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 Iapedus wrote:
Due to the complete dearth of a decent FLGS in our immediate area (the last one having just closed its door and moved far, far away ), a friend and I briefly mused on the idea of setting up our own store. Having found a decent spot and put a simple business plan together, we are both utterly stumped at how an FLGS can make any money or indeed stay in business

Can anyone please enlighten us?

We had to make some assumptions when it came to the Trade Price offered by GW on their products (we assumed 30% lower than RRRP since other FLGS regularly offer 25% off) but even assuming this discount and a fairly unsustainable turnover (over 20,000 GBP per month) we still could not get the figures to work out.

You start out with building a business plan. Give it a lot of work, and let your team shoot it full of holes and continue to revamp it to the point of reasonable workable, and sustainable. You want a game store? Don't go in like a gamer, build a business.
Sales- Sell what your customers will buy, and add on carefully, only after market research, and keeping your ear to the ground on angles. You can get a couple of new games in the shop, but your going to have to demo, so that's where you go for your audience, and get their Privateers, demo teams, etc. to push the games. Of course you have to vet them, so they do not upset the balance of the business, and you can't let them start dictating sales.

You also have to go in for the social media angle. in 2016, word of mouth is supplemented with social media, it can make you or break you. Web presence, developed web page, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Snapchat, etc... You have to almost have a dedicated web presence, and interlink in with the community that you have locally. Webpage, business cards, fliers, advertising...

You want a game store, you can also develop game clubs, or branch off to the development of community events. ANy way to generate sales is what you want to do. As much as GW is demonized, you need to take a page out of their book, and other companies to cultivate and develop your business in mindset, not just because your a gamer that wants to run a game store.

At the end of the day, AIDCC: Attention, Interest, Desire, Conviction, Close. You are running a business, run it like a business. run it interchangeably, and the time comes when you can change out games for widgets.

Strong start is a strong plan. Good luck, now get out there and sell.

 JohnHwangDD wrote:

 Grot 6 wrote:
At the end of the day, AIDCC: Attention, Interest, Desire, Conviction, Close.

You're making it too complicated. AIDA...
A - Attention
I - Interest
D - Decision
A - Action

Required watch if you want to sell. We used to know this movie by heart. New school sales think this one is outdated.... I disagree, and can't quote Baldwin enough. Great find, BTW.

And- Yes, be careful with GW. You start making a name for yourself, get a good run, and they will magically, delicious, come in and open one of their gak stores nearby, selling by name only...

That's why you need to branch out, cultivate YOUR business model, and sell the games that sell, while at the same time cultivating interest in your product/ business. Once again, You are running a business, not your personal man-cave. (Which, by the way is how a lot of player/ game store owners run their store.)

Odd ball Hours, Inconsistence, and sloth.... Three wisemen of failure.

The problem, ( At least here in the states) is that when you go in for an alcohol license, you go into ATF territory/ local statutes/ and State Liquor License.

Which in turn equate to increased Insurance, and overhead. Then you have to discuss liquor supply/ licensing agreements with a distributor.

Of course, you could just "Sell" beers out of a cooler, but then your going to be walking a fine line that could end up intersecting your bottom line with a lawyer retainer/ increased insurance/ and worries of more then just Business.

At that point- Its not worth it. Alternative is BYOB, and have adult swim games. "Under 18 over there, back room, adults." Depending on your local laws, Beer, Wine, and Liquor are differently covered and you have to get the specifics for your area.

I like the idea of the BBQ/ Beers once a month thing. You can charge a set fee per plate, maybe something for beers/ drinks/ snacks. The beer thing at that point would be team building event, and no charged for the beers, your charging for the plates. You get a couple of games in while the BBQ is going, and you can alternatively set up party and board games. It doesn't need to be said, but I'll say it anyway- Monitor your guests. Don't let them drive home drunk.
That's something to set up after you establish a community, though... Not a starter.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
Regardless of the licensing issues I don't necessarily think booze is a good idea for a games store. Even if you make sure you don't sell enough to get people wasted, tipsy people are soooo much more likely to break stuff, spill things, get stuff dirty and create problems. Whether it's the store owned stuff that you're going to have to spend money replacing/cleaning or things other customers own, it's bad either way.

Agreed and QFT. Hard enough to keep a game store running to even consider the idea, TBH. You are more served to work out how to be more inclusive, and generate more interest then to be indirectly divisive.

The beer in the store thing doesn't work in the states. I'm sorry, but that's just one of those pipe dreams people are pushing. You are not going to sell beers or booze in a place that has minors in it. That works in Pub land in England, because quite frankly, England has a culture that supports it. IT DOES NOT WORK IN THE STATES.

 Peregrine wrote:

 Grot 6 wrote:
The beer in the store thing doesn't work in the states. I'm sorry, but that's just one of those pipe dreams people are pushing. You are not going to sell beers or booze in a place that has minors in it. That works in Pub land in England, because quite frankly, England has a culture that supports it. IT DOES NOT WORK IN THE STATES.

Counter-argument: the largest (and very successful) game store in my area sells beer and people love it. They've gone for the high-end beer market rather than the cheap "get drunk asap" kind so that's probably a factor, but there seem to be a lot of people interested in having a beer while they play their games.

How do they get it to sink with the gaming crowd? I want to hear how to make it work, because quite frankly it doesn't anywhere else, aside from private residence clubs. Going to have to honestly be the particular crowd, I have not seen this go well in several iterations, and I will go on and say that you are the exception if it does in fact work for your area.

Local brews, and high end ones might be something that I have not factored, ( Not for getting drunk, just a local community flavor.) On the whole, I wouldn't mind hearing a little more about it.