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In another thread, in another section, Kalamadea said something interesting:

... I actually think the idea of a locally crowdscourced store could be really cool. Something like a publicly owned corporation, but on a much smaller and much more local scale, where the shareholders are the regulars and everyone is essentially small investment partners. Like a local games club but turned all the way up to 11 to be an actual store.

I've always admired the club based model that many UK based gamers operate out of. They often rent premises (or temporary halls for events) and then buy directly from manufacturers (or online retailers). The discount this approach can generate (if it only comes from less cash intensive game and miniature choices) makes for the source of funds to pay the rent, buy terrain materials, administrate things, etc.,.

Locally I've been sort of pushing for that model, but one thing that keeps me from really going after it is that there is a particularly brilliant local gaming store. A buddy of mine works there, I've known the owners for a while and pretty much every horror story related to local stores has reminded me how good I have it.

But what if this all could be married? What if there could be some sort of gamer's co-op. What's a cooperative?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative - A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons who voluntarily cooperate for their mutual social, economic, and cultural benefit. Cooperatives include non-profit community organizations and businesses that are owned and managed by the people who use its services (a consumer cooperative) and/or by the people who work there (a worker cooperative).

So I'm thinking a consumer/worker cooperative that:

- Stocks products for retail sale
- Provides gaming space for both public and member events.
- Forms a buying group to lower the cost for members through the return of profits to members through discounts/credit.
- Organizes leagues, tournaments and official organized play events for products that have them.
- Provide some employment for interested members

What would you do if something like these opened up in your area? Or you heard about something like that happening. A local gaming club deciding to open a retail outlet on a coop basis? Would you get involved?

The Cooperative model works well here in Canada. I've encountered small local coops as well as national ones (Like Mec.ca and the Co-Op brand grocery stores and gas stations). I wonder if it has merit for hobby gaming.

If I were to start such a project, I think I'd start it out as a more unified gaming club and then get people onto the idea of forming a buying group. Though perhaps it'd be better just to go for the end goal of a co-op from day 1.


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It's an interesting idea to be sure. But it's also going to be alot of work.

Starting, a club, arranging discounts and renting space is one thing, but stocking retail product, and providing employment, is a really big undertaking. It requires solid cashflow as well as a small mountain of paperwork as you Incorporate, do your financials and submit your tax and business documentation every year. Also, note that if the point of the retail side of things is to get better deals for members than they can already get on the interwebs then you won't make any money for "providing employment".


I recently looked into incorporating a small program I educational class/program I run for inner city kids into it's own non-profit and found that the costs, time, and paperwork were prohibitive, and I wasn't even getting into the retail side of things. You're basically starting a sub-FLGS that will require alot of paperwork and not make any money.

A more feasible model might be to start with a dedicated game group and rent some space. Make a club charter and have dues. Once you get a large enough club, you can host tournaments, leagues, etc. With proof of paying membership you can contact game stores or companies to set up club discounts on product without having to incorporate. Maybe at a later date, you could launch a Co-Op, but it's a huge undertaking.

Don't want to be a downer, just want to make sure you know what you're getting into.

The point of a co-op isn't supposed to be profit making, they exist to perpetuate themselves only to the extent necessary to provide for the needs of the members, think of it less like a full-on corporate non-profit or a FLGS, and more like a perpetual Kickstarter with a defined pool of contributors.

In the traditional sense, a worker co-op inputs labour and outputs produce which is either bartered with other local co-ops(commune model), tithed to a centralised authority for redistribution in exchange for things needed by the co-op's members being redistributed back to them(socialised planned-economy model), or exchanged for fiat currency in order to provide members with a living wage(mixed-market model).

You wouldn't need to incorporate and form a legal business entity in order to create a "co-op" which would meet the OP's goals, you simply adopt the commune model but abstract the labour input via money for those members uninterested in working. Essentially, as I said, a club running a perpetual Kickstarter.

Whilst no doubt there are clubs in the UK that use their buying power to offer member benefits, the real advantage - or disadvantage (depending on how you look at it) - is that because the club is not tied into any commercial enterprise the members are not restricted in what games they play or what models those games are played with.

It should also be kept in mind that gamers are a rather fractious lot with magpie tendencies. The idea of attempting to run and stock a shop based on the changing fads and fashions within a gaming group - and make it pay - does not sound like my idea of fun.

 Yodhrin wrote:


You wouldn't need to incorporate and form a legal business entity in order to create a "co-op" which would meet the OP's goals, you simply adopt the commune model but abstract the labour input via money for those members uninterested in working. Essentially, as I said, a club running a perpetual Kickstarter.

Mostly true, but in order to be a retailer, and to buy at wholesale I think you have to be a registered business.

I've given this some more thought and the more I think about it, the retail aspect seems like it could really weigh the whole operation down. While it would certainly be cool to get a trade discount and pass the savings on the members as much as possible, I think it might be more efficient just to organize group buys with online discounters or negotiate volume discount with a local store.

I think I'm going to start with a simple website, a facebook group and start having a gaming day/tournament in a rented room every month or two. I think the first two or three I'll have a entrance fee and then figure out a membership rate to allow members to not have to pay at the door at all the events.

I've looked into renting some of the multi-purpose rooms at various apartment and condo developments and it looks like I can get this off the ground with 6 attendees for a Saturday 9 am to midnight game day.

I think I may also be able to negotiate some sort of discount on gift certificates for the local stores and have some door prize raffels.

After the membership thing is sorted, we can talk about group buys from online retailers to maximize savings and minimize shipping and customs charges. Or maybe group buys from the local retailers.

One thing I won't due is be a discount club where you join once and then get X percent off at a local store. That's been tried here before and people join for the discount and never come for events. And I'm far more likely to be able to negotiate a discount if I come in with a confirmed $1000 group order than with the promise of potential sales to members.

While I do have a really good local store (three actually), the city is mired in inter-store politics. There are some who won't game or visit a given store because of some perceived or rumoured slight that may or may not have ever happened. Tournament organizers of Warmachine/Hordes, for example, find it hard to get cross pollination going on between the three stores that carry those products.

If I can get them all meeting and gaming at neutral ground, then would could start having a lot more gaming going on. And if I can get all three stores in on a discount gift certificate door prize thing, maybe I can help the community be less factious. Somehow I think someone would put aside the story they heard about what some store employee did ten years ago if it means free stuff.

Get the group up and running, find out who among the members are keen to contribute, and go from there.

The key thing to start with is to get enough members to cover the bills.

Good luck.

 frozenwastes wrote:
While I do have a really good local store (three actually), the city is mired in inter-store politics.

I am most interested in how you plan to keep your club from becoming a fourth faction.

Good question.

The store owners may or may not consider us a faction as part of this project is divorcing gaming from the commercial interests of any one store.

I'm perfectly fine with being part of a fourth faction who is expressly about non-participation in inter-store political BS.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So it looks like this is a go. We have our first planning meeting today and are going to be booking a multi-purpose room at one of the people's apartment buildings for our first club day. I'll probably start posting more info about when and where at different places on the net after the details get worked out.

We also have our first group order planned as well. Everyone has agreed to pledge the difference between full retail and what we pay towards terrain building and renting the multipurpose room. Whether that's negotiated with a local store or if we end up going online will be decided in the next week or so.