New gaming store in Pembroke, MA (a little long)

[medievalstarship]

Hi all, rexartur here but I'm posting on behalf of a very good friend who is opening a new gaming store in Pembroke, MA (Grand Opening is this Saturday, 9/18/10). I call it a gaming store for a specific reason - the owner is committed to making this a place where gamers will want to play and (hopefully by extension) patronize. Yup, the one supports the other, ya gotta pay where ya play (assuming a place to play is important to you - and it should be.)
Now, all proselytizing aside, we need your input. We have a pretty good idea of what we want to see and do as a store, but he who does not seek advice has already doomed himself to be wrong. More specifically, we would like to know what you want to play , what play hours are important to you, what you'd like to see and have in the store, etc. Obviously we may not be able to accommodate everyone, but it's not because we don't want to. Specifics would be grand, if you're in our local area, even better (some games generate more interest in some geographic areas compared to others.) In print games would make the owner happiest, but I honestly want to know what you want to play (taking all games into consideration - if we're any good we'll sell you stuff no matter what).
Even better come on down on opening day and put your thoughts in writing. I love to run games, play games, talk about games and meet gamers. It's gonna be fun! And if we have some help we can make it great!

Chris Z (aka rexartur)

 

[Umbran]

I wouldn't expect too many folks on these boards to be local to you - I'm in the Boston area, but at nearly an hour away, I'm not "local".

For tabletop play, I am primarily a home gamer - I play in my own home, or the home of one of my players. I don't generally go to game stores to play. Game store spaces tend to be loud, impersonal, and generally full of distractions from the game. I don't play many games at conventions for much the same reasons.

So, if you want to get someone like me to come out to your store, you need to provide something I can't get elsewhere.

 

[FreeXenon]

I have always played at home. I only really go to stores to buy, stuff. Probably the main thing that gets me to come in is to have the book before the release date by being and DnD preferred store or whatever it is. I do not have a local gaming store - only a book store - but I would find having the DnD Encounters very interesting.

If you want it to be a place that people play you will want to have food of sorts available. I know most will want soda and chips and so on, but I would also try to have some protein bars, fruits, etc to attempt to pull them into healthier eating.

Having someone run long term campaigns as well is always a good thing.

I play 4E and Dark Sun, but having people that will be willing to run a small campaign, or even one shots in other systems so people can try things out would be cool. Some people get a hankering for Shadowrun and just want to sate their appetites, or perhaps want to try it for the first time. A one shot game to introduce people to it may get you some sales. If I were in the are I might be convinced to come down and give a game a try for something that sounded interesting, especially if I knew that this was also aimed an people looking to try the system. The 4 Colors superheroes system is one that I was really interested in trying or the other one that was by the same company, I think, that had a fluid magic system too. There are others.

You may also want to keep track of some gaming stats for things like the most kills in one combat at a given level by a party or by a single pc. The most damage done to a single target in one turn or by one player, or party. Perhaps have several different games being run of the same campaign or module and track the stats for that. Stats like that might be interesting and may bring about a competitive atmosphere and bring more people in to play....

Survey
I am in Wisconsin, so I am not your target demographic per se, but you guys may want to consider setting up a survey via Survey Monkey (surveymonkey.com) and get the specific feedback and remember to include an other field.

Perhaps with that you will get a lot of us to fill it out. Your results might not be specific to gamers in your area, but will most likely be representative of gamers (on ENWorld and who are willing to fill out surveys) on a whole.

Just a thought...

Good luck!

 

[Atras]

The owner is committed to making this a place where gamers will want to play and (hopefully by extension) patronize. )

I highly recommend finding someone who is willing to run D&D Encounters, and probably Friday Night Magic. I have been volunteering to organize and run Encounters in Westborough, MA, and the number of players coming into the store is really impressive - this is with basically no outside advertisement beyond the store's newsletter. I think a lot of the players, especially the younger ones, found out about the store via the Wizards of the Coast website. If you are a Premium Store, you can sell their books almost two weeks before they are available through Amazon, who would be your main competition for book sales.

Like Umbran mentions, you need a reason for people to come into your store. Where I play there is a huge back room that is mostly used for wargaming, and a smaller room that is perfect for RPGs. If you have the space to partition off these areas from the rest of the store, it cuts down on the noise pollution (in both directions) and gives people a place that feels like "their gaming room". One thing that could be really helpful for giving people a reason to play there is "renting" game supplies. You could have a selection of minis (for D&D), decks (for Magic), Armies (for wargaming) and maps/terrain that you keep behind the counter, and for a small fee and a large deposit, you let people use them. You can have large tables with plexi-glass coverings that people can put maps under - something most DMs would love, but probably don't have the space for. That is the kind of thing that really should get people interested in playing at your store instead of at home.

*EDIT* Also, like Umbran said, I live in MA (which is why I read this post) but by Worcester, so I am not really local. I always like finding ways to support local stores. The one I run Encounters at is called The Whiz. Great people there, but very much more focused on wargaming - I think that is where the real money is.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Allow me to be the first one to suggest using the "Friendly Local Game Store" feature here on Enworld. You can never have enough advertising!

Like others have said, Friday Night Magic and D&D Encounters are good for drawing in the crowds.