Death of the LGS

[Dannyalcatraz]

For books however, I went to Amazon. I like delivery to my door... and I wanted to make sure there was product... Now Amazon set back my recieve date 3 times and I'm starting to reconsider. The down side is that NONE of the FLGSs here Have 4E products at all.

Lame

There may be a distribution problem in your local area.

I've seen that- I live in the D/FW area, and when 3Ed first came out, I was getting new products about a month ahead of my buddy in Quincy, MA (a Boston suburb).

 

[Rakor]

Maybe it's just me but I've never really gotten important service from a FLGS. I've heard lots of people say that the end of the LGS will be the end of gaming but I really don't see it. It's word of mouth that drives it. I've talked lots of people into trying it and the ones who like it will put some effort into looking for gaming groups in their area. The best way to find gaming groups is either through college/university gaming clubs or the Internet. I think FLGS's are neat but I really doubt they are neccessary.

 

[jdrakeh]

As far as suggestions for drawing in customers, the big FLGS here (Compleat Games & Hobbies) hosts its own three-day mini cons in-store (with boardgame, RPG, CCG, and minis events), after hours "Indie RPG" game nights, and other special events (e.g., they hosted an auction for which customers could bring in items that other customers bid on, with proceeds being applied to the accounts of contributing customers as store credit).

Also, they shrewdly discounted all third-party D&D 3x material by 30% within days of D&D 4e being announced, ensuring that they still made a roughly 20% profit on those items while moving inventory that would otherwise be collecting dust with the arrival of the new edition. The guy that runs the store really knows the ins and outs of retail, and it shows.

 

[billd91]

In the case of my store, I failed to adapt to the changing market (movie rentals) and so I lost everything. I don't blame Blockbuster for this and nor do I blame pirating. I blame myself for not being able to adapt and grow the business.

Whether or not you could have kept competing or not, in this case, I don't know. But making the assumption that it's always possible to compete is, I think, incorrect. It's quite possible that whatever you did, aside from completely changing your type of business from video rental to laundromat, might have never been enough.
In other words, there may well be some businesses you cannot compete against given the particular local environment. At which point, the blame you'd have to take is not getting out when the getting was good. But while that maintains the point about looking at a business as an investment, it rather defeats the point of changing to remain competitive in that line of business.

 

[billd91]

The FLGS--even the insanely good ones I have here in Vancouver--are not the "cradle of the gaming population". They just aren't, and I'm not sure they ever have been.

<snip>
I know tons of folks who have come to Heroclix, Magic: The Gathering, and Warhammer Minis from the FLGS.

I'm not sure I'd characterize my FLGS as the cradle of gaming either. But it certainly has and does expand people's views of the hobby. I know of a few people who seek out games solely by trolling around on the internet. But I know many more who notice something in the stores first and get it there.

So I think the last by from TB about coming into other games is certainly true. If not the cradle, it's been a significant part of the educational system in which you learn about the existence of many other disciplines (games) and shape your ambitions. I have very fond memories of browsing through a well-stocked game store, reading the backs of products, feeling their weight, comparing with similar products, and having my eyes opened about many of the games out there. These memories date back over 20 years and continue to the present... including just yesterday.

 

[Aria Silverhands]

Oh, of course. As a gamer with a MA Econ (since we're flashing creds ) I'm a huge fan of economies of scale and bulk discounts. That's one of the reasons I dislike the pejorative tone gamersgambit took with the large retailers.

And gamersgambit, DA is absolutely right: service is the arena where you can compete with large retailers and win. If the service is good enough, it will be worth paying premium prices. You'll have to work hard convincing people of that, though.

Yeah right. The people will just buy online and play at the game store. I think the unfair price breaks demanded by large retailers is detrimental to small businesses and that practice should be outlawed. Amazon doesn't have thousands of storefronts to maintain and the people hired to run them, not to mention all the other bills, that would be required to reach the amount of people they do online. It's an unfair advantage over small business owners. There should be a limit on the discounts you get for bulk purchases and a limit on online discounting.

 

[DaveMage]

Yeah right. The people will just buy online and play at the game store. I think the unfair price breaks demanded by large retailers is detrimental to small businesses and that practice should be outlawed. Amazon doesn't have thousands of storefronts to maintain and the people hired to run them, not to mention all the other bills, that would be required to reach the amount of people they do online. It's an unfair advantage over small business owners. There should be a limit on the discounts you get for bulk purchases and a limit on online discounting.

So amazon should be punished for its ingeneous business model? Hardly.

The problem is (as I understand it) that the distribution system is based on markup %, rather than a flat rate/book. The model is fine when you're selling $5 books. Few people may mind paying an extra $1.00 (on that $5 book) to shop locally. However, many people *do* mind paying an extra $14 to buy locally (as is the case with the 4E PHB: $34.99 in the store and $20 and change at amazon). With 3 core books, that's an extra $42. Way too much to justify "buying local" IMO.

The distribution model is broken on pricey RPGs. Don't blame amazon for eliminating costly overhead and most of the potential of the five-finger discount. LGS will have to adapt, find a new model, or close.

 

[Aristotle]

After much back-and-forth we came up with a solution (and I post it here in case any other FLGS owners are reading, or for you to share it with your FLGS owners):

So a trimmed down version of this would basically be. Pay $5 a week towards future purchases and get a week's worth of gaming at store facilities. Buy a product and each $5 worth of product you purchased (with cash, not with store credit) gets you a week of in store facilities use. That's actually pretty smart. the table space is still free, so long as you buy your stuff at the store. I'd consider using a store like that.

 

[Corjay]

If the LGS is charging full price for a product then there's something wrong. Either they're gouging you or they're not taking advantage of specialty business practices. I never pay full price at either of the FLGS in my area.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Yeah right. The people will just buy online and play at the game store. I think the unfair price breaks demanded by large retailers is detrimental to small businesses and that practice should be outlawed. Amazon doesn't have thousands of storefronts to maintain and the people hired to run them, not to mention all the other bills, that would be required to reach the amount of people they do online. It's an unfair advantage over small business owners. There should be a limit on the discounts you get for bulk purchases and a limit on online discounting.

How does that arguement work for Wallmart that does have thousands of storefronts and people?