Game Over for Gamer's Paradise

[CountPopeula]

I'm sorry, can someone spell out what the GW stuff is? I see those letters and think Guild Wars, and that pretty clearly isn't right.

Games Workshop, the biggest name in miniatures wargaming.

 

[Merlin the Tuna]

Games Workshop, the biggest name in miniatures wargaming.

Ah. Minis. Makes enough sense.

Thanks.

 

[Mark]

I'm sorry, can someone spell out what the GW stuff is? I see those letters and think Guild Wars, and that pretty clearly isn't right.

Yup, Games Workshop, as has been posted. I think the Woodfield mall store (the only one of the three with GW stuff) had about 30 books (WH, 40K, LotR), a bunch of dicounted old White Dwarf mags (for those who like the pics and articles), a dozen or so LotR minis boxes, a dozen or so 40K minis boxes, and probably a couple of hundred Warhammer minis boxes.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

In some respects this is no different than the mom and pop store going the way of the dodo bird and being replaced by big box stores and online shopping.

As much as I love hobby stores, the people have spoken and the people want large selection at cheap(er) prices. In some respects, that's the American way.

I have a couple friends who opened a hobby shop and within a year they locked the doors and were no longer open to the public. Instead, they focused on their online sales... which were staggering. Their shop was packed from floor to ceiling with boxes and they were shipping like crazy. It just wasn't worth it to staff the store for 8+ hours a day when they could instead work from home and do more in less time. They've been going strong for 6+ years now.

When I see people opening hobby stores today, I just shake my head. Might as well throw your money away. That era is over. It would be like wanting to start up a glam metal band and not understanding why you aren't getting anywhere. That era is past. Embrace change... or get steamrolled by it.

For those interested, my friends' online store is www.theouterreaches.com.

 

[Halivar]

Games Workshop, the biggest name in miniatures wargaming.

Bah! GW is a toy manufacturer. The real deal in figs is Old Glory!

My only experience with WH40K was watching a table of teenagers play it from across the hall at our local historical miniature wargaming convention. What's funny is I always put them down, never realizing I'd probably have gotten addicted to it if I'd played it at all. At least, I guess this because ten years later, I play Warmachine.

But, man.... $70 for a TANK???

 

[JoelF]

I have to say that I'm not THAT upset over this. Sure I frequented their Deerbrook Mall store a long time ago, but I rarely bought from there, since back then, as well as now I felt that it wasn't a very good store. Sure, it did have lots of stuff, but it was crammed on the shelves, and the employees rarely knew much about their product. They were also consistently one of the highest priced ways to buy just about anything.

That being said, it is a shame that there will now be a lot fewer places in the Chicago area that a kid can browse through lots of great product and get interested in RPGs, minis, smaller press board and card games, etc. I'll probably be swinging by the Woodfield location tonight to see if there's anything I want before they're gone.

 

[dragonlordofpoondari]

I wonder how long it will be before there are no gaming stores left. The latest estimates I've heard put them around 700. That's not much, and I keep reading about a new one going out of business every week.

Sad times.

Hopefully this will lighten your spirit a little, Darrin. Game Empire, an amazing game store in San Diego, has done so well that they opened up another one in Pasadena last year.

This is probably in opposition to the trend, but hey ... one more is one more.

 

[evilgenius8000]

I used to go to the Gamer's Paradise in the Hawthorne Mall in Vernon Hills... Not that it was all that great or anything, but because it was the closest one (truth be told, however, that the Barnes and Noble next door to GP usually had the D&D books I was looking for at a cheaper price due to my member's discount). Now that it's closed, my friends and I travel to Games Plus in Mount Prospect. It's a terrific store that's got tons and tons of great stuff. The staff there (well, the one guy I talked to) seemed really knowledgable about the industry (unlike Gamer's Paradise, where I asked if they would be carrying Keep on the Shadowfell when it came out, and they had no idea what I was talking about...).

So, I'd recommend driving to Mt. Prospect if you're not TOO far away... Games Plus was definately worth the 30 minute drive from Lake Forest!

 

[mlund]

Just too keep things in perspective, Cook County has an outrageous cost of doing business, in large part due to abusive practices by the politicians and lawyers the run the place. I mean, there's a 10.25% sales tax, in addition to ridiculous property, business, and income taxes. At a certain point business naturally shifts to places where politicians and their lackeys don't have quite such a confiscatory attitude towards your private property.

- Marty Lund

 

[Merlin the Tuna]

Just too keep things in perspective, Cook County has an outrageous cost of doing business, in large part due to abusive practices by the politicians and lawyers the run the place. I mean, there's a 10.25% sales tax...

Just to be clear, the total tax is 10.25% in some areas when you include state, county, and city taxes. It's still the highest sales tax in the USA to my knowledge, but the way that sentence was phrased seemed to almost imply that those were county taxes alone.

I'm not attributing malice here, just making sure the situation is clear.