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 Easy E wrote:
The FLGS model is total different today than even 10 years ago. In a sense, i think it is even easier, but you have to remember that your FLGS is not a store, but a clubhouse for gamers.

The world is littered with the graves of gaming stores that were run as a clubhouse instead of as a serious business...

I would have very thin stock of bulky physical products on the floor. There are way too many flavors of the month to keep inventory around. For example, one of my local stores got completely burned on Dreadfleet, and still have 50+ boxes sitting around unopened.

That's not a problem of keeping physical inventory, that's a problem with ordering 50+ copies of Dreadfleet...

In addition, I would have a relatively small, low rent place with low overhead costs. Therefore, no flashy signs that eat up electricity, no huge TVs, not music even. I wouldn;t have a bunch of display racks either, because those are expensive and take up space that should be used for game tables. Just a couple soda machines, a pre-wrapped snack counter, and lot's of places to play.

The thing is, the music, the displays and the general spiffing up of the space are what make a store an inviting place to play. If you're just going to set up tables in a dingy back room, I can guarantee you that a percentage of your potential clientelle are going to stick their head in the door, take one look and keep walking. You need to make it somewhere that people are going to be comfortable spending an afternoon. Or a day.

And if you're intending to make money solely off gamers being there to play games rather than on sales, 'relatively small' doesn't work. You're not going to sell 3000 cans of soda a month in a 'relatively small' gaming space. You would need to be running some pretty serious events to pull in enough cash to make your overheads... and that means you need serious table space.



Don't get me wrong, the idea of setting up a dedicated gaming venue is one I've been toying with myself for some time, and is something that I think is feasible if done right... but it's not as simple as dropping some tables in an empty shop and waiting for the cash to pour in, and wouldn't be cheap or easy to get started in a way that is actually going to last.

 Easy E wrote:
The FLGS model is total different today than even 10 years ago. In a sense, i think it is even easier, but you have to remember that your FLGS is not a store, but a clubhouse for gamers.

I would have very thin stock of bulky physical products on the floor. There are way too many flavors of the month to keep inventory around. For example, one of my local stores got completely burned on Dreadfleet, and still have 50+ boxes sitting around unopened.

In addition, I would have a relatively small, low rent place with low overhead costs. Therefore, no flashy signs that eat up electricity, no huge TVs, not music even. I wouldn;t have a bunch of display racks either, because those are expensive and take up space that should be used for game tables. Just a couple soda machines, a pre-wrapped snack counter, and lot's of places to play.

You see, the money would not come form high risk/low margin products like GW models, FOW boxes, etc. It would come from food and low cost, high turnover CCG games, low inventory board games, and reselling previously used stuff. The idea is to get a lot of bodies in there playing games an dhaving fun, and then selling them immediate gratification products. Everything else would be order only.

You only need to sell 3,000 cans of soda a month, or 100 a day to pay overhead on the average size store front in my town.

This is what most 9/10 game stores have done in the last 20 years and why 9/10 of them are out of business.

Having a small inventory is usually a sign of not enough cash flow. Also if the same inventory has been sitting on the shelf for years on end the store should discount it to move it - put it in a sales bin or ebay it. Big retailers don't keep the same products on their shelves for years on end. Free up the money invested in the inventory to buy new inventory that people might want.

Having operated on the Internet with store front on our old warehouse and now having huge store and gaming venue.. I think I can jump in here.

Huge amount of effort and risk involved in opening a gaming store. It is not because you re competing with online trade. That will always be quoted by those that cant "get it".

There will always be customers that want to pick the item up and take away that day. There are customers that only ship online and there are others that mix their purchasing. So one thing is for sure you have customers available unless you place your store in the Mongolia desert.

Stock is a difficult one as inventory will tie up and destroy your cash flow quicker than me typing this. The balance required, especially for a small start up is a knife edge thin balance.

Too many store owners stock up on stuff they really like and not on what really sells, that is obvious whereever you go.

You then have the pretty woeful product information and readiness for retail of almost all manufacturers in this industry. fraction have barcodes, a fraction have decent epos data available from one central source (mfr). That makes it really difficult for stores to put in place decent epos, purchasing and cost controls in place. The manufacturers shoot themselves in the foot as well because they should do all they can to enable sales, not make it a pain to manage inventory.

Fact is in this day and age every brick and mortar store should have it's own Online store as well!

Truth is and sorry if this offends any store owners but everyone I have ever met has been a terrible buisiness man. Probably due to if he wasn't he would have done something more profitable like a hot wings resturant or something.

Fact is they should all have a online store. If it's not in stock their only question to the customer should be do they want to pick it up in the store or have it shipped to their house?
20% off no shipping if picked up in the store, 20% + shipping if you want it to come to your house. Pay for it in store, and away you go.

Plus that way your moving your store inventory in 2 directions. Lastly don't let junk sit on the shelf for years, and years. You've had that Stompa on the wall for over a year?

Pull it down, put a raffle box in front of it. $1 a ticket, throw some other stuff that hasn't sold with it. That way more than 1 person can win.
Or make it part of a Tournament prize. Start an apocolypse league to get interest in unusual gaming pieces.

I gave up on local games stores awhile back. Poor business models, and they are always cramming the place full of BO'd school kids to play magic drafts at $20 a pop.

Sure it's money but you wonder why all that TT stuff is collecting dust, and everyone is playing at someone else's house and not your store? Well there you go.

Yeah, the Online Store component is a must now days.

Of course, the first step would be to create a business plan and then run the numbers.

I have a feeling that the retail game store model has some paper thin margins, and you will never get rich off of it.