Seeking advice from Veeky Forums gamers

Alright Veeky Forums I could use some advice. What are some things a small gaming store could do to drum up more business? As of lately my place of employment has been experiencing trouble attracting new customers. We support a variety of things from tcgs like magic the gathering, board games, mini's gaming like warhammer 40k, and roleplaying games.

Oh and image not related. I got bored one day at work and put donald trump's face on the store's chandra wallpaper, and see how long it took them to notice.

Pole dancing strippers

already thought of that, boss shot it down.

Free shirts

It might be a location issue.

What city is your store in and where is it located in town?

We've actually got two locations. One is located in the center of Bellefonte, Pa. A small town in the middle of PA. Our other one is like a stone's throw from Pennstate University.

Make a nice website and list what you sell there. A good, simple layout should do just fine, with gamey/weeby influenced pictures/wallpapers on the background.

Also events! People love that shit. And if you have the space, offer a table for a group or two to play there in the evenings maybe. If you have the strenght and the will, you could also GM a game or two yourself to let people try out the games themselves (you could offer them a discount for this). This works especially well if you are in a fairly well-frequented place with a few parking spots, for the guys who can already drive to your store for the game night.

How do the two locations compare with each other on a customer traffic basis.

Colleges are great sources of new players, but chances are they are savvy enough to go online if they have an interest. A small student discount might help, but you guys might be better off running a fuckton of demo games and putting some fliers on campus billboards.

Demand that your customers must shower at least once a week. The gamer funk scares away customers.

Haven't thought about offering a discount for people trying roleplaying out. It sounds like a good idea, as the price for some of the roleplaying books tends to be a bit high.

>Our other one is like a stone's throw from Pennstate University.
-Maybe- you can advertise evening games/events at the University and inspire the students of traditional games club to visit your place. I learned that word of mouth is paramount for LGS to thrive, so enticing the students to come spend time in your shop to play and weeb out is probably a good bet.

I like the Idea of the student discount, I'll pitch that to my boss.

I completely forgot that clubs were a thing. I'm going to do some networking. Thank you.

>if you actually have enough room and give people the opportunity to roleplay
You might want to start selling drinks too. Not beers or alchol, I don't think it's _that_ good of an idea since you're a game store and not a bar: but if I am gaming somewhere and I haven't brought snacks, then I might have enough cash with me to buy some cheetos and mountain dew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously though: if you have people playing at your shop already and have the opportunity to sell them soft drinks and snacks, Do it.

My FLGS has "satellite" magic at the local universities. The games club hosts FNMs at the school, and the store supplies the packs for drafts and the like.

Constant leagues and whatnot also help out, especially slow-grow. Give people a reason to show up at least once a week.

ez

Been doing it since day 1

Aleready got it.

You also want your store to have a solid set of rules so people can have some peace and quiet while gaming.
Things like
>We ask our kind customers to refrain from shouting or talking loudly
>In order to keep the room clean, please smoke and vape outside
Right now I'm running dry on ideas, but keep it a good roleplaying environment

Here's another idea: if you know that someone wants to GM a game in your shop, you could offer him a discount for some books after a few sessions. Maybe he will pitch the idea of trying out a new system to the group and they will buy a book or several

If the town/university has any sort of fair day open to local businesses, you could try to get in on it with some sort of table, booth or tent. Set up product and decorations for folks to look at, set up a few demo games for people to try things out, make yourselves amiable and approachable.

I'll run it by the boss, but i'm all for it.

I'll check the university website.

Or, to simply, just get your business involved in local events and present yourself well.

i have to leave for now, but I'll check in on the thread later to see if anything else worthwhile was suggested. Thank all of you who posted.

The thing that holds our local gaming store over water is the beautiful web presence with a nice online store where you can get discount codes if you go to their local and start playing at one of their tables.

Also the first beer is free for the GM.

If you GM on one of their Event nights you will also make some cool friends and get coupons for their online store.

>We support a variety of things from tcgs like magic the gathering, board games, mini's gaming like warhammer 40k, and roleplaying games.

Friday Night Magic

Intro events for other games

Howto workshops if you have the room

Space and a good atmosphere to play is pretty much mandatory now. People will buy from you to support that.

For wargames, good tables are mandatory. Get some cool terrain pieces for players to use. Often gamers are minis-rich and twrrain-poor. If there's a good modeller who shops there, commission him to make you a piece or two. Or let him keep an army in your display case.

Instead of free stuff, try having opened sample games people can use to try a game out.

Events are good but be cautious not to hold events for games nobody in your area cares about. Xwing is really popular right now, the retail support is great, and hooking up with a cool tournament organizer will draw a lot of business.

Have a decent (and clean) bathroom.

Make special orders really easy and hassle free.

Avoid guiding people to GW. They're more or less openly antagonistic to their retail channels. Watch carefully to make sure that the total cost of stocking Warhammer and 40k isn't more than what you're making from it.

Sell drinks and snacks. You can make money and it encourages people to hang out.

Hire a nice gamer girl to work the counter. Ideally, one that's married or otherwise clearly off limits. She doesn't need to be hot, just fun to talk to. That'll help attract other gamer girls.

Keep a little newsletter. Gaming events, store news, new/upcoming products, and "did you know" stuff like kickstarters

Do NOT discount or give away free product. It won't boost your sales because online will always win that game. Ideally, you want your store to be a nexus. Then gamers will promote to each other.