Air freshener

>>43887386
You will fail. People stock GW and D*D and MtG not cause they lack imagination, but cause it's the only shit that moves in bulk.

>>43887393
sure as sure. I can't stand foul odors. In any case, the fat, smelly meckbeard is not really a thing around here.

>>43887386
If you need to ask those question you're probably not ready to start your own business.
Anyway:
paints and paint accessories
common/core boxes on stock - the rest can be on order
beer on tap

>>43887415
I have no prior business experience and I'm trying to get some ideas. It's just an idea for now and it would be long-term in any case. Talking of at least 4 years before I even think of making a real move, so I thought I would make some assessment of what most people want. I see your point, though: I am just a scrub, at least for the moment.
Core stuff is, well, core, of course. As for paint acessories I thought I could offer alternative brands like Vallejo (believe it or not, it's rare to see them in stores around me.) and AK Interactive products.

>>43887408
of course I would pack those too, but the idea is of offering alternatives that are not commonly seen. Like keeping a few boxes of different stuff and who gets interested gets interested, that sort of thing.

>>43887541
misquoted. The second line is meant for >>43887407

>offering obscure stuffs
good luck moving those dead stocks.

>>43887386

Well, back when I lived in South Korea I used to enjoy going to board game cafes.

For the price of a coffee, you get to rent one game and a table for one hour. If you really like the game, you can buy a copy while you are there. If you get hungry while you are there, you can buy some small cakes, cookies, or sandwiches to go with your coffee. If you want to stay longer than an hour, then you buy more coffee.
If you want to bring your own games, you are welcome to. You can even rent lockers to keep your games in so you don't have to carry them back and forth every time.

Boardgame cafes are far superior to the LGS's you are accustomed to.

>>43887576
This is a very interesting concept. I should tell a friend about this.

>>43887386
Decide if you want to treat it like a clubhouse or a business.

The one around here is more like a clubhouse, almost always the same group of people in the store, and the owner is usually too busy playing a game with someone to serve you.

The selection isn't great, and they have no online store. They seem to mostly make their money from orders and the owner's clique.

>>43887661
The idea was setting up a friendly business that could occasionally turn into every client's clubhouse. They need a place to play, they want some nice terrain for a 40k battle, let's say? They just need to come and see if there is a free table. Meanwhile, the store is open and everyone can check everything out.
Of course the owner stays the owner: I would be there to serve clients, not to play games.

>>43887386
I would like a store that accurately communicates its events.

I don't know what the deal is here in Utah, but it seems like a good lot of the stores here have completely inaccurate events on the WotC event locator. Like, if you see there's a modern event online and you go to the store, employees won't even know what you're talking about.

Use their website? Yeah, that doesn't work either. Stores around here don't update their website, so you can't count on that either. (I've had this problem with more than one store)

The store I frequent the most changes their events up so much that even calling isn't a surefire way of knowing, because their employees assume it was the same as last month. I've called the night of to confirm the format, showed up and found the format to be different than the event locator, website and employee verbal confirm.

I'm 39... I've played mtg all over the states. For some reason, Utah is the only one where I've had these sorts of problems.

In short: Use the WotC event locator properly, update the schedule on your website and make sure your employees know what the fuck is going on.

>>43887764
>I don't know what the deal is here in Utah
Utah is the deal.

>>43887764
yeah, that was one of my primary concerns, to be honest. We have very little events, very scattered and not so well-communicated (hell, sometimes not even well thought out). A good website, with online catalogues and all that stuff, was one of the priorities I had in mind.

>>43887386
Pick a location with decent parking.

The worst is downtown locations. The best tend to be part of a strip mall with ample parking.

While I don't know how its travelling in the US, in AU games stores are struggling, as much s it pains me (as I got out of it long ago) magic and other CCGs will likely be what brings in revenue - that and snacks. all I can say is good luck with your venture, and unless you are quite independently wealthy, you will need to treat it like a business. Also try and get an infinity Warcor and a WM/H pressganger work with you on events.

>>43887386
Good staff is easily the most important thing in any customer service business (and this IS a customer service business).

Get some staff who give a shit.

>>43887407
>Implying GW moves.
My FLGS's GW stuff is on the slow march from taking up a wall, to half, then it was a few boxes of space marines on a shelf in an aisle, and now it's a chaos space marine box with a rhino sitting on top of an aisle shelf looking miserable.

>>43887386
Don´t go overboard with stock. Start with GW stuff, then you can move on to Warma, Malifaux, Dystopians and other less-known games

>>43887386

>Warmahordes front and center
>Warhammer in the back

Why is this allowed?

>>43887882
what does everyone play there then?

>>43887913
Yeah, that was the original idea

Stay away from carpeting. My FLGS just has wood panel flooring: it doesn't trap odors and nobody gives a shit about it not being carpet.

>>43887386
give a RANDOM (big part here) game or thing of the max price of X when someone spend more than Y in stuff

>>43887576
i've always wished this were an option near me in the us.

a store is NOT A CLUB HOUSE

let me say that again

A
STORE
IS
NOT
A
CLUBHOUSE

the primary objective is to make money. otherwise you will fail as a business. I'm not saying you shouldnt be friendly, but remember that by the end of the year you need to be in the black. dont think running a game store means "a place for people to play games but barely buy anything". otherwise you mind as well rent out your livingroom

>>43887958
honestly I hear today a lot of stores arent dealing with warhammer. gw treats indie stores like shit and Age of Sigma killed any fantasy (including said AoS) sales

>>43888905
I think the idea is you pay for food and drinks and/or a table.

>>43887386
Don't.

Open a gaming cafe or book store with table space for gaming.

Dedicated gaming stores are notoriously hard to keep afloat if you don't have a side business or sell them in a general toy store or stuff like that.

Dedicated game stores just end up being "that place I go to play with the miniatures I bought for cheaper online"

>>43887962

People just want a clubhouse where they can play for free because they're assholes.

Anyone playing GW games these days buys online, because the prices are so much cheaper.

GW products are too high-dollar. They're a big risk, unless you have an area with a lot of money, and a preexisting fanbase that no longer has a store to play because it closed.

>>43887576
This.
Coffee is a lot easier to sell than space marines or rpg's, and it's hard to compete price-wise with webstores.

Having obscure stuff in stock as a selling point almost never works out since it's all available online anywhere, and obscure means few people are likely to play it locally. I want to support local stores as much as the next guy but it's just cheaper and faster to get things online.

If you give me a place where I can play my games, buy some coffee and a sandwich though, it'll be a regular hangout spot in no time.

>>43887386
If you want non-D&D, non-MtG, non-WH shit to sell, you're probably going to need to build a player base from scratch.

Start with your D&D, MtG, and Warhammer nights, then introduce general RPG/CCG/Wargame nights for everything else, plus maybe a board games night. For these I'd start with interesting settings (Unknown Armies, Dream Pod 9 stuff, White Wolf stuff, RIFTS, etc.) and slowly introduce generic systems after people have an appetite for not-D&D.

Or do something else. Point is your in-store play is likely to make or break your sales of anything interesting.

Personally I'd love a shelf full of used history/anthropology/archaeology textbooks and such. I might be an oddball in that respect. I've seen a number of used bookstores with a good enough selection to almost be gaming stores, but almost never that with tables.

>>43887386
Okay OP. All the actual product stuff aside what i'm reading is you know NOTHING about running a business. Which isn't as bad as you think. Read up on a shit ton of books about businesses that are succesful, that failed, and business in general. Hell take an online college course on business just so you understand exactly the endeavor you're undertaking. Big piece of advice right now and if you take anything from this take it: businesses fail because they expect to make money fast. They don't. Most businesses take 2-4 years of sinking in money before you actually make profit. Thats just unspecialized business mind you. You're aiming for a specialized business with an obscure buyer base thats going to have you spreading alot of product that seems to be a buy high sell higher product model. You'll probably BLEED money for the first 2 years then take another 2-4 more to make money as you figure out exactly what moves and doesn't and what entices people.
Tl;Dr have enough money to float the shop for AT LEAST 6 years BEFORE you start.

>>43888957
If your 'customers' are cheap enough to not buy any items, they sure as hell won't be paying for a table.
see this >>43888972
>People just want a clubhouse where they can play for free because they're assholes.

>>43889209
Apparently not.
>>43887576

I'm not sure why I would buy big ticket items in store. If I want Warhams I can buy legit from online retailers at a 20% discount. If I want D&D books Amazon is selling them at 50%. At best I'll impulse buy a bottle of paint (~$4) or show up for draft night at FNM ($15).

>>43887408
If you build it they will come

I've never seen a LGS that let customers sell things to eachother without leaving the building first.
Most wouldn't let people talk about it to co-ordinate leaving the building.
Not sure if that's normal or if I just have shit luck, byt not doing that would be cool.

>>43887408
>I can't stand foul odors.
>In any case, the fat, smelly meckbeard is not really a thing around here.
Bad hygiene permitting, smelly is largely a dietary issue.
I assure you, people who are lanky to the point of being malnourished can smell just as bad.

>>43889235
>buy something
>play for free
see the difference?

>>43889391
You're not playing for free if you have to pay for something first.

>>43889001
>Having obscure stuff in stock as a selling point almost never works out since it's all available online anywhere, and obscure means few people are likely to play it locally. I want to support local stores as much as the next guy but it's just cheaper and faster to get things online.

this

seriously a store I know stocks (for some god damn reason) Heavy Gear, Hell Dorado, and an entire shelf of fucking Spartan Games shit (INCLUDING Uncharted Seas, AT FULL PRICE)

I dont think I have seen any of those things sell.

>>43887386
Prepare to lose money because your customer base are self entitled cunts who'll nickle and dime you to death.

>mfw a game store I frequented in college just closed down, and 30 copies of Munchkin showed up at the thrift store next door

>>43887408
>smelly neckbeard is not really a thing around here
build it and they will come

thanks for all the comments, guys. I think I'd better clarify a bit.

I am currently getting a degree in history with a probable future carreer in teaching. The store idea is more of a Plan B should things take a bad turn I'm probably telling you about it because lately I feel like they ARE and I'm kind of brainstorming to see what options I have at my disposal... but enought with the blog-talk. It's far from being a short-term project and most importantly far from having a definitive plan.

Reading what you all have said, the idea of the Gaming Cafe sounds pretty interesting; it is also something that I could talk about with a local modelling community and a couple of other stores. It's something far more likely to materialize than a new LGS. It also happens to fill a less thought-of niche.

Thank you all for your input and support, /tg/. You guys are the best board.

>>43887386
Anon game stores are a terrible idea, especially if you have no retail experience.
Don't get into them unless you're incredibly familiar with GW and MTG/ yugioh and are willing to push them and support tournaments for both,

You will not earn very much money, you will sell a lot of puzzles to old people around their birthday.

Cosplay shit is all bought online for cheap, you will never be able to turn a profit.
My local store lives off of dnd though, there's about 50 people playing across 13 groups who pay a small entry fee which converts to store credit for the DM.
If you're willing to stay open until late every night of the week then you may be able to make money that way too.

>>43887576

Do this, OP. It's the only chance you have at success. The standard LGS model is dying. Nearly every LGS in my town has closed in the past ten years.

>>43889412
You cant enter a restaurant and use the table for gaming whitout ordering food. Ths would be the same i take, op sells coffe and with that you pic your table to drink it, it just happens to be a big table that allows you to bring and play with toys