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Has anybody else noticed that GW stores have reduced their opening times.

The main problem with these revised times are that the stores now only seem to open at times when they know schools in the area are closed.

I personally am not against the younger gamers getting a fair crack at using the facilities offered by GW stores, it just seems to be a little off that if I want to go in I have to do so when their is no chance of getting any service from next to no staff who are having to deal with large numbers of customers.

Is GW new policy to only open when they know they are going to get customers instead of providing gamers with a valuable resource of experienced staff who are able to give proper advice in an atmosphere where you can get their full attention.

And before everybody starts shouting about the fact that you can get pretty much anything you want off the internet, what happened to GW stores being a place to meet people and actually talk face to face about what's going on.

I know this has been a bit of a rant but I'm just sick of us older gamers being gradually ignored in favour of customers who may only purchase a few items then never continue the hobby.

GW you call your store hobby centres get a grip and start treating them as such again, and not as money generators used to just grab some quick easy cash!

Is it just the one man operated stores Justicar?
If so I can sympathise with the staff as it is hard to run a store single handed.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Meadowhall seems to be usual hours? when does the change take place?

It just seems to be the small stores. My local GW store used to have 3 staff now it seems they only have one.

I don't really understand why they have down sized the staff because the store in question has it's own gaming room with about 5 tables.

The normal opening times for it seem to be 12 - 6 wednesday to friday then 11 - 7 sat and sun

@Chibi - I used to work at Meadowhall and their hours are unusual anyway. As part of the conditions of lease of the store they are required to be open when Meadowhall is open. For stores that aren't in shopping centres GW sets policy on opening times and can do what they want.

I'm with you here... my local store now closes mondays and tuesdays! What if I want to pick stuff up mid week? Some of us have to work the weekends! I have found GW have become far more focused on profit than passion when it comes to the hobby recently. Imagine if you can a GW that just wants more... hard as it is to fathom they think they can suck even more money from our pockets than before!

1 - Prices hiked... global resession, far enough (maybe)
2 - White Dwarf Hobby Magazine? No not really, just a glorified advert to get you to buy more gear.
3 - New paint pots... same price, less paint!#
4 - Selling Stormtroopers for £12 for 4 assualt weapons... brilliant, being told theyre no longer in production and receiving an online refund, not so brilliant. Then not a week later getting an email saying that Stormtroopers with assault weapons were now available to buy in packs of 2 at £8.50 each! Thats a 50% hike if you wanted all four... disgraceful!
5 - changing their hours to suit the needs of the many... (newbies in school with parental cash)
6 - Prices hiked and soon an increase on VAT... great!
7 - Forgeworld... buy this, it's mint and it'll cost you £300! A few weels later see a rumour about plastic kits of said Forgeworld vehicle... not £300!
8 - Forcing me to buy their hobby by creating excellent miniatures that I just can't do without...

Okay, so I was labouring the point a bit their, but they have been worse this year than I remember ever before!

A-men to that geordie

My local store is closed on wednesdays , but now its summer they are staying open which is annoying as in the holidays it is packed with litle kids (who i dont mind but when your trying to get a game in or do some painting it can get annoying) but most of the older or at least more experienced players go in weekdays and avoid holidays.

This is all part of GW's rationalisation of their retail chain.

Reducing staff obviously reduces the wages bill.

Their key target market segment is the 12-15 year olds.

They haven't been interested in vets for years.

Justicar do you go to GW sutton coldfield by any chance?
I havent been down for ages but I noticed this too

Hi Calvin

Thanks for that
Wish they could move the store closer to the station for me! It's a long walk for me wobbly legs!

Geordie, the pots afaik are still 12ml.
erm... apart from that ...

I will give credit where it is due and they sent a nice parcel with some paint and terrain as a starter set for my Library Club kids. I know it would be easy to be cynical about the freebies, but they didn't need to do anything. Good on Bex at GW for sending it.

MenOfTanith wrote:Justicar do you go to GW sutton coldfield by any chance?
I havent been down for ages but I noticed this too

Yeah I do, seems to have gone down hill since the old staff moved on.

These changes are the way GW thinks they stand to make the most money...cater to kids with birthday money. As already stated, they simply don't care about you otherwise.

Even going back a few years, when a friend and I walked into our newly opened local GW for a game on a weekday, we weren't allowed to play. The black shirt had to check in with head office to see if it was okay to allow two vets to play during school hours (you know, when we had the time because my friends kids were in school). And that was even before the munchkins-first mentality was in full swing here.

It's an incredibly sad state of affairs. We were the closest thing to established customers that the store had at the time, but since we didn't fit their target demographic, we were dog meat to them.

Many businesses have closed (including the one I worked at).
Less people have disposable income or are saving it for a rainy day in case their business is hit next.
So income MUST have taken a big downturn.

Banks are less willing to give operating loans so GW must at least keep the pilot lite on at each of their stores to ensure they are there for better times.

Younger gamers are into instant gratification so they are the ones who make most use of the stores.
The older gamers look for going out of business sales, mis-spelt Ebay postings of armies, wait for your buddies to die of old age and try to get the wife to "give you" the life-long collection since it was a sore spot with her... Basically we are not a very consistent and loyal customer base other than acting like vultures if the rare sale goes on.

The prior story of possibly getting kicked out in case kids come by to play I would enjoy threatening to complain to the better business bureau or newspaper of prejudicial practices and grumble that I might as well go play that pickup game of Flames of War at the local hobby shop, it would be great fun...

Sorry to hear they seem to be in the full grip of the marketing department rather than the supposed more gamer friendly upper management.

Talizvar wrote:
The prior story of possibly getting kicked out in case kids come by to play

If you're referring to what I said, that wasn't the issue. Their concern was that two 20-somethings going in for a game on their day off from work might actually be kids in disguise who were skipping class for a game. There was no contingency plan in place for dealing with adults wanting a game. We were a non-entity to them.

What happened to each store having a vets night so adults could go in and have a game without having to run the risk of looking like some kind of peado because your in a store full of underage kids.

Does anybody else feel uncomfortable when your the oldest person in there and parents start giving you sideways looks because they think you're going to do a gary glitter with their kids?

I had the complete opposite feeling when I worked for GW. I was 18, and yet parents were more than willing to leave there kids with me for a couple of hours for beginner's lessons, painting, or whatever. I was working by myself, and they had no problem.

And people say we live in a world where people are scared about sex offenders around every corner . . . jeez they're not Commies =p

Oshova - Viva La Revolution! =D

The situations is quite different from what you experienced Oshova for several reasons:

1) you were a member of staff therefore instantly trusted
2) you were only 18 whereas I'm talking about us few gamers who still play in our late 20's early 30's

Yup. GW is cutting everything that doesn't earn them an instant payback. Catering tp the "needs" of "veteran" gamers in any way is completely irrelevant to their business model as they don't believe it earns them any profit.

The recent "one man store" and 15%+ price hike are just the most recent of a long line of measures that adversely affect the long-term gamers' experience in order to attempt to maximise the profits made from their "churn and burn" customers.

The error of their ways has been pointed out to them on many occasions, yet they make no attempt to improve their long term profitability, rather they continue to sacrifice their long term growth on the altar of next quarter profits. And their turnover continues to fall.

Soon they will be down to one customer. The one customer who believes a single dark elf sourceror model is worth £100m. And then their mission will be complete and the world will end.

Seriously.

Welcome behind the Matrix my friend. Your realisation of the truth will set you free!

Time to discover the new, brave, exciting world of wargaming without GW!

Buy cheaper and more interestingly sculpted models from non-GW manufacturers such as Mantic or Hasslefree. Play on interesting terrain and large tables in your very own living room (or the nearest independent club - mnany of which bless our fair land!), and, best of all, get to drink real beer while you do so! Wheeeee! Freedom!

Justicar Alaric wrote:

MenOfTanith wrote:Justicar do you go to GW sutton coldfield by any chance?
I havent been down for ages but I noticed this too

Yeah I do, seems to have gone down hill since the old staff moved on.

So very true!

Osbad wrote:Yup. GW is cutting everything that doesn't earn them an instant payback. Catering tp the "needs" of "veteran" gamers in any way is completely irrelevant to their business model as they don't believe it earns them any profit.

The recent "one man store" and 15%+ price hike are just the most recent of a long line of measures that adversely affect the long-term gamers' experience in order to attempt to maximise the profits made from their "churn and burn" customers.

The error of their ways has been pointed out to them on many occasions, yet they make no attempt to improve their long term profitability, rather they continue to sacrifice their long term growth on the altar of next quarter profits. And their turnover continues to fall.

Soon they will be down to one customer. The one customer who believes a single dark elf sourceror model is worth £100m. And then their mission will be complete and the world will end.

Seriously.

Welcome behind the Matrix my friend. Your realisation of the truth will set you free!

Time to discover the new, brave, exciting world of wargaming without GW!

Buy cheaper and more interestingly sculpted models from non-GW manufacturers such as Mantic or Hasslefree. Play on interesting terrain and large tables in your very own living room (or the nearest independent club - mnany of which bless our fair land!), and, best of all, get to drink real beer while you do so! Wheeeee! Freedom!

So when GW cuts back on stores this is bad thing and goes against the needs of veterans. But when [non-GW] doesn't even have their own store, this is "freedom." Gotcha.

Non GW, as you put it, never had a store to start with in the majority of cases; which is a mite different to having stores and chopping the hell out of them.

lord_blackfang wrote:

Osbad wrote:Yup. GW is cutting everything that doesn't earn them an instant payback. Catering tp the "needs" of "veteran" gamers in any way is completely irrelevant to their business model as they don't believe it earns them any profit.

The recent "one man store" and 15%+ price hike are just the most recent of a long line of measures that adversely affect the long-term gamers' experience in order to attempt to maximise the profits made from their "churn and burn" customers.

The error of their ways has been pointed out to them on many occasions, yet they make no attempt to improve their long term profitability, rather they continue to sacrifice their long term growth on the altar of next quarter profits. And their turnover continues to fall.

Soon they will be down to one customer. The one customer who believes a single dark elf sourceror model is worth £100m. And then their mission will be complete and the world will end.

Seriously.

Welcome behind the Matrix my friend. Your realisation of the truth will set you free!

Time to discover the new, brave, exciting world of wargaming without GW!

Buy cheaper and more interestingly sculpted models from non-GW manufacturers such as Mantic or Hasslefree. Play on interesting terrain and large tables in your very own living room (or the nearest independent club - mnany of which bless our fair land!), and, best of all, get to drink real beer while you do so! Wheeeee! Freedom!

So when GW cuts back on stores this is bad thing and goes against the needs of veterans. But when [non-GW] doesn't even have their own store, this is "freedom." Gotcha.

The UK wargames hobby has always been focussed around independent clubs, shows and magazines rather than allegiance to particular shops.

lord_blackfang wrote:

Osbad wrote:some stuff

So when GW cuts back on stores this is bad thing and goes against the needs of veterans. But when [non-GW] doesn't even have their own store, this is "freedom." Gotcha.

Yup. True wargaming freedom arises once you realise that GW needs you more than you need GW, my Padawan.

Slavery is letting yourself be squeezed more and more into the shape GW wants you to become, past the point where they delivered what you wanted. Freedom comes when you break free of that mould, and strike out on your own. You feel like you have lost everything, but in reality you have regained it all.

These are mysteries I speak of and (to be even more patronising for a moment ), most Americans with their addiction to retail-store-based gaming and their lack of understanding of the independent gaming club cannot grasp this truth.

Sift my words carefully my friend, because herein lies truth!

Justicar Alaric wrote:The situations is quite different from what you experienced Oshova for several reasons:

1) you were a member of staff therefore instantly trusted
2) you were only 18 whereas I'm talking about us few gamers who still play in our late 20's early 30's

Sorry I was giving a view of the flipside of your situation. I understand it wasn't the same, but was just showing how people can trust someone who's 18 just because they're a member of staff, but not someone who is 30+ because they still play with toy soldiers. And no that is not a critiscism or a bad thing =p I definitely intend to be playing with toy soldiers for decades to come =D

Oshova

I wonder how long this mass 'one man store' policy will last until it collapses due to staff fatigue and illness.

The winter flu season may be the straw the breaks the donkey's back.

I have worked out GW's masterplan!

1) Alienate veteran gamers and drive them into a different hobby.

2) Reduce staffing to one man per store until fatigue, illness, outside commitments and job dissatisfaction wipe out all their staff.

3) Increase prices until only the super rich can afford to buy their models.

4) close all stores and supply their models at hugely inflated prices and massive shipping costs by mail order only.

5) Admit they got it all wrong and finally shut down.

It's five step plan but they are well on the way to completing it.

All power to the marketing board for their sure fire plan to ensure that GW goes down in history as the company that forgot where it came from in return for a quick pay day.

Justicar I think you may have had their board room meetings wired...

Justicar Alaric wrote:...the company that forgot where it came from in return for a quick pay day.

When did they hire Rackham's Management?