how do FLGSs make money?

[Paul_Klein]

As someone who has done a lot of work with small businesses, I completely agree with Gareman. The reason that most small businesses fail within a year or two is because the owners don't treat them as serious businesses, and often have no clue how to run a business. They don't do market research, don't have a realistic long-range plan, aren't open when most adults are shopping (evenings and BOTH weekend days), aren't open enough hours, have poor customer service, do a terrible job of advertising, etc. They don't take advantage of free advertising, don't partner with schools and libraries, and so forth. Many don't even work in the industry before trying to start a business in it.

Amen! As someone who also works with and deals with many a small business across the US, this is exactly right. The business owner is almost always the only guilty party when a business folds. Any other factor is generally a scapegoat or an excuse.

 

[Gareman]

They don't make any appreciable amount of money. They really are an outdated/minimal value relic of retail, much like physical media and Best buys. There's no point to them anymore.

Game stores have a lot in common with independent book stores. There are around the same number of each. They cater to a customer base they know intimately and drive people to their business with events. They go up against the likes of Amazon and still succeed in their small niche. Their demise is constantly predicted, yet their numbers remain stable. Neither fits the pop culture narrative of online sales and digital everything.

 

[tangleknot]

Boardgames, MTG and wargames. At least this is my opinion.

Location: Should be a place where a soccer mom feels comfortable letting their kids go to. Or a place an adult male has no problem bringing their girlfriend to to buy board games/ play games.

Boardgames are a great impulse buy ( On a Friday night when you want to play a boardgame with friends, and you can't wait 10 days for amazon's free shipping...) . MTG single packs of cards are also good impulse buys since their soo cheap for consumers.

Wargames: get a good community together and do some warhammer. These wargames cost a ton of money to play, and require expensive paints and brushes.

Only carry minimal rpg's. Role players are often poor, they can/will share books, expect most of your revenue from these folks to come from all the candy and soda they eat. Sometime mini's...

 

[Dragonblade]

My FLGS is extremely successful and its due to a number of factors. It is centrally located between the two most populous cities in the greater Portland metro area (Hillsboro and Beaverton) along a major highway, so its relatively easy to get to. They are in an older strip mall so their rent is relatively inexpensive compared to more upscale newer shopping areas. They are also the only major game store in this area. Plus both cities are tech and software industry hubs with a large geek population who tend to have lots of disposable income.

They have a lot of floor space and sell a diverse range of merchandise, focusing mainly on boardgames, but they also sell minis, RPGs, and graphic novels. They stock every major release from big game companies like FFG, Warhammer, and WotC, along with all the smaller game labels. Paizo has dedicated shelf space along with many other offerings like PEG's Savage Worlds, Green Ronin, etc. They also sell Clix and all the major CCGs.

They have a large open and clean play area in the back, which is separated from the rest by a tall wall of merchandise. Though the grognard presence in the play area can sometimes be high, the separation from the rest of the store insulates it from the casual drop in customers. They regularly host everything from Pathfinder Society games, to D&D Encounters, to Magic and various CCG tournaments. They are a preferred retailer for WotC and companies like FFG so they have lots of elaborate displays and tournament goodies for those events and the products those companies sell.

Their staff is friendly and welcoming to both casual drop in customers and old school gamers. Their staff knows and plays all the games they sell, from the RPG games, to the minis games, to the board games. They don't engage in edition warring BS, and can give you an honest, intelligent, and fair assessment of anything they stock, including recommending games you might like based on your preferences, not theirs.

Their owner is pretty savvy about getting ahead of trends and their merchandise selection reflects that. They weathered the rise and fall of the d20 glut and the industry shifts from 3.5 to 4e and Pathfinder, and now have transitioned to new hot games like Numenara and 13th Age seamlessly while still carrying some of the older stuff that people like.

In short they are a model game store. They don't offer discounts, and while I could get stuff cheaper from Amazon most of the time, I continue to shop there because I feel like I know the staff personally. As a longtime established customer, they come talk gaming with me whenever I come in, and they'll hold special rare and promotional items from companies they know I like and offer them to me before the general public. That kind of service and attention to detail is worth rewarding, so I buy from them whenever possible.

The store is Rainy Day Games in Hillsboro, Oregon.

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

there's a column over at RPGNet that talks about this on a fairly regular basis:

http://www.rpg.net/columns/list-column.phtml?colname=businessofgamingretail

 

[Naturafictor]

Game stores have a lot in common with independent book stores. There are around the same number of each. They cater to a customer base they know intimately and drive people to their business with events. They go up against the likes of Amazon and still succeed in their small niche. Their demise is constantly predicted, yet their numbers remain stable. Neither fits the pop culture narrative of online sales and digital everything.

So just like independent book stores they will be non existent in about 10-15 years, got it.

Amazon has better prices and selection (and with prime typically two days to get an item at most), and the majority of gamers/releases are going digital anyway. Another option is drivethrurpg.

Meetup.com does a better job of getting people together at nicer venues, as does Facebook and other social network sites, oftentimes with less hassle than having to trek out to a store to look at an archaic post board.

With those two things existing, and being more prevalent in the newer generation of tabletop gamers, there is literally zero need for a game store as a consumer.

 

[Gareman]

Wow, you are like the first person to ever predict the demise of game stores. Bravo.

 

[pickin_grinnin]

>So just like independent book stores
>they will be non existent in about 10-15 years, got it.

I don't see them all disappearing, but we may not be out of the "whittling down" phase yet.
​

I am a library director, and for far more than a decade now people have been predicting the imminent demise of libraries. Their arguments typically run along the lines of people not reading anymore (far from true), Internet removing the need for books (still not true), and ebooks replacing print ones. That last one is similar to the idea that gamers are mostly moving to PDFs, as you noted.

Ebooks have not been a threat to libraries, for many reasons. One of the biggest is that they cost too much for many people to afford, so they turn to libraries even for their electronic needs. Another is that people who grew up with physical books as their primary source of reading tend to retain the preference for that. That's true even for those who have grown up with ebooks as an option. It's human nature to cling to that which is familiar. There are also benefits to print books that people like, and drawbacks to ebooks that they don't. Print books will probably eventually go away, but we won't see it in our lifetimes. It will be a very gradual thing.

When it comes to independent bookstores, they are actually having an easier time surviving these days than they were ten years ago. After Borders closed and many of the big box bookstores started disappearing, they left a gap that has helped independent bookstores survive (and even thrive) in some areas. On a side note, the failure of Borders was entirely it's own fault. I worked for the company when they were in their golden period and during the start of the slide, and watched them destroy themselves.

A lot of game, hobby, and comic stores have closed, and many are struggling. The same is true of independent bookstores. That doesn't mean that they are going to disappear entirely, though. They may even experience a small renaissance at some point. Amazon and DriveThruRPG have become the "destinations" of choice for many gamers, but they don't have a total lock on the market. You can't beat them for price, convenience, and selection, but there are other value-added things that gaming stores can do (and some DO do) to remain viable businesses.

Price is not the main determining factor for everyone, particularly if the difference is $5 or less. It's a big factor for me, but far more people are happy to go across town and buy something TODAY than wait two days to get something a few dollars cheaper from Amazon. I'm too budget conscious for that (I have been known to watch eBay for YEARS to get a $100 object for $75), but most people aren't that way. That's why Amazon hasn't taken over all non-perishable item sales.





Game stores, comic stores, etc. have the capability to capitalize on the benefits of having a brick-and-mortar location and develop loyal customer bases, IF they are smart and IF they are run like real businesses. Many (though not all) of the game stores that fail are not run like real businesses - they are basically just extensions of the owner's hobby interests. You could get by with that in the old days, pre-Internet, but not today.

It is possible to run a profitable, thriving game store today, and to continue to do so for many years. Doing so takes work, sacrifice, flexibility, and intelligence, though. Unfortunately, most game (and other hobby) store owners and/or managers aren't capable of doing that, or aren't willing to, which is why we see so many fail. You see the same thing in a lot of other areas of retail. You even see it in public libraries, which aren't even retail establishments.

You should read the Black Diamond Games blog, if you haven't already. It is a very good example of how to run a game store like a real business.