WH Smiths stopped stocking White Dwarf...

[nurglespuss]

Hi All,

This has happened before ( a few years back) but Games-Workshop have stopped stocking White Dwarf in WH Smiths? Damned annoying in my area where getting hold of one (and having a flick through before deciding to buy) is very difficult....

Thoughts?

[nurglespuss]

http://www.40konline.com/community/index.php?topic=209531.0


Ahhh that goes a way to explaining it, pity the article isn't there any more...

[Aldramelech]

Tesco's sell it.

[Lord Azaghul]

I'm sorry, white what? ;)


Edit.
I know my FLGS has really be struggling to move these things over the past 2-3 years. If anything they are trying to drop to the bare min that GW will force them to carry.

[eldargal]

Apparently WH Smith were asking more than GW wanted to pay to stock the magazine. People are trying to pin this on GW but I helped a friend with a niche magazine she ran, and the money they wanted just to stock it in a few stores in areas we knew the readership were based was obscene. Mind you I never thought it was a good idea for a niche magazine to approach WH Smith in the first place.

[TheBitzBarn]

I'm sorry, white what? ;)


Edit.
I know my FLGS has really be struggling to move these things over the past 2-3 years. If anything they are trying to drop to the bare min that GW will force them to carry.

GW does not force anyone anymore to carry anything that is a old urban legend at least in the USA

[Lord Azaghul]

GW does not force anyone anymore to carry anything that is a old urban legend at least in the USA

Interesting.

Maybe I miss understood our stock person then. I do know that GW does require then to carry certain products. The last time I mentioned WD our stock person mentioned that GW keeps sending them FAR more then they request.

[Lane]

GW does not force anyone anymore to carry anything that is a old urban legend at least in the USA

While GW does not force any retailer to carry their products or buy direct from GW they do (or did) force unwanted product on Independent Retailers.

For stores that buy direct from GW, which is fairly common because the discount is better, they place certain restrictions on. They may have changed policies but here is what I remember from 10years ago.

IIRC there are certain core products (not just box sets) they must stock, at least in their initial order.

They have minimum orders for most products. Want one blister of that character? Sorry you have to buy 2-3.

New releases had ridiculous minimum orders. There were times I had to wait months for a new kit because the store had to order 6+ to get them while new releases. Some of them only sold 2-3 in six months

They had sales reps that would come visit/ spy on stores. I know a store owner that was threatened with loss of their direct order account if they did not comply with stock levels.

[lobster-overlord]

They've done away with the 2 blister of anything. That was based on teh way they were packed, but now with FineCast, the minimum is 1, and max is 3 per week per store. I never had a minimum on a particular item just hte order minimums each time. I had a great experience with GW as a stockist and I'd do it again if I ever had my own business again.