Gamers, I need input!

[IronWolf]

The friendly local game store where I play in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, is called Enchanted Grounds. They bill themselves as a "coffehouse and gameporium." It's pretty much exactly what you've described - a cafe mixed with a game store.

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Sounds like the kind of local store I could support.

 

[I'm A Banana]

It might even be worth letting people use 'em for free, just as a draw to get them in the door (then you can sell them pizza and gaming books). But it's probably better to start out renting them in case you find you need to change policy later; taking a thing that costs money and making it free is much better, customer relations-wise, than taking a thing that's free and making it cost money.

You might take a deposit.

Say, plunk down $1-5 per mini (maybe bulk deals for monsters), and you get it back when you return the mini in good condition.

That way, it's free, but you're also giving them a reason to give them back instead of pocketing them.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Still...you have to have somebody track that inventory of minis...which will probably include a daily check to make sure you haven't had one "just get up and walk away."

That means someone is getting out of the store late.

 

[Katana_Geldar]

Keep an eye out for great GMs in your area.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. If I am visiting the city for about a fortnight and want some gaming action, I should be able to walk up to someone in the store who will put me in contact with a GM once I specify what system I want to play. That's how I met with my Sydney gaming group. Similar sort of thing for GMs seeking players

Noticeboards/newsletters can help with this as well but keep them up to date!

 

[arscott]

Calling all gamers...

A friend and I are exploring the possibility of opening a "gamer's cafe" in our area. Essentially, it would have a small storefront carrying a few common items (D&D, Pathfinder, Warhammer, Reaper minis, etc), a gaming area with sufficient space for 4 or so tabletop games, another 2 or 3 miniature wargaming tables, and a cafe/hangout area with a TV/DVD and a small concession bar for burgers, hot dogs, popcorn, coffee, sodas, etc.

As gamers, I wanted to see what YOU would want out of a business like this. If there were a place like this in your area, would you visit it? Which should be bigger? THe gaming area or the hangout area? What other things would you like to see in a place like this?

Sounds like a wonderful idea. A similar store (albeit focusing on coffee & pastries) opened near my house last year, and It's doing well.

I offer the following advice:

En World is the absolute worst place to ask for input. ENWorld skews older, wealthier, and (obviously) towards the RPG segment of hobby gaming. People on this site usually have a stable group of people with whom they game, and suitable gaming areas within their own homes.

You, by contrast are looking for people who don't have a settled gaming group or a particularly good place to play. Younger gamers, who either still live with their parents or who have tiny apartments. The store by my house thrives because it's a mile from the local university.

CCGs are going to be your cash cow (especially magic). CCGs are great pick-up games, which means that people can walk into your store with a Deck of Magic cards and probably find someone to play against, whatever day or time it is. And CCG packs are cheap enough to be an impulse buy--nobody walks out of a game store with an RPG hardback he didn't plan to get walking in.

Minis gamers will love your store--they never have enough space. But it will probably be hard work actually making money off of them--you likely won't be able to stock most of the items that they want, which means you'll have to convince them to order through you (or at least buy a lot of snacks from you)

Flexibility of space is important. The store by my house has several folding tables that it can set up when table space runs out--and can even move its shelves to the side to fit more players when necessary.

Look for gaming companies that have good support for demos and organized play. Have regularly scheduled events--Magic Friday nights, Warhammer tuesdays, etc.

 

[pogre]

If you want to make money on the gaming side you have to have tournaments and leagues. No offense to my fellow roleplayers, but rpgs are not where the money's at - it's great to get folks to come in and play rpgs for selling food I suppose. As much as it pains me to say it, a Magic night and a 40K night are almost a must.

I would guage to see if you can get anyone to run other leagues and go from there - War Machine is crazy hot in some areas and dead in others.

A used game shelf will get me to go into a game store instead of buying online, but I may be the exception on that one.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Nope- a wide variety of used/OoP games is one thing that keeps me going back to the Game Chest in Valley View Mall (Dallas, Tx)- and they work hard to find stuff that was hard to find, too. They got me RoboRally basic and expansion sets when the game was out of production...and were among the first to restock it when it came back in the market.

For which I rewarded them with more $$$.

I kid you not- I could go in there tomorrow and find Doomtrooper and Hyborean Gates CCG boosters.

 

[Cor_Malek]

There's a place like that in my city, one that breaks probably all of advices listed here, and yet is extremely popular, so instead of giving advices, I guess I'll just try my best to describe it I've found one photo of it as well a photogallery:

The Troll: Clicky!

To start - it's not a cafe, but rather a pub. You go in, and either to up to the gaming area on first floor, or stay on ground floor where the pub is.

All walls are painted as dungeon/ruins surrounding, it's all quite expressionistic, with trolls as focus. The tables are made of irregular, heavy wood, with benches on area on left, and big metal chairs on area on right (both are separated by stairwell, seen on photo on the right).

What's very interesting - is that they focused on gamers and their friends, and realized that gaming is not all that gamers do. There's all kinds of great music to be heard, there are movies nights, and just the right beverages: it's the only joint around that offers the clients both Specjal (cheap beer beloved by students and construction workers), and Koźlak (local bock beer, high end). Oh, and they do offer 1 pint mugs, that has to count for something

As to the snacks - two fold plan. A lot of gamers are in high school of University, so they don't have a lot of cash, thus snacks are cheap but last for long - peanuts, that kind of jazz. On the other hand, sometimes people come there straight from school/job, so a hamburger is needed.

What you need to understand is how focused this joint is on it's clientèle. I'll give you insight from some clients from our city portal here with translation by Google: LINKY <- note that average rating of 5.4 out of 6 was lowered by a customer that gave 2 x 1 and a 2.

Now brace for impact: the pub is hardly lit at all, it's right by railtrack (like, 3 meters from entrance), the service tends to be snarky, the music is very loud, with train intermissions, and no one figured out the bathroom lock within first 2-3 visits.

The thing is - it's The Troll. It's supposed to be that way, and if someone knows it - you know he's an OK guy/lass. In theory, it'd be nicer if it offered high-end snacks - but hardly anyone could buy them, so why bother (in your case it'll be also choice between nachos or another mini, hmmm...)? Sure, the trains are loud, but you can leave the joint at very last minute before your S-bahn leaves, and it's easy to find for people from other parts of tricity. The service treats new people a bit like intruders - because that's what they are - but old customers can not only chat away, but more importantly - get a tab ;-)
How far from tracks? Not far at all.


Bottom line - it's the pub of choice for gamers because it's a place a gamer made and that gamers enjoy. The fact that there's a gaming area is just a neat bonus. They got what counts for their clients just right, and simply didn't bother at all about the rest, which is why on a 6-points scale, a posh girl wandering in by accident will end up with 2.2 impression when regulars think of it as a strong 6.
Since you don't want to get an alcohol concession (I imagine it doesn't cover that age-group so well when drinking age is 21 instead of 18 ), figure out what gamers like, which might end up a tad strange, but that could work out great for the focus group (ie - hot water dispensers - I hear yerba mate is very popular in America ;-) ).

Edit: btw - my parents are in gastronomic industry, so I know this and that - don't go extra mile to get alcohol concession - it's now worth it if it's going to be bought by small part of clients, especially not if it's mostly beer - the profit margin on beer is ridiculously small, and you have to deal with all kinds of crap. You earn mostly on hard liquors, and selling under 2 kegs per evening is just a massive waste of time, whereas you get up to several hundreds % of profit on each cup of coffee/ tea.
Another - it might be profitable to buy proper tea, not the bagged scraps. Dunno about the prices in US, but the price here, mean that I can buy great tea for about the same price as tetley (per kg). For some reason, Dilmah is even costlier than any blend of much better tea bought in proper tea-shop. Same goes for coffee, but for another mile - buy beans. It's not cutting into your profits too much, and it'll mean it's going to be the best coffee they're going to get.

Ice tea - screw Nestle, man - make your own. All tea shops have some blends precisely for iced tea - most of the time it's based on a bitter tea type like Chun Mee, lemongrass, mint, calendula and some aromas (ie peach). Note, that each batch of tea can be brewed about 3 times. 1st one is a bit too strong, and in Japan it's simply thrown away, 3rd is the weakest, and 2nd is considered the best.
What I do - is that I use 1st and 3rd brew to make iced tea, and drink hot only the 2nd. It's too much of a hassle for one person when it's not very hot (ie - summer ), but it can work out far better for a joint when it goes in larger quantities.
To keep on top of it and not have to think too much about it, you could either buy an immensely overpriced Chinese waste baskets, or use what I do - a couple of bamboo strainers They're piss-cheap, and while I don't like using them to actually make tea - but they're great as temporary waste baskets I make 1st batch of tea in any vessel I like to, preferably big (a lot of tea fits into those things) and put it aside. Whenever I want to make hot tea, I take it from that basket, and afterwards - throw it into another one, that's marked. When 1st is empty and 2nd is full - I make second batch of of tea in bigger vessel, mix it with the one I made earlier and put it aside to cool down, and then make another batch with fresh leaves to start cooling down.

The thing here is, that you'll be able to make high end, poshy product - for about the same price of the low-end materials.

 

[Kodiak3D]

Wow! I never expected the thread to go four pages. Again, I thank all of you for some very insightful suggestions and for bringing up some points we had not considered.

Tournaments/league play is clearly a huge deal. If this gets off the ground, that will certainly be a central part of what we do.

I also like the suggestion of reaching out to great local GM's. We had not thought of that, but it both brings in new people and helps build your core customers if you make your place a desirable place to play.

By all means, keep the discussion going.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Still...you have to have somebody track that inventory of minis...which will probably include a daily check to make sure you haven't had one "just get up and walk away."

That means someone is getting out of the store late.

About the only way this would work would be to attach RFIDs to the minis, then you run the inventory automatically or even pick them up as some one was walking out the door with them.
Though that might be more hassle that its worth and the deposit approach would be better.