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Something very exciting is coming to Central London in December...Please like and follow for updates!

http://www.facebook.com/badmooncafe

I'll admit I'm disappointed you didn't go with a Bad Moon decor:

Looking to compete with Dark Sphere?

Might be a bit hard to compete with DS, but it looks interesting. Will it be just a gaming club or can you also buy stuff there as well?


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Also, where in Central is it based?

Is the plan to allow all systems of gaming (WM/H, Malifaux, Infinity etc) or will you just be focusing on GW games exclusively?

Thank you all so much for the replies! Taking them in order:

1. We have not yet previewed the decor, there may be some Ork goodness in there, you never know

2. Our format is both similar and different to Dark Sphere. We will have a fully functioning cafe/bar - craft beer, barista coffee, wood-fired pizza, drinks, etc. We will also have an extensive board game library 'for rent', so to speak, similar to Draughts. Similar to Dark Sphere, we will have a large stock of products to purchase - board games, Games Workshop, hobby materials, etc.

3. You can definitely buy stuff! We will have an extensive selection of products!

4. All gaming systems will be of course allowed! Our gaming tables (just wait for the reveal this weekend!) are primarily designed with Games Workshop style terrain, but we are more than happy to accommodate any other gaming system!

Also curious as to where this is in central.

Apologies, I missed that! We have not yet revealed the exact address, but we can say it's near Borough / London Bridge and very close to tons of good transportation.

Pepin wrote:
Apologies, I missed that! We have not yet revealed the exact address, but we can say it's near Borough / London Bridge and very close to tons of good transportation.

Wow, that really is down the road from Dark Sphere. I know it's the capital, but do you really think there's sufficient excess gamers within that 1km radius willing to spend coin to sustain both of you? Or is this going to be a cut throat competition for a few years till one of you dies?

In a city of 15 million people, one would hope there's enough customers for 2 stores :-)

Close to me! Squeal

Plus I don't really like DS ...

Check out the video we just posted highlighting our gaming tables!

http://www.facebook.com/badmooncafe

Great! Will defo take a trip over to you guys even if its just to have a pizza and a browse.

It would be good for you to get in with some of the other gaming communities in London like the WM/H, Malifaux, Infinity and Inquisitor. They are always on the lookout for new venues to host events. DS dropped support for many of those game systems when it came to hosting events.

Thanks for the feedback, Sunno. We are definitely open to working with those communities. Once we are open, our staff will be very proactive in reaching out and establishing relationships with these communities. You are always welcome to stop by and chat to our staff if you have ideas about ways to engage with the various communities.

A few weeks away now!

It's interesting to see gaming start to go the garden centre route (most of the money is made off the cafe).

From what I understand, many stores used to rely heavily on CCG's to survive. I guess this is a logical progression

nareik wrote:
It's interesting to see gaming start to go the garden centre route (most of the money is made off the cafe).

Maybe not so much the garden centre route, but the only route these days- Soho bikes in London managed to get itself quite a cult following, despite the fact it was a mountain bike shop in the middle of London, with mediocre service, mediocre stock and pretty much rrp pricing. They were basically a hipster coffee shop with bikes for decoration- but they branded incredibly well, im pretty sure they sold out of their T-shirt stock before they even opened the shop.

Ill be interested to see how Bad moon cafe does (mainly because i like the name). I could see it being very successful if it creates itself an image as a cool place to be, not just to game, but to hang out and be part of the buzz, make the destination the reason for being there, not the stock. Ive often thought there was a huge opening for this type of place in any major city much like there is in other industries.

Not seeing a video, just the one image?

Thank you all for the comments. Hopefully, you are all enjoying the sneak-peaks we have been posting on our Facebook page regarding our gaming tables and terrain. I can promise there's a lot more coming in the next few weeks ahead of opening.

Regarding the 'business model', Process you are 100% spot on. The whole idea behind the Bad Moon Cafe is to create a destination for people who enjoy tabletop and board games - cool, airy, well-lit and spacious venue with good coffee, good beer, good pizza, friendly staff, beautiful tables/terrain, and a very large stock selection.

Looking forward to seeing all of you on December 15th for the grand opening!


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 War Drone wrote:
Not seeing a video, just the one image?

There should be a few videos and images on the Facebook page - http://facebook.com/badmooncafe. Let me know if you are still unable to see them?

Good luck man, hope to see you expand up to the Midlands!

Thank you :-)

Deathwatch101 wrote:
From what I understand, many stores used to rely heavily on CCG's to survive. I guess this is a logical progression

In the UK food outlets seem to be about the only stores that can hold onto the highstreet next to mobile phone shops. Many of the traditional retailers - books, clothes, shoes, hobby shops etc... are all vanishing or under heavier and heavier pressure. Even GW has moved many of its stores to the less affluent end of the central retail region.

I'm honestly surprised GW hasn't paired with Gregs or Starbucks or such.

You forgot charity shops.

 Ketara wrote:
You forgot charity shops.

Ohh yeah the shops that don't have to pay crippling rates, duties, wages nor stock costs (for the most part)

A war gaming cafe could be ran as a charity. It is community enrichment. It wouldn't even stop you from having paid employees either.

nareik wrote:
A war gaming cafe could be ran as a charity. It is community enrichment. It wouldn't even stop you from having paid employees either.

Charities are not easily run and come with a lot of paperwork and legal red tape in order to get the title of Charity. Plus it would mean they couldn't "stock" any regular product lines; the best would be selling on used armies. Even then I'm not sure that "the plight of wargamers" would count as a target for a charitable group

There is red tape in any business.

Why couldn't it stock regular product lines? I've worked for charities that sell new products.

You could run it as a miniatures museum with gift shop and cafe for example. Museums don't just sell artifacts many sell toy soldiers and model kits!

Lots of other ways to do it too. War gaming could be an amateur sport like chess. Hobby falls under the arts.

I guess it's hard to predict how busy you'd be, but my hobby group may be interested in a pre Xmas trip for drinks (of all varieties) and games, but could we book in advance? It's a bit too far for us to travel otherwise.

Huron - I suggest you drop us a message on our Facebook page and we will certainly be able to accommodate you.

Once our official website goes live in the next couple of weeks, there will be a booking system for each one of our 15 tables. In the meantime, you are welcome to make a booking directly with us via our Facebook page.

This looks very relevant to my interests, as I'm just down in Camberwell, and I'm very up for anywhere to play that gives me ready access to beers and pizza at the same time. Looking forward to coming and checking it out!