San Diego -- Help Me Find the FLGS's?

[grimwell]

Just moved to San Diego for a new job. I'm happy to be here and excited about living on the West Coast again, but need to hit the reset button on my gaming life. I'm in the 'North County' area if I understand what I've been told correctly (Near Mira Mesa and Poway). Can anyone lend tips about where to find gaming stores, etc.?

 

[drothgery]

I rely on Amazon, myself.

 

[Cake Mage]

Flgs

Well I live closer to south bay area, but I know of 2 "gaming stores" in all of san diego.

1) Game Town - Its in Old Town San Diego. Its near the main trolley stop /depot. Old Town can be a big tourist trap sometimes though so there's not alot of parking down there sometimes.

2) Game Empire - http://www.gameempire.com/ - this one is definatly closer to where you live
7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
Suite 306
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 576-1525

 

[grimwell]

Thanks for the info Cake. I don't like buying RPG's from internet providers because I believe that they need a strong local community to thrive. I appreciate you taking the time to share both stores with me. I'll check them both out and probably shop both in the future.

 

[BOZ]

i'm curious, but does it matter where the market is for the product to survive? i thought all it really matters is if the market exists, how big it is, how effectively it's being tapped, and of course how many total sales are made.

now, however, your FLGS does need a strong local community to survive. the RPG industry, however, does not if it has other markets to thrive in.

 

[Simplicity]

i'm curious, but does it matter where the market is for the product to survive? i thought all it really matters is if the market exists, how big it is, how effectively it's being tapped, and of course how many total sales are made.

now, however, your FLGS does need a strong local community to survive. the RPG industry, however, does not if it has other markets to thrive in.

Yes. I think it matters a great deal that FLGSes exist in order for RPGs to survive. Although RPGs would be better served if they weren't isolated into hobby-specific stores. Having Player's Handbooks in bookstores and toy stores helps to introduce new people to the hobby.

Game Town and Game Empire and both great stores, BTW.

 

[grimwell]

i'm curious, but does it matter where the market is for the product to survive? i thought all it really matters is if the market exists, how big it is, how effectively it's being tapped, and of course how many total sales are made.

now, however, your FLGS does need a strong local community to survive. the RPG industry, however, does not if it has other markets to thrive in.

Actually, I think that RPG's in general thrive when there are strong communities built up around FLGS's...

How many people these days just buy D&D and teach themselves? Compare that to the number of people who have someone introduce them to it and bring them in? Large local communities of gamers not only serve the interests of our FLGS store owner, but also serve the RPG companies because large groups have an easier time opting in new people, which results in more sales at the FLGS and more orders for the RPG designer.

I'd love to see some validation of it through demographic data. Take the Chicago area... great store in the SW suburbs in Arlington Heights. Does that store push more product than other stores with similar metro areas because of it's community (has hosted multiple EN World Game Days, etc.). It's not just a store, it's a community center for the gamers, so they are more likely to wander in and buy things (exposure driven) than they are at other stores in the area that stock the same product but don't have community nailed.