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<blockquote data-quote="JohnNephew" data-source="post: 642762" data-attributes="member: 2171"><p>Listen to Rob.</p><p></p><p>Attend the GAMA Trade Show.</p><p></p><p>I don't have the retail experience Rob does, but I'll reinforce this point, from years of visiting game stores worldwide: Every one is different. Take a light shotgun approach on your initial inventory (lots of core rulebooks, stand-alone games, few esoteric supplements and adventures), and hold back your reinforcement capital to invest in the direction that your customers take you. Games that are hot in one town are dead in the next. Word of mouth is the strongest advertising force in this industry, and that means that popularity is driven chiefly by local player networks (or internet-centered player/fan networks and communities, like ENWorld and RPG.net), not by nationwide or regional ad campaigns. In fact, the value of advertising for manufacturers is typically pretty lousy. Anyhow, it would suck to blow your capital on an initial inventory and then not be ready to react immediately as your customer trends become apparent.</p><p></p><p>Another thought: Maintain a healthy selection of the kind of games that gamers can buy for "non-gamers" (e.g., Apples to Apples for parties, Once Upon A Time...Gother Than Thou as a gift for the goth crowd, Survival of the Witless as a light-hearted gift for academics...), especially in the holiday season.</p><p></p><p>If you attend the GAMA trade show, ask each manufacturer, "Suppose I am opening a store, and I can only afford to stock # of your products before the doors open. Which should they be?" "#" depends on the size of the manufacturer, and how many products they have. For instance, Atlas Games has something well past 100 different titles in print, but to a starting store I could probably find 10 or 12 that would really make sense to start out with. With those "fishing lines" in the water, you'd be able to choose where to go deeper. (If someone comes in and says, "Hey, I love this RPG! Do you have any of the supplements?" that tells you where you might toss some follow-on inventory dollars.)</p><p></p><p>-John Nephew</p><p>President, Atlas Games</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JohnNephew, post: 642762, member: 2171"] Listen to Rob. Attend the GAMA Trade Show. I don't have the retail experience Rob does, but I'll reinforce this point, from years of visiting game stores worldwide: Every one is different. Take a light shotgun approach on your initial inventory (lots of core rulebooks, stand-alone games, few esoteric supplements and adventures), and hold back your reinforcement capital to invest in the direction that your customers take you. Games that are hot in one town are dead in the next. Word of mouth is the strongest advertising force in this industry, and that means that popularity is driven chiefly by local player networks (or internet-centered player/fan networks and communities, like ENWorld and RPG.net), not by nationwide or regional ad campaigns. In fact, the value of advertising for manufacturers is typically pretty lousy. Anyhow, it would suck to blow your capital on an initial inventory and then not be ready to react immediately as your customer trends become apparent. Another thought: Maintain a healthy selection of the kind of games that gamers can buy for "non-gamers" (e.g., Apples to Apples for parties, Once Upon A Time...Gother Than Thou as a gift for the goth crowd, Survival of the Witless as a light-hearted gift for academics...), especially in the holiday season. If you attend the GAMA trade show, ask each manufacturer, "Suppose I am opening a store, and I can only afford to stock # of your products before the doors open. Which should they be?" "#" depends on the size of the manufacturer, and how many products they have. For instance, Atlas Games has something well past 100 different titles in print, but to a starting store I could probably find 10 or 12 that would really make sense to start out with. With those "fishing lines" in the water, you'd be able to choose where to go deeper. (If someone comes in and says, "Hey, I love this RPG! Do you have any of the supplements?" that tells you where you might toss some follow-on inventory dollars.) -John Nephew President, Atlas Games [/QUOTE]
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