Gamers, I need input!

[Kodiak3D]

Alcohol is a big "no" for two reasons.

1. You may be a responsible drinker, but there are plenty of people who aren't, and I don't want to deal with them in our store. One bad incident with someone could result in a huge loss of business. Also, many people in the store would be under 21, and that just isn't a good mix, legal-wise.

2. The cost of a liquor license just wouldn't be worth it in this case.

edit: (hehe, Chainsaw beat me to it)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

but, I have to say, serving alcohol at your game store could make things complicated..

a. parents might not feel comfy leaving their kids there
b. you never know how some strangers might act when accidentally drinking too much
c. you'd probably have to get a license of some sort

Yep, ATF and locals would have something to say.

d. in some states, minors can't enter establishments that sell alcohol other than restaurants
e. the serving of alcohol may impose limitations on where a business may be located or even its hours of operations
f. liability issues might make things a bit rough

That aside, you might still be allowed to permit the consumption of alcohol on your premises- B.Y.O.B. laws vary, so check with your locals!

 

[falcarrion]

Finally, weird experience today in a very crowded (with people playing, not buying) game store. When I went to buy my item (and the employee came over quickly, only like 1 minute of waiting), he was seemingly very suspicious of my signature on the credit card receipt, holding onto the credit card instead of giving it back once he ran it, and actually checking the signature, then looking at me (there's no photo on it) and finally giving it back.

They may have been hit with a stolen card recently and are checking randomly.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Whatever fare you end up serving, please have a few reasonably healthy dishes to offer. At least one or two dishes that aren't fried, even if it's a simple baked chicken breast and white rice.

AMEN!

1. Nothing wrong with using healthier ingredients for sandwiches- low or lower-sodium cold-cuts from Boars Head are my current fave, and Swiss cheese is actually pretty healthy.
2. Fresh veggies are much more appetizing than wilted ones.
3. Brewed tea is pretty cheap and doesn't have all those sugar calories or artificial sweetners that- according to some reports- offset their zero calorie benefits by stimulating appetites.

And so forth.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

I agree, absolutely no alcohol, for Chainsaw's and Kodiak3D's reasons. To be honest, as a player/customer, if I'm playing in a public space, I don't want alcohol around me.

(I used to work in the wine industry, I know all the challenges involved, and I don't know which state this store is opening in.)

Being clean, well-lit, and even mainstream trendy is important. None of the fold-up tables and chairs seen at most FLGS. (This would be a space where going Victorian/Steampunk would make sense; but pretty is the key here. However you want it, but make it pretty.) Stuff needs to stay put away when not in use. Sure, pull out the gorgeous miniature battle terrain for the Warhammer competition, but once it's over, either take it away or make sure it's out for display--and the revenue gained from its use as advertising makes it worth the floorspace.

I imagine a place that looks like the cafe in Barnes & Noble or Borders, with maybe a bit of Dave & Busters thrown in. Back for a short period of time in the early 90s, there was a virtual reality (back when that was a buzzword) cafe in Pasadena that kind of fits what I imagine; you would hang out in the cafe, and when your time slot was called, you and your friends would adjourn to pilot mechs.

Of course, that cafe failed within a couple years, but I know nothing about their cost structure.

Find a way to offer high-end snacks. Stuff with good margins. If everyone knows they don't have to bring anything (and heck, they better not!) this is great. Now, no one will have to figure out when to order the pizza, what to put on it, and how to split the bill. That's a potential big win there.

 

[Verdande]

Make sure you hire people who are, in a word, normal geeks. If I'm going in a store and the guy is wierd, or smells funny, or talks way too much about stuff that doesn't matter, then I'm not coming back.

Stock some unusual stuff. We can get 4e junk at every bookstore we want. If you have a copy of Labyrinth Lord and Palladium and Rifts and GURPS and the Wheel of Time and Mage the Ascension, as well as some truly off the wall games, then you can get people like me who come in to see what's new. Nothing turns me off a role-playing section more than the brightly colored mess of a gigantic stack of 4e books I don't intend on buying.

Make it comfy. Don't make it bright and clean and spotless, make it look more like a library, with desks and stools and stuff. We should want to crash and sit in a chair and stuff. Don't make us all afraid to put our feet up, and take naps on the couches and stuff. Make it laid back.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I can't stress this enough: do your homework.

Contact local restauranteurs that offer similar fare to what you're expecting to sell- find out what kind of profit margins they have. Find out how long it took them to become profitable...and what kind of initial investment they had to make.

Also look around where you're planning on opening. Make sure that the cuisine you're hoping to offer isn't saturating the area. Even if yours is the best of its kind, you're still the new guy, and would have to draw customers away from everyone else.

I know of an intersection in Dallas that has a Church's Chicken, a KFC, a Popeyes Chicken and a Williams' Chicken on the corner lots. The reason they all survive there is that, while each is a fried chicken place, they each have different sides, they have an inordinately high demand for that particular cuisine (Yes, in conjunction with my race's stereotype, I'm talking about a black neighborhood) AND they all have strong customer loyalty based on distinguishable flavors.

And there are no other chicken places within miles of them.

If you opened your place near that intersection and your main offering was your mother's secret recipe fried chicken, you'd be closed before you know it.

Serve burgers, OTOH, and you may make a killing.

 

[Dan'L]

Long winded post warning!:

Check out this Vancouver store:Board Games, Chess Sets, Backgammon, Clay Poker Chips, Vancouver Canada, Drexoll Games, Coquitlam

Their Vancouver store is set up for retail in the front and game play in the back. They sell a small amount of snacks, but I'd suppose that most of their income is from games sales. Even so, I think that they show a nice understanding of how to balance a retail business against providing a "hang out" space.

They sell board games, card games, "euro" games, RPGs, Heroclix, etc. (see the site to get a full idea of their catalog) and they manage to do this in a relatively small retail area. I'd guess that their play area square footage is at least equal to their retail area.

Their play area has about four or five restaurant booth style tables set up.

What seems to be working for them (from this outsider's POV):

- They have a supply of open, "store copy" games so that many games can be play-tested before purchase, if one has the time and inclination.

- They have a list of ten "guaranteed fun" games which carry fully refundable returns on open copies; they tailor these choices for their locations based on their top-sellers.

- One night a week they host a night of game playing after the registers are shut down.

- They host weekend events to showcase specific game systems, host CCG tourneys/leagues, etc.

Some take away suggestions I pick up from my experiences in this store (all of which they did very well):

- clear delineation of space use is important, but don't make it so separated that once customers are in the "play" area they don't feel like they can easily jump back to your "buy" area to plunk down more $$.

- make sure your staff is knowledgeable about the games you carry, friendly and willing to give feedback. But also make sure that you and your staff are solicitous of and attentive to the feedback offered by the customers on what they did or did not like about their game play experiences.

- make sure your staff have a clearly defined time of when they can play v. when they are running the store/register.

Some words of caution:

I think this works well for them because their income primarily comes from sales of games. When people are hanging out and playing, they are investing in excitement for your game product which can lead to more sales. When people are hanging out and eating, they are filling up, which can lead to not wanting to buy more of your food product while still taking space away from other potential paying customers.

I would recommend making sure that your income stream can survive turning over your table spaces at a rate lower than a typical restaurant.

Hope this helps!

-Dan'L

 

[I'm A Banana]

I think this works well for them because their income primarily comes from sales of games. When people are hanging out and playing, they are investing in excitement for your game product which can lead to more sales. When people are hanging out and eating, they are filling up, which can lead to not wanting to buy more of your food product while still taking space away from other potential paying customers.

I would recommend making sure that your income stream can survive turning over your table spaces at a rate lower than a typical restaurant.

This is why I might skew more "snacks" than "meals."

Fruits, veggies, chips, soda, coffeehouse drinks, maybe a bakery, maybe a mini grill (good for cheap pizzas and burgers, or cold sandwiches, though I'd even maybe steer away from that), maybe a salad bar. Foods you can munch on, even eat a "gamer's meal" on, but mobile food. You don't want people eating their meals there, per se. You want to fill them up on chow while they're playing games. A big menu, I think, would be sort of wasted. Don't bother with anything you couldn't get at a baseball game and/or cafe.

People can hang out there, but I wouldn't make it the place to go if you wanted a meal with friends. If you want to hang out somewhere for an afternoon, though, it should be solid, and give you everything you need.

 

[Dykstrav]

Alcohol is a big "no" for two reasons... <snip>

I certainly appreciate the policy of my FLGS: they let you have whatever you want as long as you bring it yourself and you keep it in one of the private play rooms. I can only speak for myself, not for others, so I totally understand game store owners not wanting to sell alcohol... But I never said that serving alcohol would be a "good" idea. I don't even think it's a good idea for some of the players in my group...

But the original poster's question wasn't about good ideas. It's about "what I would want out of a business like that." Although the chances of it happening are extremely slim, a game store that sold liquor would have at least one extremely loyal customer and get a significant chunk of that one customer's disposable income. Even if they just sold a few bottled beers, that would certainly score points with that customer too.