What SHOULD FLGS do?

[Kaodi]

Years and years ago when my family and I went on a road trip from our home in Ontario all the way to Vancouver Island, my cousin directed us to the Sentry Box in Calgary. That place was the first real gaming store I had ever been to I believe, and even my non-gaming family was impressed. The place was like Heaven, and I imagine it has only improved with age.

 

[jdrakeh]

An FLGS should be clean. The staff should be knowledgeable.

In addition to these two things, staff should also be attentive. Most game stores that I have visited don't have any of these three things going for them (and, rightfully, they went out of business). The issue I frequently see at game stores is that the owners/operators are undoubtedly fans and gamers but have little or no retail experience.

It would be nice if all of the bad game stores in the world could honestly blame their failure on internet retailers undercutting them but, IME, that claim is just an excuse for otherwise crappy service or business practices. I can think of dozens of stores who make some very vital mistakes when it comes to day to day business. Here are two of the most commonly encountered bad business decisions. . .

Store owners who stock inventory based on personal taste, rather than market interest or customer requests.

I'm glad that Joe Shopkeep really likes Rolemaster* but choosing to stock only (or even primarily) Rolemaster* in a world where more than 90% of consumers are playing D&D is a foolish business decision. It may be Joe's store but "I stock what I like!" doesn't produce sales unless what you like is what consumers like, too.

I have heard dozens of shop owners over the years complain that they were losing business (or going out of business) because the market was bad -- but one quick look at their shelves would tell the real story. Typically, they had craploads of product -- for games that nobody but themselves and their buddies cared about. I recall, for example, a shop in Kansas that was heavily invested in DP9 material to the exclusion of almost all other games (including D&D, whcih they did not stock).

Store owners who stock a myriad of supplements for a popular game but only order one copy of the core book every other month or so.

The number of core books sold determines the number of supplements that people will buy, as only people with the core books for a given game can generally use the supplements. When you sell a core book for a given game, you're creating a potential repeat customer.

It doesn't matter if Joe Shopkeep has a mountain of sourcebooks for D&D if he has only stocked and sold two copies of the PHB in the last year. He has only created two potential buyers for the sourcebooks due to shoddy inventory control and has nobody to blame but himself when only those two people buy supplements for D&D from his store.

I cannot tell you how many times I chose not to invest in a gameline that I was interested in at a game store because that store didn't carry all of the required books in stock [/list]


*I'm not picking on Rolemaster here, I just needed the name of a game line that comprises less than 10% of the current RPG market. You can substitute the name "Rolemaster" with the title of any game that isn't D&D.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

A game store that doesn't follow at least basic marketing principles gets the sales it deserves.

As for stocking- that's always an adventure. Sometimes, you simply can't keep something hot in stock. But then in behooves the shopkeeper to try to cater to the would-be customer by saying something to him about getting the out-of-stock item for him- even if its something as simple as putting a "Restocking Soon!" or "On order!" sign in the empty space.

 

[jdrakeh]

Sometimes, you simply can't keep something hot in stock.

I know. This was not the case with the stores that I mention. For whatever reason, they would simply invest very heavily in supplement lines (often carrying three or four copies of every supplement for games like V:TM and Deadlands) but not core books.

The core books were still readily available from distributors and publishers, the stores just didn't seem to order more than one at a time (and when they were only restocking once a month or so, this didn't cut it, as the single core book would sell shortly after it arrived).

In the case of one large-ish and popular store that suffered from this particular brand of incompetence, my then roomie (an evil internet retailer) had an account with the same distributor that the FLGS used which always made it easy to check core book availablity.

My experience has been that many game store owners are simply not skilled retailers

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Lots of good suggestions here. I'll add:

- Offer discounts to players that come to participate in tournaments or other organized games in the store, as well as frequent buyers. The discount doesn't have to be huge, but it has to be enough to be noticed -- 10% will do.

- Understand how to use loss leaders. Sometimes it may be worth selling a few items at cost if people who pick them up also walk out with a few other trinkets.

- Maintain a stock of used or out-of-print material. It's one of the few reasons I pop into gaming stores -- to see what kind of old treasures I can find.

- Plan intro games regularly for your big, core games. It may get dull for you, but there is always a customer new to a game. Good introductions mean good referrals; good referrals mean more sales.

- Learn and know your local market, then seek ways to expand your market. Are there after school programs you can support, for example, or other ways to both support community needs and grow new customers? If you don't grow your market, you will simply be competing for an increasing share of a decreasing pie, which is a receipe for disaster.

- Remember that your friends aren't necessarily your best customers. You need to cater to the folks who make most of your sales, not your gamer buddies who don't know squat about your business.

- Beware free advice given anonymously on Internet message boards.

 

[Scribble]

Yeah... FLGS...

I'm of the opinion that the vast majority of them are doomed unless they offer more then just RPGs. And I don't mean space to game... I mean comic books and DVDs and card games and board games and goofy toys and magic tricks and stuff... Maybe even combine into an RPG / Video game store... best of all games.

Straight RPG shops are pretty well doomed.

Take a tip from places like best buy... offer something (DVDs and CDS) at a super discount even taking a hit just to get people in the store. Really cheap dice?

Anyone ever thought of a chain rpg shop? Maybe some of the shops that are doing really well should consider franchising?

I know wizards had their WOTC store, but I think they're slightly a different case.

As far as discounts... I know in the past I've had the store owners give me a discount.. Wasn't always a lot. Maybe 10-20% but they did it just because I was a new face.

I idn't get the discount every time I went to the store, but first impressions are key... I went back because I felt the owner was nice.

As far as things that have annoyed me about game store in the past:

Number ONE:

Annoying Owners. The guys who:

Stare at you the entire time you're looking at the stuff but never say anything helpful about it... Makes me think they think I'm planning to rob them blind???

Seem like they're the elitis gamer... Great you're a gamer... If your style of game is different then someone elses... so what? Hide it.

Act like they're doing me a favor by selling it to me. Grumble about having to log off of their computer for a moment to ring me up... or better yet make me wait at the counter for a while before they decide to log off and sell me my game stuff...

 

[jdrakeh]

Good points about loss leaders. We have a store here locally who has a massive used RPG section (not that uncommon) and big, plastic, tubs full of DDM singles (fairly uncommon, IME). Also, they recently reduced all new 3rd Party d20 material prices by 30% for nearly five months (in fact, I think that it may still be on sale). These folks know how to get people into the store long enough for them to indulge some impulse buys (I speak from personal experience).

 

[Graybeard]

I just want to add a couple of things.

As was already mentioned, location is very important. I understand that rent in an out of the way location is cheaper but if your customers can't find your store, they won't come. If it is too difficult to get to your store, again, they won't come.

Parking! I understand in some cities this is impossible. However, in my area, that is not the case. Make sure your customers have a place to park.

Dice. I went to one of the few gaming stores in my local area a couple of weeks ago to look for used books and buy some new dice. The only loose dice they had were D6's which I have plenty of.

The employees. One store I went into once last year the employee was eating. That was not a problem because I understand people need to eat. However, don't be a slob. He was eating a meatball sub and had dropped much of it down the front of his shirt. He also looked like he hadn't showered or shaved in several days.

Offer lower prices on used books. If I can buy the book new online for less than a used copy, I will buy the new book. Even if it is only a couple of dollars less than a discounted new one from Amazon, I will buy the used copy so I can have it now.

Just a few thoughts.

thanks,

 

[DaveMage]

In addition to what other have said...

I think good game stores should search online for those products which can NOT be bought at amazon, etc. for large discounts and feature such products. Have demos for rare or mostly unknown (but well-received) board games and the like. Have deep (as is feasilble) discounts on pre-orders and special orders.

Promote your products in the store! Show how product A or B won such-in-such awards or whatnot. Have testimonials, etc.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

A couple of big ones for me:

Knowledgeable staff; and not just about the best selling game. When I was the RPG guy at a local comic/game store, I read RPG net to hear about fans of games I knew nothing about, I read Games retailer and tracked top games, I read reviews online. I learned about games. I knew what was coming out, for which games, and how much.

No apparent Bias. Nothing turns off a customer more than "Oh you play D&D... I played that for a while but I grew into more advanced games" or "Vampire?!? we don't do goth games." When I was in the industry I might say "That game doesn't fit my playstyle, but it did this interestingly, and people that like it tell me this..." Always be positive, no matter what your personal opinions of a particular game or line are.