Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="grimwell" data-source="post: 3139647" data-attributes="member: 3694">The answer really depends on your individual market. Is there a local audience? How big is it? How much product will you need to stock to satisfy their needs? Does anyone else already serve this audience (who's the competition)? When considering any line of product, ask yourself if you have, or can acquire customers who would be interested in it. In strict retail terms, you should only offer a new line of products if you can see an eventual return and gain on that investment.Business answer: If I provide space for gaming in my store, will the lost shelf space (you can't stock product in the game space) yield higher loyalty from my customers (and thus more sales per customer, and more customers period)? If putting a few tables out drives more customers into your store and then to your register with product in hand than having a few extra shelves of product, go for it. Just understand that you are reducing the overall space you will have to stock product, and the game space should yield a higher potential investment than stocking product in that space would.I won't pretend to have all the answers, but I used to manage for a big box electronics retailer, and the big boys all work from that angle. They don't stock something if they don't expect to sell it at some gain (even if it's just 1%). You don't create loss leaders (items that sell for less than they cost, or spaces that chew up product space like a gaming area) unless those loss leaders are going to drive sales somewhere else in the store (and result in profit).Most friendly local gaming stores fail because they are run by hobbyists and not professionals. It's OK to LOVE gaming and have fun running a gaming store, but you aren't doing your customers a favor if you can't pay the bills and keep the store open. Stay focused on paying the bills and making a business return to you (the business man) that is comfortable to your needs. Since you already have a business that is working, you have the skills to apply to the new venture, and the experience to have learned a few hard lessons. If you want to run a store on the side, can handle the investment up front, and are OK with smaller returns on the gaming product and the business overall, go for it. Just do your homework first, and keep mindful that it's a business and not an extended campaign. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

Verification