Hillside Games, Asheville: The Unfriendly Local Game Store

MajPepper · Mar 1, 2012

No problem at all! We very much appreciate it =). As for property, we do have an ideal location that we are discussing with the broker. The owners are completely overhauling it and can build to our spec. This is part of why it will take us a long as it is to open, but we feel it will be worth it. We will have somewhere from 1800-2000 square feet and hope to have at least half of that as gaming space. We got lots of great shelving and fixtures from the purchase of the other store so we think we'll be able to maximize the space very well.

We're glad to hear you might come our way! The area is beautiful and perfect for mountain vacations, we hope to see you when you do =D

Edit: wow! Local press! We'd emailed them but weren't sure if they'd take up the story. I don't believe this would have been possible without all of your help and support. Once again, thank you everyone!

On Puget Sound · Mar 2, 2012

I am reminded of what happened when Burlington, Vermont's local ice cream shop/ creamery decided to try to market their handcrafted ice cream in faraway Boston. Pillsbury, owner of the Haagen Dasz brand, leaned on the grocers in the Boston area, threatening to stop selling them Haagen Dasz if they stocked this new Vermont stuff.

Vermonters and fans of small business were outraged, and despite the lack of an internet in those days, the story went national. Bumper stickers asking "what's the doughboy afraid of?" popped up all over New England and beyond, as the restraint of trade lawsuit against Pillsbury wound its slow way through the courts.

Thanks to the publicity, Ben and Jerry's already had plenty of name recognition when the cash settlement from Pillsbury gave them the money to expand far, far beyond Boston. Pillsbury's underhanded attempt to stifle their competitor actually fueled its growth. The same thing may be happening here.

w_earle_wheeler · Mar 2, 2012

On one hand, we have an imaginary store, The Wyvern's [Thing], which was originally announced in September, I believe. When it didn't materialize, the folks behind it kind of ducked down for a bit.

Now they are trying to spearhead an online word-of-mouth sympathy drive for their store... which still doesn't exist.

On the other hand, we have Hillside, which has managed to survive this long by aggressively going after any store that might remotely compete with them. I still remember Hillside handing out flyers for their store inside another gaming store when the owner wasn't looking. Also, they run tournaments for M:TG (some kind of popular card game) with prize support.

But now... they are trying to stick it to a store that hasn't even opened?

I think I'll just order my drama from amazon.com at a 40% discount.

Aeolius · Mar 2, 2012

w_earle_wheeler said:
On one hand, we have an imaginary store, The Wyvern's [Thing], which was originally announced in September, I believe. When it didn't materialize, the folks behind it kind of ducked down for a bit.

Perhaps they'll be open when 5e arrives, which will be the next time I set foot in a LGS.

MajPepper · Mar 2, 2012

w_earle_wheeler said:
On one hand, we have an imaginary store, The Wyvern's [Thing], which was originally announced in September, I believe. When it didn't materialize, the folks behind it kind of ducked down for a bit.

Now they are trying to spearhead an online word-of-mouth sympathy drive for their store... which still doesn't exist.

On the other hand, we have Hillside, which has managed to survive this long by aggressively going after any store that might remotely compete with them. I still remember Hillside handing out flyers for their store inside another gaming store when the owner wasn't looking. Also, they run tournaments for M:TG (some kind of popular card game) with prize support.

But now... they are trying to stick it to a store that hasn't even opened?

I think I'll just order my drama from amazon.com at a 40% discount.

I don't know where you're getting your information, but I can conclusively say we did not announce anything in September. I wasn't even considering buying a game store in September. Blitzkrieg Games closed their doors on December 31st, 2011. They looked for buyers, and ultimately that was us. We formed our LLC on 7 February 2012, we closed the sale of inventory and assets on 17 February 2012 and made our intention do business public on the same date.

We have spent the past two weeks packing, inventorying, and moving everything out of Blitzkrieg Games' old location. We're not trying to spearhead a sympathy drive. We just think people who do unethical things should be called out on it.

w_earle_wheeler · Mar 2, 2012

MajPepper said:
I don't know where you're getting your information, but I can conclusively say we did not announce anything in September. I wasn't even considering buying a game store in September. Blitzkrieg Games closed their doors on December 31st, 2011. They looked for buyers, and ultimately that was us. We formed our LLC on 7 February 2012, we closed the sale of inventory and assets on 17 February 2012 and made our intention do business public on the same date.

I'm getting my information from the AGS mailing list. I might be off by a month or so, but I'm pretty sure that the whole Wyvern's [Thing] was announced last year. That's when someone -- I don't know if it was you or not -- posted on the AGS about how there was a building in mind already and that the store would be opening soon.

Do I really have to dig through the AGS or other Asheville Gaming lists to find the EXACT information I'm talking about?

I mean, it could conceivably be an entirely different group with the exact same mission statement and goals for their store. But I want to be sure that you absolutely have no clue what I am talking about before I dig through months of archives. I would hate to waste the time doing that to find out that this is just a matter of obfuscated semantic differences.

So, are you sure that what I'm saying is totally out of left field?

MajPepper · Mar 2, 2012

I'm afraid I don't even know what AGS is. We didn't even know that Blitzkrieg Games was closing until after they had done so. Our decision, or even the idea, to open a game store did not come about until this past January. I honestly have no idea what you're talking about.

I can guarantee with 100% certitude that until January, I had never considered, planned, announced or proposed opening a business of any kind, let alone a game store.

w_earle_wheeler · Mar 2, 2012

MajPepper said:
I'm afraid I don't even know what AGS is. We didn't even know that Blitzkrieg Games was closing until after they had done so. Our decision, or even the idea, to open a game store did not come about until this past January. I honestly have no idea what you're talking about.

I can guarantee with 100% certitude that until January, I had never considered, planned, announced or proposed opening a business of any kind, let alone a game store.

OK, the place I am thinking about was going to originally be called "The Hippogriff Game Lounge" and was announced in July, 2011. It was intended to be opened around the end of September.

Since you don't know about the AGS, I absolutely believe that I am wrong and you are a different group, since the guy who was going to open THGL has been around the AGS (Asheville Gaming Society) before.

And I think he was also waiting to see what happened with Blitzkrieg.

MajPepper · Mar 2, 2012

Ah..alright, guess that clears that up. Sorry for any confusion. But we've no intention of disappearing, we just cleared out the last of the inventory from Blitzkrieg yesterday, and will be working diligently to open as soon as we possibly can.

w_earle_wheeler · Mar 2, 2012

MajPepper said:
Ah..alright, guess that clears that up. Sorry for any confusion. But we've no intention of disappearing, we just cleared out the last of the inventory from Blitzkrieg yesterday, and will be working diligently to open as soon as we possibly can.

Eh, you weren't responsible for my confusion. I got all my information from wyvernstale.gov.