Yup, the plans are underway... now before I get the neighsayers telling me of the lack of profit etc, etc.. I already own a shop.. in the centre of a very busy market town... I have a full first floor empty (or at least I need to empty it!). It pretty much just needs painting/cleaning and a small counter making. Oh yeah and all the boards making etc. I already have all the shelving and display stuff... so Im pretty much set... or am I? I came to a crossroads, as I do have a budget to kick this off, a pretty small budget as it happens and I have made what in my mind is a brave (hopefully not stupid) decision not to stock GW. This for me is a difficult thing to do as Im trying to create a store in a way that I feel a GW should be.
Ok theres not a lot I can do about the price of the product all companies minis are expensive its just how it is. I'll offer a discount naturally, but what I want to do is sell the hobby and then hopefully the hobby will sell the product and customer loyalty to me. These days the GW alternatives are actually pretty good and by all accounts popular... with potential to reach out to new gamers or gamers already embroiled in the usual systems. Other company sculpts are no longer worse (lets be honest GW have had that in the bag for a long old time!) and Im not going to say better, because their is good and bad things about every range so to start saying all the products are so much better would be wrong.
I would have liked to have had the chance to stock some 40k stuff, but the way GW wholesale isnt as mainstream as usual distributors and I feel I would be tied to buying dead stock so I could reap the benefits of stocking their product. Now I could be wrong and I may change my mind, but for me to make the store into what I want my budget wont cover everything. It has come down to just GW or the other ranges, not both which is ideally what I wanted...
That said customers will be welcome to use the gaming boards, paint bar etc to paint GW products so actually it may not end up being such an anti establishment vibe...
Anyway here are my start pics... I have a lot of work to do so I will keep adding the pics to the blog.
I have enough room for 3-4 6x4 boards and 3-4 4x4 boards the paint/model bar is already installed... Im both nervous and excited by the venture. I have no competition for this in the town and unlikely to get any knowing how much rent is. I am in a unique position here I hope I can use it!
Hats off to you m8, I'm sure it will be a great success even if it's a lot of hard work to get it off the ground
ReplyDeleteSo, which market town is this in?
ReplyDeleteBeverley near Hull...
DeleteGood luck you are living the dream!
ReplyDeleteCheers! It feels scary at the moment, tbh it is every gamers dream, I will try and make sure I take the opportunity with both hands and not F up!
DeleteGood for you. Let us know where you are so we can support you.
ReplyDeleteBeverley, near Hull... and Thank you!
DeleteI had a chain of stores for 10 years. Be very careful with the discounts. Stores often make the mistake of giving their profit to be a "good" guy. You are already a good guy by providing table space. Stores rarely make up lost profits from discounting. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteI think thats really, really sound advice and i shall certainly listen to that. I shop differently online as i do if in a real shop anyway. I get caught up with being somewhere if i like the atmosphere and i dont really think about it being a few quid cheaper somwhere else. Whereas if im online i trawl for the best deal. Im confident if i can provide a venue thats a laugh and friendly, i will get loyal custom... Im sure of it.
DeleteThat's awesome! Make sure to cater to the RPG crowd as well (that way when I release my books I can get you to sell them :p)
ReplyDeleteWill do my best, im not very 'up' on RPG or more importantly Magic the Gathering! But i have planned a small comfy area for such things... only got two comfy chairs as yet! Ill change things around as I see what being more popular... probably 40k :(
Deletewell its probably a good idea to stock the bare minimum of GW stuff - rulebooks, boxed games, maybe spacez marhineez ;) with the option to make dedicated orders against a deposit.
ReplyDeletemaybe action figures too though that's just me thinking aloud about my dream store :)
I feel that confident with the systems I will be stocking it wont take long to build a community of players for the systems I support stock wise... Action figures... my lad would love that as would I! I also want to do comics, but my knowledge is very limited... I am trying my hardest to stay focused...! Also there have been shops that do sell a little 40k in the town but they either are not there now or the stock never seems to shift... I will be the only place in a pretty big area that stocks these games... which ok will take me a while to A. get people to know Im here, B get a community built C Make the place somewhere people want to come.... No Waaaagh shouting no double glazing style selling... the place has time to grow im not expecting any profit for a good long while... as long as it ticks over breaks even ill be happy... for now... Would you like me to frame one of your maps and hang it in the shop?
DeleteI wish yo hall the best on this. It Is great you have the space and facilities to set this up without having to re-mortgage your house for it (I presume) and have the space & rent paid from your other venture. Sounds like a good plan :)
ReplyDeleteNo re mortgage! It would be wrong for me and the gaming community not to this! Thanks... Will have another blog update soon!
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