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-Loki- wrote:I've had the same experience in the Wollongong, Campbelltown and Miranda stores in NSW. The staff have never been campany hardliners, and have always been friendly and usually enquire about what army I play, how scheme I use, how long I've been playing, etc.
I have the odd time when they're recommended me something new that I really don't want or need (like recommending me their overpriced emery boards), but I ignore it because it's what they're paid to do. I've never had someone be outright rude to me.
Though I haven't been to the Miranda or Wollongong stores in years, and the Campbelltown store just got a new manager.
Absolutely. I picked up the liquid greenstuff and the mold line thing (I have a ton of FW stuff, and I thought I'd give it a go over my hobby knife) - they tried to sell me the emery boards as well, but I just said I had heaps of fine grit sandpaper from Masters/Bunnings, and they were cool. (after telling me that I'd want to have some really fine grit sandpaper to be as good as their stuff.
GW Lakeside (a very big Shopping Centre here) had two bodies running it on a Tuesday morning.
No customers at all, except me buying my own Christmas presents again.
Certainly this has something to do with the Lakeside operating rules, but I have seen it with 3-4 staff on a Saturday before and it is a very small unit (say 15' by 25'?).
How do you promote your Hobby? - Legoburner "I run some crappy wargaming website "
mikhaila wrote:Nope. It's the direction GW is going in, been many threads and discussions on the change. Not all UK, US, or ROW shops have changed over. But it's the direction Mr. Kirby wants to go, and was based on models they set up in the UK
I wasn't aware of any one-man GW stores in the UK, certainly no trend. Maybe Covent Garden in London, that's pretty tiny (one small table) and there was one guy when I went in. But most GWUK stores are of a reasonable size and staffed by a couple of people at all times.
There are a couple of one-mans in the South West that I know of. Kind of puzzling as there isn't a single Independent in the Gloucestershire area, so you would think they would have enough turnover to warrant more than one member of staff. Unless however it is a reflection on the terrible level of literacy in this part of the world.
Personally, I think they are a terrible idea, and have the potential to cause a major problem. Not because of sales (although that is undoubtedly as issue) or not having the models in the window painted, but more because having just a single adult working in a store populated by children opens the door for a major 'issue'. If a single child made an accusation against a staff member, whether it was true or not, it could be extremely damaging to the company. Having even two members of staff would stop that kind of issue from occurring.
Oddly though it's not completely outside their consideration as I seem to recall hearing that staff have to pass criminal records checks to work with children. I imagine they think the use of CCTV in the shop is supposed to keep them safe from accusations.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/12/14 10:21:20
mikhaila wrote:Nope. It's the direction GW is going in, been many threads and discussions on the change. Not all UK, US, or ROW shops have changed over. But it's the direction Mr. Kirby wants to go, and was based on models they set up in the UK
I wasn't aware of any one-man GW stores in the UK, certainly no trend. Maybe Covent Garden in London, that's pretty tiny (one small table) and there was one guy when I went in. But most GWUK stores are of a reasonable size and staffed by a couple of people at all times.
They've been doing this for a couple of years now.
Games Workshop has piloted a “one-man” format that involves small outlets run by one person working a five-day rather than a seven-day week. That allows the company to open more profitable centres in smaller towns.
Generally, in the Uk anyway, they're near, or supposed to be, towns/cities which contain larger stores which have more staff and these stores are supposed to provide cover for leave, training days, sickness etc etc.
They've also rolled this out across ( bits of) Europe as well. I know Holland has a few and I believe Belgium has a few as well.
In the Uk the staff get a 30 min lunch break, which is all they're required to be given.
This does generally seem to involve a " back in X minutes" sign being hung in the window.
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
mikhaila wrote:
I put emphasis on the statement of GW soaking the economy and moving on. Most of your statements are pretty biased against GW, but this one makes no sense. GW doesn't put a gun to peoples head and make them buy stuff. Having a LGS or GW store in the area is a benefit to the gamers in the area, IMHO. You obviously don't think so. And besides, If a store is getting good sales, theirs no reason to move on. I myself plan to soak...I mean, service my area for years to come. If i can sell them games one year, I can do it the next year.
As to Maryland Business Property tax affecting game tables, that's a far stretch. The highest tax on Business Personal Property is in downtown Baltimore at a little under 6%. A gaming table, even a nice one, can be built for less than 200.00, lets add in chairs and scenery and make it 300.00, and lets go with 20 gaming tables.
-Tax Year one on 20 really spiffy gaming tables, folding tables, 2 chairs per table, plus scenery = 20x300x.06 = 360 dollars. This assumes it's the first year before you depreciate the hell out of the stuff, and that you bought everything new. 360.00 dollars is next to nothing compared to other business costs. I pay that in rent for one day in my main store.
-As to the price of rent making it hard to justify gaming space - That assumes the store owner isn't making the gaming space profitable. If gaming space for organized play is done correctly, the store makes money from having it, not losing money. I know the gaming space in my stores absolutely pays for itself and then some.
Running the risk of Navarro spotting this post and blabbing about it to "my" FLGS manager: I would love to have a LGS run by someone like you over here on PIIG country! Despite the fact that you're a GW lapboy!
Dont worry, your public secret is safe since your FLGS manager is pissed with me because I dont buy GW for years now
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/12/14 11:13:37
Aerethan wrote:We have strict labor laws here in the US regarding meal breaks. In California it is illegal to work more than 5 hours before a meal break IF you are scheduled to work 6 or more hours in that day.
So if they open at noon, at some point before 5pm they MUST be closed for at least 30 minutes if they have only one employee running things.
Theoretically, that's how it works here as well. In practice, in smaller stores the employees just take their breaks as they can in between customers. If the store's trade is quiet enough for them to only need a single staff member, that's not usually too difficult.
filbert wrote:The GW in Newbury where I work is one-man. I don't go there but I do know from having walked by there on my way to get a sandwich that they do indeed close over lunch hours.
Edit: Having said that, looking at the GW website opening hours for that store, seems to suggest on the days it is open, it opens from midday to seven PM so maybe they have taken the decision to have odd opening hours rather than having to close over lunch. Not sure how they handle staff breaks though; if it's a one man store, UK working hour directives state that the chap needs to have a certain amount of break every few hours so maybe he has to hang a 'back in 15 minutes' sign on the door and turf people out?
An independent store might have the owner/operator just eat while they work, or the like, but a chain like GW couldn't get away with fudging those rules here.
My local GW has a note on their hours on the sign on the door when they're closed, but I don't believe it's on the website. The manager also takes a late lunch to try to miss the rush of people who would stop by the store on their lunch break.
It's still a shoddy practice for a large company, though... most gaming stores (and stores in general) don't have to do this, simply because they'll have two people working at the needed times.
Edit: Having said that, looking at the GW website opening hours for that store, seems to suggest on the days it is open, it opens from midday to seven PM so maybe they have taken the decision to have odd opening hours rather than having to close over lunch. Not sure how they handle staff breaks though; if it's a one man store, UK working hour directives state that the chap needs to have a certain amount of break every few hours so maybe he has to hang a 'back in 15 minutes' sign on the door and turf people out?
An independent store might have the owner/operator just eat while they work, or the like, but a chain like GW couldn't get away with fudging those rules here.
My old LGS was run most of the time by one guy, his wife would come and go. Frequently he wouldn't even be in the shop but standing outside smoking a cigar. When you own your own place you can do what you like.
This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2011/12/14 15:45:42
mikhaila wrote:GW US is moving to one man stores, based on what the head guys in the UK have decided worked well in a couple of stores and will work well in the rest of the world. UK says one man stores, US has to move to that. UK has never quite understood that the rest of the world doesn't necessarily work the way the UK does.
Closing for a lunchbreak and coming back an hour later is unknown in the US, for instance.
The shops I know of in the UK don't operate like this. They are not one man operations and they don't shut for dinner.
Perhaps someone is in GW US is pulling a fast one.
The one in Blackpool operates like this (not surprising really). But the guy who runs it has his team of what i like to call LapGeeks. they are the only kids (none of them are older than 14) that actually set foot in there and the guy uses them to maintain the shop, I saw once he had them hoovering the carpet for him when i walked past, and these are meant to be customers!
Oh man, the first monster I see I'm going to sneak up behind him, whip out my wand, and shoot my magic all over his ass.
mikhaila wrote:Nope. It's the direction GW is going in, been many threads and discussions on the change. Not all UK, US, or ROW shops have changed over. But it's the direction Mr. Kirby wants to go, and was based on models they set up in the UK
I wasn't aware of any one-man GW stores in the UK, certainly no trend. Maybe Covent Garden in London, that's pretty tiny (one small table) and there was one guy when I went in. But most GWUK stores are of a reasonable size and staffed by a couple of people at all times.
There are around 50 1-man stores in the UK out of the 130 or so total stores. That's a pretty big trend!
The one-man stores close for 30 minutes each day for lunch. Though from visiting several stores this is up to the manager what time he closes.
Store closures? Heh. They're finally opening a store in Cincinnati. I believe it was Mark Twain that said Cincinnati was ten years behind everybody else
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
The reason people really dislike GW is because they do so much bull crap to the gaming community, that in fact, they dont give a rats **** about the gaming community. All they are is a business. If you look back a few years. GW's attitude towards price's and business really changed when they got listed on the London Stock exchange.
I love 40k and fantasy. Bin playing those games for 10 or 11 years. But because of the bull crap they keep giving us. Its helped me get into other games such as FoW, and DBMM ancients.
I havent bought from GW in over 7 years. I get my models from gaming conventions. Trademe (NZ ebay). and Friends. And it costs me like 50% less then what most people normally pay. Im quite sad at the moment because for the first time in 7 years I had to buy a Dwarf Battalion for $180.... $180 for 43 models (I think it's 43).
Automatically Appended Next Post: The only times I go in a GW store is to troll them about their crappy finecast models and why their prices are so high. Within 15min I usually get kicked out, BUT NEVER banned!... HA!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/12/15 03:28:59
Lots
Dwarfs: Lots
"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat."
Check out my blog at: averydwarfishblog.blogspot.com
The only times I go in a GW store is to troll them about their crappy finecast models and why their prices are so high. Within 15min I usually get kicked out, BUT NEVER banned!... HA!
Your mommy must be so proud.
Even as someone who has sworn off GW forever and thinks GW stores in the US are a stupid idea, I can't really see the OP's info as "the beginning of the end". It's my understanding there were way too many GW stores in the Baltimore area, anyway. GW stores close and open all the time, it seems. Now, if they close down a large number of stores without opening any, then that'll be a big deal.
Even if I were still buying GW, I don't think I'd buy from my local GW store... there's at least three independent shops equally distant with much more space to play (5+ Tables, as opposed to the GW's 1).
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2011/12/15 03:45:50
Howard A Treesong wrote:50?!? I'm well out of the loop then, because I've only seen one.
Off the top of my head from stores I've been to: Kings Lynn, Winchester, Loughborough, Leamington, Livingston, Barnstaple, Angel, Newport, Cwmbran, Nuneaton, Kettering, Maidenhead, Bury, Newbury, Kendal, Durham, Torquay, Bradgord, Gloucester... etc...
Tech Guard wrote:Yeah some of the fine cast I have bought lately have been fantastic. But the original versions were horrible. I still love GW stuff but the one thing that stops me buying rediculous amounts of "plastic crack" is painting time.
I bought An airbrush two days ago, when I walked into a GW store today I showed them some of the work I had done. So they eventually found out I was using an airbrush. That was when the gak hit the fan, they told me that "their" products, should be painted with "their" paints, and "their" spray gun. I will no longer be supporting GW stores, I will still buy their products every now and again. But as of today I am only buying from FLGS. I still love their models, but their business model is killing me.
That is so funny in a sad kind of way. It's almost as good as the Red Shirt who insisted that GW 'invented power armour and space marines'' and another one who insisted that ' it was againsted the law (and the IP) to use 40k figgies for anything but 40k'?? Really where do they find these guys at old defunct cult club houses who are looking for a new 'Leader'?
I am glad that Mike D got back on his feet and is doing well. In my time with GW I have seen them do some really moves by 'upper managment in GW canada like fireing perfectly good managers because they where not 'ruthless' enough with there employee's and customers (and that was a area managers exact words not mine).
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/12/15 11:56:45
Tech Guard wrote:Yeah some of the fine cast I have bought lately have been fantastic. But the original versions were horrible. I still love GW stuff but the one thing that stops me buying rediculous amounts of "plastic crack" is painting time.
I bought An airbrush two days ago, when I walked into a GW store today I showed them some of the work I had done. So they eventually found out I was using an airbrush. That was when the gak hit the fan, they told me that "their" products, should be painted with "their" paints, and "their" spray gun. I will no longer be supporting GW stores, I will still buy their products every now and again. But as of today I am only buying from FLGS. I still love their models, but their business model is killing me.
That is so funny in a sad kind of way. It's almost as good as the Red Shirt who insisted that GW 'invented power armour and space marines'' and another one who insisted that ' it was againsted the law (and the IP) to use 40k figgies for anything but 40k'?? Really where do they find these guys at old defunct cult club houses who are looking for a new 'Leader'?
During my time following GW, both as an employee and customer, it's always amazed me how different the types of staff can be in a store. It ranges from those who can't toe the company line, become massively cynical and are usually fired or leave within 6 months, to those who seem to have their brains entirely taken over to the point where they have lost the ability for independent thought. The problem is I think over the last decade or so the pendulum has swung firmly towards that latter camp, in terms of the staff I generally encounter. Of course their are exceptions (and I've been lucky enough to have a sequence of great managers in stores near me), and of course you need to take some pride and have some belief in your job, but I still think there is a line in the sand that should not be crossed. Such as those comments above for instance, things that could only ever make sense to the mind-wiped jobsworth.
While this doesn't matter so much on the sales floor, beyond being an irritation, I think this 'yes man' mentality has spread further up the tree and to the decision making process. GW has done several completely mind-boggling things over the last year, which can only lead me to assume that there is someone saying, "I know, why don't we do this?" which is answered with a muted nodding of heads, the staff who would have perhaps pointed out a problem with it long since gone. Either that, or there is some kind of hive mind controlling all the staff with psychic tendrils inserted into their brains? I think it has to be one of these two explanations.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/12/15 14:24:10
Pacific wrote:While this doesn't matter so much on the sales floor, beyond being an irritation, I think this 'yes man' mentality has spread further up the tree and to the decision making process. GW has done several completely mind-boggling things over the last year, which can only lead me to assume that there is someone saying, "I know, why don't we do this?" which is answered with a muted nodding of heads, the staff who would have perhaps pointed out a problem with it long since gone. Either that, or there is some kind of hive mind controlling all the staff with psychic tendrils inserted into their brains? I think it has to be one of these two explanations.
spaceelf wrote:GW just announced their latest store closing. The Yorkridge MD store will close by the end of the month.
This must be part of their brilliant cost saving plans to make their company appear more financially sound than it really is. First it was one man stores. Now it is no store at all. If we are really lucky they will discontinue finecast.
All of this is good news for FLGS and competitors of GW.
Capitansolstice wrote:According the GW manager here, We have the biggest Non-bunker GW In the US!!! It has 6 Game tables, and a hobby area for 10
It is always good to promote your store. However, you may not want to highlight the size given that GW has been downsizing and closing shops. Yorkridge which is about to close has five tables, and intro table and a 10 person paint bar.
It is ironic that GW went with the small one man shop idea from Japan, and then proceeded to close its shops in that country. I wonder if GW's sales in Japan have gone down since the closures.
@Lone Cat: I am surprised that GW has not made more out of worldwide campaigns. It is one thing that they have over FLGS.
Capitansolstice wrote:According the GW manager here, We have the biggest Non-bunker GW In the US!!! It has 6 Game tables, and a hobby area for 10
Think the Voohees NJ store is the same size. I know they have at least 6 tables. I think the Franklin Mills store used to have about 8, but the move down to Cottman avenue left them with I think 2 and a demo table.
....and lo!.....The Age of Sigmar came to an end when Saint Veetock and his hamster legions smote the false Sigmar and destroyed the bubbleverse and lead the true believers back to the Old World.
Pacific wrote:While this doesn't matter so much on the sales floor, beyond being an irritation, I think this 'yes man' mentality has spread further up the tree and to the decision making process. GW has done several completely mind-boggling things over the last year, which can only lead me to assume that there is someone saying, "I know, why don't we do this?" which is answered with a muted nodding of heads, the staff who would have perhaps pointed out a problem with it long since gone. Either that, or there is some kind of hive mind controlling all the staff with psychic tendrils inserted into their brains? I think it has to be one of these two explanations.
Recently they had a guy from up the chain at a local GW and sweet christ it was impossible to reason with the man, everytime someone said fluff he busted out "please use background as it is important because we are selling 20 million books blah blah blah" he also gave the manager there some lovely gems like "to increase sales you should kick out all your regulars and start a new customer base", but the one that really pissed me off was when he told the manager to order less white dwarves so when they sell out you can upsell a subscription so you are always guaranteed a copy.
The company is full underhanded little s like this, and he is the one training new managers in north america! GW do not give a flying gak about us, they litterally want to steal your money and run.
Rick Priestley said it best:
Bryan always said that if the studio ever had to mix with the manufacturing and sales part of the business it would destroy the studio. And I have to say – he wasn’t wrong there! The modern studio isn’t a studio in the same way; it isn’t a collection of artists and creatives sharing ideas and driving each other on. It’s become the promotions department of a toy company – things move on!
Capitansolstice wrote:According the GW manager here, We have the biggest Non-bunker GW In the US!!! It has 6 Game tables, and a hobby area for 10
Think the Voohees NJ store is the same size. I know they have at least 6 tables. I think the Franklin Mills store used to have about 8, but the move down to Cottman avenue left them with I think 2 and a demo table.
huh who knew. I definitely have seen downsizing, They aren't closing down our GW, which is ok, because sadly there are no hobby shops besides it, but they went from 3 people down to one in less than 5 months
Lots
moves by 'upper managment in 
s like this, and he is the one training new managers in north america! 