HailToTheThief
First Post
Hello all.
I don't post here very often, but do frequent these forums, and due to their popularity thought it might be a good place for a minor rant. This is primarily directed to those that own game stores, or frequent them and know those that run them, but I would love to hear others experiences as well.
I am an avid gamer. I have played CCGs in the past (primarily L5R), play RPGs to this day (D&D, L5R, World of Darkness) and own over 200 board games. So clearly I have made an investment into the industry and would be a valuable customer to an establishment that sold things of that nature.
I have also lived all over the place and frequented local gaming stores across the country. I've lived (and bought games) in Missouri, Oregon, New York, Connecticut and (most recently) northern Florida. Between the places I've lived and the places I've traveled I have probably shopped at 3-4 dozen different gaming stores across the country. The issues I am going to bring up are not all applicable to all of the stores I've been to, but are incredibly common, and a recent experience has prompted me to write this post.
Local game stores are slowly dying off. 15 years ago there was a game store in nearly every mall, and now you can count the number of stores in some entire states on both hands (I'm looking at you, Connecticut.) A very large part of that reason that of course bears acknowledging is the rise of internet game stores, and the deep discounts offered on some of the more popular roleplaying lines on stores like Amazon, and even big box brick and mortar bookstores. There are deeper issues, however, that not only fail to counter this problem, but add to it.
I have a great game group, and I have brought every member of the group into the roleplaying fold myself. The issue is, the 6 of us live in 4 different states, so while we manage to get in games almost every week on Fantasy Grounds, it does not really scratch the same itch. As a result, I have recently begun exploring the local gaming scene here in North Florida, and found one game store (that will not be mentioned) that seemed to hold particular promise, as they hosted D&D Encounters events. I went to the store, made a few purchases, and attempted to strike up a conversation with the employee, who not only wanted nothing to do with me (I interrupted a computer game he was playing,) but also gave me no information about the events. Not only that, when I offered to leave my email address to give to someone who would help me, he simply shrugged and returned to his game.
What's wrong with this picture? I am going out of my way to go to his store, spend more money than I have to, and attempt to connect with a local scene, but I am inconveniencing him by interrupting a game? I was so flabbergasted that I left without a word, and obviously don't plan on returning. Another local store drew me in by adding their name to the list for Free RPG Day this year, but when I inquired about it the owner had no idea what I was talking about.
In no particular order, here are some enormous issues that are raised by attempting to run your business like a gamer, and not like a businessperson. You can ignore my advice, and I realize it is only one man's opinion, but if these trends continue the entire subculture will inevitably die out altogether. I am suggesting this not only as a gamer, but as a salesperson working for a 5 year old small business that started with 4 employees in 2 states, and now contains nearly 25 employees over 4 states.
1. RPG companies run brick and mortar exclusive events (such as D&D Encounters and Free RPG Day) to support your store. They are spending money to help you build your local scene and reach new customers. When you sign up for something like this (and you should!), freaking support it! Let your employees know what's going on, bring it up to anyone entering the store, especially those purchasing a product of that nature! Do not commit, then throw it on the backburner. I ran into the exact same scenerio a few weeks back during International Record Store Day. I went to a local record store on the list, only to be completely ignored and find no special product. I will not be returning to that store either.
2. Look at your store with the eyes of someone going there for the first time. Today I entered this store and found two people (one of them an employee) sitting at computers playing a game. I was not greeted. Not asked if I needed help. The place reeked of the chinese food they were eating. The saddest part was, this was one of the better looking game shop's I'd been to. I'm sure you all have very vivid memories of stacks of books on the floor, piles of garbage and faded posters. You should be impressing your customers, not scaring them away.
3. Open gaming should be restricted to separate rooms. I support open gaming in game stores to an extent. But, to be honest, anyone coming in as an outsider is going to be scared away by this, especially if they aren't used to the gamer scene. Checking out a store you've never been to only to be confronted by a table of loud roleplayers right in the middle of the room will result in a prompt about-face more often than not. Support gaming, give gamers a place to play, sure, but keep it away from the shopping area. To their credit, the store I was in today does just that. On the other hand, my favorite gaming store from back in Albany, NY (an almost perfect game store, in my opinion, and the exception to a lot of these issues,) has several open gaming tables, almost always full of loud gamers, in cramped, hard to get to areas full of product. Not good. And, above all, never, ever, ever participate in a game of any kind while you are running the store. And if you have to, cut it out the second a customer walks in and do not continue until the store is empty once more.
4. Employees should care about the image they project. This is really two points. First, a lot of gaming stores I've been to have fantastic owners that warmly greet everyone that enters and attempts to help out every customer. That does not often extend to their employees, who, like today, can undo all of your hard work. It doesn't matter if your gamer buddy really needs a part time job to make ends meet, you are running a business, not a basement. Hire employees that project a friendly, clean image. Which brings me to my second point. Gamer stereotypes are very prevalent, but people are going to be expecting them even moreso in a gaming store. When your employees (like my experience today, in fact!) are unwashed, in ratty clothes with hair that has not been combed in weeks, that is a negative reflection on your store. You could have the tidiest store in the world and if your employee is rocking every gamer stereotype you can imagine, the mom shopping for a board game for her family is not going to leave with a positive impression of your establishment.
5. Be grateful to regulars, but appeal to new customers. This was an issue that plagued an old gaming store of mine, now out of business. When they opened they were a fairly good store with quite a bit in stock and slowly established some regulars. As thing slowed down a bit they stopped carrying a lot of things that would attract walk in visitors (board games, the latest RPG books, etc.) and started focusing purely on special orders for regulars and whatever CCG the regulars were playing at the time. Every now and again they would order a few of the newest D&D books, but towards the end their shelves were full of outdated books and even as a gamer I couldn't find anything I wanted. This extends beyond stock, however, and involves some of the aforementioned elements of atmosphere. Welcome new customers. Make them feel like they are not intruding on your personal space. I'm sure most of us have walked into a game store, only to have the typical crowd all hush and look at you as if you were an invader. If someone doesn't feel welcome, they won't be hanging around long.
6. I touched on this above, but stock the latest and greatest! I am patient, but if my local game store doesn't get something I'm gunning for until a month after the online store I shop from gets it, I'm buying it from the online store. Inventory is very, very important, and one of the reasons why I loved the Albany NY store I touched on above: they were the best store I've ever been to as far as inventory was concerned, and even managed to beat some of the online stores with their board game releases.
I'm sure there are several other points I could bring up, but that summarizes the major ones. I'm really not trying to rip on all local game stores. I mentioned a few above that I've had good experiences with, but those would really be the minority. And, I hope I stressed enough above, this is not the result of one bad experience, it was just that experience that spurred me to write about the situation as a whole. I would love to have a local place with a great atmosphere that would allow me to build a base of gamers that I can game with locally, and, honestly, I still hope to do that here. But I look at the situation and can't help but feel most game store owners just don't look at their establishments as a business. I am gamer who buys multiple books and board games a month, is looking to meet other gamers and is lucky enough to have the income to spend a decent amount of money on games. I am also impatient enough to not want to wait for orders to ship to me. I am the perfect target for a local store, and yet here I am completely turned off. Now imagine someone that has an established group, doesn't need to go find other gamers and is on a major budget. Do you really see them putting up with this?
Thoughts welcome, thanks for reading!
CRA
I don't post here very often, but do frequent these forums, and due to their popularity thought it might be a good place for a minor rant. This is primarily directed to those that own game stores, or frequent them and know those that run them, but I would love to hear others experiences as well.
I am an avid gamer. I have played CCGs in the past (primarily L5R), play RPGs to this day (D&D, L5R, World of Darkness) and own over 200 board games. So clearly I have made an investment into the industry and would be a valuable customer to an establishment that sold things of that nature.
I have also lived all over the place and frequented local gaming stores across the country. I've lived (and bought games) in Missouri, Oregon, New York, Connecticut and (most recently) northern Florida. Between the places I've lived and the places I've traveled I have probably shopped at 3-4 dozen different gaming stores across the country. The issues I am going to bring up are not all applicable to all of the stores I've been to, but are incredibly common, and a recent experience has prompted me to write this post.
Local game stores are slowly dying off. 15 years ago there was a game store in nearly every mall, and now you can count the number of stores in some entire states on both hands (I'm looking at you, Connecticut.) A very large part of that reason that of course bears acknowledging is the rise of internet game stores, and the deep discounts offered on some of the more popular roleplaying lines on stores like Amazon, and even big box brick and mortar bookstores. There are deeper issues, however, that not only fail to counter this problem, but add to it.
I have a great game group, and I have brought every member of the group into the roleplaying fold myself. The issue is, the 6 of us live in 4 different states, so while we manage to get in games almost every week on Fantasy Grounds, it does not really scratch the same itch. As a result, I have recently begun exploring the local gaming scene here in North Florida, and found one game store (that will not be mentioned) that seemed to hold particular promise, as they hosted D&D Encounters events. I went to the store, made a few purchases, and attempted to strike up a conversation with the employee, who not only wanted nothing to do with me (I interrupted a computer game he was playing,) but also gave me no information about the events. Not only that, when I offered to leave my email address to give to someone who would help me, he simply shrugged and returned to his game.
What's wrong with this picture? I am going out of my way to go to his store, spend more money than I have to, and attempt to connect with a local scene, but I am inconveniencing him by interrupting a game? I was so flabbergasted that I left without a word, and obviously don't plan on returning. Another local store drew me in by adding their name to the list for Free RPG Day this year, but when I inquired about it the owner had no idea what I was talking about.
In no particular order, here are some enormous issues that are raised by attempting to run your business like a gamer, and not like a businessperson. You can ignore my advice, and I realize it is only one man's opinion, but if these trends continue the entire subculture will inevitably die out altogether. I am suggesting this not only as a gamer, but as a salesperson working for a 5 year old small business that started with 4 employees in 2 states, and now contains nearly 25 employees over 4 states.
1. RPG companies run brick and mortar exclusive events (such as D&D Encounters and Free RPG Day) to support your store. They are spending money to help you build your local scene and reach new customers. When you sign up for something like this (and you should!), freaking support it! Let your employees know what's going on, bring it up to anyone entering the store, especially those purchasing a product of that nature! Do not commit, then throw it on the backburner. I ran into the exact same scenerio a few weeks back during International Record Store Day. I went to a local record store on the list, only to be completely ignored and find no special product. I will not be returning to that store either.
2. Look at your store with the eyes of someone going there for the first time. Today I entered this store and found two people (one of them an employee) sitting at computers playing a game. I was not greeted. Not asked if I needed help. The place reeked of the chinese food they were eating. The saddest part was, this was one of the better looking game shop's I'd been to. I'm sure you all have very vivid memories of stacks of books on the floor, piles of garbage and faded posters. You should be impressing your customers, not scaring them away.
3. Open gaming should be restricted to separate rooms. I support open gaming in game stores to an extent. But, to be honest, anyone coming in as an outsider is going to be scared away by this, especially if they aren't used to the gamer scene. Checking out a store you've never been to only to be confronted by a table of loud roleplayers right in the middle of the room will result in a prompt about-face more often than not. Support gaming, give gamers a place to play, sure, but keep it away from the shopping area. To their credit, the store I was in today does just that. On the other hand, my favorite gaming store from back in Albany, NY (an almost perfect game store, in my opinion, and the exception to a lot of these issues,) has several open gaming tables, almost always full of loud gamers, in cramped, hard to get to areas full of product. Not good. And, above all, never, ever, ever participate in a game of any kind while you are running the store. And if you have to, cut it out the second a customer walks in and do not continue until the store is empty once more.
4. Employees should care about the image they project. This is really two points. First, a lot of gaming stores I've been to have fantastic owners that warmly greet everyone that enters and attempts to help out every customer. That does not often extend to their employees, who, like today, can undo all of your hard work. It doesn't matter if your gamer buddy really needs a part time job to make ends meet, you are running a business, not a basement. Hire employees that project a friendly, clean image. Which brings me to my second point. Gamer stereotypes are very prevalent, but people are going to be expecting them even moreso in a gaming store. When your employees (like my experience today, in fact!) are unwashed, in ratty clothes with hair that has not been combed in weeks, that is a negative reflection on your store. You could have the tidiest store in the world and if your employee is rocking every gamer stereotype you can imagine, the mom shopping for a board game for her family is not going to leave with a positive impression of your establishment.
5. Be grateful to regulars, but appeal to new customers. This was an issue that plagued an old gaming store of mine, now out of business. When they opened they were a fairly good store with quite a bit in stock and slowly established some regulars. As thing slowed down a bit they stopped carrying a lot of things that would attract walk in visitors (board games, the latest RPG books, etc.) and started focusing purely on special orders for regulars and whatever CCG the regulars were playing at the time. Every now and again they would order a few of the newest D&D books, but towards the end their shelves were full of outdated books and even as a gamer I couldn't find anything I wanted. This extends beyond stock, however, and involves some of the aforementioned elements of atmosphere. Welcome new customers. Make them feel like they are not intruding on your personal space. I'm sure most of us have walked into a game store, only to have the typical crowd all hush and look at you as if you were an invader. If someone doesn't feel welcome, they won't be hanging around long.
6. I touched on this above, but stock the latest and greatest! I am patient, but if my local game store doesn't get something I'm gunning for until a month after the online store I shop from gets it, I'm buying it from the online store. Inventory is very, very important, and one of the reasons why I loved the Albany NY store I touched on above: they were the best store I've ever been to as far as inventory was concerned, and even managed to beat some of the online stores with their board game releases.
I'm sure there are several other points I could bring up, but that summarizes the major ones. I'm really not trying to rip on all local game stores. I mentioned a few above that I've had good experiences with, but those would really be the minority. And, I hope I stressed enough above, this is not the result of one bad experience, it was just that experience that spurred me to write about the situation as a whole. I would love to have a local place with a great atmosphere that would allow me to build a base of gamers that I can game with locally, and, honestly, I still hope to do that here. But I look at the situation and can't help but feel most game store owners just don't look at their establishments as a business. I am gamer who buys multiple books and board games a month, is looking to meet other gamers and is lucky enough to have the income to spend a decent amount of money on games. I am also impatient enough to not want to wait for orders to ship to me. I am the perfect target for a local store, and yet here I am completely turned off. Now imagine someone that has an established group, doesn't need to go find other gamers and is on a major budget. Do you really see them putting up with this?
Thoughts welcome, thanks for reading!
CRA
