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Ouze wrote:What I wouldn't give to live near a gaming place like this :/

Would that list include your current house, job and relationships? If so, ALL THIS CAN BE YOURS!

Kanluwen wrote:

mikhaila wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:

Mikhaila wrote:

Why are there boxes hanging from the ceiling, Mikhaila?

Boxes don't go there!

"Do you sell boxes to put comic books in? What size is a large? Do they have handles? What do they look like once you fold them up"

/Pointtoceiling

But...why the ceiling? Is it just more fun to say "Look up!" or was it just a spur of the moment "Man, those boxes would look awesome hanging from the ceiling" decision?

It boggles my mind, Mik!

Foolish imp, those are the emergency dropbear kennels... Hovering dangerously close to the cash register...


Mike uses them on the unruly, as we witnessed last dakkacon!

Ah Dropbears.

The single greatest thing to come out of the Colonies.

Kanluwen wrote:Ah Dropbears.

The single greatest thing to come out of the Colonies.

I thought that would be Australian women, tikki masala and platypi.

Nah. Dropbears outdo them all.

Kanluwen wrote:but...why the ceiling? Is it just more fun to say "Look up!" or was it just a spur of the moment "Man, those boxes would look awesome hanging from the ceiling" decision?

It boggles my mind, Mik!

Had to put them somewhere I could point to, and I'd already used up all the space on the walls and floor.)

mikhaila wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:but...why the ceiling? Is it just more fun to say "Look up!" or was it just a spur of the moment "Man, those boxes would look awesome hanging from the ceiling" decision?

It boggles my mind, Mik!

Had to put them somewhere I could point to, and I'd already used up all the space on the walls and floor.)

Logical. Ruins all the fun of wild speculation and harebrained theories though!

It's going to be like when we see an explanation for this amazing photograph:

Kanluwen wrote:
It's going to be like when we see an explanation for this amazing photograph:

There is some documentary William Shatner is making where he interviews the different captains from the different Star Trek tv series. Mr Shatner says it was an icebreaker to get the "shy" Chris Pine to open up.

SEE?

The explanation always ruins it!

Did I say documentary?-I meant fight to the death to determine who will be Kirk in the next Star Trek. Let's just say only one of these men has survived fighting a Gorn.

Business question for you Mikhalia: Since you are paying rent by the square foot, how do you make a bunker work for you? I love it when gaming stores have a space to play, but my business mind has never been able to get over the fact that you are paying rent for space that isn't necessarily generating sales.

Oh and the new store looks awesome. Congrats!

Ozymandias wrote:Business question for you Mikhalia: Since you are paying rent by the square foot, how do you make a bunker work for you? I love it when gaming stores have a space to play, but my business mind has never been able to get over the fact that you are paying rent for space that isn't necessarily generating sales.

Oh and the new store looks awesome. Congrats!

For the bunker, I went to the mall and said "Economy sucks, mall is 30% empty, some money is better than No money. I can bring more people to the mall. What's the last fething space in here you think you'll ever rent?" We worked out a deal for 750.00 a month. That's still 9000.00 a year but far less than the 10k a month they'd normall want. From that point on it's a matter of running enough big events to cover the cost of the space, and improvements we had to put in. 10 guys at 10.00 each for 40k doesn't do much. 40 guys at 60.00 each for a GT does. We ran a mix of about 20 events last year. Technically I lost a few thousand dollars, but I have the folding tables, chairs, gaming tables, and scenery that we built. Plus the store did extra sales with extra people attending events.

For the new store, we had a similar situation where the new management wants to fill spaces with new stores, or possibly old stores expanding to bigger spots. We pitched the idea of a much larger store, running a ton of events, and paying additional rent over what we pay for the two spaces based on increased revenues. So if the shop sells more stuff, we pay more rent.

Couldn't have done either deal in good times, but their are opportunities to be taken advantage of in the bad economy.

Hopefully the stores that get the 'halo effect' from your events know this... The food court and such, especially, that probably see a lot of gamer-related business come in when you're doing events!

mikhaila wrote:

Ozymandias wrote:Business question for you Mikhalia: Since you are paying rent by the square foot, how do you make a bunker work for you? I love it when gaming stores have a space to play, but my business mind has never been able to get over the fact that you are paying rent for space that isn't necessarily generating sales.

Oh and the new store looks awesome. Congrats!

For the bunker, I went to the mall and said "Economy sucks, mall is 30% empty, some money is better than No money. I can bring more people to the mall. What's the last fething space in here you think you'll ever rent?" We worked out a deal for 750.00 a month. That's still 9000.00 a year but far less than the 10k a month they'd normall want. From that point on it's a matter of running enough big events to cover the cost of the space, and improvements we had to put in. 10 guys at 10.00 each for 40k doesn't do much. 40 guys at 60.00 each for a GT does. We ran a mix of about 20 events last year. Technically I lost a few thousand dollars, but I have the folding tables, chairs, gaming tables, and scenery that we built. Plus the store did extra sales with extra people attending events.

For the new store, we had a similar situation where the new management wants to fill spaces with new stores, or possibly old stores expanding to bigger spots. We pitched the idea of a much larger store, running a ton of events, and paying additional rent over what we pay for the two spaces based on increased revenues. So if the shop sells more stuff, we pay more rent.

Couldn't have done either deal in good times, but their are opportunities to be taken advantage of in the bad economy.

tl;dr

Mik's got a brain in that skull and knows how to negotiate a good deal!

Eric

Thanks for the explanation! I hope it all continues to go well for you and that the move goes smoothly!

Stopped down today, very nice setup, though it was a little sad not seeing the giant space marine and awesome diorama out front. The reaver titan looked great and the fallen eldar board is pretty wild.

Man the guys around your store are lucky. I really like what I'm seeing just wish it was a bit closer to Hawaii and I would come by to play a game.

Good luck and best wishes.

Swordwind wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:Ah Dropbears.

The single greatest thing to come out of the Colonies.

I thought that would be Australian women, tikki masala and platypi.

Scotland is a colony now?

Store is looking good, mik.

This thread should probably have some updated pics of the store now that they're all moved in. It's a pretty amazing sight to see in person, especially after having been around the old store for as long as it was in the mall.

Lovely! Good luck at the location guys!

WOW! Now THAT is a game store I coudl REALLY be comfortabel hanging out in. I hope your local players knwo what a gem they have in that store!

This is pretty awesome
I wish you luck on your venture dude

The new store is amazing- I highly recommend anyone in the area to check it out! I was there for the DakkaCon GT, and hope to make the next auction

RiTides wrote:The new store is amazing- I highly recommend anyone in the area to check it out! I was there for the DakkaCon GT, and hope to make the next auction

Ah, the auctions... RiTIdes, if there's one thing Mike's done at Showcase that I love most it would be the auctions. There's nothing like rolling in at the end and snapping up some great deals in the lighting round.

Great work Mikhalia Puts most... no, actually all GW stores to shame.

Man, there is SOOOO much more room now. It looks positively cushy. I definitely gotta make it up there soon... hopefully some time in September?

My local GW store is like 1/5 the size of that store :O

Nice work Mike the new store looked great

army310 wrote:Man the guys around your store are lucky. I really like what I'm seeing just wish it was a bit closer to Hawaii and I would come by to play a game.

Good luck and best wishes.

In case your not aware, you have Other Realms on the island at the Ward Ware House. I have been back to the mainland a bit over a year now but if Kyle is still running the joint there you should have plenty of chances to play and do RT's if your up for that. They rent out a hall in the mall every week for gaming and can usually get what ever product your looking for as long as its from main distributors.

Mike and his crew are showing off what can really be done with a opportunity and whats sounds to be good planning. Your right every one should be so lucky to have such a large game and comic store in their city. Have to make a trip to the shop when its all done.

Captain Vyper wrote:Mike and his crew are showing off what can really be done with a opportunity and whats sounds to be good planning. Your right every one should be so lucky to have such a large game and comic store in their city. Have to make a trip to the shop when its all done.

It's all done, Captain Vyper!

@ BBB- I've made two of them, although I usually have to leave before the lightning round to start the drive home. Might try to stay later next time