Quote from: Drohem;360993Darn it!  That's on the opposite side of town for me.  I'm in Thornton.

'Enchanted Grounds' is a nice space.  I've been down there a few times for events, and they've got a lot of room, a lot of different games (board and roleplaying), and some good coffee.  If they were only closer, I expect I'd be spending a lot more time there.

Quote from: stu2000;360790There's an outfit on the south edge of metro Denver that's not exactly a game shop, but a coffee shop. It's an interesting model for selling space to gamers.
It's called Enchanted Grounds.
http://www.enchantedgrounds.com/

How is Enchanted Grounds to play at? We were thinking of moving my group there. I know about half my current group plays there with other groups and a member of my old group is there, but from what I can tell from the photos, the tables aren't very secluded. Is it noisy? Is it hard to hear?

Seanchai

It seemed spacious the one and only time I was ever there. It was early in the afternoon, and there weren't really many people there. I guess I'll have to go one night when it's jumping. It's all about sound abatement to me. If it's even reasonably quiet with a bunch of people, I may have to see if I can get up there every now an then.

Quote from: stu2000;361250It seemed spacious the one and only time I was ever there. It was early in the afternoon, and there weren't really many people there. I guess I'll have to go one night when it's jumping. It's all about sound abatement to me. If it's even reasonably quiet with a bunch of people, I may have to see if I can get up there every now an then.

Well, our "coup" didn't include moving to a new location. We play every other Saturday in the basement of Bonnie Brae, but we're usually the only ones there and so it's quiet. I don't know how well RPG gaming would work in a noisy environment.

Seanchai

Quote from: Seanchai;361356Well, our "coup" didn't include moving to a new location. We play every other Saturday in the basement of Bonnie Brae, but we're usually the only ones there and so it's quiet. I don't know how well RPG gaming would work in a noisy environment.

Seanchai

You know, I finally made it out to Bonnie Brae recently.  I really liked the vibe there.  It reminded my of my old FLGS back in Los Angeles.  I found a couple of Justifiers supplements that had probably been in that rack since the late 80s.  I like that they have the open gaming space in the back and that it's not closed off.  I'll have to made another trip out there soon.

Quote from: Drohem;361370You know, I finally made it out to Bonnie Brae recently.  I really liked the vibe there.  It reminded my of my old FLGS back in Los Angeles.  I found a couple of Justifiers supplements that had probably been in that rack since the late 80s.  I like that they have the open gaming space in the back and that it's not closed off.  I'll have to made another trip out there soon.

I like it. The man who runs it now has been good to my group. But it's nothing like it used to be. Customer service has jumped up quite a bit, but Bonnie Brae used to be the place to get weird, out of print games. Now they have quite a few, but nothing like it used to be. I'm sure that's wise from a business standpoint, but as a collector and someone who enjoys playing all sorts of weird games, I'm a bit sad about it.

Seanchai

Quote from: Seanchai;361373I like it. The man who runs it now has been good to my group. But it's nothing like it used to be. Customer service has jumped up quite a bit, but Bonnie Brae used to be the place to get weird, out of print games. Now they have quite a few, but nothing like it used to be. I'm sure that's wise from a business standpoint, but as a collector and someone who enjoys playing all sorts of weird games, I'm a bit sad about it.

Seanchai

Yeah, but at least now you don't need a flashlight and a dust mask to browse their used goods.

And it's a *lot* easier to park than it was when they were actually _in_ Bonnie Brae.

Quote from: Seanchai;361373I like it. The man who runs it now has been good to my group. But it's nothing like it used to be. Customer service has jumped up quite a bit, but Bonnie Brae used to be the place to get weird, out of print games. Now they have quite a few, but nothing like it used to be. I'm sure that's wise from a business standpoint, but as a collector and someone who enjoys playing all sorts of weird games, I'm a bit sad about it.

Seanchai

Yeah, the gentleman there was very friendly.  He offered his seat to my pregnant wife.  He offered to get her a drink.  He really made us feel comfortable and welcome there.  I picked up one of their yellow (orange?) dot sale items.  I saw some other OP products that I would like to come back and pick up as well.

Quote from: jcfiala;361376Yeah, but at least now you don't need a flashlight and a dust mask to browse their used goods.

Hehehe.... that's half the fun of tinkering around in cluttered and clustered book and gaming shops.

Quote from: jcfiala;361376Yeah, but at least now you don't need a flashlight and a dust mask to browse their used goods.

And it's a *lot* easier to park than it was when they were actually _in_ Bonnie Brae.

Both true. It was never my FLGS. It was never a contender to be my FLGS. But at least I could make a trip over and find some really cool stuff I'd missed while it was in print. Oh, well - now it's a good FLGS for other folks.

Seanchai

Bonnie Brae was where I got my first Arduin books, in what--81?--yeah, I guess so. They were over by the Bonnie Brae Tavern on University then. Good pizza. I went to high school in Denver. It's still where I like to go when I'm up there. The guys up there used to do distribution down here in te Springs. We've never had a used bin down here as broad or deep as Bonnie Brae's was at its height.

For the longest time, they had a D&D game on Saturday afternoons--I bet there were 14, 15 people around the table. We had a D&D club in high school, but I bet I learned a lot more at that public game at Bonnie Brae. They really set the mold in my mind for what a game store ought to be.

That said, I bet Enchanted Grounds has more attractive rest rooms.

Quote from: stu2000;361502That said, I bet Enchanted Grounds has more attractive rest rooms.

Truth.

I imagine someday I'll check out Enchanted Grounds. In the meantime, I'm very happy with Attactix.

Say, do the stores in the Springs have a lot of out of print material?

Seanchai

Quote from: Seanchai;361595Truth.

I imagine someday I'll check out Enchanted Grounds. In the meantime, I'm very happy with Attactix.

Say, do the stores in the Springs have a lot of out of print material?

Seanchai

Not so much.
Compleat Games and Hobbies downtown has a meager used section.
Hooked On Books has a decent used selection, but much smaller than Black and Read had for a while.
Gamers Haven avoids stocking used items by having an annual New Years Auction. Actually, they are adding a summer auction this year, so I guess it's semi-annual. I've had good luck getting some great old stuff at extremely reasonable prices at these affairs.

I have no FLGS near me. I do have a few gaming stores that I visit on occasion. But mostly as an effort to find discounted used material. You sometimes find the really obscure stuff in person. And if I've never heard of a game, it's hard to look for it online. But most of my purchases now are through some online retailer, often Amazon. Where I also sell gaming books that I have but don't want. I imagine that so long as they stay diversified, the FLGS can survive. But if they have crappy service and an elitist attitude (both of which I have encountered) they are doomed.

Quote from: stu2000;361699Not so much.
Compleat Games and Hobbies downtown has a meager used section.
Hooked On Books has a decent used selection, but much smaller than Black and Read had for a while.
Gamers Haven avoids stocking used items by having an annual New Years Auction. Actually, they are adding a summer auction this year, so I guess it's semi-annual. I've had good luck getting some great old stuff at extremely reasonable prices at these affairs.

Hmmn. Well, if I get down to the Springs, I'll definitely check them out. Thanks again.

Seanchai

Quote from: Mistwell;360268Funny enough, though I posted pics from Gaming Empire San Diego, I actually was thinking of Gaming Empire Pasadena in my post

Heh. I was gonna post and ask if you really drove down from LA to go to the Game Empire in San Diego; I recognized it from the pics. That was my regular game shop when I lived there.

Your post quoting and adding to PaladinCA's post is pretty much on the money. But damn, is it hard to find a game store that has even half the criteria on those lists.

I think #4 on your list - diversification - is important. Yeah, I know it's tough for a shop owner to be able to afford to offer a wide slate of products. Speaking as a consumer, though, I can tell you that I'm always much more likely to regularly frequent a shop that has such a selection. I'll go further and say that the shops that were most attractive to me were more like "genre shops" than game shops. That is, they catered to scifi, fantasy, game, and comic fans. I realize that it's tough for a shop to carry comics, games, books, and all the various and sundry paraphernalia genre fans love. I'm just saying I always liked being able to have a central place to find all that stuff.

The other big element that has been touched on a number of times here is perhaps the most basic - service. Friendly, courteous service is what keeps me coming back to any given place. I've seen some comments (here and elsewhere) that scoff at the notion of game shop staff going the extra mile for customer service, like it's too much to ask of a low-paid person who probably is in school - high school or college - and may not have customer service high on their list of priorities. All I can say is that shop owners need to hire people who actually enjoy the fact they're lucky enough to be working in a game shop and let the surly slackers go dig ditches or unload trucks if it's too much to ask for them to be helpful and friendly.