The problem with FLGS

Emiricol · Jul 5, 2003

I fully plan on going to Harlequin for products. Usually I'm only buying one book, and it is a lot easier for me to rationalize paying a few bucks more than I have to at the FLGS when we're talking the price of one item.

reapersaurus · Jul 5, 2003

I have multiple LGS in my area - none of which _I_ would label as "Friendly".

A store is a store, to me - product is product - unless you're young, and have time to hang out there, than I'm not feeling the 'pull' to subsidize their business costs.

If I can get something that I know I want online, and cheaper, than I say "yeah me!"

Plus, what really is so great about a small store? UNLESS they provide the benefits mentioned here previously (customer service, demos, etc) AND you are a hard-core customer that would take advantage of those benefits, than larger chains provide the best benefit (i.e. lowest cost).

And it's not just Amazon I'm talking here.
Recently, I wanted to get the Lord of Darkness McFarlane figure for my wife. I looked for months, and for the previous edition for over a year. Noone knew when it was coming out. So when I finally stumble on it at a local GameStop, I see it on the shelf for $19.99 ($19.99 retail price). I really would rather buy it at A-1 Comics, since in my younger days, I'd bought a lot of stuff there. So I drive by, and see they have a ton of them, but at $27.99. I ask him about it, saying I'd really rather buy it here, but I don't wanna pay 40% more - he answers, revealing they need their 70% mark-up.
So I went home, got my wife, and on the way out, went by an even closer-to-my-home Gamestop and got it there.

So while GameStop is a large chain, they actually are usually nicer about action figures than the FLGS (price and service), and they are closer to my home and work. How small does a store have to be to qualify under this revered "FLGS" label people are promoting here?

ArielManx · Jul 5, 2003

Our nearest gaming store is a 2 hour drive from our home. We've only been in once, but it's a nice little place and they had a decent selection of gaming products and accessories. And the fellow working did tell us that they would gladly special order anything we wanted that we didn't see.

The problem is that while the store is friendly, it isn't local. And there's nothing else so unique in the town it's located in that we can't get around home, so we rarely make a trip to that town. With a 4 hour round trip, going there would take up a full day, and considering Hunter and I get days off together only every 8 weeks...

So Amazon it is for us, most of the time. If we're travelling we do search out gaming stores because they're usually great fun to go into, but we can't afford to travel just to go to a gaming store. If that makes sense.

I am going to plug the place though, because it's a neat little shop, run by a gamer and his mom (and the mom was the one who sold us on the Crystal Caste Battlemat!):

Force of Habit Hobby Shop, Minot, ND

Ariel

Krieg · Jul 6, 2003

reapersaurus said:
If I can get something that I know I want online, and cheaper, than I say "yeah me!"

Just don't complain when there are no cheap options after the retail giants (whether online or not) use their undercutting to drive off all the competition.

Quilwood · Jul 6, 2003

Now I'm not a economist, but big scary Wal-Mart's price cuts don't seem to scare me. If Wal-Mart somehow makes every FLGS go out of business and then jacks the prices up won't FLGS's just open up again. Even if FLGS's don't open back up won't the compitision between Wal-Mart and Amazon keep the prices competitive.

Hjorimir · Jul 6, 2003

I suffer the distance problem. There used to be a nice gaming store in Mission Valley (Game Empire), but eventually they moved farther north. Gas prices being what they are here is southern California, it is actually cheaper to order on line and pay full price with shipping as opposed to going to the store and buying them in person. The fact that Amazon offers them for a discount on the MSRP is only a bonus.

I'd love to support them (they sell used gaming books pretty cheap too), however, they are just too far from where I am currently for the trip to make sense. Hopefully it will change a bit when I'm up in Pomona.

Erge

Game Town is in Old Town and that isn't north of Mission Valley. They have always been a better FLGS anyway.

Buttercup · Jul 6, 2003

There are two FLGS in my town. Well, actually, they're really just LGS. One is run by a guy who makes it clear to women that we aren't welcome. The other store is friendly but incompetent. I ask them to special order stuff, and they forget. I ask them to call me when a specific item comes in, and they forget. Etc.

So these days, my LGS is the EN World store. Alternatively, I purchase through my employer (a library) who gets a 40% discount from Baker & Taylor and from Ingram, the two major distributors to bookstores and libraries.

ergeheilalt · Jul 6, 2003

Hjorimir said:
Game Town is in Old Town and that isn't north of Mission Valley. They have always been a better FLGS anyway.

Heh, I have been gaming for some 7 years and havent made a trip to game town. They used to have ads in the UT, but I still havent found my way over there. I guess it's cause I'm never really in the Old Town area. I'll have to make my way out there and take a look around.

Thanks for the info,
Erge

jgbrowning · Jul 6, 2003

I usually purchase my books from either Game Chest or Lone Star Comics.

Game Chest is a slightly better store (more knowledgeable staff), but both of them only give about 1/6th of the store over to RPGs. Ever since the Chicago Games Day, I've been dreaming of getting a Games Plus down here in Dallas.

joe b.