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First off, I am going to qualify this post:

The intent is not to slag any front line employees of Games Workshop - as all the issues that I'd like to address are procedural rather than staffing issues.

This is written from the perspective of a Canadian in the context of the new combined GWNA operation.

-edit- Since Mikhaila has called me out on this, this post is based on observation browsing through GW Lawrence in Toronto, and talks with three independent retailers in Toronto as well as a number of former GW staffers. It is -known- that the guy formerly in charge of GW Canada was let go, and it -is- known that GWNA did not retain any of its Canadian sales reps.

-edit- Update - Corrected facts in red - December 4, 2008

It is painfully obvious that GW is in the midst of a massive restructuring in a hamfisted attempt to make the now combined GW Canada / GWUS, aka GWNA a profitable entity. The majority of GW Canada's staff appears to have been let go, as all the local retailers were suddenly referred to the former GWUS office, now GWNA.

Exhibit A: Shipping Issues
The newly merged entity has exhibitted a very spotty shipping record to the Canadian region. I am unable to comment if this is a wider problem in the US as well. Local independent retailers have noted that the instances of shipping errors is very high, in that almost no shipment is received without at least one error. While they are happy with the decreased time needed to ship regular stock items, the level of errors is unacceptable. As well, communication between GWNA and retailers once serviced by GW Can seems to be poor. Shipping problems doesn't seem to be restricted to independents either... While on a business trip in Toronto in the last week of November, I was in GW's newest Toronto store, near Yonge and Lawrence. I immediately noticed the shelves were uncharacteristically bare of product. When the staff were asked about the reduction in product levels, the answer was that (a) Product lines offered in store were being pared back to mostly box kits, with the majority of blisters being mail-order only, and (b) NONE OF THE STORES IN CANADA HAD RECEIVED A SHIPMENT THAT WEEK. While I am sure that the GW staff are doing all they can with the increased load, not shipping to an entire region would seem to indicate a problem in management.
The non-shipment was indeed due to an oversight caused by the Thanksgiving holiday, and it has been noted that it is an isolated event, hopefully, never to happen again.

Exhibit B: Reorganizing the Retail Outlets
This one was briefly touched on in the previous section. I am not sure what kind of advantage GW thinks they can gain by cutting down the product that the store carries. While I understand that all that product takes up valuable real estate - having a GW retail store that doesn't stock the whole (or at least most of the) line seems kind of pointless. To me, the idea of having a retail chain is for 1. promotion and 2. distribution. While I realize that stocking the WHOLE of GW's production items is prohibitive - it is kind of non-intuitive to have a store that omits significant quantities of their product lines! Let me qualify this:

Not stocking specialist games: Sensible
Not stocking discontinued armies (Chaos Dwarves): Sensible
Not stocking special characters: Hmm...
Not stocking slow moving armies (Dark Eldar, Inquisition): Hmm...
Not stocking special weapons and unit upgrades: WTF
Not stocking blister only models: WTF
GW will continue to stock squad upgrades and blister only figures from the supported ranges. Any items missing from the range are a result of variance in stock.

Having the GW retail store need "special order" what the customer needs in this modern age is idiotic, considering that that same customer can order that same item through GW's web store, and have it delivered, or order it from any number of internet distributors, for a discount. On top of this, GW seems to have done away with all the part timers (in Canada at least)... They also seem to be slowly relocating outlets away from the high rent mall districts into other lower rent areas. So, in restructuring, they have accomplished a few things - none of them positive.
Part timers are still working in the outlets, although they are thinking of adopting the US model of eliminating them.

1. The staff is probably more expensive, as it is made up of full timers instead of part timers. I wonder how this is working out for them, since nobody in their right mind would want to work full time for GW considering their "legendary" wage rates.
2. Reduction of traffic from the store - you can't rely on the store to have what you need right away - so no "last minute" tweaks to your army. The typical GW outlet no longer has a better range of product compared to many independents - and one can order online for comparable rates.
3. Reduction of exposure to new players due to relocation of outlets.

Seriously, if you're going to hamstring your own retail outlets in this fashion, you might as well shut them all the way down and put all those full-timers into the main office, and work on supporting the FLGS network. Right now, you are competing with the FLGS network (arguably), offering them (and yourself) piss poor support from shipping, and still hemoraging money from the outlet chain.

Exhibit C: Canadian Retailer Costs
Canadian retailers don't buy at the same rate as US retailers, even though they are being supplied from the same source, GWNA, from the same location in Memphis. The extra cost certainly isn't related to shipping, since apparently, that is invoiced seperately from product, and it isn't tied to exchange, since there is no option to buy at American funds. While getting screwed on the retailer discount is nothing new for Canadian independents, this, combined with not getting product, and having all their reps sacked and getting redirected to GWNA has left them somewhat frustrated.

Exhibit D: The Low Cost Fixes!
Ok. So you're asking - "Mr Wiseguy", how would YOU fix some of these problems?

(a) Fixing the shipping issue: Give the poor guy in shipping some help.
(b) Fixing the store issue: Use part timers, instead of cutting down on product carried, restructure product lines to reduce packaging (cost savings) and redudant kits (space savings). GW is already doing this, albiet in their typical idiotic fashion. The new Land Raider crusader / redeemer is a combo kit. That's great. The question is why in god's name they decided to put a land raider in there. They could sell the sprues seperately (boxed together) and save a butt-load of space on the wall, since they have to stock the regular land raider anyways. On top of that, if they made a pack with just the chaos sprues, they could eliminate the chaos predator, rhino, landraider and vindicator from the shelves. The Skyray kit already contains a hammerhead. Why do they keep selling the hammerhead seperately? Just change the box-art! Further savings could be had doing the Landraider thing with all the rhino, russ and chimera chassis type vehicles. In addition, boxed kits like chaos raptors and havocs could be fit into the small boxes - thus freeing up more space, where as the decision to go back to boxes for kits like the lictor and biovores seems like a step backwards. This is not rocket science guys! Inteligent packaging could save tons of space without having to cut the amount of product carried!
(c) Equalize buy in costs and keep exchange and shipping seperate. Get more guys in shipping. 'nuff said.

Other low cost things that would "enhance the GW brand" would be:

(d) Give the rulez-guy some help! Merge him and the events crew, and add a few bodies to put out some universal FAQs and Errata!
(e) Tighten up the rules. The costs for doing this are small compared to all the other areas of development (promotion and model production).

Anyhow. Overall, it looks like GWNA is has the right idea in cutting costs... but they sure are going about it the wrong way. GWNA has to be lean and mean in this tight economic climate - and the glacial rate at which change is implemented at GW is going to cost them. Hope they wise up soon!

-edit- Formatting.
-edit- Corrections.

While on a business trip in Toronto in the last week of November...
...NONE OF THE STORES IN CANADA HAD RECEIVED A SHIPMENT THAT WEEK.

This is no excuse, especially for a retail establishment, but you are aware that this was Thanksgiving week in the US, yes?

Just though I'd point that out considering that it appears to be your "last straw", as it were.

Carry on.

@ blue loki: Not the last straw, but a symptom of problems within their system, as there seems to be little communication even between GW's warehouse and their own stores, and definite communications problems between GW and the independents.

The rumour on the street is that there is only one guy looking after shipping to all the stores in Canada, and only a few more guys than that looking after all of the US. This to me, smacks of cost cutting that is removing muscle, instead of fat.

GWUK also has a policy of not stocking any of the minority blister packed items.

See my thread about ordering Commander Shadowsun.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/222611.page

It isn't such a big problem to me as long as the customer can order the minority stuff online or at the shop and get it delivered reliably. However, in my case the ordering and delivery was totally screwed up.

Any retailer should stock the fastest moving and highest profit lines first.

GW shops are not just shops, though, they are recruitment stations for The Hobby, so they need to be in places where people are going to visit. That may mean city centre locations or it may mean suburban shopping centres.

Epic Fail.

I guess I'm just lucky enough to live (reasonably) close to a store (independant from GW) that's sensible enough to stock nearly everything from the GW line (including specialist games), and simply restock when they need to. They even carry most popular non-GW lines. I guess since they hold the monopoly on any tabletop hobby within the area (we don't even have a GW store for miles), then they can afford to do that and still profit.

GW seriously needs to step up their support for their own stores.

Eh, I take the original post with a big grain of salt.

It's not first hand experience, (not that that ever means a damn thing on the internet). It's not from a retailer, and certainly not from all the retailers affected.

I've heard directly from several retailers in Canada that are very happy with the change. Should I put up a post labled "Epic Win, or just Win?"

But we should all feel free to keep complaining about how horrible GW is, otherwise our post counts will suffer.

mikhaila: Thanks for just stopping short of calling me an outright liar. That gives me a great fuzzy feeling.

Feel free to put up a post about how awesome GWNA is to Canadian and US retailers. I for one would love to hear about it. Feel free to indicate how Canadian retailers have always been dealt with fairly by GW as a whole. By your comments, you are obviously much more qualified to comment on this particular point than I am. Heck, I just BUY from retailers, what do I know!

I would also diasgree with Keezus.

I have seen next to none of the problems he mentions at my local GW (Ottawa). They get prompt delivery of their product all the time, carry close to complete blister ranges, full special weapons choices, etc...

They have a few part timers who work there as well.

As for special ordering stuff from GW. I like the idea, you pay retail and no shipping charges or *shudder* customs charges.

I think the merger has done good things not bad.

If these allegations came from a company rep or someone who is not just an normal off the street gamer they might have more 'oomphh' to them, but as of now, do like Mikhaila says and take the initial post with a grain of salt...

Things aren't nearly close to that bad.

I'm not calling you a liar, anymore than I'm saying anything you say is 100% true. The statement I made implies that I don't take you seriously, like most of what you read on the internet.

Take it however you want, I really don't care.

I get tired of the long rants with second hand information that seem to be a staple of dakka at times. You're free to post them, I'm free to reply to them.

And no, you wouldn't "love to hear it", you just want more fodder to complain about.

I've made many posts over the years about GW's treatment of retailers in the US, feel free to go read them whenever you want. My only knowledge of how Canadian retailers have been treated is from conversations with a few of them on the retailer boards.

You posted your view. I posted my view. Neither of us has first hand information. There are probably retailers getting good treatment, and some getting bad treatment.

If I have to order it online, I'm not ordering it from GW. I'll get it at a discount from one of the online retailers rather than have to pay full retail anyway and still go online. The reason it needs to be in the store is because I want it now and it's convenient. Remove the convenience and I'll get it from the lowest priced retailer.

keezus wrote:It is painfully obvious that GW is in the midst of a massive restructuring

Exhibit A: Shipping Issues
The newly merged entity has exhibitted a very spotty shipping record to the Canadian region.

Exhibit B: Reorganizing the Retail Outlets
Not stocking specialist games: Sensible
Not stocking discontinued armies (Chaos Dwarves): Sensible
Not stocking special characters: Hmm...
Not stocking slow moving armies (Dark Eldar, Inquisition): Hmm...
Not stocking special weapons and unit upgrades: WTF
Not stocking blister only models: WTF

Exhibit C: Canadian Retailer Costs
Canadian retailers don't buy at the same rate as US retailers, even though they are being supplied from the same source, GWNA, from the same location in Memphis. The extra cost certainly isn't related to shipping, since apparently, that is invoiced seperately from product, and it isn't tied to exchange, since there is no option to buy at American funds.

Good for GW - NAFTA is how old?

A. I blame Canada Post. Seriously, your mail sucks. Especially Canadian Customs. I won't trade or ship to Canada if at all possible.

B. GW sells boxes of plastic - *all* of the rest that you mention sells rarely / slowly, and has high production cost (metal minis). Good on GW for cutting them from the shelves.

C. Canada has VAT that GW has to charge. Go Canada!

Canada Post really is quite dreadful, and I don't know how you guys do it, but I've had a number of bad experiences, and wouldn't blame GW for bad shipping in Canada.

You know, I special order through my indy retailer quite a bit. I walked in on Monday, asked my Indy Owner for a pair of the melta gun blister packs. Wednesday, I had my meltas. I think it was $6USD for 5 guns? No shipping. Not even Neal can spank THAT ass.

I know the company I now work for now refuses to ship to Canada- though we have shipped to several smaller countries in Africa and South America (where I assumed the postal system would be less effective- it isn't).

Also, most of the problems you mention about indy retailers in Canada I've heard from the FLGS in the US. Like Killkrazy mentioned, a lot of blisters have gone to direct only everywhere, not just Canada. I think this is a bad idea, but not particularly caused by the creation of GWNA.

As a consumer I am somewhat unhappy with the change. I miss being able to walk into the store and pick up a random blister that I wanted, or even find a random blister that I didn't know I wanted- granted it's no reason to muck up the store with all sorts of product that doesn't sell, I'm just going to miss it.

Also, at my local GW, the computer that they installed so that you can order online from the store would have to be the single worst computer they could have bought. The speed reminds me of when I was a kid and I had my 14.4 kbps modem in my Amstrad PC.

All displeasure aside, I hope it turns their US stores into the profitable entities that they want. Id rather deal with minor inconveniences that have they close down my local GW; there are no FLGS's anywhere near where I live.

Just some info for you....

Apparently, from talking to the guys at the GWNA HQ, the Canadian reps were godawful. Didn' do their jobs, went swimming instead of attending conferences at the annual managers conference, things like that.

GW doesn't have part timers anymore because they would hire a guy PT, whose regular job brought in 50K, and he would have access to the GW discount, so apparently it was abused or they were losing money on the deal. I dunno about that...I'd figure 2 part timers buying lots of product would be cheaper then 1 full timer with health insurance and all.

Ordering special items....if you order through a store, you don't pay shipping. If you go to the web and order it to your home, you pay shipping.

Mall rents are extremely high. Outlying strip malls in the right area saves them a ton of money.

The purpose of the GW store is to recruit new people into the hobby. Once you are a veteran, you should be going to the FLGS or organizing your own club or playing at home.

The price differences have nothing to do with the exchange rate of US and Canadian dollars. Its done based on charges from the UK to Canada, taxes etc.

My "club" plays at the local GW.

You can order at home, have it shipped to the store, and avoid shipping charges. I do that often for online-only things like specialist games.

Strip malls are infinitely better all around: Usually in a more residential neighborhood making it easier for younger recruits to get hooked. Lower rents. etc.

Breton wrote:

You can order at home, have it shipped to the store, and avoid shipping charges. I do that often for online-only things like specialist games.

I wanted to highlight this remark. I don't know if you all know how revolutionary in-store pick up is. Ordering online and picking up in store is the new black. Over half of Circuit City's online orders are picked up in store and a third of Walmart.com's orders are. The fact that GW developed and offers this service is outstanding and those of you with a GW store near you are lucky.

Ozymandias, King of Kings