The problem with FLGS

[Mark]

Jeeves can also suggest plots...

Wouldn't all of those plots be whimsical...?

 

[Paragon]

My only real gripe about FLGS is being open when they say they are going to be open. if you can't get your lazy @$$ up and open the shop until 3pm, fine, but don't put on your sign that you open at noon. that pisses me off. if i burn half my lunch hour swinging by a store that says it was supposed to be open 1 hour ago i'm going to go somewhere else. chain or otherwise.
for some reason this really seems to be a problem with many LGS that i've run into. if you're hours need to be 5pm-8pm to be more in-line with your sleeping schedule then fine. but don't put on your sign that you will be there at 11am and roll in at 3pm!!!
luckily i have derrek at Talon in town and everythings cool.
mostly......
j/k derrek

Paragon

 

[Glyfair]

What I want from my FLGS is for them to have the book in stock, right at the release date, and be able to special-order anything they don't have reliably and quickly. I want them to be able to tell me *exactly* when the release date for certain books are, and *exactly* when they'll get it in. I'll buy at cover price if they can do this. As a consumer, I'll dump them for "deep discounters" or online retailers if they falter.

Unfortunately, much of this isn't the retailers fault. I'm friends with both of the staff of the two FLGS in my area. If I had a dime for everytime the distributor forgot to order something or didn't bother to mention to the retailer that something was available, I'd have a lot more gaming stuff

From my POV, if someone could put together a professional, effecient distributor in the gaming industry, they could make a killing. Of course, I'm sure a lot of their problems are dealing with the main companies. It's hard to give your retailers a firm release date when you can't get them from the company in question.

Glyfair of Glmais

 

[Hawkshere]

Hours are a big thing with me too. I work late the vast majority of the time, and I can't shop at a FLGS that keeps banker's hours. I also live in Dallas, and I can tell you that Game Chest gets about 90% of my gaming money because they both have what I need and are open until 9:00 PM. Lone Star closes at 6:00 PM, except Fridays (at 7:00, whoopee-do) - forget that! Zeus Comics is open until 8:00 PM (which is great), has a super-nice store, and is mere block from my home, but their RPG selection is hit-and-miss.

BTW, despite the fact that Derek's store is right off a large college campus, I wouldn't be suprised if he does more biz online. It's a pretty small store. You don't need a big fancy store to support a bitchin website, hehe. On the other hand, I have no idea how much local competition there is in Denton.

One of my all-time fave gaming stores is Dragon's Lair in Austin. In addition to the usual stuff, they have tons of old and obscure stuff. I can just browse that place for hours when I make it down to Austin.

 

[Rel]

Hey, Talon, it happens that I'm flying to Dallas-Fort Worth for a wedding this weekend. Am I to understand that your store is in that general area? If so, and I can squeeze a few minutes out of the busy weekend schedule, I'd love to drop by and check out yor place.

 

[smetzger]

... Of course, Amazon has been profitable...

I don't believe Amazon has ever posted a profit as a company.

 

[spacecrime.com]

No, Amazon has posted some profits. It isn't regularly profitable yet, but the combination of merchant services and holiday gift buying has put them over the top a couple of times. (Real profit too, not accounting-tricks profit.)

They're pretty much on track to being profitable every quarter within a year or two. Which means that any bookseller still holding his breath and waiting for Amazon to keel over has got a very long wait ahead...

cheers,

 

[Arnwyn]

Unfortunately, much of this isn't the retailers fault. I'm friends with both of the staff of the two FLGS in my area. If I had a dime for everytime the distributor forgot to order something or didn't bother to mention to the retailer that something was available, I'd have a lot more gaming stuff

Oh, I absolutely agree. In fact, I pointedly told the guy at one of my FLGSs (two are right near my office) a while back that "you have a rotten distributor".

But, here is my response in consumer-speak: "I don't care". I don't care whose problem it is - I just care that there is a problem. As a consumer, I don't deal with the distributor - I deal with the FLGS. It's up to the FLGS to fix any problems with the distributor. If not, then whoosh! I'm off to the deep discounters to get a better bang for my buck, if nothing else.

If the distributors are bad across the industry, then it's the industry's problem, and the consumer has every right (nay, obligation!) to go for where he/she gets the most for his/her money. If that's the deep discounters, then so be it, as that is where the consumer finds value. (And if that's the case, then it's not really the deep discounters who will destroy the industry, now is it? Regardless, I believe that's a very narrow-minded and short-sighted view.)

The market will then re-adjust to the market realities. It won't "kill" the gaming industry in any way, shape, or form (though, admittedly, there will be some hiccups).

- Arnwyn
(speaking from both his consumer and financial analyst/business analyst sides)