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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut






My local FLGS store owner is expanding his paint section, which is moving well, but he told me that his Games Workshop models aren't selling. The only other significant line he carries is Nolzur's RPG plastic miniatures. Are there other miniature lines that you would recommend that he stock? If GW isn't a relatively "safe bet" these days for the average physical retail hobby store, is anything?

(I'm currently in an old-school metal miniatures phase that would be hard for most small, brick-and-mortar hobby stores to cater to and profit from, so I just buy paint and primer from him.)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/09/30 13:24:56


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Made in us
Dakka Veteran





If 40K or AoS aren't big in your area then that's not surprising. Star Wars Legion has broader appeal and I've heard is a pretty good wargame.

I would think the best way to start up the 40k community would be to host demo's and leagues for smaller games easier to get into. But you need at least a small dedicated core of folks willing to play and teach others. Starting small with Titanicus, War Cry, or my personal favorite Blood Bowl would probably be the way to go.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/09/30 13:37:47


 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

I would advise him to find out what his customers are buying/interested in & look into stocking that.

Also what's being played/sold locally. Or isnt....
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran




Seattle, WA USA

Really depends on what the clientele is into. You said he's carrying the Wizkids D&D models; are those selling well? If so, it might be that more of their customers are RPGers, so Reaper might be a good option if that's the case.

If there aren't many wargamers that frequent (which, it sounds like there's at least no GW players), then going into any wargame might be risky for dead stock. It might be worth it for them to post something asking folks for any interest, or just asking "regulars" about it.
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut



London

I would recommend he check out 'Gary Ray, Author' on Facebook and black diamond games blog for lots of tips on just this thing.
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

We can't suggest anything. What we'd like or hope a shop would stock is different to what the shops actual customers are wanting to buy.


This is 100% on your store to ask you and the other gamers what they and you want. What games you are interested in and what model lines. Then they can pool all that information together.

If you want to do your part to help then consider if there are game groups locally who use the store or which don't use the store - reach out to find out why they aren't.

There are so many possibiltieis. Eg the local 40K players might not even know your store exists; or perhaps your store has a higher price than others; or perhaps your store offers no gaming tables whilst others do etc....




In the end there might just not be any wargamers locally - at which point stocking those games might be a case not just of providing product, but also growing the market interest. Running demo days and game events; having staffers do demo games and introduce people and get them into the game. Ergo marketing the game not just stocking the game.




So don't ask us, ask yourself and ask your locals. Study the situation and understand why the Warhammer isn't selling; understand what locals want and understand what provisions and drives there are to promote local games.

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MN (Currently in WY)

The folks above gave much better advice than I will.

However, I recommend he takes a look at his core target market, and restructure his marketing and merchandising plan based on the findings from that. By asking you, he is on the right track, but he needs more info than that. Sadly, if he wants to move stock, he may need to shift his marketing approach to appeal to the existing market, or do something to try and make a market instead. Not easy to do either way. His local SBA or Small Business Incubator maybe a better place to start with than local gamers for help with this.

Now, to answer your question based on the skant information we have..... I would say he will want to consider more US based games and distributors for ease.

It also sounds like he sells more RPG focused stuff, so Reaper is a good bet. The danger is that it would simply erode his existing business line instead of expanding it.

Therefore, Battletech is having a bit of a resurgence and has a strong US player base. When I run into US wargamers outside of the wargaming store, many play or started by playing Battletech more often than not.

Now, I am just some schmuck on the internet and he should not take my word for it. He needs to do the hard work himself and see if it even makes sense to expand on a line or product category that is not moving.

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Veteran Wolf Guard Squad Leader






Does the store host gaming, or is there a big community which plays out of the store? Gw games are usually pretty safe bets, and if they are not selling well, another miniatures line won't necessarily sell better than gw. They might have a smaller investment to stock.

If miniature games are not selling, any game your store hosts won't sell without someone being a hype man for that game and getting people on board.


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Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Thing is in general wargames nearly always sell slower than things like card games. So many hobby shops are often more likely to devote tables and marketing toward card games because those are often the bread and butter money earners.

Why take up space and staff time marketing a wargame that is never going to out-sell MTG and Yugio when you could just market those games even more.



That's the kind of question a store has to ask themselves. Of course there are good answers- a diverse portfolio means they can attract different customers and have a greater chance of customer retention (someone gets tired of card games and jumps ship to wargames).
Course they also have to consider the startup - investment in stock is only one part if they've also got to run demo games and off game space (now they need tables and terrain and at least one staffer doing demo games with good social, marketing and game skills to achieve that whilst coaxing in more customers).


As noted if GW games aren't selling then the wargame scene is either just not there and needs to be grown; or is very different to normal; or is perhaps all historicals (which are a related by slightly different market segment).

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Sisters and Dark Eldar.

And nothing else.

Call the store "Pain & Piety".

Endless success.

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Melbourne .au

yeah, it really comes down to what "hot singles in your area" are playing, if not GW. It might be X-Wing, or Star Wars Legion, or Flames of War, or Marvel Crisis Protocol... or it might be his prices (MSRP when a discounter is nearby), or a lack of in-store gaming, or any number of other issues...

   
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Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

 Azazelx wrote:
yeah, it really comes down to what "hot singles in your area" are playing, if not GW. It might be X-Wing, or Star Wars Legion, or Flames of War, or Marvel Crisis Protocol... or it might be his prices (MSRP when a discounter is nearby), or a lack of in-store gaming, or any number of other issues...


Could also be personal between him & his potential customers.


   
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Melbourne .au

Could you elaborate? I'm not entirely sure what you mean.

   
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Deadly Tomb Guard





Florida

I wouldn't. If he's already carrying dead stock adding more is not going to fix the issue

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 Azazelx wrote:
Could you elaborate? I'm not entirely sure what you mean.


Iea is store owner has done something in past to drive away customers. Unlikely but possible.

Other potentials would be there's store selling miniatures at better discount nearby, store with already big gaming culture(people play there and then buy as well. Especially if this store cant even provide better discount why would people come to his store?) Or discounts etc match but other store has more stuff in stock. Why order through store that provides in week if you can pick one up right away?

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Regular Dakkanaut





What gets bought is what gets played. And what gets played is what gets organized.

I'd suggest your FLGS owner talk to the more active community members and see what they want to schedule. Then, support that with product, event/competitive play prizes (if any provided by the company), etc.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut







To be frank, I think a local game store is better off focusing on getting a reliable hook into the pre-order chain.

What does a player get out pre-orders at the store? They don't have to deal with shipping, and their new models will be somewhere they're hopefully going to be at regularly.

Otherwise, I think a retailer has to pretty much be prepared to use internet sales to move stock that isn't selling locally.
   
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Winged Kroot Vulture






Well, this isn't Field of Dreams and just buy building it doesn't mean they will come.

He really has to start getting some feelers out there and network. That is, as long as he is not a downright a-hole and has already chased away his potential customers.
Find out what other places are doing right and doing wrong. After he has made some connections get people interested in coming to his shop by hosting events.

This isn't something done overnight and what he needs to carry depends on the demographic for the area.

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Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

 Azazelx wrote:
Could you elaborate? I'm not entirely sure what you mean.


It is possible to alienate ones customers.
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Another thought strikes me and that's shelf display and stock. When a store only has a very limited range of product this means everything has to be ordered in, which for a customer means going to the store; ordering; then having to come back to the store again to collect. These days with internet and direct sales methods those same customers can save on fuel, parking and time by just ordering and having home delivery. Why go to the store that has 5 or 6 boxes of stuff you never want?

This is one of the risks with wargames and why the SKU bloat is such a huge problem for many of them (GW almost excluded a bit due to market dominance and the use of their own exclusive stores). It's not enough for a store to have A box of your stuff; they want to have a good display of your range for each faction within each game.


Of course this goes hand in hand with marketing and the desire and capacity for the store to push sales and network with local game groups. Since the store would be foolish to invest heavily into stock that still might not sell if shelf display is only one part of the issue.

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Yep. If you don't have full stock then you are struggling to compete with other local stores with full stock. Or online stores with free deliveries...

If you can't have stock right NOW customer can just come in and buy you lose the big advantage you have over net stores. Ability to buy what you need RIGHT NOW.

Of course...Thanks to huge sku amount GW has(and to which PP ran into as well) that's expensive proposition for store. And can be physically tricky. Local store I buy my stuff certainly is having to do some inventive solutions to fit GW stuff.

2024 painted/bought: 109/109 
   
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Locked in the Tower of Amareo





Yep. If you don't have full stock then you are struggling to compete with other local stores with full stock. Or online stores with free deliveries...

If you can't have stock right NOW customer can just come in and buy you lose the big advantage you have over net stores. Ability to buy what you need RIGHT NOW.

Of course...Thanks to huge sku amount GW has(and to which PP ran into as well) that's expensive proposition for store. And can be physically tricky. Local store I buy my stuff certainly is having to do some inventive solutions to fit GW stuff.

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Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

tneva82 wrote:
Yep. If you don't have full stock then you are struggling to compete with other local stores with full stock. Or online stores with free deliveries...

If you can't have stock right NOW customer can just come in and buy you lose the big advantage you have over net stores. Ability to buy what you need RIGHT NOW.

Of course...Thanks to huge sku amount GW has(and to which PP ran into as well) that's expensive proposition for store. And can be physically tricky. Local store I buy my stuff certainly is having to do some inventive solutions to fit GW stuff.


Yep, its why its important to have hobby and game space in store. If you can't hold all the stock at least have space for people to come hobby and game. If they are coming to your store for the social aspects; to get lessons in painting; to paint whilst chatting; to play games; to get intro games etc... Then you've got them in your store. Or at least the game room next door to the store (eg game night might be into the late hours when the shop part is closed and the tills off). If you can get them coming to you for that then ordering stuff in loses its sting because they are coming next week anyway to game; so its no additional investment of time nor money for them to come again to the store.

When the store just offers models and nothing else; if they have to order then the customer has to invest time and money to come to the store twice to get the same product. Which these days with super cheap online ordering and fast delivery means that many might well go "eh I can get the same price delivered to my door faster and cheaper and with zero bother"

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Locked in the Tower of Amareo





 Overread wrote:
Yep, its why its important to have hobby and game space in store. If you can't hold all the stock at least have space for people to come hobby and game. If they are coming to your store for the social aspects; to get lessons in painting; to paint whilst chatting; to play games; to get intro games etc... Then you've got them in your store. Or at least the game room next door to the store (eg game night might be into the late hours when the shop part is closed and the tills off). If you can get them coming to you for that then ordering stuff in loses its sting because they are coming next week anyway to game; so its no additional investment of time nor money for them to come again to the store.


Yep. Works for me certainly. Since I'm playing there regularly(twice a week minimum) coming to pick up stuff isn't unreasonable burden. That certainly helps with that.

You need to have reason for customer to come to you over local competitors or net stores. If you are competing vs net stores either it has to be discount(which is unlikely to be viable to net store whose overhead is smaller...) or ease of picking up.

Vs other stores if your place can provide better gaming venue that gives customers reason to come to YOUR place rather than some other place.

Of course there are those who will come just to play and buy elsewhere but assuming you aren't lot more expensive than others not all. Convenience is also factor. I for one won't worry too much about few euro's for 100€ pricier than elsewhere when I can a) get it while playing there b) support store as well. Extra effort going elsewhere outweights the minor saving.

If you can't provide gaming venue, can't provide best discount and can't provide wide stock...well honestly why would anybody buy from your store? Store being able to order stuff for you is hardly good marketing point...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/10/03 10:39:50


2024 painted/bought: 109/109 
   
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Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

tneva82 wrote:

Of course there are those who will come just to play and buy elsewhere but assuming you aren't lot more expensive than others not all. Convenience is also factor. I for one won't worry too much about few euro's for 100€ pricier than elsewhere when I can a) get it while playing there b) support store as well. Extra effort going elsewhere outweights the minor saving.

If you can't provide gaming venue, can't provide best discount and can't provide wide stock...well honestly why would anybody buy from your store? Store being able to order stuff for you is hardly good marketing point...


And those who play at your store but don't buy are also not a problem. Provided that you have table space for them to game what they are doing is providing value for your paying customers. So Steve gets all his stuff online and never buys from you; but he's playing Bill and Ted who are both buying from your shop. Plus you can always work on selling stuff to Steve every time he comes in. Not with a hard sales tactic (that would most likely drive people away from a hobby store); but you have the chance that they will buy things every time they walk into the store.


The only time it becomes an issue is if everyone is playing at your store and almost none are buying things. At which point something is going wrong and you'd have to look at why they are avoiding spending money. Especially as the more people invest into a hobby space the more likely they are to want to support it even with some increased hobby cost to themselves.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/10/03 11:05:22


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Deadly Tomb Guard





Florida

tneva82 wrote:
 Overread wrote:
Yep, its why its important to have hobby and game space in store. If you can't hold all the stock at least have space for people to come hobby and game. If they are coming to your store for the social aspects; to get lessons in painting; to paint whilst chatting; to play games; to get intro games etc... Then you've got them in your store. Or at least the game room next door to the store (eg game night might be into the late hours when the shop part is closed and the tills off). If you can get them coming to you for that then ordering stuff in loses its sting because they are coming next week anyway to game; so its no additional investment of time nor money for them to come again to the store.


Yep. Works for me certainly. Since I'm playing there regularly(twice a week minimum) coming to pick up stuff isn't unreasonable burden. That certainly helps with that.

You need to have reason for customer to come to you over local competitors or net stores. If you are competing vs net stores either it has to be discount(which is unlikely to be viable to net store whose overhead is smaller...) or ease of picking up.

Vs other stores if your place can provide better gaming venue that gives customers reason to come to YOUR place rather than some other place.

Of course there are those who will come just to play and buy elsewhere but assuming you aren't lot more expensive than others not all. Convenience is also factor. I for one won't worry too much about few euro's for 100€ pricier than elsewhere when I can a) get it while playing there b) support store as well. Extra effort going elsewhere outweights the minor saving.

If you can't provide gaming venue, can't provide best discount and can't provide wide stock...well honestly why would anybody buy from your store? Store being able to order stuff for you is hardly good marketing point...


As an online retailer:

Even with smaller overheads, sales volume is a bitch right now.

Manufacturers have steadily raised prices post pandemic to cover shipping costs and other things. Boxed sets have been going up across the board.

Meanwhile disposable income has been reduced due to inflation and stagnant wages.

People don't want to spend $50 on a box unless they perceive the value is there. From a large percentage of my customer base it has been communicated to me that translates into $ per model.

Raising the barrier of entry to your product line steadily to fight inflation and cost overruns is a double edged sword.

And retailers are the grist in the mill because we are relying on set percentages of margin that we have to reduce with discounts to move any product whatsoever.


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Brigadier General






Chicago

I notice the OP hasn't been back to respond. The general advice to learn/poll/research your local market is of course the best advice.

Generically, though I'd get a read on what low-sku game currently has traction or is gaining traction in your area. Something like Legion has alot going for it in that it is relatively low-sku compared to many other games, and has a brand and IP that folks are familiar with. Xwing is another. With that game you might not even have to try and stock everything if you can get in stocking something like the current meta.

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Being able to get stock can be a major issue. Before he commits he needs to ensure he can consistently supply product.

Ffg is notorious about supply issues. Many companies are these days. I think battletech has been easier to come by.
   
 
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