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 Red Viper wrote:

I'm surprised it's closing though, I thought they had a big WM/Hordes scene.

Even it couldn't save the store .

I find that regardless of how big the scene is, once players buy their armies they don't need to buy anything else.

Stores need something to generate revenue every month.

 CoreCommander wrote:

 Red Viper wrote:

I'm surprised it's closing though, I thought they had a big WM/Hordes scene.

Even it couldn't save the store .

yeah,but the people sure did clear the models out of the store for the game. AoS on the other hand left the store owners with money frozen in to models no one wants to buy.

Or at least that is what I suspect, as 2 out of 4 stores here went down that way. First GW started getting late with sending stuff, then they forced store owners to not sell models under the GW store price, and we have one GW store in the whole country and combined it with sending 1 or 2 pices of models people actualy wanted to buy and ton of the stuff no one wanted.

auticus wrote:
I find that regardless of how big the scene is, once players buy their armies they don't need to buy anything else.

Stores need something to generate revenue every month.

The local stores I used to go to generate their income from a combination of magic/various LCGs/boardgames and supply their miniature ranges to a small clique of 20 or so players (each). Last year there was a bit of reshuffling and one of the stores got a massive amount of orders as players were transitioning from GW to WMH/Malifaux/whatever. Now it is a lot slower due to what you pointed fact.

There was a club that tried to sell only miniature games and it wasn't a successful enterprise at all. Stores close when they cease making enough from their regular income games and in my experience miniature wargamers (not only warhammer) aren't "stable" enough customers for that purpose.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
The core problem with the store-based model of game-playing is that for obvious reasons the shop manager only wants people to play games that are currently in print, enabling him to sell more stuff to people.

I'm not sure that's 100% true. I play at a local GW store, and I think the manager there would let us play anything Games Workshop branded (WHFB included) if it was up to him completely. But, his regional manager does not like it at all that any games that are not currently supported by GW are being played in a GW store. So, that's why he has to "law down the law" per se that Fantasy can only be played by AoS rules.

SG

That is a timeless trick of middle management. "It is not up to me, my boss is making me do it! If it was up to me, I would want to do what you want to do... I work in security, I often fall back on these kinds of lines. It is not up to me. I am restricted by federal regulations... etc

Monngo wrote:
That is a timeless trick of middle management. "It is not up to me, my boss is making me do it! If it was up to me, I would want to do what you want to do... I work in security, I often fall back on these kinds of lines. It is not up to me. I am restricted by federal regulations... etc

The messed up part is that it actually backfires. People think that if they blame the higher ups, their subordinates, customers, or clients will like them more. In my experience, if you own your actions, and phrase your directives as your own decision, people respect you more, because they see you as a source of authority.

Admittedly, it can be tough when boxed in by rules you don't like, but I think when people are faced with an authority that doesn't want to enforce a rule, they will try to wheedle. When they are faced with an authority that seems okay with enforcing the rule, they let it go (or blow up, but that usually solves the problem in its own way).

 CoreCommander wrote:

There was a club that tried to sell only miniature games and it wasn't a successful enterprise at all. Stores close when they cease making enough from their regular income games and in my experience miniature wargamers (not only warhammer) aren't "stable" enough customers for that purpose.

I think this might be more the case for the hardcore, tournament-style players who want to find one perfect army and master it. But I think players who are in it for the models or prefer variety in their experiences might be more consistent in their purchases. I know the guys I play Warmachine against end up buying multiple new models a month - especially when they release some big, showy piece for their faction. They change their army up every game, as each new element requires synergistic companions.

I would be the same way with AoS, except with terrain kits. They are my primary army, not the Stormcast.

From what I have seen of my FLGS that is able to survive quite well and even expand into the store next door without selling Magic it is less 'casual' or 'competitive' that will go one way or the other.

I think gamers are gamer.

That store hosts more than it's fair share of tourneys, always has at least 1 competitive league going, and also has a bunch of golden demons in the display cases. There is no 'us vs them' between the 'casuals' and the 'competitives', it is just a good store with some great painting and hobby resources (the owner actually got an article into the Weathering Magazine this month), that happens to run a lot of competitive events.

Everyone gets along, product gets sold because people are excited about it, and the store seems to be thriving despite not having any interest in card games.

 jonolikespie wrote:

...and the store seems to be thriving despite not having any interest in card games.

It is a bleak existence. The owner must hate his life