Demise of a FLGS, sale this weekend

Storminator · Oct 23, 2006

Well, sadly, the game store that got me back into the hobby is folding up at the end of the month. We've seen the end coming for a long time now, and we're kinda surprised they held out as long as they did.

So if you're in the mood to pick the bones, it's

The Wizard's Tower
(603) 594-0521
49 Kinsley St
Nashua, NH

PS

MojoGM · Oct 23, 2006

That's a shame, I live in nearby MA and have been to Wizard's Tower quite a few times.

I'm sorry to see them go.

Piratecat · Oct 23, 2006

Well, that simply sucks. The store is an important part of the local community; they run a great con, they run games for young kids to get them into the hobby, and they're just nice people.

Frustratingly, I'm guessing this is a cash flow/inventory issue. I was there last month, ready to drop about $200 on gaming supplies, and they didn't have any of the books I was hoping to buy. Shadowrun, Spycraft 2e, new Mutants & Masterminds supplements, the colossal red dragon... nothing. But they've got a huge stock of 3.0 books like those execrable FFE books "Rings of Power" and the like that I wouldn't take if someone handed to me. I walked out of there feeling sad; now I understand why.

Storminator · Oct 23, 2006

Piratecat said:
Well, that simply sucks. The store is an important part of the local community; they run a great con, they run games for young kids to get them into the hobby, and they're just nice people.

Frustratingly, I'm guessing this is a cash flow/inventory issue. I was there last month, ready to drop about $200 on gaming supplies, and they didn't have any of the books I was hoping to buy. Shadowrun, Spycraft 2e, new Mutants & Masterminds supplements, the colossal red dragon... nothing. But they've got a huge stock of 3.0 books like those execrable FFE books "Rings of Power" and the like that I wouldn't take if someone handed to me. I walked out of there feeling sad; now I understand why.

Yeah, we've been watching them unable to replenish stock for a while now. It's sad when you see someone stuck in that spiral... no sales -> can't buy new merchandise -> no sales...

They do have a whole lot of 3.0 books (in addition to the above mentioned execrabbles...).

PS

Hunter In Darkness · Oct 23, 2006

dont live in the area alway sad to see one go havent had a game store here in 7 year verys sad to hear bout it

bento · Oct 23, 2006

You comment about being stuck is something that I notice with a lot of specialty shops like Game and Comic stores.

Whereas traditional retailers will have sales to blow out old inventory, most specialty shop owners tend to have a packrat mentality. "Surely someone out there is willing to pay full price, he-he-he."

One of the few chains here in DFW that continues to survive, quite well, is Lone Star Comics. Not a favorite of mine, but they are willing to hold annual sales to get rid of stuff. One that is a favorite, Generation X, keeps an eye on slow moving products and puts them in the sales bin when the time comes.

Cutting your losses sooner rather than later certainly helps to free up cash flow, pay bills and buy new inventory!

Rugger · Oct 23, 2006

Well nuts.

I used to play a ton of LG (including a few games held there), and always bought from Wizards Tower at cons...

Sad to see them go...

-Matt

Storminator · Oct 23, 2006

bento said:
You comment about being stuck is something that I notice with a lot of specialty shops like Game and Comic stores.

Whereas traditional retailers will have sales to blow out old inventory, most specialty shop owners tend to have a packrat mentality. "Surely someone out there is willing to pay full price, he-he-he."

One of the few chains here in DFW that continues to survive, quite well, is Lone Star Comics. Not a favorite of mine, but they are willing to hold annual sales to get rid of stuff. One that is a favorite, Generation X, keeps an eye on slow moving products and puts them in the sales bin when the time comes.

Cutting your losses sooner rather than later certainly helps to free up cash flow, pay bills and buy new inventory!

You're right about that. Drastic sales would have helped. I kept wondering why I'd see 3.0 books at full price when I find them at GenCon at "Buy 1 get 3 free prices."

My wife and I, as we anticipated the closing of this store (as I said, they held out longer than we thought they would) used to list all the things the store could do better. But in the end, the real problem was absentee ownership. The owner was a nice guy, but this wasn't his main business, and didn't really seem to care. At least not enough.

FWIW, I was at Lone Star Comics earlier this month, and thought it was a pretty decent store.

PS

bento · Oct 23, 2006

Storminator said:
You're right about that. Drastic sales would have helped. I kept wondering why I'd see 3.0 books at full price when I find them at GenCon at "Buy 1 get 3 free prices."

And the thing is, the sales never really have to be "drastic" if they are done early and often. Just making a point of holding a "Spring Cleaning" or "Celebrating our xth Year in Business" Sale is often enough to get rid of the debris and get some ready cash. Maybe we can teach the next generation of game store owners that CASH FLOW MANAGEMENT is the key to survival.

There's another post going on about how Half Price Books (a used bookstore chain) is selling a dozen or so WoTC titles that came out last year. Most of the books are spanking new, and I'll bet you that they probably all came from a bookstore chain wanting to clear out inventory and free up cash.

Storminator said:
WIW, I was at Lone Star Comics earlier this month, and thought it was a pretty decent store. PS

My biggest peeve with LS is, except for their main store, they lack carrying a full range of games. They definitely are clean and well lit!

ghul · Oct 23, 2006

That's too bad. I shop there about once per month or so, and I've always admired their willingness to carry a huge amount of small press publishers.

--Ghul