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<blockquote data-quote="Dristram" data-source="post: 2424615" data-attributes="member: 1639">In my case, I provide all of the above things you mentioned and more.&nbsp; I try to provide good customer service by greeting customers as they come in remembering their names and the products my customers like.&nbsp; So, aparently, even good customer service is not good enough for all gamer to shop at a B&amp;M store vs. online.&nbsp; What I'm getting from this thread, is no matter what a game store does, short of matching online pricing, for some gamers, only price matters.&nbsp; I am amazed at how cynical some gamers are towards game stores in this thread.&nbsp; In some cases, it seems like it’s downright hatred.&nbsp; It’s like game stores are viewed as the “bad guy”.&nbsp; I come from a time when game stores were viewed as precious commodities.&nbsp; “It’s a store that’s dedicated to my beloved hobby.&nbsp; How cool!”&nbsp;&nbsp; Skiers have their ski shops, paintballers have their shops, and even geeky gamers have their shops!&nbsp; But it seems, evident from this thread, many gamers see game stores as antiquated and only marginally useful, if that.&nbsp; I’m still trying to figure out when this happened.&nbsp; I sure missed it!&nbsp; I valued game stores so much that I opened my own.&nbsp; Thankfully, there are a lot of gamers in my area that see the value of having a game store in their town and support it.&nbsp; Thus I'm still in business...for now.FWIW, I've been running my game store for 1 1/2 years, 6 days/week, 70+ hours/week, just to create a game store gamers can call their own.&nbsp; So far, I'm doing well enough to survive, but still not well enough to hire employees and continue to improve my store.&nbsp; At this point, I'm beginning to wonder if all the gamers in my area that are left for me to gain as customers are dedicated online shoppers.&nbsp; I don't know what else I can do to earn their business.&nbsp; Offering a discount will hurt me more than help.&nbsp; Even if offering a discount increases sales, the increase will never offset the loss from the discount.As for shopping at a B&amp;M store knowing you'll be ordering online, I'm not going to bring ethics into it, but what I will say is out of respect for the hard work, time, effort, and money put into running a small business, if you're not going to buy from the store, don't shop at the store.(-Brad DaedaOwner, Gamer's Keepe</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dristram, post: 2424615, member: 1639"] In my case, I provide all of the above things you mentioned and more. I try to provide good customer service by greeting customers as they come in remembering their names and the products my customers like. So, aparently, even good customer service is not good enough for all gamer to shop at a B&M store vs. online. What I'm getting from this thread, is no matter what a game store does, short of matching online pricing, for some gamers, only price matters. I am amazed at how cynical some gamers are towards game stores in this thread. In some cases, it seems like it’s downright hatred. It’s like game stores are viewed as the “bad guy”. I come from a time when game stores were viewed as precious commodities. “It’s a store that’s dedicated to my beloved hobby. How cool!” Skiers have their ski shops, paintballers have their shops, and even geeky gamers have [b]their[/b] shops! But it seems, evident from this thread, many gamers see game stores as antiquated and only marginally useful, if that. I’m still trying to figure out when this happened. I sure missed it! I valued game stores so much that I opened my own. Thankfully, there are a lot of gamers in my area that see the value of having a game store in their town and support it. Thus I'm still in business...for now. FWIW, I've been running my game store for 1 1/2 years, 6 days/week, 70+ hours/week, just to create a game store gamers can call their own. So far, I'm doing well enough to survive, but still not well enough to hire employees and continue to improve my store. At this point, I'm beginning to wonder if all the gamers in my area that are left for me to gain as customers are dedicated online shoppers. I don't know what else I can do to earn their business. Offering a discount will hurt me more than help. Even if offering a discount increases sales, the increase will never offset the loss from the discount. As for shopping at a B&M store knowing you'll be ordering online, I'm not going to bring ethics into it, but what I will say is out of [b]respect[/b] for the hard work, time, effort, and money put into running a small business, if you're not going to buy from the store, don't shop at the store. (-Brad Daeda Owner, Gamer's Keepe [/QUOTE]

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