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Just a side note - clean restrooms can make a HUGE impression on irregular visitors. I’ve seen people actively avoid playing/visiting a store for the fear of having to use the restrooms.
Stormonu wrote: Just a side note - clean restrooms can make a HUGE impression on irregular visitors. I’ve seen people actively avoid playing/visiting a store for the fear of having to use the restrooms.
I often think the real measure of a place is in the quality of their restrooms!
If somewhere is doing really well and the staff are energetic or at least decently paid; then the toilets will be clean and tidy and generally pleasing to use.
If somewhere is starting to get problems then the toilets are one of the first areas to suffer because its a job no one wants to do nor likes. So as soon as cracks start to appear its one job that fast gets passed on and "forgotten" or done poorly or only checked on once a day or where the standards slip. And if cracks are appearing there then its going to have slip-ups elsewhere
Some places can weather this, for example many garage toilets are pretty aweful, but they get away with it because most people only go to a specific one once or twice in their life and never again. They are passing through whilst those who are in the regular area are more likely to use home/work/other facilities. IT also shows that the staff are not paid to clean/don't care/etc... which allows them to get into such a poor state*
*I think with the shift toward many having small supermarkets in them this is slowly changing for the better now.
Overread wrote: But you need MTG players! They pay for the rent, lights, heating, aircon, staff and security
Like it or not all those hipsters and MTG players are more likely to buy more packs locally in the store on a more regular basis than your wargamers. Wargames typically have a lower price mark up and have a slower volume selling pattern.
The key is providing space for both groups and managing the times. Organising events so that each group has its own nights and space to do what they want whilst also being open to drop-in games and groups. This isn't anything more than sensible community management from those in charge.
lol no you don't.
Actually you should stay away from any product from Wizards of the Coast unless it's used. Get Woke Go Broke. WOTC has black listed various stores for saying words they don't like. So if you rely on this company for sales unless it's all used products you will flounder. And potentially face an on-line scandal. A store of fire and dice recently lost their business due to magic the gathering so you should stay clear of it.
I would stay away from Pathfinder 5th edition D&D and new Vampire the Masquerade new stuff. All woke you will go broke. You don't want SJWs in your store period. It will be destroyed
instantly by politics. You can sell all the old stuff tho. My favorite hobby shop sells all used stuff like older models or books. I recently picked up a 4th ed rule book for 40k
You should try very hard to make sure SJW cliques do not have access to your business or it will go under. No cosplayers etc. Try to keep your player base above the age of 30 and beards. Magic the gathering is and all ways will be steeped in the political agenda of WOTC which has crazy politics surrounding it.
Despite the sales of new stuff if someone finds something in your store they think is "racist or misogynistic" And wizards gets wind of it. You could be black listed by the company. Just don't bother at all you don't want or need the headache from magic or wizards products unless they're all used.
Another great business option is retro games in addition to your stuff. Retro games such snes/sega nes 64 etc. Seen a business that does gaming and retro console games do very well
This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2019/02/13 11:51:42
And this ^^^ is why you don't bring personal prejudices into business. Any store owner that had the attitude displayed by the poster above would be one I wouldn't want to go anywhere near. Also, the pyre of businesses that have failed due to some misguided moral crusade on the part of the owner is very tall and burns very brightly. You need to balance moral and ethical concerns with the needs of running a successful business. As a games store you'd need to be very, very confident in your other revenue streams to cut out MtG entirely.
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AndrewGPaul wrote: Common Ground Games in Stirling has rows of gaming tables 4' wide and at the right height for standing at, and also a lot of smaller, lower tables with chairs for board games and card games. There's room for both, and you don't end up with one type of game crowding out the others.
I'd echo those comments about Common Ground. It's got a really well laid out gaming area with plenty of space, including stools and chairs. The big tables even have in-built cup holders which keeps cans and bottles away from the tabletop. The gaming area is also separate from the shop, which helps quite a lot. They serve food - nothing too fancy, just burgers, sandwiches, chocolate bars and drinks etc. Most importantly, the owner, Steve, is very approachable and knowledgeable and is very customer-service oriented. His attitude is to welcome everyone of all ages and regardless of what they want to play, which leads to a very good atmosphere in the store.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/02/13 13:16:19
Definitely stock MtG, you'll have a far larger number of attendees to your store if you do so. Whilst Wizards' business practices can be poor, I'd learn to work with it.
Also as an earlier poster advised, don't allow TFG to dominate. We have had this at our flgs and its amazing the number of people who leave never to return, and in our case TFG was a friend of the owner hence the problems were ignored. Ironically he left never to return over a rules disagreement (with the owner) and our club is much the better without him. Sadly never saw some of our older regulars return though.
I've been playing a while, my first model was a lead marine and my first White Dwarf was bound with staples
Stormonu wrote: Just a side note - clean restrooms can make a HUGE impression on irregular visitors. I’ve seen people actively avoid playing/visiting a store for the fear of having to use the restrooms.
One of my old FLGS really fought with this.. They moved into a new building and found they needed to call the plumber every few weeks. Not sure how they fixed the problem
but it is no longer free access. Now you need to get a key from the clerk to use it.
Also I know one of the local game store owners wrote a book on running hobby stores, not sure how good it is.. but here is its name.
A Specialty Retailer's Handbook: Games and Comics, by Dave & Kelli Wallace
Also the comment about the heavy duty chairs is almost a must here in the US, better to invest in something that is going to last..
First I would say it’s the people, have a good group of people that can foster a healthy community and you are set.
But this tends to be based around quality management. As with most places like this I think the people running it make all the difference.
Magic and Pokémon are great to get feet in the doors. Not only are they more ingrained into a varied social groups now. They have some cross appeal. Pokémon go is also bringing back people that have left.
We have a small Pokémon TCG crowd thanks to that
Having someone that can talk in length about all the games helps a lot. As well as foster a inclusive environment, if people are feeling unwelcome or unsafe. They probably won’t return before they talk to you about it.
Staff should be able to spot a issue, and they should be moving to all your public spaces regularly.
If open latter support for RPG groups are great, I have seen a few stores live and die on there RPG support.
Board games, and puzzles are great as well. Different groups can come in for both
In the end, it is just about the people and how you cater to them
inflatablefriend wrote: I've always wanted to find a good gaming centre that had some kind of hot-desking / co-working space.
An idea I've been playing with in my head for about a decade now was to have a venue that was just a gaming space, rather than a store - although potentially selling snacks and gaming aids, just not a full-blown miniatures/card store. Gaming tables in various sizes with a mix of different terrain, lease-able lockers and/or secure display cabinets for leaving your stuff there if you were so inclined, and a work area for painting.
It's not going to happen (at least by me) because of the cost of setting it up, but it's a nice dream...
insaniak wrote: An idea I've been playing with in my head for about a decade now was to have a venue that was just a gaming space, rather than a store - although potentially selling snacks and gaming aids, just not a full-blown miniatures/card store. Gaming tables in various sizes with a mix of different terrain, lease-able lockers and/or secure display cabinets for leaving your stuff there if you were so inclined, and a work area for painting.
It's not going to happen (at least by me) because of the cost of setting it up, but it's a nice dream...
I'd be extremely skeptical of the idea that you could make a pure gaming space profitable without selling any products* in a world where free in-store gaming is the standard. You'd have to somehow have a far superior gaming experience without spending additional money on it and I just don't see that happening.
*Which, let's be honest here, means selling MTG and other cardboard crack. Miniatures are just a bonus.
There is no such thing as a hobby without politics. "Leave politics at the door" is itself a political statement, an endorsement of the status quo and an attempt to silence dissenting voices.
inflatablefriend wrote: I've always wanted to find a good gaming centre that had some kind of hot-desking / co-working space.
An idea I've been playing with in my head for about a decade now was to have a venue that was just a gaming space, rather than a store - although potentially selling snacks and gaming aids, just not a full-blown miniatures/card store. Gaming tables in various sizes with a mix of different terrain, lease-able lockers and/or secure display cabinets for leaving your stuff there if you were so inclined, and a work area for painting.
It's not going to happen (at least by me) because of the cost of setting it up, but it's a nice dream...
I was thinking more along the lines of a studio style space - Sort of an unholy wedding between a startup incubator and coworking art/design studio. Basically a rentable working space for people who want to make games or related items in a supported atmosphere with like-minded people.
There are several game bars where you can rent tables to play, but nearly all have a cafe and gamestore bolted onto them. Basically if you want a gaming space its got to pay for itself and rent and rates as well as staff wages basically requires some kind of product. Gamers are unliky to want to spend big money playing regularly, so you can't easily make up the costs by charging them per game.
Even if you do you run risk that people will use the game site infrequently and will still game at a local store for free. I think if you've already got staff there all hours its open and you've already invested big money and got gamers in your site then having retail options such as a games store is a no-brainer to making some viable income from the whole venture.
Even if you could just about manage to cover costs I doubt you'd be paying any one very much and the potential to make more - even just from food sales - would be big.
In the end if you're opening up tables every week then those gamers are going to want games and models to play with and food and drink. Why not encourage them to buy where they play and foster a community that way; whereas if they bring it all with them you're offering them less than if they go to the local store. The only thing you'd offer would be paid for tables.
I like your approach to the centre's hours. It always seems strange that so many gaming stores close so early in the day. I get opening earlier at the weekends but running office hours during the week just means you're paying staff for an empty store.
Late nights work well if you want to get a wide selection of people coming in and gaming! (My local store does 1.30am finishes 3 nights a week!)
I don't advise making it a licensed premises unless you've already decided that you're not pursuing the (relatively lucrative) under 18 demographic.
It will add fees and bureaucracy to an already expensive and bureaucratic process and opens you up to all kinds of intrusive abuses of state power.
FWIW, yes I currently live in Canada but I was born, raised and went to law school in England. Not that this is legal advice, mind.
EDIT - Also, before I went to law school I did a B.Sc in Music Production at Leeds College of Music. I'd also advise that you drop the media studio idea, at least for now. While it's never been cheaper to put together a 'bedroom studio', it is still a considerable expense AND you'll need to employ (or act as) an engineer/producer.
I don't mean to offend but it does rather seem like you're trying to run before you can walk.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/03/01 19:51:04
Excommunicatus wrote: I don't advise making it a licensed premises unless you've already decided that you're not pursuing the (relatively lucrative) under 18 demographic.
It will add fees and bureaucracy to an already expensive and bureaucratic process and opens you up to all kinds of intrusive abuses of state power.
FWIW, yes I currently live in Canada but I was born, raised and went to law school in England. Not that this is legal advice, mind.
EDIT - Also, before I went to law school I did a B.Sc in Music Production at Leeds College of Music. I'd also advise that you drop the media studio idea, at least for now. While it's never been cheaper to put together a 'bedroom studio', it is still a considerable expense AND you'll need to employ (or act as) an engineer/producer.
I don't mean to offend but it does rather seem like you're trying to run before you can walk.
Hi there, thank you for your points. Just to obviously let you know my history I have previously ran a bar and live music venue, certainly knowing about the bureaucracy of operating a licensed premises but also know the ins and outs of it. Much like the same as providing a media studio, having self recorded an album, 4 EPs and four music videos; the people surrounding this actually probably have more history in stuff like that, than gaming and retail! But I could definitely understand your concerns if it wasn’t something we’re well versed in
I'd be extremely skeptical of the idea that you could make a pure gaming space profitable without selling any products* in a world where free in-store gaming is the standard. You'd have to somehow have a far superior gaming experience without spending additional money on it and I just don't see that happening..
Most stores down here (and they're few and far between) have either very little or no gaming space. Gaming in stores is largely a US thing.
Theoretically, revenue would come from hiring the space out for tournies or other organised events,food/drink sales, and other incidentals like locker hire or printing services. Finding a cheap location would also be key, although increasingly less difficult given the amount of empty retail and warehouse space around here at the moment, particular in quieter areas.
It certainly wouldn't be a get-rich-quick option, and would likely need to be tied to another (more profitable) business to actually be viable without going the full 'gaming cafe' route, but could be made to work.
