Weekender XLBS: What Makes The Perfect Hobby Store?
October 21, 2018 by lloyd
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![Warcradle Studios Reveal TINY New 10mm Festive Marker! [Updated]](https://images.beastsofwar.com/2025/11/christmas-kyle-main-600-338.jpg)
Happy Sunday
Happy Sunday mate!
Happy Sunday lad 🙂
Ace announcement!
Happy Sunday!
Happy Sunday 🙂
But I thought Seven ate Nine?
https://youtu.be/wPh_6_u98tI
… I’ll get my coat…
Happy Sunday …. THIRD BABY YEAH !!! (somehow this seems less than impressive … I don’t know why )
happy sunday all o/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZiW43ld-_Y
Happy Sunday!!
This has certainly been a rough week. I was sure I had lost my mind, but it turns out it had just fallen under the driver’s seat. 😛 😀 😛
lol
Good morning backstagers!!! Sun is just rising here in Wiesbaden Germany and the family is still in bed. Just me and my killer attack dog (Yorkie) down in the war room for some XLBS!
Based on the picture there is no question that Sam has balls!
Got a four person game of Flames of War Scheduled for 1000 today, probably my last big game here in Germany! Starting of with XLBS followed by a day of gaming! Life is good!
sounds awesome mate!
Allies won by a narrow margin! I’ll get em next time!
happy sunday how was the rye
My vote would be you don’t have to re visit every topic, I’d only pick those insights you received from folks that really changes you mind or gives you a perspective that has not already been discussed. I think you guys are probably busy enough just getting the content out that you do on a regular basis. The direct feedback in the comments is fine for the majority of the comments. It is nice to hear though a comment repeated that really strikes you as different as I often don’t have time to read everyones’ comments. Just my two cents!
Justin, If you wear that wig at Essen Spiel one day I’ll bring you some extra Mountain Dew!!! Classic!
lol Everyone will think he in a Solomon kane cosplay 😉 (or an early version of Joan of Arc 😉 lol)
good morning everyone from Belgium. happy Sunday ?
I think broad range is best that brings in all types of people. Like what Ben said about wide range and ability to order. Friendliness and openness is probably my number one criteria and they can’t be critical of what you like to do. Multiple gaming tables for miniatures (8 that are 6×4 at least) and other games like cards is key also, so they don’t have to compete for space. To have a range of terrain for the miniature games available is also important.
Again the people behind the store is the #1 consideration!
I feel that gaming tables can easily be 4′ x 4′ max in a gaming store. People don’t have time for big 3+ hour games generally in stores (or clubs for that matter) Dividing a 6×4 into two 3×4’s would probably work just as well. This is still a 2+ hour game of AoS, 40k etc.
I only buy 4×4 mats for our club now because people would set up a 6×4 and then be dismantling it by turn 3 to get packed up. Seems pointless.
Also it makes to terrain money stretch further. Easier to fill smaller tables to a good standard.
About the numbers and the chaos gods of 40k, every chaos god has his favorite number. Slaanesh 6, Nurgle 7, Khorne 8, Tzeentch 9. In one of the codex versions they worked this in so if you took a squad with their favorite number or a multiple thereof you would get a bonus.
Spot on Justin about separating the gaming space from the retail space, a buddy of mine that runs a game store in NC moved to a new location and did just that and it really made a difference in the store dynamics and really improved business for him!!!
I’ve found that the gamers tend to police their own as far as ‘Assholes’. They get shunned and go elsewhere after a time.
I would like to return to subjects. A favorite segment of a channel called Watchitplayed would do something akin. They focused on board game topics, but honestly they were abstract enough to include wargames too. The presenter would start with his thought on the subject then throw it to the community and later come back with new comment provided viewers. I like the open and connected way that this was done there and I think that it could be made to work here too.
In a way I feel some solidarity with the group now, as I too have almost always lived in an 1 or 1.5 hour travel radius before I can shop in person for hobby product.
@warzan No Coasters!!!!! Now I have to cringe through the whole episode as you guys slurp and possibly stain that lovely mat. I thought you loved mats but in truth your just one of those people who pretends to love mats to fit in. I’m so disappointed in you all right now :'(
I am now looking to find a link to report you to the RSPM. 🙂
PANTS!!!! Can I hide behind the excuse ‘it’s the studio managers job!!!’ @dignity
Hangs head in shame lol
Nice, sloping shoulder action there. I blame Justin too! 🙂
Happy Sunday all. Perhaps it is just me but I’m increasingly suspicious that we never see Sam and Gerry in the same video. I think there is a Michael/LaToya thing going on.
We have asked @avernos to take care where he sits when @dracs is about 😉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brh0z3t8DTM
not an image I needed at any stage of the day let alone first clip on a sunday morning
Wait that explains why Sams hair was slicked down that time and why he was crying and shaking in the corner, whilst Gerry on the other hand had a huge smile on his face and had adopted a much wider rolling gait when he walked.
Revisit topics yes, but not every topic, the ones that proved most interesting or the ones were the perspective changed most drastically, or there is the most disagreement with what the community believes, would be the most interesting candidates.
I think the best store I’ve been in was strategy and tactics in New York. No idea if it’s still there
With the internet now by and large established and the experts say it looks like it’s going to be here for a while and given the massive range of games and figures out there do we really need gaming stores anymore? Or would it be better using these physical spaces to get better gaming clubs where gamers can meet that just sell paints and brushes and a few dice for the club members?
First Justin insists on Castrating all his minis, then he comes on Camera wearing fake nails and now he’s wearing a wig. If he’s in a dress next week I think we can all get the message.
General Douglas MacArthur never said that in 1955. It’s a made up quote from a speech that never happened. The Truman Quote. Also totally fake there was no press conference on April 4th 1950 and he never said anything like that.
MacArthur did say something to the effect of “Well we’ve all got nukes now so we won’t have another world war so the most prudent thing to do is form a world Government and fight against Aliens”. More of a deductive reasoning approach than an assurance. If you can’t fight on Earth then the only reasonable alternative is to fight in the stars. That’s from a purely Consequentialist approach though and kind of defeats the whole purpose of fighting WWII since you’re just going to end up becoming a Dictator obsessed with foreign invaders.
Isn’t it slightly strange that all the unidentified lights in the sky happened at the exact same time as the worlds Governments were developing ultra secret Stealth Plane technology?
I’d like to see a topic revisited every week or two but only if the conversation warrants it.
My store would be a Smoking Lounge/Whiskey Bar that focus’s on Historical Miniatures (I have a Gaming Club for all my other Types of games) and which has attendants who will play your game for you after you get sidetracked half way through the game talking about that particular type of French Uniform or a discussion about just how good the Sherman really was. Everyone would be dressed like H.G. Wells and sport only the finest moustaches.
So @dignity wants a sort of Gaming Tinder. “Sturdy Bearded Wargamer seeks Partner to Dominate and Smash on the Table then have a few beers with after”. As for the hygiene issue it’s simple. You place a Deodorant Can and a Dueling Pistol on the table and tell them to pick one.
@lloyd I absolutely agree with you on the no kids thing. I was one of those GW kids and they’re annoying.
The following is self evident but mention it for the more uncouth lower classes who have in some mischievous and no doubt underhand way gained access to the internet.
You need nice cushions at the club as all the games would be played on the floor with 2″ high figures ( or 54mm if your strange) and there would be an endless supply of condiments so you could recreate your finest battles and tactics on dining table while the port is being passed
Hear Hear @torros
@warzan In a wig = 90s Meatloaf!
lol
I thought he was the opera guy off Britains Got Talent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsNlcr4frs4
ohh you didn’t just go there?!??!?!?
yup… yup you did XD
git!!! lol
Don’t be like that buddy, you have a lovely singing voice…..
Justin in a wig: Derek Smalls from Spinal Tap
NO COASTERS!!
For an ideal hobby store I think I’d want to be able go I want play game ‘x’ and whatever it was there would be somebody or somebodies that play it.
I know what you mean with not wanting to play some games with certain people. In the gaming group I am in there is one guy who is an absolute meta gamer and he can’t help it but it can be frustrating some times especially when you are playing co-op games. If you let him get his way it is one guy playing and the rest are there just to move the pieces.
On perfect hobby store: I don’t want that much. No matter what you play or what your interests are you have to feel that you are treated with respect. They should be helpful but not be on you the moment you walk in, like a pack of hyenas on a cadaver. They should have space for gaming and hobby, have a basic knowledge of the games they sell or be able to point you to somebody that would be able to help. And if they don’t know something just not give an answer for giving an answer and be honest and say that they don’t know.
Happy Sunday one and all. Hope yer’ll having a great one 🙂
loving life matey
I would like to see some of the subjects revisited. I will be honest and say I often read through the beginnings but as soon as the weeks start again I rarely come back to the comments. I imagine there have been some really cool insights and opinions that I will have missed because of this.
Perfect hobby store for me would be a variant of an old Rileys snooker and pool hall in Ipswich that I used to go to. Replace the pool and snooker tables with gaming tables, keep the light rental costs as the price for a table so you have booking times and use the lights flash as your 15 minutes until times up. Go to the counter and tell them your theme and provide a deposit, you then get given a tray of scenery for your theme instead of coloured balls and return it at your games end. Due to the lighting you often lose focus of people around you yet others can look in at your game and see it clearly.
At this particular one it had a waiting area made up of couches, it had a bar for alcohol and soft drinks and a bar menu so just a few of the usual favourites mainly Boot Camp food. If you wanted chocolate or crisps it had a fair few options behind the bar. All it would need to have added would be a store area that was well lit. I would do this using a similar method to the McDonalds in restaurant digital order touchscreens and by having a limited stock of the most popular games of the moment. That way if a customer knows what they want and the shop haven’t got it they can just order it in without needing to talk to a pesky human but if they want to chat to someone about what they would like, they can go to a staff member. In addition I would like to see the meet and greet policy be “Good morning/afternoon, if you need a hand with anything just let me know.” on entry and a “Thanks for popping in, did you find everything you were looking for?” on leaving.
Happy Sunday 🙂 In contrast to the Thule society the Vril Society is as fictious as Nazis on the Darkside of the Moon …
Vril legends are based mainly on the novel “The coming race”
Freiherr is a noble title, its like an english sir, literraly means free man, since germany abondened noble titles they added them as part of their last name, in austria it .is forbidden to use a noble title at all. Fun fact I went to the same school Wernher von Braun attended (given a few decades later) the Hermann Lietz Schule Spiekeroog
so yea how to tell someone they stink, there’s no easy way I febreezed a whole stores worth of kids one day, probably couldn’t get away with that these days. But honestly you just have to take them aside and politely tell them, it may not be easy but it’s the only way you can do it.
For the best hobby store I’m shocked no one said licensed premises, that’s what I’d be after. Bang right off the bat no kids \o/
also beer \o/
that’s all I need to be honest, after that I’ll make my own entertainment.
Back in the nineties I kenw a GW where one of the employees would follow certain kids with a spray deodorant and spray them. Can’t get awya with this nowadays.
My perfect gaming store would be a gentlemens club with the finest whiskey, brandy, absinth and met, cigars and weed selection and obviously a selection of of the late 1800s great bar foods. Decoration would be a kin to an old club with themed rooms to post apocalypse and sci fi and so on mounted like trophies and memories. big nice tables, only painted miniatures and butlers attending to the needs of the gamers, the dresscode would be a gentlemens/ladies one. There would also be dogs allowed and cats around so you could have a kitty on your arm scratching its head while making a particular cunning move on the table. And obviously 18+ no kids and no TCG/CCG.
Hello Backstagers!
What an episode. Firstly on the subject of revisiting topics, I’d love to see it. It seems almost pointless bringing up a topic and not voicing the community’s opinions. Having said that, I’ve thought for some time that a better way would be announce the topic the week before, then pick out the best comments in the show as you’re discussing it.
I’d also love to see chosen community members allowed to Skype in for the discussion. I know I’ve been asked a couple of times now. Just waiting to be told when…….
Then there’s the topic of the perfect gaming store…… Well, clearly it’s the one I own, the Hall of Heroes in Sydney Australia.
Seriously though, the first point is that Justin hit the nail on the head in regards to ownership. My business partner is a hobby master, I am a numbers man. In the end, its his job to sell product, and it’s my job to temper his enthusiasm for new products and ideas.
From the owners perspective there are lots of things to consider. What is the local community demographics? What is the local zeitgeist? Do gamers want play-space? How much play-space? Do you pay for play? Do you have basic tables and keep better stuff for rent? Do they want card games? Board games? Miniatures games? Are they collectors? Hobbyists? Do you run hobby classes? Are they 1 on 1 or small groups? Are you focused on casual gamers? Hard-core competitive gamers? Do you have competitors (other stores)? How many? Do you run events/leagues or competitions? How often? Do you see food and drinks? If so, snacks or fast food? Alcohol? How many different game systems do you support? How wide or deep is your range? How many of the same sorts of products do you keep? For example do I bother with Reaper, Vallejo, Army Painter or any of the other ranges of paints if I have the GW range? When new games come out, how much of a gamble do you take on the buy in? If it doesn’t fly off the shelves, do you have a fire sale to get rid of it? Do you have a membership rewards program? How do you deal with back customer conduct? Etc, etc.
There are a hundred more questions from the owners perspective, all of which mean you are never likely to find the perfect store.
i think id spray that wallpaper up a parched cracked desert. add a few turfs of dry grass flock in places. could be good to go. im off to the range first thing tomorrow lol
Will Lloyd be bringing out the sticky back plastic,washing up liquid bottles and corn flake boxes for next week’s hobby time. Just make sure he brings an adult with him if he needs to use scissors
a couple of years back i had the idea of opening a hobby store or cafe after seeing so many empty shops on my local high street.
Idk walk by and images a set up of the shop and how i would kit it out. but withe he fact that there are so many empty shops it makes me think about the vierbilaty of opening a store and keeping it open. Where i live I’ve found a lack of gaming stores of a 20-30mile bubble and the ones i have known have now had to close.
one thing i would love to open a store for is to give ME access to gaging ranges and miniatures that i can paint and display( Like in GW Stores’) with new releases and also armies and forces that can be hired out for games in store for peeps to have a go at games they may not of plated before or play something with the newest minis that they want to see how they play.
sadly a big part of having a gaming store is space, enough room to have multiple 6′-4′ tables costs a lot on rent. at the end of the day it is a business.
I can imagine the greatness that a custom hobby store could be but the logistics makes it hard to be a reality.
things i think would make a great hobby store are more than what they supply to buy. for me parking is a big thing, onsite parking would be great so maybe just of a huge street so parking possible. space to have many tables of size and shapes. decoration is big for me to as i would hang models form the celling and custom walls (Something i would love to do myself).
at the end of the day for me it is the combonation on a logistical side of local area that will bring in business, accessibility AKA Parking and shop size and the end of the day finding a suitable site, and the ability to keep the store going with not just products but food and drink or somthing to help with seeing it a store that will last and not be gone in a year or two.
as for what i want to be there, lots of ranges keeping up with the newest releases more that the entire range and games and arms displayed and the possibility to hire them out to play with in store.
Happy Sunday all!
what a show! Entertainment galore 🙂
The new GW in Belfast is a bit bigger than the old one fore sure, a bit more room to look around while people are painting and playing games. They actually have been running adult beginner evening as well recently. Making older gamers feel at home learning with no kids about!(no offence kids!) That actually goes along with their vets night for gaming so that has crossed their mind before.
I have also found the aggressive sales has been turned down a notch as well, when compared to a few years ago. They will still greet everyone who enter, but it seems there is a lot less of the forced selling. They guys in there are really friendly too.
Happy Sunday one and all! Perfect hobby store = bottomless coffee available!
Happy sunday – My ideal hobbystore `?
I’m thinking of starting a club GGC – Gentlemens Gaming Club – adults only, men only (or women who can behave like a gentleman). I would like to rent an apartment in the city where the members can play.
It is very difficult, according to German laws, to allow a combination of selling, entertaining and offering small food and drinks in a shop. This is practically impossible, especially if this location is supposed to be open around the clock.
Therefore, a small apartment with a kitchenette and two or three rooms for crafts and games. Now and then you can invite a local game provider to introduce a product, like a tupperware party….
Hey warzan, what happened to the bunker idea
Some of the best shops I have been to have been in Seattle, WA USA. One shop has over 300 board games. They also have great food, desserts made from local cake shops and micro brew beer. The staff is great and help you play any of the games or find someone who can help you. You can rent out a private room or use a public table. And the tables are designed so you can have food and game at the same time without spilling things all over the place. I love board game cafes and board game bars.
If you order food, the table is free and the game is free and get a chance to get the game you played for 15% off. If you just want to come and play with friends, you rent the tables for $5/hr. Private rooms are $10 to $20/hr depending on the size of the room.
Happy Sunday, please oh please tell me where that cobblestone comes from or what its called
The perfect store?
Well I am a MASSIVE fan of the store I go to, its not my local but its where my loyalty lies, price be damned (within reason). Its a very large store (largest in the southern hemisphere) They do have a large range with SOME depth within selected range (the big sellers so 40k, AoS, Malifaux, Warmahordes & Infinity, there is somewhat of a split but they’re lucky enough to have a large enough players base to compensate.
The owners of the store are very passionate, one business savvy one really great with the idea (probably too many because a lot never get finished) but theyve also hired people to help make up for where they fail, they hired arguably the best store manager GW had in the state and have listened to who have good reputations.
Im not going to say the store is perfect but its a damned good place to be.
Is that the one in Ringwood?
House of War
Thanks @brennon for the mention for horse painting guides??
In case anyone is wondering, here’s a link ?
https://www.beastsofwar.com/project/1252022/
I’d like to see you revisit the topics that have been raised to address the comments made by us.
@dignity – each of the Chaos Gods has their own magic number; Slaanesh’s is 6, Nurgle’s is 7, Khorne’s is 8, Tzeentch’s is 9 and the Horned Rat’s is 13. There’s no confirmation on what Hashut, Malal, Nechoho and Zevussian’s are, although awhile back a few of us over on CDO mooted that Hadhut’s could be 12.
On the wallpaper – I think it actually looks more like cracked earth than cobbles. I want to do a dessert board to go with my Thousand Sons and as the Mannorhouse Workshop Abbey Kickstarter is running massively behind I might get some of this wall paper as an interim (or replacement if the Kickstarter doesn’t deliver) and make dessert boards from it; had a quick google and think I’ve found it on eBay and if I’ve got the maths right I think one role should be more than enough to do a 6’x4’ board.
Perfect gaming store – I’d say you don’t want the focus/selection of games to be too narrow as while Lloyd makes a point of too broad risking fracturing the community, conversely too narrow risks alienating people; eg if the store doesn’t cater for any of the games a person plays then that person has little incentive/investment to patronise the store. So maybe what would be best is have a broad selection from the games which are popular and a section with starter sets and a taster of less popular ranges with the option to order in things from the rest of the ranges; and if the store also has an online store then maybe it could have the wearhouse for that attached to the store where more items from those ranges is stocked so people can order at the till/an instore terminal and it’ll be picked while they wait (similar to how FW do it at Warhammer World I believe; you can place an instore order and it’ll be picked while you go into Bugman’s for a pint and be ready for collection when you go back).
Regarding the point Lloyd raised about being turned away when an event is on, maybe the solution is to have two or three gaming halls; one is an event hall and the other(s) regular gaming halls. When an event is on people use the whilst hall(s) for pickup games, and when there isn’t an event on the event hall is open to regular gaming. This would also allow for the birthday party idea as the party would be contained to the event hall and wouldn’t disrupt other patrons.
For decor, I’m with Sam, Justin and Warren; it’d be nice to have it themed to fantasy and/or sci-fi. Depending on the layout of the store, you could possibly have one part decked out as a fantasy/medieval/etc shop (stone walls, oak shelves/counters, torches/braziers (electric ones not real ones obviously) lighting, etc) which stocks the fantasy ranges and another done out as a sci-fi outpost store that carries the scifi ranges; not sure where historical would fit in, suppose you could have a third area done up like a museum, but it’s already getting excessive having two shop areas, so three is probably pushing it. The pub area could be done up like a fantasy inn, sci-fi tavern or Viking drinking hall (depending on how big it is again it could be split up into themes). The gaming and hobby areas could then be done up like a war room and forge respectively.
Of course all this would probably require a small mansion to fit everything in, lol. Hmm, saying that, maybe an idea would be instead of a single gaming have more of a shopping centre/mall where all the stores are tied into gaming somehow (eg there’d be a GW store, a Mantic store, a Warlord store, etc). Only problem is I doubt they’d turn enough of a profit to make it feasible (even if you held a couple of conventions there a year), plus I don’t know how all those companies would feel sharing such close proximity with one another and the smaller companies wouldn’t be able to manage running their own stores/stalls so there’s need to be some sort of generic ‘umbrella’ store to carry those ranges.
As for us Geordies inventing little “green” men, all I can say is “hadaway and shite”!
Happy Sunday folks!
I’ll go the extreme 🙂
I think my perfect gaming store would be something like Warhammer World, but catering for all genres of gaming, sci-fi, fantasy and historical as the main trio.
– A dedicated area (mini-shop) for each genre
– Bookable gaming tables for each genre available similar to the WHW gaming hall, each table fully built with thematic terrain.
– A Bugman’s style bar with areas for board/card games
– Lloyd-approved dedicated over-18s nights
….One day….. when I win the lottery….. I might open a place like this 😀
Happy Sunday everyone, I know I was a bit critic of this new format but I think a few weeks in now it seems to have a good mix and I am enjoying it for sure.
Perfect environment for me would be something that opened late, space for board games and wargames and stocked the games they supported. If this meant it was only 5 games then so be it they could always rotate games around every 3 months.
It would be open to all (adults and kids) people that think kids just run around and destroy things tend to be bad parents or know bad parents. My boys at 7 and 11 know the rules to several games and wipe the floor with adult plays many a time. They know how to respect and handle the hobby.
I would love to see someone who was just dedicated to helping people play a round of the game or understand rules better, often once you have been shown a round or two you can just get on with the game.
Modern, themed and well-ventilated let’s break peoples perception of this only being for the smelly beardy weirdy mummy’s boys.
I know this will never exist which is why I built my own gaming lodge and all BoW members are welcome anytime.
I’ve mentioned it before and I am really pro the recap sessions. It doesn’t have to be exhaustive but unlike you @warzan i don’t get chance to read all the comments on BoW. You and the team summarising and editorialising really help me to get the choicest bits of the community input.
re Vril-damen.
Anyone else not surprised the nazis lost world war 2….
I’d want a good amount of variety of games. I definitely don’t want anyone bugging me 3 seconds after I enter the door. I think the staff needs to know how to play the stuff they sell.Some community driven stuff would be great too. Most of the shops I go to have like 1 dude that works in the store and a whole lot of space and people to deal with, if your stuck behind some dude buying individual magic cards and they have only one cash register it’s kind of annoying. I think a nice selection of Beer is a nice thing when playing a game, after a hard day at work I think i’d like to sit have a beer and play something.
Tabletop space and Card Game space need to be separate. So, I guess what i’m saying is i’d like a brewpub that has games and beer and food is my jam. lol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vril#Vril_Society
re: MTG buy singles. Internet dech techs are ubiquitous and the secondary market is great.
@brennon Ben nails this for me.
Retailing has to fund it but ultimately the game store is about the community. Table space and opponents etc. In the UK gaming clubs fill this void in the UK and as someone who runs a club I have seen many local gaming businesses fail because customers aren’t willing to pay the 5-10% more than ebay and amazon etc to fund the gaming environment and community.
The biggest tragedy is that the only game shops that succeed in the UK are Games Workshops. People can buy GW stuff 15-20% cheaper online but they still shop in GW shops. Why is this a tragedy you ask? Because it is a closed community. You cannot play War Machine, Malifaux, Kings of War, Star Wars legion or a million other games in GW stores.
we actually use badges off and on at our club. We issue dog tags for event winners and event organisers. so people get annual membership tags on a lanyard and then heavily invested members build big collections of dog tags to show that they are veterans and new members can see they are players they can look to for help.
I would love to see topics revisited after 2-3 weeks, I find it hard to follow up on them on the site so it can be a bit one-shot without that where I watch, maybe post once then that is it.
The perfect hobby shop would be any shop within 30mins of my house with a community playing anything I’m interested in! I am mainland UK and the nearest stores to me take nearly an hour to get to and are either GW’s or board game specialists! Honestly a clean environment stocking recent releases from a reasonably diverse range of games that runs events/promotes community gatherings where the staff are friendly without being pushy with the hard selling is what I want.
I say clean because I have been to stores where the sink in the bathroom was so full of dirty dishes (there was only one sink in the place) that I struggled to wash my hands. It was also noticeably dusty and the bin in the gaming area was over flowing by mid morning. That store isn’t around any more.
I think food is a red herring. If there is a MacDonalds 2 min walk away I don’t want my store to do food. I want eye catching gaming tables, fully painted starter sets for demo games etc.
Again private space is another cul de sac. Games should be running on open view to act as advertising and eye candy for new customers.
If your hoping to have people use your store for anything other than a simple commercial transaction and then leave, as a manager or owner you will have to have strategies prepared for body odour, obscene language, aggressive behaviour etc. etc. No point being timid about it it has to be faced.
The same issues arise in a gaming club where you have a huge range of age groups and even people with forms of mental issues such as autism and learning difficulties may be members.
The social contract is all pervasive and mutually binding upon all of us. The non compliant have to encouraged to conform or be excluded for the good of the many.
During gaming sessions at our homes me and my mates indulge in language and behaviour we don’t use at club. It’s part of being a responsible adult.
P.S. sorry for spamming the comments but the ajax style insertion mechanic that allows me to comment on the fly without interrupting the video feed it just to good to ignore.
Blame your platform development team. :~]
Since the perfect store does not exist the next best thing is your FLGS. Which you support by buying there. And when there is the space for it you play there. And now Old Man SunDancer goes to bed. Huzza!
Happy Sunday everyone.
I love the idea you going back to a topic where you address comments posted on the forums.
Happy belated Sunday!
Firstly, this is seriously the best XLBS in like, forever. Don’t know what was in your coffee cups for this one, but keep drinking it!
Also, super pleased to hear Gerry is on the payroll. Bout time too.
Perfect hobby store – Id say the place I was at today – Bristol Independent Gaming – is pretty rad. Don’t know about perfect, but it’s pretty well executed.
Regarding recapping on previous topics – think it’s a good idea, but best to be economical with time allocated to it, so as to avoid having the same discussion all over again.
So what Justin wants for an online signup page is the Gamefor app 😉 http://iamgamefor.com/ #shameslessplug
@warzan,
Perfect hobby store – no GW, cos if I want GW I’ll go to a GW store. A creche for the boy (or at this point in his little life just a model train track he can run around and follow without me having to watch him!). Fresh air, as lets face it there is a stereotype of gamers being part of the grand unclean. Lots of play tables as thats what gets me in the door even if I dont buy every week (happy to pay to play like booking a tennis court)
I personally think Sam should be awarded a special ‘No Prize’ for hes devotion beyond the call of duty
to ‘Discworld’ plus he doesn’t mention it every week Lord Vetinari has suggested he would need to visit him at the Palace.
oh and @brennon should also get one for the ‘Trying to keep your face straight when Warren and Justin are off on a tangent and failing miserably’.
Watching Bens face in the background are some of the best bits.
OK I’ll toss in a possible approach to “that guy needs to shower”
I’ve seen groups get together and ID the offender and then when several of the other guys are around they start commenting about something smelling really bad without specifically pointing out who or what it is. Usually the offender gets the message especially if you do it multiple times or then have somone else walk over to your table and say the same thing. Those that are at the table that are not the offender need to be prepped to take a smelfie in front of the rest and claim out loud, its not me! and then laugh it off. Usually then the other guy gets the message.
Happy Monday! Just a day late catchibg up on the XLBS. On the topic of gaming stores, for me, it was always about the people working there. Living in Northern Norway, our local «gaming store» was actually a used books store, which also sold some GW stuff. But me and my friends still hung out there almost every day after school. And since the people working there were so friendly, and passionate about the hobby, it drew us more and more into it. I actually got to work there for a while, sorting used romance novels :p I miss hanging there. It’s still around, but it’s become even less about the hobby (not selling any miniatures any more), but I still stop by every time I’m in town. And I’m still greeted by the owner, and have a chat.
@warzan if Lloyd won’t play squash anymore, maybe he should try a game invented by two drunk army mates called Squeeze the toothpaste. It involves one of you getting into a sleeping bag, whilst the other hits it with a baseball bat. The person in the sleeping bag tries to move thier legs up with out being hit. Yeah, makes no sense to me but remember, these were two very drunk squaddies….lol
On the topic of people playing like dicks and not making it fun. I have been, seen and left a gaming group because of it. The main offender wasn’t rude, abusive or a nob in person, he just always meta’d the heck out of a game and always played to win at all costs. i tried for a long time to have fun playing him but it just got to the point that my patience wore thin, i left that game and effectively that club to find pastures new, sad when you think about it. all the wasted money time and potential friends.
and on the note of Warren’s comment about Justin being a dick when hes playing, I have observed in lets plays Justin being a dick and loving it. It was blood red skies where he was playing John and made him redraw his opening hand of cards because he’d seen that john was really happy with them and Justin hadn’t drawn his yet, because they hadn’t drawn at the same time Justin ‘forced’ John to redraw. I sat and thought ‘dick’.
That was a dick move @dignity
I’m gonna design a walk of shame for that one lol 😉
I’m easy to please for a gaming store – it just needs to be close. And perhaps some good ale on tap!
Oh my, Warzan does read all the comments! Thanks you guys, now you got me buying wallpaper!
Opening my own store is always a big dream of mine, but I do not have the savvy business sense at all.
However I would say I have a few key things that I would put into my dream store.
I would want a combined Tabletop and Boardgaming store, noise and activity would be important, I hate going into somewhere that’s quiet and you feel like you are the only one there and feel under scrutiny. I think having a space that you can fill with people playing all sorts of games then you feel a connection to a community and you can lose the social awkwardness of liking games.
A space spread over a couple of floors would be ideal. A floor for a retail space, a floor for a bar and café area, a tournament space and an open gaming space.
The store would organise events, but also support the community in facilitating events.
It needs to be bright space, plants, sunlight – a nice place to spend a day.
The store should also be able to provide scenery and hire boardgames – so you can take minis down and use the store terrain, or if you finish playing 40k etc you could then hire a boardgame or something, anything that keeps you in the store and then also buying the drinks and food, or visiting the retail space.
It should be a venue you want to go to in the first instance and gaming seconday, if it is just a place you have to go to game, then you are not going to enjoy being in the venue and you lose the loyalty of the community.
As a dad – lets add a fully licensed and free soft play floor with childcare supervisors provided – lemme get a quick game in whilst looking after my kids lol
bit late to the party on this one. awesome news that gerry is joining! and bens comment about warner hotels made me crease, reminds me of my honeymoon. me and the wife (both 25) stayed in one in nottingham because no kids! was great, onsite nurses, room service and line dancing….and the fact that we were the youngest people there by a good 40 odd years!