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They're not well paid (even for the low paying world of retail) in the UK anyway, so it's the passion for the game that hold managers in the stores

so it's quite common to see them moving on to better paid jobs as passion for the game can be trumped eg when they get a serious girlfriend, want to buy a house or get married as they need more money then the job provides

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
They're not well paid (even for the low paying world of retail) in the UK anyway, so it's the passion for the game that hold managers in the stores

so it's quite common to see them moving on to better paid jobs as passion for the game can be trumped eg when they get a serious girlfriend, want to buy a house or get married as they need more money then the job provides

I can understand that from the perspective of supporting a family, but the last managers to leave were single. I'm assuming their yearly salary was somewhere in the $30,000 range (Correct me if I'm wrong) which is more than enough to support one person.

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
They're not well paid (even for the low paying world of retail) in the UK anyway, so it's the passion for the game that hold managers in the stores

so it's quite common to see them moving on to better paid jobs as passion for the game can be trumped eg when they get a serious girlfriend, want to buy a house or get married as they need more money then the job provides

I looked at the numbers a while ago, and managing a GW store is about on par with managing a Game Stop (at least as far as the US is concerned). It is a low-middling retail management gig with, so far as I understand, tough numbers to meet and weird upper management.

I'm not at all surprised people would move on to greener pastures. Even if you are a fan of the games, it is just a job, you know? There's little that's special or especially beneficial about managing a GW store, so far as I have heard. The benefits aren't particularly exemplary, the pay is not particularly exemplary, and the perks (such as they are) can lose their shine pretty quickly.

I work the job that I do because it is a great career. On top of that, the healthcare benefits are fantastic, retirement is incredibly generous, and my salary grows every year.

When I was in college I worked university development. That was just a job. I worked the phones, I supervised, I worked up to assistant manager, and a job in development was the first thing I looked for out of college, but just as something to pay the bills. I didn't really care where I worked, and I never intended on staying in development as a long-term career.

A GW store is just a small retail chain management gig. If you want to stay in retail management as a career, there's better places to be than GW. You can look fro promotion within GW, or you can float out your resume and move on to a bigger retail chain.

It's around £16000 for a store manager which is pretty poor for a store manager in the UK. I can imagine that part from cheap models there isn't much more in the way of benefits.

PastelAvenger wrote:
It's around £16000 for a store manager which is pretty poor for a store manager in the UK. I can imagine that part from cheap models there isn't much more in the way of benefits.

Did you not mean 16,000 pounds? 160,000 pounds would be over 200,000 U.S. dollars which is extremely wealthy by most standards.

We just got a store locally about 2 years ago, at the most. It's now on it's third or fourth manager as well. I'm not sure how the relationship ended with the previous ones. But the latest former manager had a huge blow up from what I can see on our facebook group. I'd say, with the limited anecdotal evidence they aren't treated particularly well.

Yeah, the sort of job that GW managers do was/is very much within my sphere, and while I specialised in a different product, a lot of the requirements and abilities would be essentially the same.

I tell you now, with no reservation, that in comparison to almost anything other than being unemployed, GW retail employment is atrocious

The whole bonus scheme, which is needed to make the salary anything but barely liveable, is conditional on delivering growth year on year. So, if you're half decent and take over from someone who wasn't any good, or wasn't motivated, then you can deliver good growth figures initially. The trouble comes a little ways down the line, when if you've been doing a job, it becomes near impossible to deliver significant improvements. The ideal, if one were good enough to do it, would be to deliver enough growth to earn your bonuses, without going full bore, leaving yourself some headroom to grow down the road.

This would be near impossible, firstly because it is simply difficult to do, and secondly because any decent salesperson simply will not be able to stand watching what they feel is unspent money walk out the door, it just isn't in our nature.

Where GW have an advantage as an employer is that they have a ready made pool of people who are massive fans of their product, and in many cases will be looking at the job relatively early in their career, both elements combine in order to compromise the applicants' objectivity with regard to assessing the quality of the job.

Hence, they have no need to treat their staff particularly well, because there's always another body for the grinder.

 Azreal13 wrote:
Yeah, the sort of job that GW managers do was/is very much within my sphere, and while I specialised in a different product, a lot of the requirements and abilities would be essentially the same.

I tell you now, with no reservation, that in comparison to almost anything other than being unemployed, GW retail employment is atrocious

The whole bonus scheme, which is needed to make the salary anything but barely liveable, is conditional on delivering growth year on year. So, if you're half decent and take over from someone who wasn't any good, or wasn't motivated, then you can deliver good growth figures initially. The trouble comes a little ways down the line, when if you've been doing a job, it becomes near impossible to deliver significant improvements. The ideal, if one were good enough to do it, would be to deliver enough growth to earn your bonuses, without going full bore, leaving yourself some headroom to grow down the road.

This would be near impossible, firstly because it is simply difficult to do, and secondly because any decent salesperson simply will not be able to stand watching what they feel is unspent money walk out the door, it just isn't in our nature.

Where GW have an advantage as an employer is that they have a ready made pool of people who are massive fans of their product, and in many cases will be looking at the job relatively early in their career, both elements combine in order to compromise the applicants' objectivity with regard to assessing the quality of the job.

Hence, they have no need to treat their staff particularly well, because there's always another body for the grinder.

Bingo! This is largely what I was alluding to. GW is looking for young, relatively inexperienced warhammer fans and pays accordingly. Hence it is not surprising that GW retail managers move on relatively quickly.

 Random Dude wrote:

PastelAvenger wrote:
It's around £16000 for a store manager which is pretty poor for a store manager in the UK. I can imagine that part from cheap models there isn't much more in the way of benefits.

Did you not mean 16,000 pounds? 160,000 pounds would be over 200,000 U.S. dollars which is extremely wealthy by most standards.

Erm I did put £16000 not quite sure what you're reading there matey

PastelAvenger wrote:

 Random Dude wrote:

PastelAvenger wrote:
It's around £16000 for a store manager which is pretty poor for a store manager in the UK. I can imagine that part from cheap models there isn't much more in the way of benefits.

Did you not mean 16,000 pounds? 160,000 pounds would be over 200,000 U.S. dollars which is extremely wealthy by most standards.

Erm I did put £16000 not quite sure what you're reading there matey

Never mind, I don't have enough knowledge of international exchange rates/difference in living costs to relate the salary of a GW manager in the UK to a GW manager in the U.S.

Add half to the £ figure and you get the $ figure, for illustrative purposes.

So £10 = $15 etc etc.

It isn't accurate, but it should lead you to the conclusion that the salary is not great.

 Random Dude wrote:

PastelAvenger wrote:

 Random Dude wrote:

PastelAvenger wrote:
It's around £16000 for a store manager which is pretty poor for a store manager in the UK. I can imagine that part from cheap models there isn't much more in the way of benefits.

Did you not mean 16,000 pounds? 160,000 pounds would be over 200,000 U.S. dollars which is extremely wealthy by most standards.

Erm I did put £16000 not quite sure what you're reading there matey

Never mind, I don't have enough knowledge of international exchange rates/difference in living costs to relate the salary of a GW manager in the UK to a GW manager in the U.S.

They aren't really comparable due to differences in cost of living you're right. The exchange rate is 1.6 dollars to 1 GBP. I know nothing of the average price of retail jobs in America but having multiple skills and being asked to use them all on a day by day basis but being only paid the same as one of the lowest retail chains is pretty bad.

Not that it makes much odds, but the £\$ exchange has been nearer 1.7 quite frequently recently.

PastelAvenger wrote:
[...but having multiple skills and being asked to use them all on a day by day basis but being only paid the same as one of the lowest retail chains is pretty bad.

Yes and no. Working a job you enjoy can make up for a lot... It's not for everyone, but a lot of people would be happy to overlook the low salary in exchange for working around their hobby.

Of course, working in a games store (particularly one run by a company as peculiar as GW) sounds much more fun than it actually is, which would be the reason for the rapid turnover. It takes a particular sort of person to stick with that sort of position, with that sort of company.

On top of the salary thing there is also the fact that upper management considers their own employees to be the biggest threat to their business. That can't make for a healthy work environment.

 Random Dude wrote:
So, as the title suggests, my local GW store just got its 4th manager in 2 years. The first stayed for 1 year but left after a fallout with management. The second left on better terms (He simply found a better paying job). The third was an interim who stayed for maybe a month. The situation puzzles me because the store itself has been doing very well. People are always in an out, buying frequently. I guess my question is this: Does GW treat its employees as commodities that are only there to make money for the company? I cannot think of many reasons why the turnover rate would be so high.

GW treats its customers as commodities that are only there to make money for the company. What do you really think they will do to people whose monthly rent and food bills depend on being paid by them?

The store in my town has had a big turnover of managers, too. So much so, GW asked the comic store next door if they'd take a paint rack and some boxes as their own doors have been closed so much.

In the end it's just a shop and people move on when there are better opportunities. Also there are mixed reports about staff being pressured to buy GW product. No you don't have to, but it doesn't look good if you don't have an up to date army knowwhatimean? It's also poor management training as one man stores don't have anyone to manage, most management positions will expect you to organise staff under you.

The guy working the GW store in my area told me his salary was $32,000 a year. Where we were, that was essentially minimum wage. And every interaction he had with anyone else in the company ruined his day, even though the kid busted his ass and actually did a great job building up the community and using it to drive sales numbers. Plus he had a 40 minute commute.

That was manager #4 out of the five years the store was open. As soon as their 5 year lease on the store ran out, GW closed the shop and, to the best of my knowledge, fired the kid.

Working for GW probably sucks harder than working in food service, and also has less career opportunities.

Now they've removed so much middle management where can people go? You can't be promoted from store manager to the company board.

 slowthar wrote:
The guy working the GW store in my area told me his salary was $32,000 a year. Where we were, that was essentially minimum wage. And every interaction he had with anyone else in the company ruined his day, even though the kid busted his ass and actually did a great job building up the community and using it to drive sales numbers. Plus he had a 40 minute commute.

That was manager #4 out of the five years the store was open. As soon as their 5 year lease on the store ran out, GW closed the shop and, to the best of my knowledge, fired the kid.

Working for GW probably sucks harder than working in food service, and also has less career opportunities.

To be fair, New York is one of the most expensive places to live in the U.S. $30,000 is plenty enough money for a single person in almost every other state.

Retail jobs suck. You get low pay, long hours, have to deal with idiot customers and treated like poo by upper management. That's universal whether you work for GW or any other retailer.

We wrote:
Retail jobs suck. You get low pay, long hours, have to deal with idiot customers and treated like poo by upper management. That's universal whether you work for GW or any other retailer.

Slowthar says the annual salary is $32,000. I have family members with masters degrees who make that much. I hardly see how it is low paying.

I remember a GW manager who was making about the same as me and I was a mid-level research technician at a university (so both around $33K). I thought I got along fine with that amount of money...I mean sure, I could use more but it's effectively $16.50 an hour (more than twice the minimum in the US for anyone who isn't used to US laws).

But he left too, off to bigger and more important things. There is certainly no room for advancement at GW these days, the mid-management is almost all gone! And those that still exist are the most ruthless of the bunch- it's their job to determine whether stores should stay open or close (weird business GW is running...). That and the managers aren't given a lot of creative range. I think GW management actively looks down on any activities that don't revolve solely around selling models. Even making custom terrain falls in that realm- it doesn't have the Citadel seal! (see Wood Elf rulebook for reference).

We wrote:
Retail jobs suck. You get low pay, long hours, have to deal with idiot customers and treated like poo by upper management. That's universal whether you work for GW or any other retailer.

While retail jobs may suck... it's not everywhere that you're treated like poo by upper management. My dad works for Dick's Sporting Goods as a golf tech. Since he's been there, yeah he's covered/been promoted temporarily to the "manager" of the shoe department (which at that company is a Kobayashi Maru situation), but has always been brought back to golf... As a tech he's progressed from a guy who knows how to change out parts on a golf club, to a guy who's training other golf techs in the state how to make changes on clubs, to even where OTHER stores in my home town send people his way for repairs/refitting.

Management at at least the store level have been told in no uncertain terms that they can't move my dad, or fire him, or else they'd start shopping at other retail establishments (and when the golf department at one store does better than almost any two other departments combined, that should tell you something of the people/sales skills he has)


Honestly, the ONLY gripe I've ever heard from him is in the scheduling, and not because the hours are long, but because the schedule has been coming out the week of (so if he's lucky, he'll get his schedule for monday through sunday, on sunday... literally one day notice)

 Random Dude wrote:

We wrote:
Retail jobs suck. You get low pay, long hours, have to deal with idiot customers and treated like poo by upper management. That's universal whether you work for GW or any other retailer.

Slowthar says the annual salary is $32,000. I have family members with masters degrees who make that much. I hardly see how it is low paying.

You don't?

Be honest, you live at home don't you? Probably still in full time ed?

 Azreal13 wrote:

 Random Dude wrote:

We wrote:
Retail jobs suck. You get low pay, long hours, have to deal with idiot customers and treated like poo by upper management. That's universal whether you work for GW or any other retailer.

Slowthar says the annual salary is $32,000. I have family members with masters degrees who make that much. I hardly see how it is low paying.

You don't?

Be honest, you live at home don't you? Probably still in full time ed?

$32,000 is roughly $16.50 an hour which is more than twice the minimum wage in the U.S. There are plenty of people who are far worse off.

 Azreal13 wrote:

 Random Dude wrote:

We wrote:
Retail jobs suck. You get low pay, long hours, have to deal with idiot customers and treated like poo by upper management. That's universal whether you work for GW or any other retailer.

Slowthar says the annual salary is $32,000. I have family members with masters degrees who make that much. I hardly see how it is low paying.

You don't?

Be honest, you live at home don't you? Probably still in full time ed?

Keep in mind we don't seem to pay as much each year in taxes as you Europeans do

I would also like to point out that $30,000 is the average yearly income for a single American. I'm not saying it's great pay, I'm saying it's not extremely low or unlivable.