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The obvious answer is that GW store are not there to compete in price. They are there to form a brand and promote it and create ubiquity.

If they compete it is on introductory and hobby elements that are less likely to be run by other outlets. I hear the GW introduction to games/painting are good enough.

And let's not kid ourselves GW stores are not there just to sink the profits into, each will be run to profit. It's no accident that GWs turnover dwarfs that of its nearest wargaming rival. The store attract lots of newcomers, and their initial big spend is at GW. Once they are past that they either drop out, are brand/store loyal vets or vets that have "wised up" and buy discounted. Either way its working to their store model; you join, once hooked and hosed GW gamers are pushed toward clubs with other regulars players. There is not much room in store for a vet community so it makes sense.

GW are fine with people making long term purchases at discount. It's like brand and store brand cereal, GW covers both "premium" and discount needs except with the same product.

With this can be done more in the Uk because of the density of stores but make no mistake GW are looking to roll this out to the US.

 Riquende wrote:
.....I hope that GW gets bought out and the various pieces sold off .- it would be amaxzing if, almost overnight, there was a nationwide chain of gaming stores stocking all sorts of products from Mantic, Warlord, CB, PP, etc. Obviously never going to happen, but it would be a huge shot in the arm for the hobby (the wider hobby, not the GW one) if it did.

I'd actually suggest it would go the other way. GW form a skeleton to general UK gaming that others are happy to work around. Its a brand that people recognise and draws in new gamers very well. Once they have the gaming bug that's where Battlefront, Mantic et al step in and say "hey look what else there is!". Many of these other companies seem to be quite happy to have GW in place, they perform a service that none of the smaller companies can match in this regard at a completely different scale.

Without GW at this point it would take many years for the retail side of wargaming to come back up if at all in the UK. At a time when high streets are emptying of stores generally because of incredibly high rates and not being able to compete with internet retailers, who would be able to run a FLGS profitably giving the discounts that people seem to desire? The only sort of places that open up these day are boutique shops and judging by the usual whining no one wants to pay boutique prices for games (I don't, it bad enough the Mrs wastes so much of my money in them on fripperies and crap!).

I've grown up with GW and can remember when they had only 1 or 2 shops. I also remember that there was not a huge choice of games shops even then in my part of the world; there was Warlord Games in Southend and for a short time a small stall in Basildon, other than that it was a train ride to Hammersmith (London) to go to GW. So that's 2 places in the whole of southern Essex (my county/state) or an hour + train ride to GW. I'm happy that GW exists all over the place and that because of that ubiquity there is now 4Tk, Wayland, Marques Models and other operating in this county because of it selling those other lines.

To wish that away seems nonsensical to me. GW doesn't damage other games manufacturers rather enables them; this is a good thing.

It's a business model that has made GW the biggest wargames manufacturer by a factor of about ten.

That's terrible?

soupfly wrote:
..........didn't GW start as the FLGS ( I used to order FASA stuff from them ) and decide they would rather keep there profits for themselves.

Sort of.

Ian Livingstone, John Peake and Steve Jackson could get the games they like so started a shop and distributor that really exploded when they landed the European rights to D&D and other US game ranges. This ceased when they sold out to Bryan Ansell and he realised that their own games were better sellers than the imported stuff. Warhammer 3rd and WH40K:RT, you might of heard of them?