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I've read somewhere that gamesworkshop store aren't actually profitable and they more or less just break even.

Is this true? And if so how much revenues does a gw store or hobby shop typically do in a month. I know there's a lot of variables that go into this buy maybe someone who has worked at gw or owns a hobby shop can chime in.

I will admit I don't often see many purchases at my local gw.

GW's financial reports are available on their Investor Realtions mini site, and that features a breakdown of the cash that the GW owned retail stores generate, but, historically, yes, their own stores have operated around the break even point, give or take.

This is mitigated by their non-financial benefits such as recruitment of new people and their visibility on the high street (more so a UK and European thing, but still important.)

A "hobby shop" isn't a set entity, what's a successful month for one might be an unmitigated disaster for another, given overheads etc. But despite the high failure rate of most new businesses, I'd be willing to bet that the failure rate of hobby shops is higher.

To add to the above, GW already scaled many of their hobby shops back - from 3-4 staff at even smaller ones in the 90s to most running with 1 staffer. Plus shifting from central to slightly more fringe, but still well positioned stores which command lower rent/rates.

So GW has done things to help make their stores work and they do profit/break even overall.

As Azreal says a BIG part of those stores is not pure sales but marketing. Reaching out to get new customers into the GW system and into the hobby and wargaming and being on the highstreet enough that most people are aware of what GW are even if they aren't customers. Such measures really help to sell the hobby and even if many move to buying from 3rd parties, online and such; those highstreet stores have often been where many started. From seeing painted models on display; tables full of games and such.



As for 3rd party stores, I think many traditional model hobby stores have had a very tough time and many that sell wargames are often combo-stores. They sell models from different firms; they sell boardgames and cardgames - with many of those stores often profiting and running more on card and board games and far less on wargames.

Wargames are a slow burner. They sell fewer units because each item sold isn't just expensive, but needs building and painting. In contrast card and board games are typically ready out of the box/packet; and card games cycle card series so they generate a LOT of repeat sales. Magic the Gathering alone cycles multiple collections a year and that's not including paid game modes (eg booster draft).


But as said hobby/game stores are very variable in what they sell. I've seen some that hold almost no stock through to giants like Wayland Games or Firestorm Games.

I know that general hobby shops make most of their money on card games and tournaments with minis and board games being a side show for them.

So I cannot imagine how a hobby shop that only sells minis, and only sells minis from one company, can possibly make a profit.

As others said I imagine they are loss leaders for creating more fans/addicts.

Not that I would know anything about that

The shareholders meeting reports suggest that the GW stores aren't loss-leaders. They overall do turn a profit.

I think the core differences are possibly

1) They have the backing of GW in the end so slow months aren't as much a risk for them as they can be for other stores. When your shop is run on tight margins a few months slow trade can be crippling and dig a store into debt that becomes a noose that tightens as repayments have to be made etc...

2) Added to point 1, the GW stores are likely operating with 0 debt over their heads. Yes they have startup costs, but all of that is paid for by GW's profits. There's no debt sitting over them, no investor or such. So again that can be a huge difference on marginal income elements.

3) Training. Yeah I'm going to say it, but certainly the UK shop staff have always struck me as well trained in terms of both being sales staff and not being pushy sales staff. They also have key hobby skills. They don't just sell you something, they teach you how to build it, paint it and play it.
Many other hobby stores are far more pure traders so any new customers have to also either do it alone or get involved with local clubs (which might or might not run through the store/at the store). I think this sets a big difference because GW welcomes you into the hobby outright.

Note I'm aware that overseas this does change and that certainly in the Kirby days the US staff were much more pushy sales staff than hobbyists as well.

4) Stock access and rotation. Sure they only sell from 1 manufacturer, but they have it and if they don't they've a computer in the store to order direct. You don't turn up, find they haven't got what you want and make an order that might be in next week or not etc...
Reliable product access is a big thing and GW stores have the advantage that they've got it; 3rd parties might cover a vastly broader range of products, but unless they are huge warehouse type traders, chances are they don't have a big amount of stock on hand.

Part of this is the cost of stocking the store - 3rd parties can't sit on stock for ages, they need a lot of fast selling products to recoup their investments to keep the lights on. I also tend to see it in other stores as well - go back to the days where stores were cheaper and more affordable to run and stores would hold a lot of stock, these days I tend to see a lot more push for fast selling stock; slower stuff is less desirable.

5) Marketing - GW stores get a massive amount from GW itself. Heck during the Lord of the Rings phase they got that from the cinema as well. This is a huge thing and something many 3rd parties simply cannot touch or get into. Huge brand awareness works. Heck just look at a lot of upper market clothing brands - often not much different to regular clothing; but with big investments in marketing and branding and such they can get a lot of custom through their doors .

All good points Overread

And to extend on Overread's first point - staffing. My local one-man GW has 3 regular cover staff (for sickness, holidays, etc.) with 10+ more from the surrounding GW stores. Lots of independent stores struggle with staffing, having to close if someone is sick, etc.

Overread pretty much nailed it.

GW’s Financials do mention the percentage of stores that are profitable.

GW 6 month report, 10 Jan 2023 wrote: Our stores have performed well during the period. We are benefitting in Australia and Continental Europe from being fully open following Covid-19 restrictions being removed and our store managers being allowed to offer our full retail experience. The recovery of retail in Australia has been great to see (they now have to keep the momentum going) and our recent addition of a new regional retail manager in Canada is helping us as well. The UK is recording record sales levels, including both Warhammer World at our Nottingham HQ and our UK high footfall store on Tottenham Court Road in London. North America retail was flat at constant currency rates, with higher than normal comparatives in the prior period. They delivered like-for-like growth in the last three months. Globally we opened, including relocations, 5 stores (our plan is c.20 new stores for the full year). After closing 6 stores, our net total number of stores at the end of the period is 517.

Retail operating expenses, excluding events, have increased by £3.6 million at actual rates and £2.4 million at constant currency. At constant currency the main increase relates to staff costs (+£1.1 million), we ensure we pay the right salary to retail staff in each territory. The majority of our stores are profitable (38 stores are not, 2021: 34 stores).

517 stores in total. 38 of which aren’t currently turning a profit. If my Maffs is right? That’s 7.3% of their total stores not being profitable in the past six months.

It may go into more detail, but I can’t be arsed to check further.

https://investor.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2022-23-half-year-report-final.pdf

The other advantage for GW is having so many stores, they can parachute in experienced managers to non-profitable stores to see if it can be turned around, not just till monkeys like I was once upon a time.

They’re also more than simply shops. They’re recruitment, training and indeed retention centres, devoid of competing company product lines.

 Overread wrote:
As for 3rd party stores, I think many traditional model hobby stores have had a very tough time and many that sell wargames are often combo-stores. They sell models from different firms; they sell boardgames and cardgames - with many of those stores often profiting and running more on card and board games and far less on wargames.

Actually cards seem to be a tough margin.

http://blackdiamondgames.blogspot.com/

(Currently top article on this blog.)

I am sure cards are high turn-over and low margin. They are what bring you into the store and keep you there. Board games probably have slower turn, but slightly higher per product turnover. RPGs are probably mid-tier too but low volumes. Meanwhile, Miniature Games are probably the most risky with slow turn and lower profit margins but can make up for it with some volume.

I would imagine that food and beverage is the highest profit margin for a store. Hence, the growth of Game Cafes. Plus, it has decent turnover. This is a similar model to a movie theatre.

Then, of course, this has to be supplemented by Online sales. Brick and Mortar alone is not enough.

Note: I have not run a hobby store, just run some of the numbers pre-COVID. There is not really a world where you can make a ton of money at one. Break even and survive..... sure. Retail is absolutely brutal right now, as a local faces world-wide competition.

It’s not just what you’re selling, but now you’re selling.

You can’t just sit by your till and hope for the best. You need to be engaging with your customer base. You need to ensure you’re offering what your customer base actually wants. And to make them feel welcome and valued.

This is what Till Monkey training focussed on last time I worked for GW (13ish years ago now).

Talk to them about their hobby. Actively invite people to games and events. If they’re more knowledgeable about something, let them show it off (for instance, TTRPG, Board Games for FLGS).

Get that right (it’s not one size fits all) and you get folk talking themselves into sales.

Remember your upwelling as well. At the till, ask if they found everything, if they need glue, paints, brushes etc. Memory joggers, not a sales pitch.

Do you want to know more? Read the book!
https://amzn.eu/d/g3MM90s

 Easy E wrote:
I am sure cards are high turn-over and low margin. They are what bring you into the store and keep you there. Board games probably have slower turn, but slightly higher per product turnover. RPGs are probably mid-tier too but low volumes. Meanwhile, Miniature Games are probably the most risky with slow turn and lower profit margins but can make up for it with some volume.

From what I've seen over the years, most of the turnover from cards is in bursts as new sets are released, and then it's a slow burn until the next set drops.

The big difference between cards and minis though is space for sales. Boxes of cards don't take up anywhere near as much shelf space, and for the most part running organised play also doesn't require as much space per player. The sheer amount of space required to carry a decent range and (if they choose to do so) cater for in-store gaming is a massive investment for a store dedicated to miniature sales.

 insaniak wrote:
From what I've seen over the years, most of the turnover from cards is in bursts as new sets are released, and then it's a slow burn until the next set drops.

Is it? Maybe this just varies from place to place but it seems like every time I've been in a store where a MTG event is happening there are always whales feeding their addiction. I suppose the whales are probably buying even more stuff all at once on release day but there seems to be a lot of money coming in the rest of the time too.

I would certainly agree that a new set being released would result in a big sales boom, but as for sales between those it might vary much more so on how active the local player base is and on the nature of that playerbase.


Eg if the store isn't buying and selling individual cards and if the local players are only building power-decks from the internet and such; then they might slow down buying quite a lot between set releases.
If the locals are doing a lot of general deck building and thus buying cards to feed that; then the store could likely see much more sale between blocks
If the locals do a lot of booster drafts then the store could be selling a whole box of cards once a week just for that alone; bigger groups requiring even more.




Also on the space format also note that wargames are demanding on everything. They take up way more space for only 2 players and they can be very time demanding too - 3-6 hours. On top of that most game locations will want to have storage space for decent terrain and boards/mats. So that's even more space you've got to have set aside so that your players can setup neat tables.

Board games will vary on tablespace, but its mostly "in the box" and many of the games will support more players. So even if they can end up taking up the same amount of space and play-time they might occupy 6 players to a wargames 2.

It also depends on what folk play.

My FLGS favours Commander and quite strong Tournament type play. Me? I prefer just plain old, bog standard, slap a deck together see what happens, Magic.

I’m gonna nip down tomorrow evening and see if I can find folks who are happy to play me (I do have a Commander Deck, but it’s off the peg, so not “my way or you’re a Richard”) with my existing decks

If there are, and they’re fun? Chaos Cards can expect me to start spending on booster packs now and again. But, if they’ve allowed “all hardcore, all the time” I have neither the funds nor the interest to chase that particular dragon.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
It also depends on what folk play.

My FLGS favours Commander and quite strong Tournament type play. Me? I prefer just plain old, bog standard, slap a deck together see what happens, Magic.

I’m gonna nip down tomorrow evening and see if I can find folks who are happy to play me (I do have a Commander Deck, but it’s off the peg, so not “my way or you’re a Richard”) with my existing decks

If there are, and they’re fun? Chaos Cards can expect me to start spending on booster packs now and again. But, if they’ve allowed “all hardcore, all the time” I have neither the funds nor the interest to chase that particular dragon.

Yeah this can be one big issue with MTG groups. Because of the insane difference in power and performance between a

"Threw it together with what I've bought from random packs" intermediate level deck

and

"Crafted it from a choice selection of cards carefully planned and bought for the purpose" event level deck (might be their own might be one copied from online)


It can often mean that the intermediate deck might only win if the advanced deck gets broken due to shuffling issues or such.
This disparity in player skill and style of approach to the game can result in issues at groups. Big venues and groups can overcome it because there's often a healthy spread; but an adult/older/mature player in the intermediate camp can find it trickier as, whilst gamers of all ages are typically good fun, generation gaps can be a thing and sometimes you really don't want to play with the group of teens who might otherwise share a similar skill and approach to the game.

The other thing that GW stores have in their favour is exclusives. The only time I have visted a GW stores recently was to get last year's anniversary Inquisitor model, and I went twice (ordered then collected at a later date).

Both times I decided to pick up a couple of paints whilst I was there that I needed.

I can imagine GW gets good returns on the kit sales, so they may only need a customer or two to keep it open each day.
And one big sale worth a week covering for any lack during it.
Then the little things adds up, paints, brushes, single purchases.
Which the company as a whole looks at with advertising and other factors to decide worth even if a store itself is only low profit.

I used to work at the GW store in Nottingham city centre, which is considered a big store by the standards of the company. Before that I had been a store manager of a medium sized store- one of the bigger companies selling branded footwear. I happened to have done my induction training in the Nottingham branch. On a Saturday, the shoe shop took more money between 9-10am (the quietest hour) than the gw would make all day. They don't turn over much money at all, but as they only sell their own product, at least the profit margin is high. They make more than they cost to operate, but not by as much as other retailers would be prepared to accept.

Of course it means as high streets die GW stores will appear more and more a common sight which should help first time interactions and recruitment of new customers.

I currently work in a supermarket behind the customer service desk / kiosk. I have individual customers who in a single transaction spend more on cigarettes than the GW store I used to run would take on any given weekday.
But then on some release days it would take £6K. It was wildly swingy.
The stores do generally turn a profit for GW, but that isn't there main purpose. Recruitment is the name of the game, all the targets I had as a manager were related to selling starter sets, running intro games etc. This may have changed in the last ten years since I left, but I doubt it. I would assume online sales are a much bigger part of the business now, so the stores are not where they make the majority of the companies sales.

 Overread wrote:
I would certainly agree that a new set being released would result in a big sales boom, but as for sales between those it might vary much more so on how active the local player base is and on the nature of that playerbase.


Eg if the store isn't buying and selling individual cards and if the local players are only building power-decks from the internet and such; then they might slow down buying quite a lot between set releases.
If the locals are doing a lot of general deck building and thus buying cards to feed that; then the store could likely see much more sale between blocks
If the locals do a lot of booster drafts then the store could be selling a whole box of cards once a week just for that alone; bigger groups requiring even more.

IMO it depends on the level of whales more than the play style. From what I've seen it seems like a lot of the ongoing MTG purchases are simply whales who buy MTG because they have money, not because they have any particular need for anything at the moment. It's all about the gambling thrill of opening new packs or the satisfaction in adding to the value of their "investment" collection by buying singles. They get their paycheck (often from a low-end job) and immediately figure out a way to spend whatever is left after expenses on MTG. And the stores are happy to enable their addiction because "just one more pack" is excellent for their profits. Host lots of events (especially drafts to maximize profit) to keep the whales in the store as often as possible and suddenly the whale has $5k in credit card debt, a bunch of worthless cards, and a devout belief that if they just buy more packs they'll finally open the ultra-rare card that will make it all worth it. And then if you're really smart you get into the singles business, buying a $100 card for $10 from a desperate whale (or naïve kid) so the whale can buy more packs from you and then selling that $100 card to a different whale who needs it for their latest tournament deck.

Say what you want about GW's prices being high but at least they haven't embraced MTG's loot box business model.

 Tamereth wrote:
I currently work in a supermarket behind the customer service desk / kiosk. I have individual customers who in a single transaction spend more on fags than the GW store I used to run would take on any given weekday.
But then on some release days it would take £6K. It was wildly swingy.
The stores do generally turn a profit for GW, but that isn't there main purpose. Recruitment is the name of the game, all the targets I had as a manager were related to selling starter sets, running intro games etc. This may have changed in the last ten years since I left, but I doubt it. I would assume online sales are a much bigger part of the business now, so the stores are not where they make the majority of the companies sales.

Pretty much this.

Recruit, Train, Retain. Build your own customer base in a way no other TTWG Manufacturer really can.

I’ve known a couple of short lived FLGS. Not closely like, but well enough to have shopped there and followed their demise. Both seemed to think “if I discount it, they will come”.

To a certain degree? Yes that logic works. Or at least, it should work. But you still need to be engaging with your customers. No not edgy “we am plays the old edishun” type stuff. But host games, campaigns, events etc. Whatever your floor space will allow. Literally give your customers a reason to return, and actively invite them to do so. Especially if you’re near a GW. Because they’re doing that. They’re building a rapport with those visiting. And yes that does mean beginners. Build loyalty through familiarity and feeling genuinely welcome.

Ever been into a shop where the staff ignore you? Do they seem put out or demonstrate a lack of interest or knowledge when you’re asking them about stuff? I have. It’s not nice.

Super simple, recent example? I’d run out of plakky glue. Nil desperandum, Chaos Cards are right around the corner. Sadly, they didn’t have any. Asked the person on the till who checked their stock (may have been some in the back room) and still no joy. So far. So good. Not really done anything wrong. But GW training? First you can order in pretty much any current product via the in-store terminal - but you’d also tell the customer “sorry, we’re out at the moment, but our delivery is coming on *insert day* and we should get some. Would you like me to put a pot aside for you?”

Just really simple, straight forward, non-obtrusive customer service.

Chaos Cards hold weekly events. Went to the board game one the other week, enjoyed myself well enough. Turns out there’s a decent pool of Blood Bowl players. Yet….the staff seemed unaware. There’s no notice board for “Looking For Group” type thing to let players actually find each other. GW stores have or at least had that.

Again, just really simple, straight forward, non-obtrusive customer service.

I’m keen to finally get my Necromunda on there. I have the rules. I have the scenery. Literally all the players would need is an assembled, ideally painted, WYSIWYG Gang. But with no notice board? It’s hard to say what the interest might be. And I’ll be damned if I’m spending hours and hours painting terrain if it’s all for naught.

Chaos Cards carries Necromunda. A decent campaign would help them shift stock. And a game seen to be played attracts interest and new players from there.

Apologies if anyone thinks I’m just dumping on Chaos Cards here. They’ve been around a decent old while so almost certainly know their own onions. This is just me using an example to hand to reflect on stuff GW Stores do (or did!) compared to a single FLGS. Certainly I’d imagine a Looking For Group notice board, where I can affix a recruitment poster is such an easy “fix”. Costs next to nothing, so even if it doesn’t work (and it might not. I’m no guru) it’s not as if they lose out on much.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
No not edgy “we am plays the old edishun” type stuff. But host games, campaigns, events etc. Whatever your floor space will allow. Literally give your customers a reason to return, and actively invite them to do so.

Of course this should always be done with an eye to converting traffic into paying customers, and with extreme caution to avoid becoming the free hangout space for a clique of non-customers. This is why CCGs are an excellent core to the business. They have limited formats which involve buying more cards every time you play, and you can have a tournament every night where prize support is in the form of using the entry fees to buy packs from the store at full MSRP. Every MTG draft you run is guaranteed profit and you can run a lot of drafts. So that means anything that displaces a MTG event needs to have some form of revenue generation. If the event itself doesn't provide direct profit it needs to at least get people in the store and buying some other stuff while they're in. For example, your desire to see Blood Bowl events: do they actually generate revenue or do they just take up space? From the point of view of a player they're obviously desirable, but will having Blood Bowl players in the store result in those players making meaningful purchases and creating profit for the store? Or will it just be a bunch of salty veterans playing with their decades-old teams and grumbling about how nobody should ever buy the new models? And if you aren't going to sell a lot of Blood Bowl products can you at least convince them to stop playing such a pointless game and become CCG whales?

Super simple, recent example? I’d run out of plakky glue. Nil desperandum, Chaos Cards are right around the corner. Sadly, they didn’t have any. Asked the person on the till who checked their stock (may have been some in the back room) and still no joy. So far. So good. Not really done anything wrong. But GW training? First you can order in pretty much any current product via the in-store terminal - but you’d also tell the customer “sorry, we’re out at the moment, but our delivery is coming on *insert day* and we should get some. Would you like me to put a pot aside for you?”

Of course it should be mentioned that this is an absolute last resort. It isn't 1990 anymore, when being able to order a product for a customer had value. If you don't have it in stock and on the shelf then you have failed as a business and I'm making a mental note that you don't have reliable inventory and should drop down the list of places I'm going to bother shopping at. It's only very slightly less-bad than saying "sucks to be you, no sale" that a store is willing to place a special order for me, at that point I'll just buy it online myself and have it arrive at my front door tomorrow. Far more important than any customer service training is a reliable inventory system that keeps products, especially products like glue and paint that are likely to be needed for immediate use, in stock and available at all times.

Oh any event should be about converting foot traffic into sales. But the important thing? You gotta have foot traffic to convert in the first place.

In my Till Monkey days, most folk coming in to grab a game would buy something. Might be a big purchase. Might just be a pot of paint. But it’s pennies in the pot all the same - and skilled upselling pays dividends there (see earlier post about how to upsell without being a pushy Richard).

And yes. Last resort to be sure. But…it shows you have an interest and investment in your customers. Making the offer costs nothing - and it might just get you pennies in the jar.

Had the staffer said “well we normally get deliveries on Xday”? I wouldn’t have nicked off and sorted myself another way. I’d have popped back in. Granted this is a fairly unique situation because CC are literally just down the road and round the corner from me. But it’s still Good Customer Service. Costs nothing more than a few words, and it might just get you a sale.

Suffice to say right now? I don’t feel a particular loyalty to CC. Convenience? Absolutely. I’m not gonna to fart off my ring to cheek my bum. But not my loyalty. That, as I suspect is true of many, most, but probably not all, consumers is something to be earned.

And yes, I may have daft standards, rose tinted from happy days spent inducting nerds into this wider hobby i bloody love.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
And yes, I may have daft standards, rose tinted from happy days spent inducting nerds into this wider hobby i bloody love.

Possibly. I've definitely seen enough examples of a store hosting a clique of non-customers that adds no value to the business. D&D players who buy all their books on Amazon and demand a private room every week for their game (and get it because the DM is the owner's buddy), miniatures players with old armies who maybe buy a single pot of paint every dozen games, even people who come in and brag about how clever they are for pirating all their rules and buying recasts of all the models. Come in on a random evening and half the store is taken up by non-customers who feel they're entitled to have the owner pay rent on their private gaming space. The most successful store I've seen is the one that treats miniatures and RPGs as second-class citizens that only get whatever space the CCG players aren't using. Sucks from the point of view of the players, but from a business point of view why dedicate an entire table and several hours of time to a single 40k game when you can play a whole MTG draft and make way more money than you will from the one pot of paint the 40k player might buy.

One thing that can be done is focus miniatures events on escalation leagues that include incentives for buying new products. Do 500/750/1000 points with an increase each month and bonus points each week if you bought a new unit from the store. Or do a painting contest where you buy a box and have a month to paint it. Or celebrate the release of the newest army with a tournament with special detachment rules where you can include a free patrol detachment from the new codex without breaking mono-faction rules and you get bonus points if you bought a new kit for that army. Bonus points if you can figure out a way to tie it into a CCG and encourage people to become CCG whales instead. It's a shame that GW didn't make the 40k MTG set a proper ongoing product with packs, bonus collector packs, super-premium packs, etc.

I think its important not to overlook customer loyalty. Building that can be difficult and maintaining is tough, but if you work hard you can build a loyal customerbase who might well accept that you don't have the glue in today, but that you'll get it in a few days with the regular order so they are fine to wait.

People will put money into things when they appreciate those who run them and understand that your store is there to make money and pay its bills.


Customer loyalty is something many big firms today often care nothing about because they bought hard into the marketing lie that there's always more customers out there, they just have to spend even more money in their marketing department to catch them. I think it sets up a lot of big firms for a constant customer churn; whereby they are constantly gaining "new customers" and not investing anything at retaining them beyond initial purchases.


Heck even GW went down that pathway at one time (esp in the USA if I recall right). And steadily we saw that with no loyalty, no respect to the customer; the company started to bleed those customers out.
Thing is wargames and games aren't insurance, you need to have the "old guard" around to at least engage with your newbies; otherwise there's no games, no social, no community to lure in and keep those newbies hooked

There is a balancing act for sure.

At first glance, letting folk play with long established armies, for free, doesn’t seem to make sense.

But, it shows the game off. And a thing seen to be used and enjoyed will appeal to folk more than something not seen to be used.

Not sure I explained that terribly well.

But a game in progress creates energy and hubbub. Us humans are drawn, mostly by curiosity, to hubbub.

Provided those playing the game appear to be having fun, that’s a living advert right there.

Many many many many many years ago (like over 20), there was an article on Warseer about “the psychology of 40K”.

It was awful. It wasn’t about psychology rules and ways to work them to advantage. Oh no. It was “how to psyche your opponent out”.

It included such unrealistic gems as “do not talk your opponent except to say when it’s their turn”. Lots of other mince I don’t care to dredge up.

If folk are seen to be having fun, other folk will be curious, and at least some of them will want a slice of that particular pie.

But as you say, have a range of events.

Whilst, as ever, I’ve not played in ages? Crusade seems a natural fit for recruitment. Start Small. Learn the ropes. As you progress, your force progresses, your collection progresses.

But as Head Honcho? Never lose sight that it’s your turf. You are the law. Not Captain Neckbeard no matter how much he puts in your till.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, on “order in” depends entirely on how your FGLS’ bread is buttered.

If they have weekly orders with GW? Doable. If monthly, probably impractical.

 Overread wrote:
I think its important not to overlook customer loyalty. Building that can be difficult and maintaining is tough, but if you work hard you can build a loyal customerbase who might well accept that you don't have the glue in today, but that you'll get it in a few days with the regular order so they are fine to wait.

People will put money into things when they appreciate those who run them and understand that your store is there to make money and pay its bills.

Maybe, but from a business point of view it isn't good to be depending on what is essentially an act of charity. If I have a store hosting MTG events I don't need to rely on charity to make sales, I just set up some chairs and folding tables and tell the MTG whales they can use the space. An 8 person draft is 24 packs sold, add two packs per person to the entry fee for prize support and I sell 40 packs as a direct benefit for letting them use the space. Any additional purchases on top of that (and let's be honest, CCG whales always buy more stuff) are just a nice bonus. Yeah, I want a degree of loyalty to keep them coming in if there are other stores in the area but the transaction itself is desirable for the customer even without the feelings of charity. But it seems like with miniatures and RPGs most stores are depending entirely on having people feel guilty about using the space without paying and making a less-desirable transaction to "help the store".

(Cue the absurdity of GW employees begging customers to "help the store" and make their online orders through the store's PC so they count towards the employee's personal sales quota.)


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
But, it shows the game off.

It does, but it's still essential to consider how to monetize the existing customers. In my experience in a non-GW store random traffic will occasionally get interest in a miniatures game and only very rarely will they ever turn into paying customers. Selling a starter box and some paints once every month or two isn't making much money from miniatures if the majority of players are non-customers, especially when a lot of those non-customers have a habit of suggesting their favorite online discount store to everyone who will listen.

In a GW store obviously the interest level will be higher, since the majority of people going into the store are either existing players or people who are going there specifically to become a customer, but then the employee's goal shifts from "what benefits the store" to "what benefits my personal sales quota" and you get perverse incentives like not wanting a customer to buy a pot of paint because buying a single small item hurts the employee's value per transaction metric.