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I manage The Games Den, a Boardgames FLGS in Leamington Spa. It's basically a two-man-band, the owner/boss and I.

How do we make money?

Well - Magic the Gathering is a big draw. We hold Drafts on Thursday and Sunday, and FnM every Friday. We have a play space, we sell snacks and drinks (probably our second biggest seller after Magic), and we open 6 days a week.

We have an event every night we're open: Tuesdays is casual board gaming (and soon a DnD campaign), Wednesday is RPG night (DM's drink for free), Thursday is Netrunner, more board games, and Thursday Night Magic Draft, Friday is Friday Night Magic , Saturday is tournament day (X-Wing, Armada, Netrunner, Ivor the Engine, Game of Thrones card game, Yu-Gi-Oh!, a different tournament every week), Sunday we have another DnD campaign and another draft.

We're busy every afternoon and evening, we have regulars already, and we benefit from our location - near a train station, slap bang in the middle of Student Land (Warwick University has a lot of students living in Leamington Spa).

We also offer 5% discounts to Games Denizens, people who buy six- or twelve-month memberships so they don't have to pay the £2 per person table charge (we discount for groups and families), and most importantly?

We're friendly and we provide a service as well as a safe place to play. We don't allow swearing and we encourage children and families in. It's a successful formula so far, but we did only open at the end of May.

Iapedus wrote:The hardest part of getting the figures to work is knowing what the discount rate from the game manufacturers actually is. They wont give you the information until you have a store, but we are not going to open a store unless we have a solid plan, which requires a rough idea of what the rate is. We have based our assumption of 30% on the fact that people such as Wayland Games and Frontline Gaming regularly offer 25% off GW prices, and must be making at least 5% for themselves? Does anyone have any idea what kind of discount off RRRP these guys usually offer?

It varies, at least as far as GW is concerned. The closer you get to a GW shop, the bigger the discount - you start at 30% off RRP (EXCLUSIVE of VAT), then if your store does things like have table space, do painting lessons, etc etc, you can get to 40% off RRP. I think that is the maximum trade discount (at least it was a few years ago).

Companies like Esdevium Games (distributors of FFG in the UK) have a 30-35% discount. Assuming a trade price of about 2/3 RRP is going to be pretty close to what you'll get - don't forget to account for VAT or local equivalent, however - e.g. a £10 item at 30% off is £7... PLUS 20% VAT, so it's actually £8.40.

Steve steveson wrote:

 Gen.Steiner wrote:
I manage The Games Den, a Boardgames FLGS in Leamington Spa. It's basically a two-man-band, the owner/boss and I.

You need to advertise more! I would not have found you existed had I not happend to see this thread on the front page, and then click on it, which I almost never do. People in Banbury need to know you exist. At the moment gamers there are all going to Gameskeeper or Meeples in Oxford, which whilst they are good shops are a PITA to get to as parking in Oxford is hell.

I'll definatly be comming in for a visit next time I'm up in Leamington to go to the garage or Lockwoods.

We've only been open since 28th May - advertising's all been FB related and word of mouth so far! Do drop in, it'd be great to meet a fellow Dakkaite. I'm the slim bearded one, Boss Man Tim's the big bearded one.

Skinnereal wrote:

 Steve steveson wrote:

 Gen.Steiner wrote:
I manage The Games Den, a Boardgames FLGS in Leamington Spa. It's basically a two-man-band, the owner/boss and I.

You need to advertise more! I would not have found you existed had I not happend to see this thread on the front page, and then click on it, which I almost never do.

I work in Warwick (covering Leam) and live in Coventry, and I had not heard a thing about you. Not that I can think how I'd have heard, but still...
Drop by covgaming.proboards.com and get yourselves on there (if you want).
I'll get you added here, too: http://www.dakkadakka.com/core/store_finder.jsp, as Leam only has GW listed.

Ooh, covgaming.proboards.com eh? Will do - thanks for the heads up (and the note about the store finder, I didn't know that existed)! Pop in and play something!

 TheWaspinator wrote:
I'm not sure I'd really recommend starting any kind of retail store in the current climate. The rise of online retail is only going to continue as more and more people transition to seeing it as the default option, with brick-and-mortar being an afterthought.

Bricks and mortar can survive by providing a service that online stores can't - a place to play, and a place to meet people and socialise. That's how we function, mostly. As I type I'm waiting for people to arrive for our August Armada Tournament .

A location that people can travel to, sit down in, and play with likeminded sorts is going to do a lot better than a box with stock in it. You have to combine that with good customer service though - make friends with your regulars and be welcoming to everyone!

Gaming space is essential anyway, I feel.

 Traditio wrote:
Depending on you demographic, sell beer.

This is definitely a 'depending on' thing. Although The Games Den has an off-licence (came with the premises), we don't sell beer because we want to create a space that is safe for everyone; and alcohol has the potential to make that... difficult.

But definitely sell soft drinks, water, snacks, coffee, that sort of thing.

Well, at The Games Den there's me (Store Manager), the Boss (owner), and a coterie of regulars who we trust enough to do stuff like keep an eye on things if one of us is in alone and needs to have a wee or nip across the road to grab a sausage roll or what-not.

Generally speaking it's my dream job - I'm quite literally working for free at the moment as the shop's only three months old - so I don't mind about spending all day in store or working six days a week. As for the Boss, well... what's sleep? Something that happens between the shop and Monster Hunter Time apparently.

 JamesY wrote:
Yeah like I said I know there are ways of easing the workload, it was more the sheer amount that you would need to be constantly doing that I was thinking. Even if there are two of you, days off and hols mean that there will be plenty of solo days. My local gw has 4 staff, and it seems that everytime I go in it's a one man day.

Oh, yeh, definitely. F'r ex, I'm not in today for personal family reasons, but I'll be back in tomorrow. It's just something you've got to suck up and cope with, but... that's why you do it if you really wanna do it, not because it'll make you a zillionaire!

dglad wrote:Here's my take on what it takes to run a successful FLGS:

1. Run it like a business.

2. Having a good and diverse selection of products.

3. Be a destination

So there you have it. Run it like a business, have a diverse selection of products you tailor (as much as you can) to demand, and be a destination around which a community of gamers can develop. Again, a TON of work, but really satisfying when it all comes together!

Yes. That. Absolutely. Exalted, Liked, etc etc. It's a business, make sure it actually is one.

Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:I will, however, warn about the social side of the FLGS. Having been in various FLGS over the years, there are two types of customer you should be aware of.

1. The guy that never washes

2. The leech.

If people start exhibiting these symptoms, turf them out.

Yep. It's also worth putting cheap deodorant in your toilet, or even selling it (!) if you have a particularly bad problem. As for the leech; a pay-to-use-the-table policy can dissuade 'em!

Zingraff wrote:I feel I should add that it might be a good idea to consider selling comics and books (sci-fi and fantasy), in addition to the games, collectibles and so on. That's what the shops in Norway and Denmark commonly do, and they manage to stay afloat.

Absolutely; diversify your stock whilst keeping it within a particular niche. Don't start selling, say, fishing gear - you're an FLGS. Sell geeky stuff, sell toys, sell games, sell figures, stuff that your customers will buy anyway - but now they'll buy from you.

Yeh, that blog is absolutely stellar; I've read it a few times in the past and it is chock full of good and sound advice. A shame that I'd forgotten about it, and well done to both of the above posters for bringing it up!

rich1231 wrote:

 Gen.Steiner wrote:
Yeh, that blog is absolutely stellar; I've read it a few times in the past and it is chock full of good and sound advice. A shame that I'd forgotten about it, and well done to both of the above posters for bringing it up!

The UK and US though are so very different in almost every way that a guide for the US will be of mixed benefit for the UK.

While that's true, the general principles are worth taking on board.

It's also just a waste of time, space, and resources. Stock soft drinks, water, gaming snacks, and be done with it. You want diversity in product (card games! board games! miniatures! collectibles! toys! comics! books! rpgs! etc), Not food and drink.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
Wargaming isn't really a business where you can afford to be exclusionary.

ABSOLUTELY.

Make your shop a safe space for all. No swearing, no drinking, none of that stuff. It encourages families, and children, and children means pester power, present buying, and sales.

Also makes things easier for you, too! No drunks to deal with.

There is absolutely no way I would turf out a chunk of my shop's customers just because some people want to swear.

If anything I'd point to the big RULES signs we have up and say - Rule 1: No swearing - thanks!

If you want an adults only night, do it at your local club. Don't do it in my shop. A really good way to ruin a reputation is by having customers behaving badly.

 Flamekebab wrote:
Do any FLGS use the swear jar model?

I don't know. We don't because asking people to pay for swearing seems a bit much, particularly when we don't want people to swear at all, rather than just taxing it.