Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Industry Advice for buying a hobby game store
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Dragon Snack" data-source="post: 3398055" data-attributes="member: 9810"><p>Lot's of good advice here. If some of it is contradictory, it's just the balancing act you have do to make your store successful. It's not a set formula either, I've seen all kinds of different stores that are successful enough to stay in business (which may mean different things to different owners).</p><p></p><p>How many game stores are there in your local area? It almost seems to need to reach a sort of critical mass...</p><p></p><p>In Rochester, we have 7 LGSs (within a half hour drive). Yet Buffalo and Syracuse have only two or three. Additionally, Buffalo has had at least 3 fail in the past few years and Syracuse's biggest store recently changed owners.</p><p></p><p>Why can Rochester support more stores than other cities only an hour away? We have our share of colleges, but so does Buffalo (and Syracuse has at least one huge college). Additionally, Rochester does not have a large military base to draw from, which is normally a big source of customers. My only theory is that enough stores in the area grows the hobby for everyone (and people will search out the stores that they like).</p><p></p><p>While that may not be something you can do anything about, one thing you can do is to encourage people to demo in your store. While you can do it yourself (as suggested above), you don't want to overextend yourself. Lots of companies have their own demo teams that you can utilize for free. If they don't have a local rep, encourage someone (you trust) to sign up for their team (most give out perks) and help them get started (a little push could net lots of sales down the road for you). I've seen out of production games that still sell because of someone willing to demo it (that part is a catch 22), I've also seen successful (in other areas) games sitting on shelves because nobody is pushing the game at that store.</p><p></p><p>FWIW, I looked into starting my own store a few years back (decided the margins were too thin with discounting), but went with another business opportunity.</p><p></p><p>Good luck!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dragon Snack, post: 3398055, member: 9810"] Lot's of good advice here. If some of it is contradictory, it's just the balancing act you have do to make your store successful. It's not a set formula either, I've seen all kinds of different stores that are successful enough to stay in business (which may mean different things to different owners). How many game stores are there in your local area? It almost seems to need to reach a sort of critical mass... In Rochester, we have 7 LGSs (within a half hour drive). Yet Buffalo and Syracuse have only two or three. Additionally, Buffalo has had at least 3 fail in the past few years and Syracuse's biggest store recently changed owners. Why can Rochester support more stores than other cities only an hour away? We have our share of colleges, but so does Buffalo (and Syracuse has at least one huge college). Additionally, Rochester does not have a large military base to draw from, which is normally a big source of customers. My only theory is that enough stores in the area grows the hobby for everyone (and people will search out the stores that they like). While that may not be something you can do anything about, one thing you can do is to encourage people to demo in your store. While you can do it yourself (as suggested above), you don't want to overextend yourself. Lots of companies have their own demo teams that you can utilize for free. If they don't have a local rep, encourage someone (you trust) to sign up for their team (most give out perks) and help them get started (a little push could net lots of sales down the road for you). I've seen out of production games that still sell because of someone willing to demo it (that part is a catch 22), I've also seen successful (in other areas) games sitting on shelves because nobody is pushing the game at that store. FWIW, I looked into starting my own store a few years back (decided the margins were too thin with discounting), but went with another business opportunity. Good luck! [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Industry Advice for buying a hobby game store
Top