My local FLGS is in trouble

I live in Manchester, New Hampshire. Manchester is, at present, served by only one Friendly Local Game Store, Empire Games (http://www.empiregamesnh.com/). Unfortunately, despite moving into a new, very nice space, Empire's in danger of closing. Right now it's kind of an emergency.

This is kind of serious, so if you're in the area and happen to be looking for bits of some kind (books, dice, etc), Empire might be a good place to go and have a look around.

Thanks very much. Like everyone else, I hate to see such places go.

That sucks to hear. Hmmm, I'll probably have a little birthday money to spend soon. Maybe I'll have to make a detour next time I am visiting my parents.

The closing of the Wizard's Tower in Nashua really sucked. I would hate to see another store closing down.

Thornir Alekeg said:

The closing of the Wizard's Tower in Nashua really sucked. I would hate to see another store closing down.

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Southern NH used to be such a bastion for FLGSs. I'm still reeling from Wizard's Tower closing, sad to hear about another one.

In a related vein, the owner was speaking with me the other night about how several New England game stores are having trouble. Manchester evidently lost its other FLGS not too long ago, for instance, and Dover's Paperback Bazaar went down a year or two ago.

Thanks to you both for the consideration. As it stands, Empire isn't quite dead yet, but it does need some help. Think of it as a Barbarian in an active Rage with fewer hit points than twice his level. He's still up, but he's on borrowed time.

I live in Manchester as well. I've been into Empire games a number of times in their old location. I'll have to stop by this weekend at their new address.

There is also the Comic Store in Nashua. It doesn't host games but it does have an excellent selection of RPG materials. The owner told me that he is currently looking for a Manchester location at the moment. Which would be cool. He had a Manchester store for years and I was a regular customer. Heck, I wandered in three days before he official opened and bought stuff...

I truly miss Paperback Bazaar out in Somersworth. It was my favorite store in all the world.

I don't miss Wizard's Tower at all. I found the place to be HIGHLY unprofessional. I can remember apologizing to my wife after a visit on behalf of all gamers...

I should also add there is Jump Gate in Portsmouth and The Game Castle in Derry.

Hello mates,

I frequent(ed) many of the stores mentioned in this thread.

* Jumpgate in Portsmouth has an excellent selection and I prefer it over the others, presently; unfortunately, it's an hour away from me.

* Wizard's Tower in Nashua -- I enjoyed this place, tons of RPGs, though was treated rudely by some of the young bearded men there who were always annoyed to leave their MTG game to serve people like me, their paying customer, and another occasion they used a lot of foul language in front of my little kid. The older woman who worked there was very sweet, however, and she even opened the store for me one day when I mistakenly arrived on the one day a week they were closed. She often indicated that business was bad, that she could not compete with the internet.

* The Game Castle in Derry -- very scant selection and very close to where I live. I enjoyed going there for a time and still pop in once in a while, but I can't seem to get the owner to carry Castles & Crusades no matter how many times I've asked (gave up asking, actually). I like the woman who runs the place, though, and it's her store -- she can carry what she wants, of course.

* Empire Games -- Never been there. Walked right by it a week ago when I went to a Fisher Cats game, so I know where it is. I'll pop by, but looking at there site leads me to believe they don't carry RPGs... do they?

* Paperback Bazaar -- I've been acquainted with the manager, Ralph, as he is good buddies with my friend Larry of Larry's Comics in Lowell, MA. I'm pretty sure Ralph has opened a new store, but I don't know the details. Ralph is a riot.

* The Comic Store -- I used to be good buddies with the owner, John Lawrence, and he indeed had a chain of comic shops, but I think he's downsized a bit over the years. His stores were always a wonderful clutter of things.

Where else in Northern MA or Southern NH do you fellows know of?

--Ghul

ghul said:

Where else in Northern MA or Southern NH do you fellows know of?

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There are at least four I know of outside of the ones you've mentioned. These include:

The Toy Soldier, Amesbury MA: http://www.amesburygames.com/wordpress/
The Red Lion Smoke Shop, Salem MA: http://www.redlionsmoke.com/
Myriad Games, Salem, NH: http://www.myriadgames.com/catalog/
Three Trolls Games, Chelmsford, MA: http://www.3trolls.com/

I've been to the first two and they are both excellent stores. The Toy Soldier has boardgames and a gaming area. The Red Lion Smoke Shop does not, but it carries a wider variety of RPGs.

I've heard from several people that Myriad Games and Three Trolls Games are both excellent as well.

Edit to add: The Name of The Game, Daniel Webster Hwy Suite 5, Nashua, NH.

ghul said:

* Empire Games -- Never been there. Walked right by it a week ago when I went to a Fisher Cats game, so I know where it is. I'll pop by, but looking at there site leads me to believe they don't carry RPGs... do they?

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They have some RPG inventory. I DM'd there for the last D&D Game Day. I think most of their business was collectible games, either the Warhammeresque or Magicesque varieties.

replicant2 said:

There are at least four I know of outside of the ones you've mentioned. These include:

The Toy Soldier, Amesbury MA: http://www.amesburygames.com/wordpress/
The Red Lion Smoke Shop, Salem MA: http://www.redlionsmoke.com/
Myriad Games, Salem, NH: http://www.myriadgames.com/catalog/
Three Trolls Games, Chelmsford, MA: http://www.3trolls.com/

I've been to the first two and they are both excellent stores. The Toy Soldier has boardgames and a gaming area. The Red Lion Smoke Shop does not, but it carries a wider variety of RPGs.

I've heard from several people that Myriad Games and Three Trolls Games are both excellent as well.

Edit to add: The Name of The Game, Daniel Webster Hwy Suite 5, Nashua, NH.

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Thanks! I've actually been to a few of those: Red Lion Smoke Shop, many moons ago, which I didn't remember as a gaming store, but rather a comic book store.

Myriad is about 5 miles from my house. It's a board game store with a few WotC books. Nice fellow running the place, but I'd like it if he took a chance and ordered some non-WoTC RPG product, but that's his call. Of course I've mentioned it to him, and he's told me he can order anything I want. *Shrugs* I can do that myself from the comfort of my computer.

Toy Soldier -- thanks. Forgot that one. The one time I stopped by there, they were closed. I'll have to try it again.

Three Troll Games -- thanks! This place looks pretty cool!

Name of the Game? Never heard of that one. Are they an RPG store?

Thanks for help.

--Jeff T.