What would you like to see in a new game store?

[ShadowDenizen]

To add my $.02 to the mix, having been in on the ground floor of a store-opening within the last few years...

1)Role-playing: And not just D+D/D20. There's ALOT of other quality systems out there that you could sell copies of if you have them. (Feng Shui, Ars Magica [esp. with the current, reduced-price release of 5th Edtion], Call of Cthuhlu, White-Wolf, etc.) You'd be surprised how many players out there for small-line games. It's a fine line between "Completness" and "Variety", but special-ordering programs can alleviate that somewhat.

If you want to add beyond RPG's, stuff that always seem to sell aroud this area:
2) Board Games: lots of cool fantasy/strategy games to choose from, such as "Risk 2210" (or any of the other Risk variants), "Betrayal at House on the Hill", "War of the Ring", "Game of Thrones", the upcoming re-release of "Arkham Horror", etc. You could also go upscale and do some German games: those always go over well in this area.

3) CCG's: Many worthy games out there, such as the new "CoC" game, "LotR", "Magic", "Star Wars", "VTES", etc.

4) Mini's: not so much the Warhammer type, but the pre=painted D+D ones, as well as collectible mini-games like "Heroclix", "Pirates of the Spanish Main", "Star Wars", etc


IMO, though, the atmosphere is as important as the stock. If you offer a clean, upbeat place for people to gather and play, you'd be surprised at the loyal customer-base you'd attract.

Events also tend to attract alot of attention, if handled properly: you could even possibly get some of your more enthusiastic and reliable customers to run them.

Hire firendly, upbeat, knowledgeable people, with actual opinions (if a game is utter garbage, I'd rather the seller be honest, rather than adopting a "Sell at all costs" mentatility.)

Offer Special-Order service if at all possible. It's ahuge convenience to those who have rather specialized tastes.

Offer Bulletin-Board-Services. Either on-premises on electronically. A great way to meet other gamers with similar interests.

And no pets! Aside from the hygenic issue, many people have allergies, and. IMO, it offers a little bit too-much familiarity for a business setting.

Best of luck, and if and when you get a website up and running, post the link for us!!

 

[JoeGKushner]

The most important thing...

Professional staff. To me, it's okay to have customers who look like they crawled out of bed and stink but I'm not giving my money to that person.

Knowledgable Staff: Keep up on trends. Talk to your gamers. Keep gamers in touch with one another via a posting board to look for other gamers. Games Plus and Gamers Paradise both do this.

 

[Wil Harvey]

I should be able to give you a slightly different opinion from what you've probably been getting. I *only* play D&D. I have absolutely no knowledge of other games, products, etc. I've never gamed at a gaming store, nor do I tend to spend more than five minutes in one.

That being said, here's the things that I've noticed in gaming stores that I've liked.

1.) When Unearthed Arcana came out, I went to my FLGS to go buy it. Unfortunately, I came before their shipments for the day came in. The employee surprised me, though, when he asked for my name and phone number and told me he'd call me when it came in. I mean, wow. So instead of having to hassle the store who knows how many times or just guessing when to go back looking for the game, I had a guy call me when it came in, and when I went in they had the book waiting for me behind the desk. Fantastic service. I've never bought another gaming book from a different store since then.

2.) Member discounts. I've gotten up to 20% off on books I've bought at my local store because I've bought so many. It's one of those things that not only keep me coming back, but it keeps me recommending that store as the place to buy books. It's probably best to do some formalized way of doing this, and I'm sure you could think of a million ways to do it, some already mentioned in this thread.

3.) Seperate gaming space. I don't game in stores, and I don't really want to be bothered by those that do.

Some other things I'd like to see my local store do or have:

1.) An area to sit and read. I can't explain how much of a huge attraction this is to a store. Sometimes you go to a store just to browse, kind of hoping you'll find a gem to buy. You don't want to be standing around trying to figure out if a book looks like a good purchase. It's not comfortable, and often times you get in the way of other customers. Even if the person doesn't buy anything that they were looking at, they're still probably going to buy some items like sodas and snacks and they'll develop a more favorable attitude towards the store, which will help that person come back more often and help them recommend the store to others.

2.) In each area there should be a binder of some sort with reviews of various products in it. They don't have to be incredibly long, just something to familiarize myself with the product. If I go in and see there's a new book out, especially third party ones, it'd be nice to get a general idea of if it's any good or not.

You could probably do this pretty easy by partnering with some online sites.

3.) Offer people something to drink. This is something so small, but people will love it. If you see someone in the store for a while, offer them a soda. You'll take a hit of about 75 cents on the soda, but you've just created a lasting impression in that persons mind. Little things like that are going to keep people coming back.

4.) Music. Some good music playing in the background would be nice. If you feel limited in what you've got, sign up for Rhapsody. (www.listen.com) It's a great way to get a lot of music, and it's legal to boot.

The biggest thing for me is taking care of the customers. I mean, let's face it, I could buy the books I buy at a dozen places within ten miles of me. But not all of those dozen places make a real effort to make me feel like I'm more than just a customer to them. When a store does something like offering to call me and tell me at the exact moment a book I've been looking for has come in, I'm not only going to buy that book from them, I'm going to buy all my books from them, and I'm going to tell my gaming buddies to buy their books from them.

 

[Lefferts]

The only advice I can give you has been mentioned already, but I want to emphasize it some more.

Discounts - to get me to buy at store, they will need to at least come close to what I can find on the internet. If I can get Wizards latest book for $19 and change from Amazon, I am not going to pay $32 at a store. But I will think about paying $25 for instant gratification.

 

[Glyfair]

Hire firendly, upbeat, knowledgeable people, with actual opinions (if a game is utter garbage, I'd rather the seller be honest, rather than adopting a "Sell at all costs" mentatility.)

On the other hand, nothing turns me off more than going into a store and hearing the employees trashing a game I love. Have opinions, but be diplomatic.

 

[ShadowDenizen]

On the other hand, nothing turns me off more than going into a store and hearing the employees trashing a game I love. Have opinions, but be diplomatic.

Good point, Glyfair: I'd posting assuming that diplomacy was a given for an employee of a game-store. But it shoud,l be stressed to be honest, but also be diplomatic. (And I actually can sometimes enjoy debating the merits of games with my local FLGS employees, to see why they think the way they do on certain games.)

 

[Torm]

1. Discount Card - I've seen a lot of people recommending a discount for regular customers. Good idea, but too informal. SELL an annual card offering a percentage off purchases, and figure out an amount to sell it for that would only allow the average customer to save about the same amount as you're selling the card for. (I know, easier said than done, but best-guess it and don't be afraid to adjust it later.) Put an ad for them by the register to be seen all the time, and maybe add a few displays around the store marketing them as gift ideas at appropriate times of year (Thanksgiving to two weeks after Christmas, Last month of school, Month leading up to school.)

2. Drinks and Snacks - sold behind the counter or in a vending machine, and sell them for as close to cost as you feel you can - they're a feature to sell RPG products, not to make money directly, and people will appreciate that you're not gouging.

3. I don't know that I would put a comfy place to sit and read product. A lot of people seem to be recommending it, but I dunno - I know plenty of people who play RPGs who CAN memorize pretty well, or use watch-cameras or cell-phone-cameras, or who can use campaign ideas they read while making up their own stats. But I WOULD recommend making sure that there is plenty of room for people to pass each other in book rows if someone is crouching on the floor giving something an evaluation. I've been in plenty of stores where I've had a wait a WHILE while the nimrod sitting in the floor slowly comes back to awareness of the world around him and that someone would like to pass.

4. Used Trade-in - Take trade-ins. Even if it's a small amount, it's better than nothing for an RPG book you want rid of. And obviously, the flip-side - sell used stuff. Maybe if you do these, have a free box for customers to grab stuff that won't move - be careful to mark this stuff in a way people can't reproduce quickly without being noticed (a paper punch that makes unusual shaped holes would be excellent), so they don't sneak "for sale" product into the box and walk out with it free. Put the box where customers have to walk past as much other product as possible to go through it - maybe they'll see something to buy, even if they came in to rummage the free box.

5. Catalog - Have a catalog people in the store can look at to special order gaming stuff you don't think there is enough volume to inventory. Admittedly, this stuff can be ordered off the 'net, but I think a lot of people will special order through a FLGS they like just to support the place - I would.

6. Events - I agree with the rest who have said have events. If you can make them worth it, have events you can charge a cover, so to speak, for. Maybe make some of these free with the discount card.

7. Music - No vocals, please. Soft instrumental, preferably gaming appropriate - a little Star Wars soundtrack here, a little Lord of the Rings stuff, the recent game music offering from WOTC, etc. Vocals are jarring, especially during gaming or events.

8. Gaming in-store - I also agree with people who said to keep this out of the way of floor traffic, and would add that maybe you could have a sign-up to use (maybe even cheaply rent?) gaming tables when nothing else would be using them. Maybe we're insane, but there have been times when groups I've gamed with have considered getting a hotel room to game in because none of our usual locations were available - $5 would be fine to use a table for eight with access to snacks and drinks and a restroom, maybe even $10 if access to a fridge and microwave were included...

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

The trade in for store credit thing is *very* cool.

Someday, if I ever open a store, I'm totally going to use it... (ahh, wouldn't having a game store be THE LIFE?!)

 

[calimedic911]

Thank you for all advice. IT will def be taken in and assimilated. Something I have not heard yet is mention of a LAN area. would people be interested in a place to hang out and play evercrack or WoW? I know I am a sucker for blinking lights (sound being pumped through headphones of course) anyone have opinions on this? I know I am opening a can of worms with this question...

 

[Dark Psion]

Everything Torm said above!!

But you must also remember that this is a business and treat it as so.

Get yourself the best business computer you can afford and have it set up to track your sales. After a while you will learn to notice trends and be ready for them.

Subscribe to business magazines, they will show you how to arrange your store and to help your merchandis to sell. For example, if something is not selling and you have a shelf full, remove a third of them. It creates the illusion of an "Hot Item".

All merchandise can be put into two catagories; "Need to Buy" & "Want to Buy".

"Need to buy" is what they come to your store for. You must keep these items in stock at all times! This is the Milk, Eggs & Bread of your business.

"Want to buy" are impulse purchases. "I saw this on TV", "I have a coupon for this" and "this is neat!" Every gaming store might carry miniatures, but do they have a complete set available? Don't be afraid to add non-gaming items; board games, puzzles and even collectable items. Ask your customers what they want to see.

Offer things other stores do not. If my hardware store tried to beat Wal Mart on price, we would lose. But on Knowledge and Service, we beat them everyday. Find someone to wrap gifts during the holidays, be a sponsor of local events that your customers are interested in and create a name or logo that is easy to remember and put it on hats, t-shirts and dice bags.

Don't be afraid to contact the publishers and get a deal from them. Fantasy Flight Games is offering books for $5 to clear out overstock. Imagine if you could have got them for that and sold them for $10. Contact them for your grand opening, when we had our 50th aniversary, all of our suppliers donated items for drawings and give-aways.

Remember you have to "Sell" your store before you can sell your product.

Find a "niche" for your shop. One problem with RPGs is the books disappear from print quickly. Having out of print books would be a great resource for some people. Keep an eye on eBay for people selling their collections and don't forget to use it to get rid of merchandise that is not selling in your area.

One person's junk is another's treasure.