What’s in a name?

By Richard | April 17, 2007

Ok, so here I am, checking in two shipments that came in today and training a new employee when I get a phone call.

“Do you have <insert video game here> in stock??”
“Sorry dude, we don’t carry that kind of game.”
“Huh?? What kind of game store are you?”

Later in the day, I get a walk-in that comes in as if he knew just what he was looking for… then looks around and realizes that the games on the walls aren’t what he was expecting. Confused and grumbling, he walks out.

What can we do to reclaim the title “Gamer”? Used to be, if someone said they were a gamer, everyone knew what they meant. Either it meant “get the hell away from me you freak” or “Great, our group can always use another [insert favorite RPG or wargame here] player.” “Game store” meant only one thing. Now I get at least three calls each day asking me do I have Play Station, WII or the newest Final Fantasy # in stock. I have no real problem with this– maybe one of these days I can get a video gamer into playing our games! - but really, it’s like we lost our unique identity. So what do you out there think about this? Can we reclaim the name Gamer or do we need to come up with something new to describe us?

Topics: Gamers, game store | 1 Comment »

Making the Store, pt. 1

By Richard | April 5, 2007

Marketing’s a funny thing. Everyone seems to think they’re an expert, but if you ask them what kind of marketing works on them they say either “discounts” (which are a marketing tactic, but not a plan or strategy on their own) or that they don’t choose a store because of marketing- “I just go to “Gamestore X” because I’m comfortable there/it’s convenient/it’s where my friends go/they support my game,” or something along those lines. Newsflash, dude- that is marketing. Marketing is making yourself appealing to the customers you want to target.

When we were working on opening my store, the first thing we wanted to do was pin down a storefront- but there was something important we had to do first. We had to figure out who our customers were going to be. “You want them all!” I hear you thinking, “This is a small niche market, you can’t rule anyone out!” Riiiiight. We tried that in another business- “Our market is everyone! Everyone will want our service!” Total. Disaster. Big lesson learned.

A Dominos Pizza needs a different kind of physical location than a Red Lobster. Do you want a store packed full of 10-17 year olds after school and all weekend, spending their allowances and mom and dad’s money? You want to be near schools, near family neighborhoods. Are you targeting the local computer programmers and techs? It might be more important to be near where they work, somewhere that’s just too easy to stop in before going home after work. Are you in a college town? How much of your business is going to be college students, and how does that affect where you need to locate yourself? Do you need to be on a bus line? How about parking space?

What kind of store do you want it to be? It might be nice to focus on the game or games that you play, but will that be successful? What’s popular in your area? No matter what you kind of store you want to have, if there are not enough people playing it (actually, buying it, which is different!) the store won’t last long. Most stores are roughly one of the following, and you have to choose one that you will enjoy and that will fit into your area and be successful…

Card Store- All you really do is cards, card accessories and tournaments.
Wargame Shop- This means you will be carrying tons of miniatures like Warhammer 40k, historical, and other games of that nature.
General Game Store- These have a little bit of everything, try and keep it balanced and not specialize in anything.
Boardgame Store- These have everything from Apples to Apples to Zombies, including all the Eurogames, mainstream American games, and often education/family toys.
Used Games Store- This is a second hand or “collectable” store. They spend a lot of time “hunting and gathering” games that people do not want anymore or have become really hard to find, and possibly dealing in CCG and CMG singles.

To be continued…

Topics: Retailing, game store | 1 Comment »

Cool Customers

By Richard | March 27, 2007

I have to say that I cherish my customers. They see the store as not just some store, but as part of their lives and that makes me feel good. One of my best customers is sitting here reading while he is waiting for his appointment and he bought me Lo Mein. Dude that is cool!

I cherish that when someone tried to break into the store (and failed) that they took it as a personal attack. They asked if everything was ok and asked if I need any help. That is cool!

I cherish how they understand that I work long hours and ask if I need help with things. That is cool!

I cherish how they tolerate some of my weird beliefs about the universe and how it works. Granted, they think I am a freak– but they let me have my beliefs and that is cool!

What are some cool things about your job and the people you work with?

Topics: Gamers, game store | No Comments »

Holy Ginsu Knives Batman!

By Richard | March 23, 2007

Wizkids isn’t stopping at just cutting out the online retailers posing as distributors– they’re taking the new plan a step further, literally pushing gamers into the brick-and-mortar stores!

Someone’s got some new blood in their marketing department (I can only imagine) and they are what I call saucy! This kind of push will get some fresh faces into the stores, and that is what we all want.

Topics: Industry, Retailing | No Comments »

Two-for-One Wargaming

By Richard | March 15, 2007

It’s been a few weeks since the release of Victory At Sea by Mongoose Publishing, and tomorrow War At Sea from Wizards of the Coast will be out. So far I am pleased with the rules and what Mongoose has done– using their A Call to Arms combat system from Babylon 5 as the game mechanics– and it is working out nearly perfectly.

Victory at Sea plays fast and is very easy to pick up. Even though the mechanics are abstract compared to other historical games, it works well. The bookkeeping is simple and can easily be kept in a three-ring binder, and if you do a search online for record sheets you can see samples of what others have done. The big thing being anticipated is ships of different eras, like in Wizkids’ Pirates game. We might be seeing Ironclads of the American Civil War, Wooden Ships, and others. Any of these could be adapted for this system. (Hey Mongoose, that’s a hint!) The one catch- there are no miniatures designed to go with this system. The game comes with counters and notes that miniatures of any scale can be used.

Meanwhile, War At Sea will be a line of pre-painted miniatures that will cover the World War II era ships. It’s an expansion of the Axis and Allies TMG by Wizards of the Coast, a grid-based system that will work well for all ages and give you the feel of command in that period of human history.

Now you are wondering why I said all of this and not really gotten to my point. Well here it is…combining these two systems, you get two different games for a very modest investment of cash. Yes, this is a game store owner saying you can come out cheap and get two games! This means if you have kids, you can play an historical game that they will be able to understand– and you get to have another gamer-in-training in the house! This works with spouses and friends who aren’t into hardcore wargaming as well. Then, you use your War at Sea figures for Victory At Sea when you get together with your buds and want to throw some dice and break out the tape measure.

Here’s the price breakdown: A starter Box of War At Sea is $24.99 for the rules, map (it is a huge map), and 9 figures. That comes down to 2.77 per figure (assuming the map and rules being free…). Boosters of War At Sea are 14.99 per box and you get 5 figures in each. That comes to 2.99 per figure. The figures are on 1/1800 scale- slightly bigger than the 1/2000 to 1/6000 that Victory at Sea assumes you’ll be working with, but the FAQ says “Regardless of the scale of players’ miniatures, they can be used freely in Victory at Sea” since the measurements are made from center to center of the figures.

Meanwhile, a US Capital Ship from GHQ is $14.50 per ship, unpainted and needing assembly. It has great detail, but if you are not used to working on 1/2400 scale ship, it can be a real pain. A blister of Cruiser is $8.95 per ship from GHQ. A blister of Carrier is also $8.95 and yes it will include everything you need for the carrier…but it is also at 1/2400 scale. To give you an idea how small that is, take a Number 2 pencil, and break off the tip– a plane is half that size!

Personally, I think this is a great way to stretch a dollar and also enjoy two games at the same time.

Topics: Industry, game reviews | No Comments »

Glitterati, Literati, Illuminati…

By Richard | March 14, 2007

Technorati Profile

Does this make me one of the cool kids? Ok, I didn’t think so- just thought I’d check.

Topics: Misc | No Comments »

Unleaded? Fill ‘er up.

By Richard | March 14, 2007

In the early part if this year both Rackham and Mongoose Games released pre-painted plastic miniatures for their wargames, then just last week Reaper Miniatures also announced they will be releasing non-random packs of pre-painted plastic figures. I know what you’re thinking—“Big deal. Wizards of the Coast already did that with D&D Miniatures and Dreamblade, and there have been others that have released pre-painted figures for game play. So what?” You’re correct that this isn’t a first, but these new figures are different.

1. These will be non-random sets. If you want a squad box, you know how much and exactly what’s in there.
2. For the most part the paint jobs are better than the previous pre-painted miniatures that have been available. This means that if you want to play a war game but don’t have the time or interest in acquiring the skills to paint up your troops, you can now join the fun.
3. These new plastic pre-painted figures are about 25% cheaper than the “lead” figures from Privateer, GW, or the current selections from Reaper. This is definitely enough to influence players.

Rackham and Mongoose each have a new game that goes with the figures- AT-43 and Battlefield Evolution respectively- that will allow anyone to start playing right out of the box. That is one of the biggest advantage they will have over other lines. From the retailer point of view, we can now target 2 different groups– the non-wargamers the product was intended to attract, who wish to play but don’t have the time/skill/interest in painting the figures, plus the current wargamers for whom this is an easy way to add another game or more figures to their repertoire without the extra time needed to prepare.

So, I am thinking this is going to be a boon for the wargame part of the industry once they start getting products out at a steady rate. Right now there seems to be a lot of interest in the stuff that’s been released so far, but only time will tell if the companies can make this work.

Topics: Industry, Retailing | No Comments »

Help Wanted

By Richard | March 12, 2007

Is that so much to ask? What is it about game stores that make them harder to staff than other types of businesses??

Topics: Retailing | 1 Comment »

Clix Chic

By Richard | March 9, 2007

Wednesday was the release date for Heroclix’s DC Origins expansion. This is a two-part “big thing” since the last release of DC Clix was some months ago and was only moderately succesful for retailers. This set I have to say I am much more impressed with! The casting, the painting and the quality of the figures have all drastically improved and appear to be from the same factory as the Horrorclix which was one of the best- far superior to Heroclix releases of the past. My customers could see the difference too, and in less than two days I sold out and wish I had ordered more than I did– but that’s the chance you take! Ok, a little more detail on the reasons why I like this expansion:

  1. The casting is just as good as Horrorclix’s across the collection. This is big because the better the casting, the more valuable your collection will be (and to be honest it is about time- given that the whole Clix line is based around being collectible, their figures have never been what they should be. It’s nice to see them kicking into gear on this).
  2. Paint jobs match the old costumes when these heroes were first seen. I have to say, being an old comic geek, it’s really nice to see these figures done true to the original.
  3. The dials are clear to read and the boldness of the rarity ring is a welcome change. The look is important to me and now it looks professional and not rushed.
  4. They made good choices of which figures to include. I love the Question Figure which is not a powerhouse hero but deserves to be seen and take his place, same thing for the orginal Green Lantern. I have a personal bias for the old Green Lantern since Erwin was one of my instructors at the Kubert School. (Erwin was one of the orginal artists to draw Green Lantern.)
  5. Packaging- I know this is strange but I listen to so many complaints about how much damage figures take from shipping. So when we saw that Wiz Kids took the time and wrapped the rares and the Limited Edition figures this is a welcome trend and I hope they keep it going.

Ok back to work with me…

Topics: Industry, Retailing | No Comments »

A clean store is a profitable store. Isn’t it?

By Richard | March 8, 2007

A no-brainer? Seems like it to me, but you’d be surprised how many game stores look as if the last time they were clean was the day they opened. Fifteen years ago. Or maybe you wouldn’t be surprised—an awful lot of new visitors to my store comment on how clean it is, and they always sound as if this is a new, novel, nifty thing. A clean game store! Who ever would have thought of it? This isn’t really news to me of course- I’ve been hanging out in game stores since I was in high school, so I’m familiar with the standard-issue variety: the lighting a little bit dim, the floor a little bit sticky from cola spills, and a noticeable lack of dust distinguishing the popular items from the duds (I won’t even discuss the smell- you know what I’m talking about!) I know we work long hours and have a million things to do, but how long does it take to vacuum the carpet, wipe down the bathroom fixtures with some Clorox wipes, and run a dust cloth over the displays? We’re not talking sterile or anything- just decent.

All other things being equal, everyone would choose to spend their money and their time in a store—of any kind, a supermarket, a shoe store, whatever—that is reasonably clean over one that isn’t. Clean=good, grungy=bad. This isn’t rocket science. A clean store will make everyone who comes in feel more comfortable and especially the female clients. So here’s my question: why are owners so resistant to this idea? Obviously there are clean game stores out there, but let’s be honest—they’re in the minority. I’ve talked to a couple of them about it (as casually and carefully as I could) and they seem to be of the opinion that it’s not necessary. Why put in the time and effort (or annoy their employees by asking them to do it) when the gamers don’t expect it and don’t mind the current conditions? Some shops are pretty much the only game in town, so to speak, or they’re the biggest, or specialize in a particular game, so they don’t worry about losing business to a competitor (which brings us back to the internet issues I posted about yesterday…).

So tell me this—as a gamer, how important is the cleanliness of the store that you frequent? Does it affect your gaming or shopping habits? Store owners, where do you stand on this issue? Be honest! Do you think it’s ok to have different standards for a game store than for other kinds of stores? Is it just a matter of setting priorities for what to get done during your 70-hour week? Are there reasons for it I’m missing? If you’re one of the clean and tidy stores, do you think it affects your business or am I just full of hot air here? As you can tell this is one of my pet peeves, so I’m really looking forward to reading what you all have to say!

Topics: Retailing | 5 Comments »

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