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Here is what I don't like about GW stores:
High costs.
Poor hours for 1 man stores, Mondays and Tuesdays would be great with my schedule or earlier mornings even 10am which is not early 1pm is just too late and with the lunch break at 3pm where if you are in the middle of the game you gotta leave while they take their break, a lot of managers will take an in store break, I appreciate this but come on GW hire a 2nd person so it can be open 7 days a week and earlier hours 5 out of the 7 days.

What I like about it and yes it helps to justify the higher costs:
Employees that will game with you, they will help teach you to paint, help you to build, a few months back I had a manager sit down with me for a couple hours and build 2 metal SSCs, you can't put a price on that.
My next 2 closest independent stores don't even play 40k and fantasy is completely out of the question, they sell it but don't know the rules even.

Interms of a GW opening up, my Area heard GW had plans for placing a GWHQ in Abq, new mexico. Thus the local community hid the popularity of the game and the Hq never set up. Now we have clubs, and just meet at the stores for gaming tables. However, lately we have been running into club warfare so to speak. All the highly skilled players pulled into one group, and the casuals into another. Some of us who fall on the boarder line kinda traveled between the two groups. Of course its very silly, but very funny.

So /thread you have gaming tables your store wins.

I don't think it will. FLGS' and GW attracts two different kinds of groups. The former groups of hobbyists and mini wargamers, the latter walk-in kids and confused parents. GW does not support or want regulars playing games in their stores, or discussing things or socializing. That is why a FLGS is not in threat.

nanook wrote:
It is odd the difference between the US and UK gaming places. It sounds like in the US you all go to a FLGS to play whereas in the UK we tend to all go to clubs.

I wonder why we do it this way?

A cultural thing I guess. in my years of gaming ive found that I far prefer to find a group of people into the same game(s) and play at home. Among other things its nice to go game without feeling the need to buy something. Sometimes you just dont need anything, and doing it in a store always gave me the feeling I should buy something every visit.

Here in the UK, our houses are usually small relative to US ones. Very few of us have space for a gaming table, and there no such thing here as a den or games room, except for the well off.

So, with clubs of all types renting hall space, we share space with Scouts and Guides groups, knitting circles, car clubs, etc.
I don't know of many village/town halls being used for gaming, but there's a church in every village, and most have halls.

There's a lot of use of rooms in pubs. They sell pints, we drink and play, and maybe pay a bit of rent for the room.

So, us Brits (and in other parts of the world), we're getting out of the house to meet up in a cheap-rent space, which usually has fold-out tables already. We just have to make room when the odd wedding/kids party/harvest festival needs the hall.

As for GW turning up, the staff will introduce and train up the new players, and send them on to the clubs.

I sometimes wonder why they run stores anymore, when you consider the game is huge and players bring in friends, families, partners all the time you'd wonder why GW adds on the expense of opening new stores.

And then closing them a month later

 cincydooley wrote:
We've had one open within the last year or so in our area. It hasn't seemed to affect our main two GW peddlers at all.

It has actually brought more people into the game, however.

It really has brought more people to the LGSs, partially because the original manager/employee at the GeeDub store was a corporate tool and didnt start playing until AFTER he was hired. The guy who runs the place now actually allows open gaming and is a lot nicer than the old one.

It just depends on location, I personally rarely go to the GW store because its almost an hour drive on a good day, and the closest LGS to me is the best in the area (price and table-wise).

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Provide gaming space.
Keep the environment clean and friendly.
Sell the GW stock at 10% off.

Should work just fine.

This seems to be the biggest issue at my FLGS :l

If anything, the GW stores get people into the game, who will move to the FLGS to join the regular wargaming community at large.

At least, that's what happened when the GW moved near my FLGS.