Help Out a FLGS

[Mystery.Shadow]

Everyone in every country around the world complains about the Economy.
Nobody knows it more than your Favorite Local Game Store Owner!

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions that could possibly drum up more business for the poor guy?
Would hate to see a Game Store (anywhere!) close.

[Drew da Destroya]

I think the biggest problem for the LGS is the internet... between eBay and discount sites like Warstore and Maelstrom, it's tough to justify paying full retail (or even slightly less than retail). And the local guys don't have the volume of sales required to justify a steep discount... a pretty slippery slope.

Really, though, the focus needs to be on promoting a "community". A friend of mine was the manager of a video game store... he was given a fairly poorly performing store, and turned it into one of the top in the company. He did this by promoting the store through flyers at nearby locations (there was a college nearby which ended up pretty well plastered), running tournaments with store credit prizes (which ensures that the winners have to come back and spend their winnings in-store), and in general making friends with frequent customers (who then brought their friends).

I usually make fun of him for being the leader of a nerd-cult, but his customers were pretty fanatical, and spent a lot of money there. Seemed pretty effective.

Of course, the company failed anyway, but that's because it was the GameCrazy division of Hollywood Video, and the game store couldn't make enough money to support the dying video rental business.

[lattd]

How about getting him to run a campaign and give discounts if people buy a new army for said campaign he could then build it up to an apocalypse level end game. That way he's encouraging community, buying new models, it could also encourage painting and conversions.

[oni]

When selling product alone isn't enough then the store needs to hold paid events to create revenue.

[lobster-overlord]

not even paid events, but make sure he has events in general.

also, if he's offering a tiered discount structure, you'll see that sales will build through loyalty, but if he's doing everything at retail, of course people are going to go to the internet.

Advertise...


John M>

[rle68]

when will people realize that you can buy off ebay the war store etc etc but then go play at their store oh wait they dont have a store guess you can go play in your house then

[Defenestratus]

One thing that I think would benefit most LGS' is to setup a dedicated hobby area for people to come in, chill, paint and assemble minis and shoot the **** about their favorite games. The LGS I went to up in the Atlanta area has a HUUUGE hobby area which is a great place to go after work for a couple minutes and just hang out. Its also great for getting away from the wife. 99 times out of a 100 I would go to the store, intending to work on minis - and would end up playing a game halfway through my session.

I also did a lot of impulse buying there because I would see others working on minis that I "all of a sudden" wanted.

Started a blood angels army because of it.

[Porty1119]

when you said flyers, I thought you meant Marauders, Hell Blades and the like. Oh well, no air force for Porty. :(

But hey, the FLGS is a great invention. I show up at Armada in Tampa FL every few months, and so does Jawaballs as I can see by a few VBRs on YouTube. It's cool to get to goof off with someone other than my school buddies, and see other games.

[AdamHarry]

Running a escalation league is a great way to drum up business. start small (500 pts) and bump it up every 1-2 weeks by 200-250 points. this lets players start small and build up.
Make the prizes weekly but make them buy product to enter in the league.
make it cheap, fun and affordable. Say a unit every 2 weeks/point bump. or a $$$ amount.

Repeat business is the what you're buddy is going to have to rely on. and don't make promises you can't keep.

also, painting constests...once a month or every 3 weeks. 500pts/unit challenges/set $$$ are great. for instance if you buy $30 worth of stuff, paint it and enter it, you could win something cool based on how many people particpate.

Also give bonus points for # of models actually painted. They might not be a great painter, but it's a good motivator to get people painting.

Get creative is the big thing. Host events, and make them fun. don't just cater to one type of gamer (tourney player vs casual or visa-versa).

[scadugenga]

Having an online presence is key. Many stores have an internet business side that help keeps them afloat.

Sadly, the growth of GW stores has hurt FLGS's significantly in our area. I know of 3 separate local stores that had to close because of the Battle Bunker and other local GW stores stealing their business away.

The few that have survived are either 1) outside the normal area range of a GW store, or 2) have been an established presence for decades.

They also have some sort of loyalty rewards program. People love a discount. Particularly in today's economic times.

They do all of the above as well--run tournaments in just about every game system, provide space for people to sell their minis, they even run semi-annual auctions where people can unload their unwanted/no longer needed gaming stuff.

Ultimately, it's up to the FLGS to do the following:

1) Know their customer base. If there's not enough support to run a store, it doesn't matter what you do promotional-wise. You need "X" support base just to break even.
2) Branch into other related areas. Many game stores are now also comic shops.
3) Keep a healthy online presence--either from your own website, or via ebay.
4) Promote a safe, welcoming environment. Make sure everyone feels happy and safe to be there.
5) Spend a little money--sponsor local kids sports teams/events, give to charities. Get the name out there as more than just a subculture venue.
6) Have some loyalty rewards program/online discount. You won't make as much profit, but you will move product. An in-store discount can be smaller, and will still succeed because it will feed into the "instant gratification" psyche of wanting it now. Most people will prefer to save 10% and take home immediately rather than save 20% and wait 1-2 weeks for something to arrive in the mail.

[Lockark]

The Community in a game store is important.

If the community isn't accepting to new players or becomes elitist then your asking for trouble.

[scadugenga]

The Community in a game store is important.

If the community isn't accepting to new players or becomes elitist then your asking for trouble.

Truer words were ne'er spoken.

[Night System]

The Community in a game store is important.

If the community isn't accepting to new players or becomes elitist then your asking for trouble.

I can very much concur, i generally spend money when i get involved. So to get money of me, run lots of cool events, keep the games coming, and the money will flow, were starting a new campaign? im gona need a new army :P etc

A indy store i know is quite cheap, and in all accounts should be superior to the nearby GW. But the people who play there (not the manager hes quite a nice chap) are very hostile to outsiders, and suffer from Warmachine ruleszaas da mostist!!!! syndrome. Made my first visit very uncomfortable and so never went back. Must have lost the shop hundreds of pounds based on how much i spend keeping the local GW afloat :P