those tiny stores? That isn't really possible.

You just limit the stores to the member of staff and one or two customers depending on size (my local store could manage two customers and one staff with social distancing). Other customers queue outside and wait to come in.

Or you do what a lot of takeaways and chemists/pharmacies are doing - stick a table just inside the door and take orders at the door. Don't forget browsing is a recent development (within living memory) in shopping (especially in the UK) it's not turning the clock back too far and an entirely reasonable compromise imo.