My family and I recently received a large inheritance from a relation, and are planning on opening a game store in the Salt Lake area. Before we moved here, we ran a successful video store, but don't have a lot of input as to what the larger gaming community wants. Aside from the obvious (Good service, knowledgeable staff, etc.) what would you like to see in a game store? Anything from seating arrangements to tricked-out gaming tables, if you had an unlimited amount of money to game with, how would you use it? And what products are, to you, essential for what your group does?

Also, if anyone here happens to already own a similar store, we'd also like to see some financial numbers to find out exactly how much we could afford to spend on inventory.

Thanks in advance for any input!

My dream game store would look like the internet. Forget the store and invest in a website, trust me.

Probably keep the RPG section to 10' or less and push board and card games.

2 private gaming rooms with comfy chairs and low centre tables. One with of a forest scene/generic scenic landscape painted on the walls and the other with a space vista. A snack/pop machine. A clean and well maintained bathroom. At least 5 Bookshelves devoted to RPGs, 3 with new products and 2 with used/oop RPGs. A good selection of miniatures, paints, and painting supplies. A magazine rack carrying a wide range of hobby mags. The rest of the store can be devoted to board games/ccgs, which will likely be the main source of income. In general, clean, spatious enough that its never necessary to turn sideways to pass somebody, and friendly-but-not-too-friendly staff. No strange smells. Air-conditioning/extensive fans as necessary to the climate.

That said, there was something magical about the out-of -the-way, dimly lit gamestores of my youth. Just as there's something to be said for the feeling of a small single-proprietor bookstore, which is much the same. Many gamestores these days seem more corporate in design, like they belong in a mall or as part of a franchise. It may cost some foot traffic, but kudos if you can give your store an individual feel, in look and design.

You'll be pissing away fifty grand plus on a modest non flashy game store, which won't be selling any PDFs over the counter, and probably won't be selling much period. Five grand will get you a swinging website with a decent marketing spread. If that works out think about the gentleman's club afterwards.

Every single game store I know of has closed, as have most of the comic shops and videogame shops. Don't waste your money.

What a freaking horrific idea. As much as I love this hobby, I'd rather open a donut shop*. The American people love donuts. Games involving reading hundreds of pages??? Not so much.

But I do business consults so here's my 2 cents:

1) There is a store owner who published a column on RPG.net. Find that column and read everything. Twice. Then contact the dude and ask him questions.

2) Find other bloggers who own game stores. Read all their stuff too. It is imperative that you get first hand info from people who have succeeded and people who failed.

3) If you do not have a business background and management background, you have a metric fuckton of stuff to learn before you can open a business. Better to delay opening your store for 2 years than spend all your capital to have to close your store in 2 years. Remember, people with lots of small business experience have stores that fail miserably.

4) Ask on BGG.com, CCG forums, Minis forums and other RPG forums about favorite game stores. Ask why they are favs? Ask how much do people spend at these stores? Because "its a great store" =/= "I spend money there"

5) Once you have that list, go on a road trip. Visit those stores. I would recommend calling/emailing in advance with the owners and see if some of them will let you take them to lunch or dinner. Take them somewhere nice and pick their brains.

Endgame in Oakland, California, Gator Games in San Mateo, California and Game Empire in Pasadena, California would be my three personal recommendations.

6) Think beyond the ordinary. Small business retail is a dead end. Amazon and online sellers can kick your ass on price and selection. But wait, what can you deliver beyond price and selection? Those small business retail stores that can answer that question can do nicely.

I am a big fan of Game Empire because they are a hub of the local gaming community because they have events every day, almost all backed up by active Meetup Groups. Check out their calendar for the month.

http://toucharcade.com/2013/08/06/new-dungeons-dragons-game-will-let-you-change-the-forgotten-realms/

7) Remember that you are selling a NICHE LUXURY item. Nobody needs games. There are plenty of free game on the web, plenty of cheap stuff on eBay and innumerable other entertainment options available. Thus, you must take cues from local business who also cater to Luxury Niches. Your customer base must have lots of easy disposable income. The lower middle class is becoming a questionable friend for your wares - especially with those who care more about price than amenities.

Good luck...or better yet, run for your life!!!

*Actually, I would not open a donut shop. I'd open up a high end classy next-gen Medical Marijuana dispensary in LA and create a totally trendy MJ club that I could reproduce in several locations.

Quote from: The Traveller;717247My dream game store would look like the internet. Forget the store and invest in a website, trust me.

Doesn't RPGNow/DTRPG pretty much have a monopoly on PDF sales?

And I'm sure Amazon has a near one on internet book sales.

Exceptions being Paizo, which sells their own stuff, and resellers like Noble Knight. But even in that arena, there are a heck of a lot fewer resellers than their used to be.

Quote from: JeremyR;717263Doesn't RPGNow/DTRPG pretty much have a monopoly on PDF sales?

And I'm sure Amazon has a near one on internet book sales.

Exceptions being Paizo, which sells their own stuff, and resellers like Noble Knight. But even in that arena, there are a heck of a lot fewer resellers than their used to be.

And Altavista used to rule the search engine market. I'm not saying try to sell games from a wordpress blog, but a sufficiently innovative competitor could certainly carve a hefty niche. The existing RPG sales sites are nothing to write home about, to put it mildly.

In any case you're gambling a small sum on a website with a decent chance of making it back versus a much, much larger sum on a retail premises with, in my opinion, zero chance of making it back. The FLGS is dead as disco, baby.

Honestly, finding an online ordering site whose site navigation isn't ten years out of date is pretty rare. Gamestore location sites are even worse. And Amazon is a bit cluttered, and its vast stock can actually count against it when searching for specific products.

A well-designed online store with easy navigation and a decent search function is a valuable commodity right now, I would hazard.

My LFGS is doing pretty well.
They have 2 branches. One in the city, one in the suburbs.

The suburbs branch has a big gaming area, room for about 50 gaming tables.
The guy who owns the store REALLY caters for MTG (and other Card trading games) meetups and charges them a little each to use the rooms.
He's got massive support for board games, of which I've bought a few there.
I've not bought ANY RPGs there, as it's really hard for him to get in what I want, as I'm mostly into Indie stuff that I buy in PDF format or use POD.

He also has a massive comic section. I also spend money on comics, as one of my kids is into comics, so she spends her pocket money in there.
Whilst we're there I browse the store and I've noticed he's been getting in Kickstarter stuff in there. For example I got a Dice game called "Dungeon roll" which was via Kickstarter. It was priced at a price range that it was an impulse buy.

He also hosts min-conventions (for free) and that attracts a LOT of people.
I recently went to a mini-con there and noticed lots of people going to that mini-con also bought some RPG material, Wargame stuff, comics, and card trading games stuff there, I expect a lot of purchases were on a whim as they were already there.

He also sells snacks, junk food etc for people gaming  at his tables, which sells pretty well.

In addition to that he knows his stuff and is receptive to questions and new ideas. I think he genuinely likes gaming and gaming people and it shows.

One other thing, the shops are open 7 days a week as well and all day. so it;s really accessible for those who work on odd days.
I expect the shop's been there for years and is very well known, so an established business.

For me that's pretty ideal.

I do wish he could provide the indie RPGs I get (printed from DTRPG), as I'd then be supporting RPGs in his shop, which would help him out, but I guess that's not easy to do for a LFGS.

All I know is that I would name it "Virgin Territory"

Community, Community, Community.

Quote from: The Traveller;717247My dream game store would look like the internet. Forget the store and invest in a website, trust me.

There's a way to do both.

My FLGS is Cool Stuff Inc.  They have a huge gaming area out front, some small amount of product on display, loose/singles click minis under the display case (along with snacks and so forth)...and (except see below), that's it.

The other thing they've got is a series of computer terminals, all pointed at the store's website.  You can go to the store, place an "online" order, and it generates an order number at the front counter.  Once you're done shopping, you walk up to the front and take your item(s), and pay for them there when they pull them out of the back stock.

It works really, really well, I think, from a shrink control standpoint.  All the stuff has images up on the webpage so you can see it beforehand.  I like their system a whole bunch.  Oh, and despite being an "internet business" with deep discounts, they're a brick and mortar too so I can get my shop on.

I can do my order at home and go in to pick it up as well if I want.

To my mind it's a damn near perfect model.

Quote from: thedungeondelver;717282The other thing they've got is a series of computer terminals, all pointed at the store's website.  You can go to the store, place an "online" order, and it generates an order number at the front counter.  Once you're done shopping, you walk up to the front and take your item(s), and pay for them there when they pull them out of the back stock.

It works really, really well, I think, from a shrink control standpoint.

Wow. I'd be faster out of that store than you could say, "Amazon".

I hate Amazon, I love b&m stores.

The one advantage physical stores have over the internet is browsability of their product. Let me thumb through books (and no, not just the sample pages Amazon, Drivethrough, or Lulu want me to see), and you will see money from me.

I left stores where I was already decided what I wanted because they wouldn't crack open the shrinkwrap of another product. So instead of a chance of two sales, they got none. (Hello Leisure Games, hello Morgenwelt, hello Fantasy-In...)

And kudos to Monte Cook for obstructing the cover of Numenéra with a leaflet that says, "Retailer! Remove this shrinkwrap! (...) This shrinkwrap is for transit puposes only. Be sure to remove it before displaying the book so your customers can see what's inside."

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;717293Wow. I'd be faster out of that store than you could say, "Amazon".

I hate Amazon, I love b&m stores.

The one advantage physical stores have over the internet is browsability of their product. Let me thumb through books (and no, not just the sample pages Amazon, Drivethrough, or Lulu want me to see), and you will see money from me.

I left stores where I was already decided what I wanted because they wouldn't crack open the shrinkwrap of another product. So instead of a chance of two sales, they got none. (Hello Leisure Games, hello Morgenwelt, hello Fantasy-In...)

And kudos to Monte Cook for obstructing the cover of Numenéra with a leaflet that says, "Retailer! Remove this shrinkwrap! (...) This shrinkwrap is for transit puposes only. Be sure to remove it before displaying the book so your customers can see what's inside."

I like browsing too. The biggest overall problem is the Best-Buy effect. Customer walks into a store, spends a little while flipping through possible desired products, whips out the smartphone and sees which online place has it for the lowest price, and buys from there. It sucks but it happens quite a bit.

Then these same idiots bitch when the stores close and they have nowhere to window shop.