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When I travel I always visit the local gaming store or stores. As a lifelong tabletop enthusiast and hobbyist I enjoy to see how the hobby fares around the world. One thing I have noticed is, that the stores tend to look alike in a lot of ways in the way they are furnished and how they present the games. Of course that is to be expected in Games Workshop stores, but my experience is that the same applies to independent retailers.

Assuming I'm right (it could very well be me imagining patterns - wouldn't be the first time...) I wonder if this is a result of retailers often being hobbyist themselves, and therefore tend to copy what they know, or is there simply a right way to set up a store. Could it be possible to rethink the way a store looks, maybe in order to attract new customer groups.

If you could build your ideal friendly local gaming store, what would it look like? How would you present the games, which games would you carry, what would be the focus of your customers' experience in your store?

The running theme with hobby/game stores in the US is "everything on a budget" because it's nigh impossible to run a successful hobby/game store unless you cater to particular crowds (read: you must sell CCG games, and cards, and run mini-tournaments etc.)

Expect a mis-mash of used book shelves for displaying products. A well worn glass case under the register with $200+ CCG cards for sale, and a bunch of folding tables with an odd assortment of chairs scattered about.

It's hard enough for a gaming store to operate and remain in business - so "nice" ones are even fewer and further between. Now, if I won the lottery and was independently wealthy - I'd probably run a store, even at a loss, just for the value it provides the community, and sure the store would be in a nice area with good parking, lots of play-space, etc. Heck ideally I'd love to have a small food bar (probably not beer/alcohol since that's an entirely different license here), and a small lounge location for role-players.

I want a store where pretty girls help me paint goblins...

Barring that, given huge rent costs and investment in store stock that may never be sold,
An ideal figs should be a dank hole in the wall that makes its rent and utilities selling beer and cocktails, allows people to smoke in the alley behind, allows people to paint at the bar, has a jukebox that takes coins, sells new stock at twenty percent off and direct order stock at twenty five percent off, with weekly deliveries and unboxing specials on drinks, oh, and that has a paid members only league system Friday night and Sunday morning table space.
Given that this is impossible due to oppressive ordinances, ANY flags would be fine by me, as the nearest one is two hours away from me now.

That aside, when I lived in Missouri, there was an ideal gaming store in my opinion. It was below a Mexican restaurant that was not too bad, across the street from a burger king and allowed us to bring food from either or other places into the shop, it was huge with lots of gaming tables and lots of stock, it carried cool gadgets like rc tanks that were perfect Xmas ghifts for young family members, ran tournaments and had knowledgeable staff whom didn't push sales overmuch.
I dunno if that place is still open but I hope so.

As a professional interior designer I do find it disappointing that most game stores tend to fall into the same traps. Good design and pleasant surroundings need not necessarily cost more than poor design and unpleasant surroundings.

I think the main issue (with most of retail these days) is that you need to complete with online retailers which have significantly less over-heads and tend to offer bigger and better discounts.

I think if I were to open a store, I would focus a lot more on trying to provide the very best gaming areas. Lots of good quality tables with terrain etc and charge a membership fee.

In Lacey Washington there is a store called Olympic Cards and Comics. Pictures don't do the place justice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP__dq36UDE that gives you an idea. Behind the pop figure wall is steps up to a second floor of all game tables.

He doesn't go into the second half of the store to show all the tons of board games and the 40k/miniature section.

This one starts with a still image of some of it though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0a9L30geKs

This is my primary FLGS. Look upon the greatest of nerd stores and wish it was yours.

One that doesn't take over an hour to get to'd be nice.

Any store that is notpopulated by the crowd of troglodytes and lurking Ogres that currently populate my local not so friendly store, would be my dream store. That and a store whom acctualy makes me want to come back,

 Lance845 wrote:
In Lacey Washington there is a store called Olympic Cards and Comics. Pictures don't do the place justice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP__dq36UDE that gives you an idea. Behind the pop figure wall is steps up to a second floor of all game tables.
He doesn't go into the second half of the store to show all the tons of board games and the 40k/miniature section.
This is my primary FLGS. Look upon the greatest of nerd stores and wish it was yours.

Drunk closeup shakycam at it's finest!

I had to turn it off. videos shot that way give me a literal headache, but it's cool you have a good local place.

i went to this place called Koros in Orangeville Canada on Saturday and god the owner must be the slimiest person i have ever met- runs a 4 story hobby store! everything over gw prices, $15 for 5 individual NEO MAGNETS! sells used badly painted and put together warhammer for almost brand new prices

i ask if they sell bits, takes me to a dusty box with some broken bits and scion command pieces(woohoo...)i foolishly show a little interest and tell him one of my conversion ideas. then this guy, the owner of the store! starts blathering on and on about the "community" (a word he repeated like 50x)
and how they have this new conversion club(no they dont) and it is the "pinnacle" of the "community", and the direction the "community wants to be headed" or some nonsense. Since iam not part of the "community" i cant have these 3 broken pieces of junk anymore. These 3 broken pieces are now gold in this morons eyes and he starts trying to steal my idea...lol, i don't care if anyone copies me or homages any conversion i would feel good about that, but now this guy is blathering on nonstop about nonsense. Acting like ofcourse everyone would do my conversion idea and is even talking down to me saying how i cant do it right and he is the leader of the community so he wont ruin the model.(the guy is worse then an amateur, couldn't answer any question despite being rude, condescending and not knowing me at all)I call him out loudly about all these pathetic wierd lies and say to my buddy lets go.

My buddy tells the guy i have good deathwatch conversions iam working on as we are walking out, and now this guy is my best friend again and wants to give me the broken holy pieces but wants me to donate a large amount of bits in return....like he is literally hinting at hundreds of dollars worth of "bits" (guy means full boxes he can split in bits). Now this moron is saying iam starting this "community run project" and how we help each other cause blabalalabla.....Iam getting mad and thinking this guy....the owner of Koros is a raving drug addict now. WTF is he talking about, i never said anything like that to this guy, he kept smiling while lying, changing his story, droning on and on. He even tries the poor me routine and how they help the community ( everything is over priced remember..) So i loudly yell at the guy that iam a random stranger and a paying customer and now this weirdo wants me to donate hundreds of dollars worth of bits everything i have pretty much not just in bits, he suggest since he gave me the 4 rare broken termaguants..... i should give him(the community/his store) any and all unique bits i have collected and scrounged for my deathwatch, first he tries the poor me and share with the community (give him everything for these BROKEN PEICES...WTF IS THIS TALKING ABOUT) i shouldnt horde things(i dont have much and i have had to try hard for what i have, i have gotten some good deals but i need them or i couldnt afford warhammer) Then he starts getting mad and talking down saying iam going to ruin my own models so basically i should give them to him( this moron couldn even answer anything about green stuff, got mad when i offered him tons of free chaos axes, spears, heads, shields and banners. he just kept repeating he wants "the good stuff" and "community" and "to do conversions like me" ( again i haven said anything but iam heavily converting my deathwatch- THAT IS IT!)

anyway to cut a frat he was threatening i couldn't buy anything from his store cause i wasnt part of the "community" and to get that privilege i would need to give him literally hundreds of dollars worth of boxes, he even offered i should buy some expensive stuff from his store then give him the rest. THis is the owner of Koros in orangeville wtf! iam getting really mad and have flat out said NO multiple times and raised my voice a few times at this point . talks over me nonstop, blathers on and on, lies constantly, i dont know this psycho or where he is getting any of these ideas...keeps getting angry when i dont agree and yelling at me, i yell back and then he gets another weaselly smile and tries some other tactic. So as iam walking out my buddy now very confused suggests i could sell him some of my old stuff, again he says i should "donate all of those models to the community for this super special conversion club" even says iam no longer a customer and i have to give him again hundreds of dollars worth of stuff to join the community...




sorry for the frat, i was even going to start my own thread but this is the weirdest thing ever, never had any experience like this before. the guy was being such a weasel and my buddy doesnt know anything about warhammer so he was mostly confused. He seems like acouple times he almost got to the point of being threatening but iam a big guy . I just dont get it.....i just dont...can we get Games workshop to pull this stores license or something...never been there before and never going back. sure i could have left alittle earlier but he was being such a weasel it took me a while to figure out what he wanted and what he was even talking about then i was arguing cause i couldn't believe he was actually saying, thinking and acting the way he was, his angry sweaty friend/employee mean mugged me the whole time lol.

sry i keep noticing minor spelling errors one by one that why this post has been edited a couple times now

what is a "frat'?

What is going on in that post, rather?! I couldn't make head nor tail of it, except "some guy wants me to give lots of expensive stuff to some made up community in exchange for broken tyranid". That part made sense. Little else did. Please try to clean it up a bit and have a friend proofread it.

Friendly staff, clean shop, tasteful decorations, a clearly organized schedule, M:TG support (Those cardboard crackheads keep the store open!) and a bits bin. Plenty of tables, a well maintained public restroom and air conditioning. Oh, and a "You must maintain basic hygiene to play here" policy. We aren't expecting you to be neatly combed or anything. Just shower, brush your teeth and apply deodorant.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
What is going on in that post, rather?! I couldn't make head nor tail of it, except "some guy wants me to give lots of expensive stuff to some made up community in exchange for broken tyranid". That part made sense. Little else did. Please try to clean it up a bit and have a friend proofread it.

[MOD EDIT - RULE #1 - Alpharius]


Automatically Appended Next Post:
my point was the [MOD EDIT - RULE #1 - Alpharius] that owns Koros was saying i have to donate hundreds of dollars to the community to buy or play there get now?

I've kind of got the near ideal game store about 50 minutes away in the northern suburbs.

Games Plus.
Lots of gaming space, a ginormous selection, including lots of stuff you usually only see at conventions or online. We're talking in addition to WH40k, PP, etc there's more than a whole row of reaper, A battletech section, etc. A rewards program that usually comes to around 10% off IIRC.

The only drawbacks might be the 1980's store fixtures and someitmes there are boxes of product in odd locations, but if that's the price of great selection it's fine with me.

A recnently opened joint on the south side "Greenfire Games" is much too new to have the same kind of selection, but they have plenty of game space, modern fixtures, extremely well lit and clean and friendly staff.

For me, probably the nicest store I've been to in recent memory is At Ease Games, located across the street from Miramar MCAS on the north side of San Diego, CA:

http://ateasegames.com/

It features a large selection of all types of games (minis, card games, board games) , has tons of gaming and hobby space, and has a pass-through to a bar and restaurant next door.





I only get to visit when traveling for work, sadly, as I live on the other side of the US from it :(

I don't know about the dream, but one of our locals has a shared vestibule to enter. One side is the game store, and the other store is an adult lingerie shop.

I have to admit Warhammer World is pretty close. Decent parking, lots of gaming tables, some scenic, seperate store areas, bar with hot food.

If it wasn't for the GW-only part, or the distance (4 hours) I'd be in there all the time.

Up here we've got a gaming place that used to be a snooker hall, so lots of table space, separate store area, cafe with sandwiches/paninis and stuff. Parking is a bit hit and miss though since it doesn't have a car park.

Maelstrom was pretty good as well, until it went under.

So I guess I prefer: Dedicated gaming space, parking, food.

I don't think the "perfect" FLGS exists.

At least, not for me. "Adequate for the task" suits me.

I don't need the store to be the ultimate in gaming places and retail experiences, since I don't tend to game in stores (our "club" model here tends to follow the UK one, not the US one based around stores).

I've been to WHW. It was overcrowded, the pub was ok, but it was like gaming in a convention space (not for me).

Our normal "club" spaces tend to have the food, access to beer and good gaming space covered, as well as a DBAD crew (for the most part). All we need.

Thank goodness that "At Ease" store was not around Camp Pendelton when I was a jarhead.

These days, just having parking will guarantee a visit from me.

So long as the staff don't act like Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons I'm generally pretty happy.

Sesquedoodle wrote:
So long as the staff don't act like Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons I'm generally pretty happy.

^-This-^

"Worst gaming store ever"