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So, here's the run down...

I'm currently in college for Musical Theater, which is my love love love in life. I've been having fears recently, what if I don't break through to stardom? Or what if I have a good run, and then am pass my prime? Or get hurt and can't perform anymore? I don't think I could go work at an elementary school somewhere, teaching like three English classes in exchange for one theater class, and maybe directing a show a year...

[EDIT:Heh, I should clarify, the bit about 'Stardom' was more of a jest at myself I hope for employment, nothing more, but theater is amazingly competitive and determined by factors that are as much in your control as out of it... as well as one of the least stable markets for jobs in the world! It should come with a little disclaimer: Not for the faint of heard or those who want a regular salary ]

So, I started to think about other options, what else I could like to do as a plan B if Musical Theater doesn't work out... And the only other thing I'm passionate about that even comes close to Musical Theater is Table Top Wargaming

I was wondering what Dakka thought about the prospect of opening a FLGS, the pros, the cons, and the perceived difficulties... also, any real life experience from individuals that have, or have attempted to open their own store! (and if you know anyone here on Dakka, please direct them to this thread!)

I was also curious, for you what makes a store go from 'good' for 'great'? In your gaming lifetime, what has stood out to you as being 'Something all gaming stores should do', and what have been some of your best memories or experiences in a FLGS, and how has the store itself helped to create that? Or, if you have several stores to choose from, how do you go about deciding, other than the player base? What makes you choose one store over another?

Thank you all so much!
-Josh

As someone who has never owned a gaming store, I can only tell you so much. However, when people open these sorts of threads there's a lot of advice that gets put out there. Here's some things that come up:

- Running a gaming store is really hard work. It's a niche business and profits aren't always that great. I know my FLGS breaks even some months and that's about it.
- Expect your enthusiasm for the hobby aspect itself to be dulled by running this place. However, when you turn a hobby into a job this isn't uncommon.
- Keep your store clean! People won't want to stop by if your place is a dungeon!
- Gaming clubs are good incentives for people to play. See if you can find some friends or local gamers who would be interested in starting a club there. This will get you repeat customers, and possibly even new ones.
- Running events is usually a good way to get more blood in the store.
- Some people always suggest putting a soda machine in. This is expensive. I don't know if it's legal to buy a few 12 packs and sell soda by the can to folks, but it's a better alternative if it is.
- Don't just stock what you want; stock stuff you know will sell. Magic cards and D&D books are almost always good sellers.

Anyway, just my collected advice and personal opinion hope that helps!

Pros:
- You get to interract with people that have the same interests as yourself.
- You get to surround yourself with the hobby.
- You're doing a job you love.

Cons:
- Yearly income probably isn't going to be super-substantial.
- You're going to have alot of competition what with online stores and your local Games Workshop.
- It's going to take some effort to really get yourself out into the open to get a good flow of customers.

Thanks guys, I know that FLGS s aren't the profitable investments in the world, but hey, neither is Theater!

Some things that I have been told myself in regards to writing novels for a living:

1] Never count on making it to the best sellers list or in your case "stardom".
2] Don't do it for the money, though I assume you're not.
3] As far as "passing your prime", should such a thing even be conceivable to people of our awesomeness, you can always approach your love in a different fashion. [i.e. different genres or writing styles.]
4] Dig deep. Dig deep.

Though, you've probably heard all of that too.

As far as opening a FLGS... well, ...

One of the better memories I have was a FLGS that had an "open cabinet" and "closed cabinet". If you wanted to get raunchy and loud and drink you went to the "closed cabinet", which was just a room away from the main layout of the store with a few gaming tables. This particularly store had about 4 such rooms. The "open cabinet" was in the general room of the store, the heart of the store I guess you might say. It had a lot of tables, too. The older crowd generally went to the closed cabinet, for aforementioned reasons. Unfortunately, the FLGS only catered to 40K and I suspect was the reason for its demise.

edit: haters gonna hate.

Most small businesses, of any kind, fail. Gaming and hobby is a niche market, and a tough one.

You will have to work your backside off, and invest a large amount of money (probably a hundred thousand for your starting stock when you open, plus actual expenses for the physical store itself, staffing, etc.) just to make a decent start. Even if you do survive and stay open, it's likely to be a couple of years before you start actually making any money.

Running a store is a business. You must be good at retail management to have a chance of success.

Mikhaila is the forum ID of a very successful and well-known store owner in PA, owning two locations. If you are serious, I strongly recommend going through his old posts and reading everything you possibly can about store management, working with distributors and GW, running events and promotions, etc.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/user/profile/958.page

@Micromegas: Yep heard all that And the store idea is an interesting one
(as a little side note, could you not quote the entire OP? People know it's there and can go read it, and it didn't really add anything to yours... Sorry, I don't mean to sound bitchy! Just for future )

@Mannahnin: Thanks so much, I'll do that now

joshoftheforest wrote: I've been having fears recently, what if I don't break through to stardom?

I'm sorry but this made me chuckle, in my own family it was my younger brother who had dreams of becoming a rock star. The possibility of his of never becoming a star never occurred to him.

I hope your luck (and skill, he was... not so great) is far better than his.

Personally I think you'd be better off having a different plan B. Something in your skill set.

Ever thought of teaching theater in a high school or community college setting? It wouldn’t be any major productions but you could certainly become an important person in that towns art circle.

IMO being your own boss is an extremely over rated concept.

I would talk to a user named Cannerus_The_Unbearable.

He ran a comic store, and may have some helpful info.

Chowderhead wrote:I would talk to a user named Cannerus_The_Unbearable.

He ran a comic store, and may have some helpful info.

Along with some purely "intresting" info

Heh, I should clarify, the bit about 'Stardom' was more of a jest at myself I hope for employment, nothing more, but theater is amazingly competitive and determined by factors that are as much in your control as out of it... as well as one of the least stable markets for jobs in the world! It should come with a little disclaimer: Not for the faint of heard or those who want a regular salary

@Ma55ter_fett: I considered being a teacher for a long time, still do occasionally... but after seeing the gak that my parents (both teachers, ironically) have gone through year after year... I cant bring myself to tread Those boards...

@Chowderhead: Thanks! I'll look him up

The big kicker for me is Customer Service. If you have great customer service and always strive for that you will do a far bit better than if you dont.

My old FLGS had great service from the owner and staff and after it closed the successor store, opened by former customers and staff palin and simply sucks. The current staff act like its a chore to even offer assistance or greet you. The owners have set the gaiming tables up in such a way to get the biggest possible tables in but at the expense that when games are being plaiyed (which is much of the time as the staff all seem to hang out and play even when they aren't working) you can not get into the stock to do any shopping. When I mentioned this to the staff the kind of shrug and say something non committal before going right back to playing their game.

So they wont get my money anymore and I wont play any events there either, sad since a very great store passed the torch on to these dudes and they seemed to have dropped it.

First off, research your area thoroughly. That way you will find what kind of FLGS you want to be, and what systems to cater for mainly. Also, check out how other stores in the area run, what works for them, and what you dislike.

Two. You are going to have to work constantly, expect 70+ hours for your first year, at least. (I'm not lying, my business is 3 years old, and I'm at about 55 hours a week)

Three. As stated before, its not a large money maker, and it will dull your love for the hobby sometimes. HOWEVER, if its something you love, this should not matter.

Four. Be ready to be a father figure, therapist, consolar, arbitrator and alot more. I have found that I am often the go to guy for life's problems. Accept this.

Five. Be fair to all your customers, don't do favourites, don't do special care unless you plan to give it to everybody.


Other than that, alot of it has been stated above. Its a fun business to get into, but tough. I enjoy it, but I won't say it isn't stressful sometimes.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
oh yeah, make sure your store is bright. Dingy and dark stores suck and people won't go into them,

Thank you all so much

Sergeant Horse wrote:oh yeah, make sure your store is bright. Dingy and dark stores suck and people won't go into them,

QFT. Parents seem to be less squimish walking their kids into a nice clean bright store than a dingy hole. I worked/hung out at a dingy hole when I lived in Cali, moms would come in looking for presents and be really turned off. When I worked at a GW in houston we kept the place pretty darn clean(had to you know) and Parents didnt seem to have any trouble spending cash or dropping their kids off to hang out for the afternoon(Cause RedShirts love to babysit! hahaha).

joshoftheforest wrote:@Ma55ter_fett: I considered being a teacher for a long time, still do occasionally... but after seeing the gak that my parents (both teachers, ironically) have gone through year after year... I cant bring myself to tread Those boards...

One of my gaming buddies of ten years is a high school drama/English teacher. He does a great job with those kids, from what I've seen. I went to one of his productions not long ago and it was excellent. Teaching, like retail management, is its own set of skills, though.

1. The number one killer of stores is....rent.
2. Find a location near a school (s) and/or a college
3. Use locals as hobby champions who will work for discount/credit.
4. hire hot girls and make them wear short skirts.
5. use social media like FB etc, and put lots of pics of your hot female workers.
6. Get cheap rent.
7. Get cheap rent.
8. most of the big companies will let you buy on terms...that is, you buy 12K of product and you have a couple of months to repay them. DO NOT GET BEHIND IN YOUR BILLS. Seems obvious, but you'd be surprised....
9. Remember this rule: You buy a product at a certain percentage off. Let's say a book that normally costs 12 dollars, you buy for 8. You sell 1. Your initial investment was 8 dollars. You just made 4 ( 12-8). Take that 4 and another 4 and buy another book. Sell it. You are now at even. Every product you sell from now on is profit.
10. Recruit, recruit recruit. The mountain will not come to you.

Send someone out to movie theatres or malls etc and see if they will let you set up a demo table. For a game like 40K, 1 customer is worth about 2000 the first year, then 1000, then 500, then 250....The cost of a day's work doing demo's is usually around 120 dollars. If they recruit just 1 customer, you've made back your money. More than 1 is a huge bonus.

11. Get cheap rent.

Should ask Empchild and Mikaela about it, they are both owners that can give you better advice than I could -

Coming soon: FLGS the Musical

Step 1.) Open hobby store
Step 2.) ????
Step 3.) Never profit

My only advice is to crack a window and invest in a good sized ($500 range) air cleaner. Every single gaming related store I've been to reeked of BO. Also, candy and snacks seem to be a good moneymaker.

Running a game store as a back up plan! Better make sure plan A succeeds, as most game stores close in the first few years. Even stores which seem like a slam dunk, like the only store in a college town have folded.

Have you considered working at a game store, or selling stuff online to see if you like it and are good at it?

Obviously you want to keep costs down. However, location is really important. You need to be close to where your customers live.

In the grim darkness of 21st century business there are only bright clean stores.

snurl wrote:Coming soon: FLGS the Musical

And tap, tap, turn and pizzzooow! Yeah!!!

If you are near a large military base, that would probably be a good spot. When I was in the Military, there were a few very succesful stores outside posts, that always had a large supply of customers.

Most good FLGS I have been to have a sideline.
Don't just sell wargames or whatever, but see about novels, or radio controlled cars, or computergames, Goth jewellery, or something.
One was a print store, with a photocopier and big reproduction printers out the back.
If it overlaps, like model trains for the scenery, all the better.

It'll also get more people in the store, and a few are likely to pick something up on impulse.

Not that I have any history of this kind of stuff, but see about sharing the store with someone in a similar position, for the sideline. Make sure you can go it alone if their side folds, you'll have time to get someone else in to help with the rent.

I've seen a few really well run FLGS and a few very poorly run ones. My observations:

1) It's work! You should be working, not playing WoW.
2) Board game nights are a great investment. You grow your customer base and convince people to buy new product.
3) Magic cards are a great money maker. Buying used cards and re-selling them gets almost 100% markup.
4) Ebay! Its a great way to sell product to a larger customer base than people who happen to live by you. When you have nothing else to do, buy/sell on Ebay all day.
5) Don't expect to be able to hire any help for a long time. You'll be working 12 hour days, 6 days a week all by yourself.
6) Be friendly and run a clean store. You need to present a respectable face to parents who will be dropping their kids off.

A FLGS needs to have an income stream from something other than gaming product. The big internet discounters will kill you otherwise - there is no way a small brick and mortar store can compete with 20-30% discounts. Skinnereal has a lot of suggestions, but all of those require additional expertise and start up capital.

Develop value from food and drink sales in the store. Create your own product - terrain, bases, paint figures, etc...

If you're still in school, be sure to pick up a few business classes like Accounting 101. Most small business fail because the owner has no idea about how to run the actual business.

I was planning to open a game shop, in the end, I decided not to. Mostly because of money.

1) You need tons of cash. Yep, maybe you can open your doors for like $30k, but will you have enough to live off of for the next 2 - 3 years? nope. Don't think you'll open and start selling, you won't. even if all your friends come there and they tell their friends and they tell their friends. Do your homework, figure out every expense, then double it. And banks aren't going to throw money at you especially these days. You will need a stellar business plan and tons of retail experience, preferably as a manager.

2) Don't go into it thinking you'll have the coolest 40k store around. If your customers only want to play CCGs or board games, you'll have to shift your focus. Don't stock your store with products that you want but your customers hate. It would probably be best to start off with "a little bit of everything" when you first open your doors, and then update what you focus on after you gauge your customer's interest.

3) Do some networking first. If there's other stores in your general area, don't be afraid to reach out and ask the owners for advice. The worst they will say is "no, now go away or I'll taunt you a second time". Some will be very friendly and offer you tons of advice, maybe even sell you some old fixtures for cheap, who knows. Sign up for the Game Store Resource Forums and ask tons of stupid questions. There's a lot of shop owners there who are very friendly and helpful. If you're able, plan to go to the next GTS seminar, do some networking, etc. At least fire up iTunes and look for the GTS seminar podcasts. You'll learn tons about the game industry and even just retail in general.

4) You need space for in-store gaming. If you plan to do events and tournaments, which you should, you will need a lot of space. Keep your shop spotless at all times, including and especially the bathroom. You will have sloppy customers, and you will have to clean up after them. You'll have to vaccum the place, dust the shielves, and clean the potty after SmellyGamer00 has an assplosion from all the cheese curls he eats.

Just be prepared, do your homework and be totally serious and committed to the store.