Chimera in Beeston has not only become a focal point of the RPG and CCG communities in Nottingham, it has been nominated local business of the year several years running and has won that title against 'mainstream' businesses.
Before setting up Chimera 12 years ago in Ripley, Derbyshire (it then moved to Nottingham), Andy Leach worked primarily in retail, developing an understanding of what made customer bases tick. His wife and co-director, Heather worked in distribution and for the miniatures company Alternative Armies on the launch of their miniatures wargame, Flintloque. When the opportunity arose, the couple decided to take the skillsets they had and fuse them with their passions – Tabletop RPGS and CCG's. "We went in with our eyes open, knowing it would be hard work; it was a lifestyle choice." says Andy of the decision.
Their commitment to Chimera as a lifestyle choice brought about the stores success. The store has always focused on community above all else, "If we sell you something, you should be able to play it with us." is the store ethos. Andy mentions that they paid attention to a strategy implemented by Starbucks and modelled the store as a 'Third space' – one that wasn't work or home but a safe, familiar place to relax and think. It certainly seems to have paid off. With eight regular D&D groups, organised play for every single card game you can think of, an all day RPG session once a month (18 games run during one day) and community projects, the store is flourishing. But it hasn't all been easy.
"You have to have zero tolerance for inappropriate behaviour" says Andy of the store's inclusive environment. "We don't tolerate discrimination or bullying in any form and equality is always at the forefront of our mind." I pointed out that the store has had an almost equal gender balance in its staff from day one and asked if it is linked to this policy. "While I think representation is important, I can't say it was any kind of plan. It turns out if you honestly just employ the best people for the job, half of them tend to turn out to be female." he says.
With the current market shifts, it's been useful to be that open as well. Andy remarks that Chimera has seen a massive upsurge in sales of D&D since the release of 5th edition and the boost in livestreaming, noting in particular the influence of Shut Up & Sit Down and Critical Role. "The audience has changed. People who didn't want to sit and read a massive book can see it's really shared storytelling. The best advertisement for the game has always been to see it played. People are always looking for the new D&D release." This however, has created problems "The industry is very new release driven. It means that you're stuck with not having cash flow to get enough product fast or speculatively ordering too many in. It's hard to balance."
I begin to understand why so many stores now do pre-orders as standard. "It's worse when several things release at the same time" he notes.
One of the things he's noticed is that the audience that come for 5e branch into other games, like Starfinder. He says spreading interest is vital to the business "It's important to be able to consider the viability of hosting as a financial venture. Especially as we don't charge for tablespace. That's a model a lot of people choose because it's a sensible way to profit fairly. For us, once we could afford to do it for free, we did. It's part of the 'play with us' ethos."
We return to talking about community and how it has been the reason the store has been successful. "Some furniture and cookware stores are now doing sleepovers and classes. "Retail-tainment" is the concept of adding entertainment and experiences to retail." He says "Games stores have been doing this for decades, we've got experience in it. They needed to do it to survive the recession. Game stores with good communities are – or should be – more recession proof."
contributed by Benjamin Jackson
Before setting up Chimera 12 years ago in Ripley, Derbyshire (it then moved to Nottingham), Andy Leach worked primarily in retail, developing an understanding of what made customer bases tick. His wife and co-director, Heather worked in distribution and for the miniatures company Alternative Armies on the launch of their miniatures wargame, Flintloque. When the opportunity arose, the couple decided to take the skillsets they had and fuse them with their passions – Tabletop RPGS and CCG's. "We went in with our eyes open, knowing it would be hard work; it was a lifestyle choice." says Andy of the decision.
Their commitment to Chimera as a lifestyle choice brought about the stores success. The store has always focused on community above all else, "If we sell you something, you should be able to play it with us." is the store ethos. Andy mentions that they paid attention to a strategy implemented by Starbucks and modelled the store as a 'Third space' – one that wasn't work or home but a safe, familiar place to relax and think. It certainly seems to have paid off. With eight regular D&D groups, organised play for every single card game you can think of, an all day RPG session once a month (18 games run during one day) and community projects, the store is flourishing. But it hasn't all been easy.
"You have to have zero tolerance for inappropriate behaviour" says Andy of the store's inclusive environment. "We don't tolerate discrimination or bullying in any form and equality is always at the forefront of our mind." I pointed out that the store has had an almost equal gender balance in its staff from day one and asked if it is linked to this policy. "While I think representation is important, I can't say it was any kind of plan. It turns out if you honestly just employ the best people for the job, half of them tend to turn out to be female." he says.
With the current market shifts, it's been useful to be that open as well. Andy remarks that Chimera has seen a massive upsurge in sales of D&D since the release of 5th edition and the boost in livestreaming, noting in particular the influence of Shut Up & Sit Down and Critical Role. "The audience has changed. People who didn't want to sit and read a massive book can see it's really shared storytelling. The best advertisement for the game has always been to see it played. People are always looking for the new D&D release." This however, has created problems "The industry is very new release driven. It means that you're stuck with not having cash flow to get enough product fast or speculatively ordering too many in. It's hard to balance."
I begin to understand why so many stores now do pre-orders as standard. "It's worse when several things release at the same time" he notes.
One of the things he's noticed is that the audience that come for 5e branch into other games, like Starfinder. He says spreading interest is vital to the business "It's important to be able to consider the viability of hosting as a financial venture. Especially as we don't charge for tablespace. That's a model a lot of people choose because it's a sensible way to profit fairly. For us, once we could afford to do it for free, we did. It's part of the 'play with us' ethos."
We return to talking about community and how it has been the reason the store has been successful. "Some furniture and cookware stores are now doing sleepovers and classes. "Retail-tainment" is the concept of adding entertainment and experiences to retail." He says "Games stores have been doing this for decades, we've got experience in it. They needed to do it to survive the recession. Game stores with good communities are – or should be – more recession proof."
contributed by Benjamin Jackson
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