FLGS Thread

>Friendly Local Game Store Thread!

We had one of these threads a little while back, but I've got more at stake in this one.

Long story short, I'm trying to buy an FLGS. It's not going out of business, it's just that the owner wants to retire and spend time with his grandkids. I've seen the finances and they're fine.

I was hoping you guys could answer some questions for me to help me grow the store.

>What does your FLGS offer besides comics?
>If your store offers Magic, how many people typically show up for FNM?
>How many larger events, such as Grand Prix Trials, does your store do?
>How does your store advertise?
>What's some of the unique things that your store does to bring in more people?
>What would you change about your store for the better?

I've been reading the Wizards Play Network's tips for growing your store and they say that people show up to pre-releases for more than just cards. They want an experience.

>What experiences does your pre-release offer? Anything interesting or worth talking about? Food? Fun beyond Magic?

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to respond.

What type of store is it? What games does it cater to?

It's your typical "FLGS" in that it sells comic books, Magic cards, Warhammer 40k, a little bit of Pokemon cards, board games, action figures and other collectibles, and things of that nature.

It's a neat store and I love it dearly. I've been coming for years and I'm elated that the owner is selling it to me.

Roughly what are the income splits between games? How large of a store is it?

Fuck off, dipshit. No one cares.

>What does your FLGS offer besides comics?
It doesn't sell comics, otherwise it's mini war games, board games, card games, RPGs and a fair number of accessories and a place to game.
>If your store offers Magic, how many people typically show up for FNM?
Too many.
>How many larger events, such as Grand Prix Trials, does your store do?
A fair number.
>How does your store advertise?
It had a commercial years ago but otherwise it's very small ads in circulars.
>What's some of the unique things that your store does to bring in more people?
Extremely friendly and helpful staff who really know their shit. Also they recently added a kids specific section.
>What would you change about your store for the better?
If I could, I'd double the floor space and get more RPGs (not too many, maybe two more shelves worth) and sell Force of Will and other card games. Also have a monthly adults only night for games like Cards Against Humanity, as well as a monthly kids day for simple board and card games

How much are you paying for it faggot?

I've wanted to do something like this for a while but I just know it'd go down hard.

I am not a very friendly person, kinda socially awkward, but I can smile and be nice. I understand business fairly well and sometimes i have creative ideas. I would love to run a game store but there is no way I would be able to live off of it and I would need a second job to back it up which would be far too stressful.

You need to give much more details. What's the most popular items at that store? What is the most common age group that spends time in the store? What is the most common items a the next closest 3 stores?

My FLGS offers very limited miniatures (star wars and Warmachine. Limited board games, a large amount of singles for Modern and Standard Magic, small amount of singled for Force of Will. Lots of sealed product for Magic and Force of Will, limited amount of sealed product for Pokemon. And accessories for any games they carry.

For FNM my local store does Modern and Standard, I'd say about 8-12 people for each event show up.

Not sure about their advertisement, I stumbled across them while going out for dinner one night with family. They have typical social media presence and a good location in a high volume plaza.

The main thing my store offers is an excellent play space. Their product offering is pretty limited but very focused. If you play their game/format they will have what you would be looking for.

OP here. I think everyone is misunderstanding what I was looking for. I don't want to talk about the FLGS I'm buying as no one really gives a fuck. I just wanted to learn more about other successful stores so I can grow mine. I've only been to a handful of stores and they were all radically different.

If you're not super friendly, I would stay out of this industry or any other sales industry. People can see through someone who can just "smile and be nice." You have to genuinely care about your customers because they keep you fed. It's not about the one-time dime. It's about the continuous flow of money from repeat customers. Keep that in mind.

>>What does your FLGS offer besides comics?
Manga, art books, graphic novels, collected comic runs, cards, RPGs, board games, board games, board games.

Did I mention board games?

>>How does your store advertise?
Flyers, sales and word of mouth on the local college campuses.

>>What's some of the unique things that your store does to bring in more people?

Coffee table art books for video games, for one. Used RPGs (trade-in credit available) for all kinds of RPG lines, including dead ones. Some people like the nostalgia.

My FLGS -IS- the FLGS in the OP

fuck

I used to run a very successful game store, but as always my experiences aren't 100% true across the board, so please keep that in mind


>What does your FLGS offer besides comics?
We didn't do comics. We did every TCG and table top game under the sun, plus board games and RPGs

>If your store offers Magic, how many people typically show up for FNM?
It's a large store in a good area, so 80+ was normal

>How many larger events, such as Grand Prix Trials, does your store do?
Again, large store so we did quite a few. My department wasn't magic so I can't tell you the specifics on this.

>How does your store advertise?
Word of mouth is best, but otherwise we tried radio ads, not sure if we did anything else. Store had a website and blog/podcast whatever, so there was advertisement
there.
>What's some of the unique things that your store does to bring in more people?
Aside from the fact when people ordered things we got them into the store within 3-5 business days? Or other general operation requirements? (So many stores fail at just being a store. It's not a gaming club, it's a store)
We had specialists for the more popular games, and someone was always on hand to answer questions, give demos and whatnot. We would display certain games to show others the contents and allow for easier demos.
In truth the easiest thing to do is keep the place clean. You have a clean store, people come back. We strategically deployed air fresheners on the walls to keep the MTG player stink under control.

>What would you change about your store for the better?
Don't hire magic players.
Period.
Of all the people that visit a FLGS, magic players have the worst work ethic of all, on average.
You don't need someone who knows the game if they won't work. Anyone can learn a game, hire from people that don't play the stuff you sell if possible.

One good thing to do is offer extra prizes for your players during events. Small things can make a big difference.

Uh, is pic related the actual store you're wanting to buy? Because that's actually one of my local stores.

On the actual post, there's several FLGS in town. The one pictured, two smaller stores on the other side of town, one way out in the boonies that people only ever go to to buy card singles, and one big huge corporate store where you can get stuff way cheaper, but lacks the sense of community an FLGS should have. My favorite of them by far is one of the smaller stores on the opposite side of town from the one pictured. Prices are decent, but pretty average. They hold mostly Magic events, no comics but plenty of boardgames and tablespace. They're usually wiling to try new stuff and bring in new games to the community, which is great. But the main thing is the sense of community you get. That's what I really love about a little local shop, that the employees actually care about the community. You come in and they know your name, they're interested in your life, what you're playing, they talk shop with you. You're more then just a walking ATM. Best example of this is the store manager setting up private Magic pre-releases for a group of home schooled kids who started coming in. They aren't getting anything extra out of it, they aren't selling a ton of extra product, they do it because they understand the importance of engaging with your customers on a level higher then counting out their change. Is it great publicity? Absolutely, but the fact is every other store in town turned these kids down for no other reason then they didn't feel like it. Giving a shit, that's what makes me want to go to your store.

/There's actually other people from Jacksonville here/

BROTHER

I know Boarderlands is doing well, but haven't been to FLGS in a hot minute. Have things improved since they brought out suncoast?

No, friend, my store isn't in Florida. I just googled "Friendly Local Game Store" and picked that picture. Don't worry too much.

Thanks for your input. That's the kind of philosophy I hope to bring to my store when I take over at the end of the month. I know it's a store, but it's a store with character, ya know?

>You have to genuinely care about your customers because they keep you fed.

I do. I just suck at displaying that.

We're the huge city of the US, there's bound to be plenty of us here.

Never really been to Borderlands much since I'm mostly into card games. The store I was referring to in my post was Game Center.

>What does your FLGS offer besides
comics?
My FLGS also has an extensive science fiction and fantasy book section and board games section as well as a pile of beat up games which you can use for free. The books especially bring in a lot of adult clients I've noticed, as well as the board games, mostly buying gifts I think.
>If your store offers Magic, how many people typically show up for FNM?
I don't usually attend FNM events but I'm told they usually fill up fast
>How many larger events, such as Grand Prix Trials, does your store do?
Not sure
>How does your store advertise?
They have a website, it's on a pretty busy street so I assume word of mouth goes a long way
>What's some of the unique things that your store does to bring in more people?
Theres a pub next door with a rentable party room for events, they do drafts there sometimes, you can order food and beer during the draft from the pub. You get a $5 voucher for participating as well as prize support.
>What would you change about your store for the better?
Pretty happy with it

>What experiences does your pre-release offer? Anything interesting or worth talking about? Food? Fun beyond Magic?
Not exactly prerelease stuff, but make sure you have people in the store who can fluently talk shop/strats on the common hobbies, all MtG formats, 40k, Yu Gi Oh ect. Something stores do which I adore is during the summer put out a water bowl near the door for pet dogs and have a jar of biscuits near the register to offer, people love it when you're friendly and affectionate to their pets.

The place I usually fo to is Pandemonium Books and Games in Boston, but I'm looking for a place with a bigger EDH crowd if anyone wants to point me in the right direction.

I know there are boards dedicated to tabletop stores and how to run them. Go find one of them, and go through profiles until you see posts by someone who has had a store for 10+ years or so. Read those posts. UNLESS IT'S THE GUY WHOSE WIFE SECRETLY RUNS EVERYTHING AVOID HIM HE SHITPOSTS UNTIL YOU GO BANKRUPT

A successful Game stores isnt in the bussiness of selling games, rather you are in the business of running events that will bring in traffic and generate sales. I worked in a game store in high school. You need at a bare bones minimum a Facebook page that is constantly updated with new events. Try to offer something literally every day you are open.

A few things I like about my flgs:

>I'm not a big spender, but a consistent one, and they know my name
>since I'm knowledgeable they'll talk shop if I ask and always give fair prices
>60% trade in value for store credit
>will order things if I ask nice or will hold them aside for me

How the fuck do they make a profit on stuff though? Do they just order shit online then sell it for the same fucking amount? Why not cut out the middle man?

I'm sorry but I don't see how they survive on anything but events.

Hey guys, sorry to threadjack, but what's stopping me from opening an "FLGS" just in my residential garage? Assume parking space is not an issue. I'm interested in zoning and licenses or whatever. Would it have to be a FL-speakeasy?

Any Philly/South Jersey fa/tg/uys? I'm looking to actually play some 40k after about two years of painting my BA/Ad Mech/Guard/Space Wolves and need advice on which FLGS is the best for newer guys..

LoL, this warmed my heart.
Fuck off dipshit, indeed.

You would like to be that type of person is what you meant to say.

Yeah man, they totally buy at retail and sell for zero profit. TRY to think before you slam your fingers of those keys.

Laws are stopping you. Who let the preteens into this discussion about owning a business?
There are such thing as stupid questions.

>implying
I own a large enough plot that parking is not an issue. It IS a residential zone though. The garage used to be for working on tractors and is separate from the house, it's fairly large. Seems like a waste of space not to use it on hobbies. The problem is advertising and legal classification.

Answer the question or don't at all.

>What does your FLGS offer besides comics?
mostly warhammer stuff, not much by a lot, though, mainly deals in magic cards.
It really seems like a storage space for the owners/workers combined with a place to buy expensive food and sit and play, really.
>If your store offers Magic, how many people typically show up for FNM?
like, 6. they're oing out of business in a month.
>How many larger events, such as Grand Prix Trials, does your store do?
I don't even think they do/did that. unsure, though.
>How does your store advertise?
Badly, they have/had a single, unfinished website, and it took like 2 years of living here to find out it even exists.
>What's some of the unique things that your store does to bring in more people?
The food they get to sell is pretty nice.
>What would you change about your store for the better?
Have the owner not be a complete retard when it comes to money/materials, like leaving the AC on full blast with the door open in the middle of summer, and then leaving his stuff strewn about there and then getting surprised/mad when stuff ends up getting lost/moved/stolen.
I'd never do anything like that to the guy myself, he's a bro, but dear god does he have no common sense.
his kid is actually pretty cute and somewhat more mature than he is, which is fucked up

So, laws, moron. You answered yourself twice.

> What is stopping me?
> The law
> Yeah, but like, my driveway is big enough maybe.
> Okay then.

Look man, "The law" doesn't actually answer anything.

Am I restricted from profitable operations?
Am I restricted from exchange of cash even if it's non-profit?
Am I restricted from anything that I don't hide from my tax return?
What is it?

What's stopping me from posting "user's 24/7 LG barn" advertisements and just expecting people to show up like it's a public party?

I'd throw up a soundsystem and a minifridge if it means I had people around. Shits boring out here.

pics, anyone?

Out of curiosity, whats owning/running a FLGS like? I don't imagine its the most profitable thing but is it good way to make a living?

>the most profitable thing
MtG is pretty profitable

>good way to make a living
My FLGS actually hired a guy for his MtG knowledge.

>My FLGS actually hired a guy for his MtG knowledge.

Wow, they pay him hourly for that?

Commission of some kind, but implying he doesn't make bank from that.

Literally paid money for his hobby and he spends more than 3/4 paid time playing with customers

I'm kind of jealous actually. I just run the till/stocking/inventory.

Warzone matrix

The owner of this store is named Chris. He has just, everything. I can ask about any obscure game from as early as the 50's and he will have it. If he doesn't have if when you ask, he will have it next time. The downside, you're gonna pay 4 times the price. Always.
Examples of this include, mtg singles, fat packs on release, miniatures, books, and board games. So basically anything in the shop.
For example:
Elixer of immortality, when it was a twenty five cent card, he was charging $1.50.
Battle for zendikar fat packs on release where $45 bucks this did not include BFZ lands in the fat pack, just whatever lands he had laying around. Yes, he opens them and sold them as fat packs. To get the BFZ lands he charged $80 for those fat packs.
Warhammer miniatures where no different.
Cards against humanity expansions where $35 each.
Hero clix booster packs where $25 each for new sets.

His FNM crowd is about 20 people give or take. That's actually about his turn out for all things he hosts.

He doesn't advertise.

To improve the store? I would burn down the store and make it look like an accident so he would retire somewhere nice and leave this fucking city.

He doesn't really have the shop to make money, its so he has a place to play.
Understand a few things if you decide to trade cards or heroclix there:
Your cards are not your own, he will make people trade offers out of other peoples binders taking cards out and completing the trade. He will also interrupt any trade he wants in on and make an offer, if you do not take this offer then he will throw you out for taking someone else's offer.
If you don't accept his offers or how he trades he is quick to get angry and ban people from his shop.

I remember two kids asking to buy like 300 copies of a card and he had enough copies. It was like a $1 card, he wanted like $1800 and got annoyed when they asked of maybe he could knock like $100 bucks off because they where buying so many.

This has got to be the most needlessly aggressive thread I've ever seen on Veeky Forums and really proves you guys are just crabs in a bucket for the most part.