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When I used to frequent GW stores (not anymore) if I ever wanted to hobby in-store (which was rare) I'd bring my own stuff. I don't see this as an issue either way, really.

My manager implimented this policy back in 2009. We even office spaced our paint carousel into the front our till desk. (it's amazing how that plastic exploded! )

Simply put, we used to have a $200 per month write-off allowance. The idea being we'd use this for things like a store army project, terrain projects, paint & brushes for lessons/store projects, etc...
Well, it got to the point that we'd use that $200 within about two and a half weeks all on the stupid painting table because people were so brutal with the supplies. Forget mixing the colours in the various paint pots, we'd put out 3 new brushes and after about 2 hours, they'd be completed demolished. (and not by the little kids you'd honestly think would be the main culprits)

Nope, our problems were mostly caused by regulars who honestly should've known better, but didn't care because it wasn't their own personal stuff. Sure we'd tell people off when we saw crap like Mr.Ultramarine come up and demand more blue wash after he's emptied 3 entire pots onto his 2000pts army, but making up a specific case-by-case list AND inforcing it would have been a total nightmare!
So, we took the privalige away from everyone to be fair across the board.

The other much bigger issues we noticed;
a) Before we implimented our new store policy, that paint rack would sit nearly full all the time and paint sales would trickle in maybe 2-3 pots a day.
b) After we made people bring their own stuff, we couldn't keep that paint rack stocked! It looked rather barren most of the time and our end of month numbers grew significantly!

It's about time HQ made this a company-wide policy imho!

I cant blame them at all if it is true about the majority of the stores becoming creches, if parents are going to leave their kids they should have to buy the stuff they use.
Its a bit bad on those that used to use it properly, but i am sure they will ge over it, afterall, they are a busines.

About time...

It's been "use your own brushes" for a good while here, so i'm not surprised at all about extending it to paints.

In fact, it makes it easier for me if I want to paint something, because I don't have to have one eye on my model and another on my paints so nobody hijacks them; if the only paints you're allowed to use are your own, then there's no question as the ownership of the pots you are using.

I can also see why they don't want their Skull White to become Skull Pink, or their Bad Moon Yellow to become Bad Moon Orange.

I'd say it's fair enough.

I have to agree with the prevailing opinion.

If you think about it, it's pretty cool that there's a space to publicly paint and do hobby stuff at all. I wonder how a independent store could use that kind of thing to make it into more of a profit-stream: Maybe combine some of the ideas from places that call themselves 'hackerspaces' or 'makerspaces' and have access to more exotic tools available for rent (to adults)?

I kind of always knew this day would come.

When I fist paid visit to a GW hobby center I was shocked to see that GW provided such a courtesy to their customers. It was a nice pleasantry, but I knew it couldn't last. Offering a fully stocked hobby table cannibalizes their sales of those products.

It's not a surprise nor do I fault them for doing it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Balance wrote:I have to agree with the prevailing opinion.

If you think about it, it's pretty cool that there's a space to publicly paint and do hobby stuff at all. I wonder how a independent store could use that kind of thing to make it into more of a profit-stream: Maybe combine some of the ideas from places that call themselves 'hackerspaces' or 'makerspaces' and have access to more exotic tools available for rent (to adults)?

Large independent stores at a partnership level are given an allotment of complimentary paints and products to do such things.

I know quite a few people who lick their brushes in their mouth to make it a finer tip.

I always use my own brushes as you really get used to how specific brushes apply paint especially small ones.

I can see why they would do this... People totally take paints and overuse them, especially washes. I knew a guy who would paint at home and show up and wash his entire army in the store just so he didn't have to buy washes as he liked GW washes but not GW paints.

As someone who wouldn't wipe my ass with GW, I agree with this decision. GW stores are not hobby centers.... Okay, that was low (see: honest) of me....

But seriously, if people want to paint, bring your own crap. I am amazed GW even did this in the first place. I can only imagine how many brushes were stolen by doing this.

My GW was saying the other day that last month they wrote off $300 worth of paint because of starter lessons, people painting in store, etc. I really can't blame them for stopping.

The Seattle Bunker doesn't offer paint, brushes, or tools in general for customers to use. This isn't because they're being underhanded, rather it's because some bad apples ruined it for the rest of us because they'd mistreat the paints (leave pots open or even steal them), the brushes, tools (broken snips, would you believe it?), etc.

So, this new policy doesn't affect me at all. Sucks for people who've become accustomed to it though.

It may be a sign of the apocalypse that so many people on Dakka are NOT vilifying GW for this.

DarknessEternal wrote:It may be a sign of the apocalypse that so many people on Dakka are NOT vilifying GW for this.

Well, stop and consider just how many LFGS are around that let customers use paints/brushes, etc. as a free service. None of the ones I've ever been to did that. YMMV, of course, but it's pretty common in "the community" to expect people to buy their own supplies regardless of which company you buy your models from.

Well , In my closest GWs store this has been implemented this week,and it saddens me.
I used to be that dude painting and basically doing the staff's job with the kids "teaching" them painting basics ,which I did rather happily since I was using the store's tools/paints ...
Well, that just means I'll drop by less and less frequently ...

I always assumed that it was for beginner painting lessons. *shrugs*

This is a smart move, and a needed one. I've found in retail, 10% of your customers create 90% of your problems but only generate 1% of your sales.

Experiment 626's post pretty much says it all

Lobukia wrote:This is a smart move, and a needed one. I've found in retail, 10% of your customers create 90% of your problems but only generate 1% of your sales.

Experiment 626's post pretty much says it all

And of that 10% creating the problems, most of them seem to be 18+ and yet when these kinds of new policies go into effect, automatically blame the 'stupid kids for ruining it yet again'.
Out of the hundreds of academy classes I ran, I can count on 1 hand the number of kids who were just too dumb to learn how to re-point their brush properly and take proper care of their stuff. Go figure.

My all time favourite example of self-entitled ignorance; The 20-something guy who'd come in outright demanding you to go outside and prime his models with the store's primer...
when the winds are gusting past 60Km/hr...
and it's -30...
in the middle of a raging blizzard!

Experiment 626 wrote:

Lobukia wrote:This is a smart move, and a needed one. I've found in retail, 10% of your customers create 90% of your problems but only generate 1% of your sales.

Experiment 626's post pretty much says it all

And of that 10% creating the problems, most of them seem to be 18+ and yet when these kinds of new policies go into effect, automatically blame the 'stupid kids for ruining it yet again'.
Out of the hundreds of academy classes I ran, I can count on 1 hand the number of kids who were just too dumb to learn how to re-point their brush properly and take proper care of their stuff. Go figure.

My all time favourite example of self-entitled ignorance; The 20-something guy who'd come in outright demanding you to go outside and prime his models with the store's primer...
when the winds are gusting past 60Km/hr...
and it's -30...
in the middle of a raging blizzard!

Yeah when I worked there that was a problem. People coming in and demanding you to prime stuff for them like whole armies. That got real old real fast as I was the priming guy as I could sneak a smoke in when I was outside priming. The manager got rid of that real fast because it was over the 200-300 dollar write off limit. Plus I was outside smoking like a chimney most days.

@626 I bet you also had to walk uphill both ways to get to the priming spot in your bare feet also eh?

hmm, perhaps I should offer a priming service to my local community. Since I airbrush it all, I could gurantee a smooth and proper primer finish! I'll have to put that out there. What would be a proper price to charge just for priming?

50 cents or a buck a model? (after they buy the primer)

I share brushes, but it irks me to watch someone using my brush
in a way I don't like (such as licking it). I'd rather people just bring
their own all the time.

My shop has already implemented this. They used to have the carousel and got rid of it for a while, brought it back, then got rid of it again when the previous(awesome) manager left and his replacement needed to suck-up to his trainer a bit for the first few weeks of his promotion. Mostly people just used them when they wanted try out a different color or left a color at home. Not many people painted only using the rack, except for young'uns who could not afford both paint and models and few people who should have known better. The paints are still there for the staff to use, but you can ask the staff to(unofficially) try out a color if they know you are good for it.

They had brushes too, but they were mostly crappy castaways only good for drybrushing.

They still have tools too, but you can only use them for emergency repairs for the most part(of if they know you own the tool and forgot it).

Lobukia wrote:50 cents or a buck a model? (after they buy the primer)

Well I only use Vallejo primer that I would supply. I can prime about 100 infantry with a 17ml bottle, so that comes out to about $.04 per model cost.

DarknessEternal wrote:It may be a sign of the apocalypse that so many people on Dakka are NOT vilifying GW for this.

Why would we vilify this? It's really not that big a deal. I'm somewhat surprised by it purely from a sentimental viewpoint - GWOZ has been allowing people to paint in their stores since before I started playing - but in the greater scheme of things it doesn't matter all that much and is probably a good thing.

Just thinking of my local GW that will free up space for another table. How's that a bad thing?

H.B.M.C. wrote:

DarknessEternal wrote:It may be a sign of the apocalypse that so many people on Dakka are NOT vilifying GW for this.

Why would we vilify this? It's really not that big a deal. I'm somewhat surprised by it purely from a sentimental viewpoint - GWOZ has been allowing people to paint in their stores since before I started playing - but in the greater scheme of things it doesn't matter all that much and is probably a good thing.

Just thinking of my local GW that will free up space for another table. How's that a bad thing?

I hadn't thought of the option of another table in place of the painting table! That would be nice as my local GW only has 2 tables.

They're not going to get rid of any painting tables, otherwise the hundreds of millions of screaming children that enter GW brisbane every day couldn't get their intro painting sesh.

sarcasm doesn't translate well on the interwebz.

Means little to me. I use Tamiya and Testors paints and brushes. I never cared for GW painting supplies.

awww, but I want to use the half eaten, split, paint caked brushes rather than my own well kept, clean brushes :(

Went in today and saw the GWs had already gotten a headstart. Painting supplies is now a paint station with a cutting mat, the hobby starter paint set and a couple of intro brushes. Giving the new blood a little taste of what it's like I guess.

Might filter out some of the 'drop-and-leave' kids. As a regular, no real reason to go in now apart from games. Got my setup at home, which means I no longer have a vested interest in supporting the store.