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via James on the Facebook Games Workshop: World of Battle page
Ok folks. I have some news about The World of Battle. Things are changing here at the shop and on March 26th the store is going to make the transition into a one man store. This means that the gaming hall will also be closed off. This is not a bad thing, or the end of the World of Battle. The store will still be here for you to get your favorite Games Workshop miniatures, it will have tables covered with fantastic terrain for you to play on and it will still offer fantastic customer service. Until we make the transition all the events that we have on the schedule will still happen! I know this may be taken as bad news, but it is not! The store is, and will continue to be here, and the same fun, helpful atmosphere will remain! - James

At least he didn't use "this is great news".

I know this may be taken as bad news, but it is not!

Close enough. At least it looks like they're trying to lower our expectations, which is nice.

i dont understand why people are getting the knickers in a twist over 1 man stores

ok they my close 2 days a week usually mon / tue , but back in the day high street stores always used to close half day wed & sun

who attacully bought figs on a mon or tues & couldnt wait unit the store opened the rest of the week

also less staff to hassle you , asking stupid questions on which army do i collect & have i seen the latest WD / new releases

i think GW 1 man stores are a good thing ,ya ya the prices are to high & some of the models are super silly or crap but it just might turn the ship around to being a proper hobby again unlike a couple of yrs ago where it was more of a cresh in the stores

its easy if you dont like there stuff dont buy it

That sucks. I've known James for years from the GT circuit and then when he ran the Bunker in Los Angeles and ran into him again this year at Nova which he came up and attended. He's a really great guy and very good at his job.

But he's still employed so that's good!

rockgod2304 wrote:
i dont understand why people are getting the knickers in a twist over 1 man stores

ok they my close 2 days a week usually mon / tue , but back in the day high street stores always used to close half day wed & sun

who attacully bought figs on a mon or tues & couldnt wait unit the store opened the rest of the week

also less staff to hassle you , asking stupid questions on which army do i collect & have i seen the latest WD / new releases

i think GW 1 man stores are a good thing ,ya ya the prices are to high & some of the models are super silly or crap but it just might turn the ship around to being a proper hobby again unlike a couple of yrs ago where it was more of a cresh in the stores

its easy if you dont like there stuff dont buy it

Is it too much to ask that you take at least the minimal amount of time and effort to make sure that your posts are at least legible? As a non-native English speaker that would make my life a whole lot easier.

Thank you in advance.

I don’t understand why people are getting the knickers in a twist over 1 man stores

Ok they my close 2 days a week usually Monday / Tuesday, but back in the day high street stores always used to close half day on Wednesday & completely Sunday

Who actually bought figures on a Monday or Tuesday & couldn’t wait unit the store opened the rest of the week

Also less staff to hassle you, asking stupid questions on which army do i collect & have i seen the latest WD / new releases

I think GW 1 man stores are a good thing ,ya ya the prices are too high & some of the models are super silly or crap but it just might turn the ship around to being a proper hobby again unlike a couple of yrs ago where it was more of a cresh in the stores

it’s easy if you don’t like their stuff don’t buy it

i ran it throught the spell check this time

rockgod2304 wrote:
i dont understand why people are getting the knickers in a twist over 1 man stores

I guess you missed the important part:

This means that the gaming hall will also be closed off. This is not a bad thing, or the end of the World of Battle.

Hard to have a "World of Battle" if you can't have battles there...

T

timd wrote:

rockgod2304 wrote:
i dont understand why people are getting the knickers in a twist over 1 man stores

I guess you missed the important part:

This means that the gaming hall will also be closed off. This is not a bad thing, or the end of the World of Battle.

Hard to have a "World of Battle" if you can't have battles there...

T

Thanks for adding some sanity to the conversation, Tim. By the way, I was an Armorcast customer long ago.

Retail hasn't been a part-time business in the US in 30 years, most stores are open 7 days per week and at bare minimum, 6 days. This is not the UK with lots of towns of 20,000-50,000 people and a GW store in the center of every one of those towns. In the US there are relatively few GW stores for the size of the country. Not only is there not a GW store in every town, there's not even one in every state. And the populace is spread out among suburbs. In the US the GW stores are a central meeting place for many gamers and they have to drive to get there to find someone to play a game with. GW has been cutting their own throats with this strategy here because when people have no place to play or meet people to play with they drop out of the GW hobby.

It's also mystifying as to what GW is planning to do with that Memphis facility if they are not trying to close it altogether. They had that huge facility built and moved their HQ of 20 years down there from Maryland, then they begin phased closure of it a section at a time. They already discontinued the manufacturing there and that large part of the facility sits empty. The few remaining "nobs" (execs) there report to Nottingham as US top positions have been mostly eliminated. Now they no longer see any value in having a full-time large flagship store there.

The one-man store model has a high burn-out rate for the employees and every time an employee quits there's a drop in customers at that store, the community always takes a hit when a well-liked employee leaves. Those stores also have trouble providing good service as employees can only serve one customer at a time. Painting lessons and the like become difficult as sales always come first and that damages hobby customer retention.

I recently wrote a column about some of these issues and how GW has lost sight of what made people join and then stick with the GW hobby. Anyone who is interested can find that here: http://www.spikeybitsblog.com/2014/01/utter-chaos-gw-past-present-future.html

The biggest problem with 1 man stores are hours. They typically will open around 10AM to catch the lunch crowd, maybe close for an hour or so at 1PM for lunch, then reopen for the day until 6 or 7PM.
So if you get off work at 5PM (or even 4) by the time you get home, cleanup, dinner/family time, etc, you end up with no time durring the week to get a game in.
We did a demo game with some new players (read: new CUSTOMERS) a few weeks back. We got through the first half of turn 2 when the store closed up and we had to call it quits. Leaving 2 guys with plenty of disposable income looking to get into a gaming hobby the sense of why do 40K (at a GW store) when they don't stay open late enough to let you play with your expensive toys?
Not to mention the irregularities when the 1 man is sick or has a family emergency. If me and a freind are going to take an afternoon off work and arrange a game at the store, the last thing you need is to find out when you get to said store that it's closed for X hours/days.
Not to mention the 1 man stores are tiny. 2 or 3 tables. Compared to the other FLGSs that are relatively close that have 8-12 tables. Makes it real difficult to hold events or even run a regular League.
It really looks like GW went from 1 end of the spectrum to the other; large Bunkers with lots a employees and gaming space that can stay open late and hold major events down to small shops with little gaming space and very restrictive hours.

Boy – I got a case of the delta blues. I got a first class Taudar army but I'm as blue as a boy can be :( But do I really feel the way I feel?

I know this may be taken as bad news, but it is not! I'm still shopping in Memphis! They've still got catfish on the tales. They've got GW gospel in the air. Redshirts be glad to see you when you haven't got a codex. Boy - you can buy a codex in Memphis.

Blackshirts playing demos every Friday at the shop. They brought me in to see one and they asked me if I would like to buy a little army. I said I just might and He said, “Tell me, are you a young child with your parents money and I said, “Man, I am tonight”.

I'm shopping in Memphis.

Yeah, I guess that move of the HQ from Maryland didn't really work out... and now there is an independent FLGS in the old Maryland Bunker location, so we're much better off for it!

This is a bummer. Also, just FYI but the one-man stores being closed Monday and Tuesday has meant a number of times I buy things elsewhere than the local GW. Not really sure what the point is of their having stores at all at this point, honestly.

As mentioned by the poster above, the hours are terrible, and they can sell the same items on the web for more profit. I don't see what a 1-man store really does, particularly now that they're being put in the middle of nowhere... thus not getting foot traffic and enticing new players. What's the point of them at all?

Independent stores do the same, only much, much better, imo.

 Cryptek of Awesome wrote:
Boy – I got a case of the delta blues. I got a first class Taudar army but I'm as blue as a boy can be :( But do I really feel the way I feel?

I know this may be taken as bad news, but it is not! I'm still shopping in Memphis! They've still got catfish on the tales. They've got GW gospel in the air. Redshirts be glad to see you when you haven't got a codex. Boy - you can buy a codex in Memphis.

Blackshirts playing demos every Friday at the shop. They brought me in to see one and they asked me if I would like to buy a little army. I said I just might and He said, “Tell me, are you a young child with your parents money and I said, “Man, I am tonight”.

I'm shopping in Memphis.

Exalted for the chuckle it gave me

 RiTides wrote:
Yeah, I guess that move of the HQ from Maryland didn't really work out... and now there is an independent FLGS in the old Maryland Bunker location, so we're much better off for it!

This is a bummer. Also, just FYI but the one-man stores being closed Monday and Tuesday has meant a number of times I buy things elsewhere than the local GW. Not really sure what the point is of their having stores at all at this point, honestly.

As mentioned by the poster above, the hours are terrible, and they can sell the same items on the web for more profit. I don't see what a 1-man store really does, particularly now that they're being put in the middle of nowhere... thus not getting foot traffic and enticing new players. What's the point of them at all?

Independent stores do the same, only much, much better, imo.

So true. I know a lot of people in our area used to go to the 7-day per week GW store at Arundel Mills when the 1-man stores in the area were closed on Mondays. Of course, GW closed that too and we now have only one 7-day/week store in the whole state. I'm sure they are losing many store sales on Mon.-Tues. in some areas because of their part-time store system. GW doesn't seem to have any real plan for growing their business or their stores at all any longer. It's weird for such a large corporation after all these years to at times still look like some kind of poorly run privately owned business one might find if there was one eccentric owner who never took advice from anyone.

Its worth noting as well they fired all the staff and have a job posting for the position.

 Hulksmash wrote:
That sucks. I've known James for years from the GT circuit and then when he ran the Bunker in Los Angeles and ran into him again this year at Nova which he came up and attended. He's a really great guy and very good at his job.

But he's still employed so that's good!

Given the above post by Ravenous D, is this actually true Hulk? I know they usually fire everyone and re-post the positions, which is pretty poor form too when the store is in the exact same location, just smaller.

My understanding was that the move to Memphis was in part due to the fact that it is a major shipping hub for FedEx and UPS. They wanted to be able to ship to all parts of the USA quickly and inexpensively.

I wonder if the changes in the bunker foreshadow a larger change in their business plan. I suspect that their push to drive customers to purchase directly from them has not been successful. Gamers favor FLGS or online discounters. Direct only items can be purchased used. Selling wholesale is not nearly as profitable as selling to gamers. Without enough orders, the warehouse could lose money. There certainly is not a necessity to have one, as they are no longer manufacturing in the USA. Maybe they will opt to use distributors. Other wholesalers have much larger volumes and can thus afford a warehouse operation.

So, right after GW admits that the one man store model might be hurting them... they kill off the flagship, for a one man store. Its like they're trying to run the 1850s general store model in American cities. Might work fine in laid back mom/pop Europe, but really, just close your stores, lower your overhead, play nice with the FLGS, and make money (stupid Gdub).

Here's a typical week from my understanding for a 1 man store:

Mon - Closed
Tues - Closed
Wed through Sun - Open 10 to 1, Closed 1 to 2, Open 2 to 7

Total open hours: 40

Here's a typical FLGS schedule

Mon through Sat - Open 10 to 9 (some are noon to 11)
Sun - Open 12 to 6

Total open hours: 72

One of the worst things you can do is not make your product easily available, be it limited or inconvenient hours. My guess is whomever are the FLGS will see a tick up in sales due to this.

Barfolomew wrote:
Here's a typical week from my understanding for a 1 man store:

Mon - Closed
Tues - Closed
Wed through Sun - Open 10 to 1, Closed 1 to 2, Open 2 to 7

Total open hours: 40

Here's a typical FLGS schedule

Mon through Sat - Open 10 to 9 (some are noon to 11)
Sun - Open 12 to 6

Total open hours: 72

One of the worst things you can do is not make your product easily available, be it limited or inconvenient hours. My guess is whomever are the FLGS will see a tick up in sales due to this.

FLGS which do *too* well tend to start being sabotaged by GW. Lost orders, "unavailable stock," and delayed releases, even when there's no GW store within the region. My area in Canada used to have 5 GW stores (Metropolitan population of about 5 million), one in each of the big subdivisions/suburbs of the main city. They've scaled it back to just one store in an odd, out of the way location, and have been playing a very dirty game with the successful FLGSs which have picked up on the demand. They don't work like a normal business, and seem to hate revenue.

So, if Memphis is going down, is there a single Battle Bunker or big store in the US? There aren't any one-man stores in Canada that I know of, but then there's only something like 7 stores in the entire country, one per province with 2-3 employees.

Barfolomew wrote:
Here's a typical week from my understanding for a 1 man store:

Mon - Closed
Tues - Closed
Wed through Sun - Open 10 to 1, Closed 1 to 2, Open 2 to 7

Total open hours: 40

Here's a typical FLGS schedule

Mon through Sat - Open 10 to 9 (some are noon to 11)
Sun - Open 12 to 6

Total open hours: 72

One of the worst things you can do is not make your product easily available, be it limited or inconvenient hours. My guess is whomever are the FLGS will see a tick up in sales due to this.

My local 1 man is:
1-8 Wed and Thurs
1-9 Fri
12-8 Sat
1-6 Sun

They also get to pick when they are open

My own local GW is:
Monday and Tuesday--closed
Wednesday through Friday--open at 1pm, close at 8pm. He'll sometimes stay open a bit longer on Friday nights depending on if people are wanting to game or not and how crowded the store is that night.
Saturday--12pm to 8pm.
Sunday--12pm to 6pm.

Pretty much everything in the shopping center where the shop is located closes at 6pm though, with the exception of a Food Lion and Subway.

 MajorStoffer wrote:

Barfolomew wrote:
Here's a typical week from my understanding for a 1 man store:

Mon - Closed
Tues - Closed
Wed through Sun - Open 10 to 1, Closed 1 to 2, Open 2 to 7

Total open hours: 40

Here's a typical FLGS schedule

Mon through Sat - Open 10 to 9 (some are noon to 11)
Sun - Open 12 to 6

Total open hours: 72

One of the worst things you can do is not make your product easily available, be it limited or inconvenient hours. My guess is whomever are the FLGS will see a tick up in sales due to this.

FLGS which do *too* well tend to start being sabotaged by GW. Lost orders, "unavailable stock," and delayed releases, even when there's no GW store within the region. My area in Canada used to have 5 GW stores (Metropolitan population of about 5 million), one in each of the big subdivisions/suburbs of the main city. They've scaled it back to just one store in an odd, out of the way location, and have been playing a very dirty game with the successful FLGSs which have picked up on the demand. They don't work like a normal business, and seem to hate revenue.

So, if Memphis is going down, is there a single Battle Bunker or big store in the US? There aren't any one-man stores in Canada that I know of, but then there's only something like 7 stores in the entire country, one per province with 2-3 employees.

Most of the stores in Canada are becoming one man stores. Langstaff and Durham are already one man stores, the Toronto "bunker" is still there with 2 years on the lease left. Square one is a mall store (and run by tits). I cant speak for the rest of them.

 Ravenous D wrote:

Most of the stores in Canada are becoming one man stores. Langstaff and Durham are already one man stores, the Toronto "bunker" is still there with 2 years on the lease left. Square one is a mall store (and run by tits). I cant speak for the rest of them.

Ottawa used to have 2 stores; a Bunker in a mall and a (what used to be considered) small secondary store in another mall.

Bunker store closed down a few years ago and the small store turned the storage area into a gaming area and had about 5 or 6 tables. They closed down very recently - late last year and moved into a 1-woman store with - like - 2 tables and a demo table.

 BrassScorpion wrote:
GW doesn't seem to have any real plan for growing their business or their stores at all any longer.

GW's plan is simple:

- Close stores
- Reduce sales staff
- Reduce customer service
- Reduce opening hours.
- Reduce products in stores
- Reduce support for FLGSs
- Raise hurdles for online stores and complete markets (Australia, New Zealand, Canada)
- Raise prices
- Raise hurdles to enter the game
- Make teen millionairs your target customer
- Reduce languages your products are offered in
- Close gaming areas
- Quit support for veterans and gaming clubs
- Quit tournaments.
- Close facebook page
- Let lawyers and accountants make all decisions on game design
- Let lawyers and accountants make all decisions on miniature range
- Sue people advertising your products
- Make it to front page with how ridiculous your legal team is

With all these measures, growth is inevitable

This is the current description of the Memphis GW HQ's World Of Battle from the GW website. The contrast between this and what the store is about to become casts a doubtful light on the statement, " I know this may be taken as bad news, but it is not!"

Games Workshop's World of Battle is the free visitor center and gaming facility located at the North America HQ in Memphis Tennessee. This is the the center of excellence for hobbyists across North America and beyond, here you'll discover a unique hobby venue located in a fantasy gaming hall guarded by two of the Emperors finest Space Marines! This is the place where you can always find something to do, something to see and something to take home with you.

The World of Battle gaming area known as the "Hall of Legends" hosts 17 unique gaming tables that will enhance the quality of your gaming for all three of our game systems.This is also the place where hobby legends will be made and their achievements remembered for all time on our "Wall of Honor".There's also the area known as the "The Archive" where you can behold the early days the Games Workshop hobby, and look at products that were collected when the Games Workshop hobby was young. There hasn't been a veteran hobbyist back there yet that has not come out with a smile, as they remember the old days of the hobby. We also have unique gaming merchandise that you will only be able to get at our store, so you can wear and drink your hobby with pride! If you are looking for the ultimate hobby experience here in North America then make your way down to Games Workshop's World of Battle!

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=18500019a

Wow!

And yeah, that really does put this into the proper perspective.

In other words, sadly...

This is Great News.

rockgod2304 wrote:
i dont understand why people are getting the knickers in a twist over 1 man stores

1 man stores are a pain here in the UK let alone in a hige country like the US.

It is my understanding anyway, that this isnt just a store going to one man operation.

It is the equivalent of warhammer world closing down the gaming hall and bugmans and just having a one man shop instead.

That is not the sign of a healthy business.

rockgod2304 wrote:
I don’t understand why people are getting the knickers in a twist over 1 man stores

Ok they my close 2 days a week usually Monday / Tuesday, but back in the day high street stores always used to close half day on Wednesday & completely Sunday

Who actually bought figures on a Monday or Tuesday & couldn’t wait unit the store opened the rest of the week

Also less staff to hassle you, asking stupid questions on which army do i collect & have i seen the latest WD / new releases

I think GW 1 man stores are a good thing ,ya ya the prices are too high & some of the models are super silly or crap but it just might turn the ship around to being a proper hobby again unlike a couple of yrs ago where it was more of a cresh in the stores

it’s easy if you don’t like their stuff don’t buy it

i ran it throught the spell check this time

Sometimes a Monday or Tuesday is the only day in a week that somebody is able to get to a store.

A one man store also means if that single employee is unable to work for whatever reason then there is nobody to run the store, thus reducing the time that the store is actually open. Also with one man there is only one person to operate the till, thus making events and running beginner lessons that much more difficult.

Plus if the store isn't open then there isn't any customers coming in to buy stuff, thats BAD in retail.

 stormwell wrote:

rockgod2304 wrote:
I don’t understand why people are getting the knickers in a twist over 1 man stores

Ok they my close 2 days a week usually Monday / Tuesday, but back in the day high street stores always used to close half day on Wednesday & completely Sunday

Who actually bought figures on a Monday or Tuesday & couldn’t wait unit the store opened the rest of the week

Also less staff to hassle you, asking stupid questions on which army do i collect & have i seen the latest WD / new releases

I think GW 1 man stores are a good thing ,ya ya the prices are too high & some of the models are super silly or crap but it just might turn the ship around to being a proper hobby again unlike a couple of yrs ago where it was more of a cresh in the stores

it’s easy if you don’t like their stuff don’t buy it

i ran it throught the spell check this time

Sometimes a Monday or Tuesday is the only day in a week that somebody is able to get to a store.

A one man store also means if that single employee is unable to work for whatever reason then there is nobody to run the store, thus reducing the time that the store is actually open. Also with one man there is only one person to operate the till, thus making events and running beginner lessons that much more difficult.

Plus if the store isn't open then there isn't any customers coming in to buy stuff, thats BAD in retail.

All true, but i personally think the very worst aspect of one man stores is service.
If one customer needs help, that works.
If another customer comes in whilst the one man is helping that customer, then you have a problem, and if another comes in you have a queue to be helped. That is proved to lose sales in absolutely any retail training or business guide I have ever seen.

I think that is the most insulting part of the original facebook post where he says ' it will still offer fantastic customer service'. Unless there is more than one customer of course.

That is just treating people like idiots stating things like that, another sure fire way of losing sales.

NoggintheNog wrote:
1 man stores are a pain here in the UK let alone in a hige country like the US.

But think about all the clicks you save, when driving to Memphis