>>46200023
Want to know the fastest way to earn one million dollars? Invest 2 million in opening a game store.

Have you ever managed a store before? Do you have any kind of experience? Do you have any startup capital?

If the answer is no then please don't waste your life on this.

If you have to ask, you cant run a store

>>46200270
>>46200245
>>46200181
All of these.

Things to consider:

how big your city ? I never see any game shops in towns less than about 25,000 people. If you live in a disparate rural area you probably won't be able to make enough money.

Make sure you have enough floor space for playing areas and plenty of stock.

Always stock what the community is into, this shouldn't be your personal hobby club. If no one wants to play Malifaux stop pushing it. Conversely maybe you have the hipster wargaming crowd who wants all the small Indy miniature lines and don't care about 40k. Go with the trends.

Well candy/ chips / drinks, but nothing messy.

Keep the store clean and smelling nice. Make it inviting.

Don't charge for tables. It's a turn off and won't make you anything anyway.
Have a rewards program of some sorts to keep people buying there. There's overwhelming reasons to purchase online, FLGS are almost becoming charities, you must incentivize people to shop from you.

Cater to magic above all. It is 100% the reason stores stay in business. Whatever nights are best for them is what they get.

Know your products at least tangentially. People have questions, noobs don't know where to start.

Run events. Every day of the week should be some kind of theme e.g. Magic night, 40k and AoS night, etc.

Contact local gaming communities and reach out to them.

Make a business plan that accounts for not making money for the first couple years.

>>46200023
Ignore the negativity. You can do it!

Dont forget to include the snacks!

>>46200494
A few more:

Know that this probably won't make you rich. A successful FLGS will be a middle class income for you.

Hiring an employee can help a lot. Make sure they are an expert in something AND charismatic and "normal." EG friendly board gaming girl who knows the different genres and can suggest good options for different customer types. EG2: friendly wargamer who can help people with painting. Do not hire the grognard who will lecture people on why Fantasy was infinitely superior to Age of Sigmar.

You're biggest money maker is magic, followed by board games (usually). Board games are bite sized, noncommittal, and unintimidating. Miniatures may or may not be a seller. RPG stuff isn't a money maker. You should offer at least some of everything though.

As a preface, I work in a LFGS, although it's more of a gaming cafe.

Firstly, selling products is secondary. Whether you cater for Magic players, TTRPG players, 40k players or all of the above, make sure there is somewhere for them to sit and play without being disturbed too much.

Also make sure you have at the very least cold sandwiches for people to buy, if not hot food. If a customer can lounge there for a whole afternoon, then you've done a good job.

Lastly, like >>46200617 says, don't bother with getting a vet player as an employee. Someone who plays magic/TTRPGs is good, but at the end of the day chances are most customers won't need their help.

>>46200023
If you aren't sure if you can survive on gaming alone do what my LCG does and sell something else on the side. my shop sells sports stuff as well

>>46200494
The town is only about 10k, but is the largest center in that 4 hour radius. Which is why I wouldn't even consider this without an online presence to support it. The community is also basically just mtg. Me and a few other buddies recently got into 40k so while we would like to at least run demo games and try to generate some interest in not-magic I doubt we would keep very much if anything in stock.
The best way for us to get people in the doors is to have a play area, so no I wouldn't charge for tables. In regards to events, that's a given. I can see at least a dozen players every Friday night for fnm, and I'm sure we could receive some from the surrounding area for pre releases and tourneys etc.
One of my buddies is treating this like he's opening his personal hobby club. I'm trying to get him to realize that can't be the way he thinks about it, and I'm a lot more grounded and realistic about this. However if we could it make it work I am all over it, which brings me to
>>46200617
I can't see anyone with half a brain going into a store of pretty much any kind looking to get rich. If I can pay my bills and feed myself and get to spend my days playing games I can't complain about that. There is just a lot of risk, and I'm generally averse to that unless I have a long time plan with backups in place if things go south. There is also a store in a larger city at that 4 hour drive that said they are willing to work with someone who has a storefront and business plan worked out, so I will be talking to them.

I just am not sure on things like getting your initial.singles stock, inventorying singles vs not, etc

>>46200674
Thankfully most of the community is closer to the normie side of things so I doubt finding someone who doesn't disgust me and knows the ins and outs of the game would not be difficult. I like the idea of a cafe, but I think at most we would have a cooler with snacks and drinks.
>>46200725
This is another thing I've considered. I've been playing with the idea of opening a repair shop as I've worked in the only one in town, and I loved it. They got a ton of business. And they charged through the roof. However they are lacking a bit without my skillset, so I think I could fill that niche. This way, the flgs and the shop could at least split the bill on the building and utilities, and on slow days help each other out.

Like has been mentioned before, people have a lot of reasons to order online over choosing you.

Three things I can suggest that would make me buy at a store over online.

1) Make special ordering products easy for groups who play stuff that's not profitable enough for you to stock, especially overseas stuff.

2) Rewards points or store credit; something like 1 cent of credit for every 50 cents spent. Even better if you get a discount for using credits, like 5 or 10% off if purchasing something solely with credits.
This is good for you because it incentivizes customers to buy more in order to get something "free" later on, and it keeps them saving credits (and thus buying stuff) until they're ready to blow it all on that big tank they've been eyeing. This is opposed to them using the credits as they get them, allowing them to drop it all and stop coming to your store at no potential loss.

3) Keep a well stocked selection of paints, brushes, accessories, mediums, everything. Vallejo and Citadel definitely, Army Painter as well if you can afford it.

>>46200023
If you want to generalize your store you can market it as a hobby store with things for train modeling and such.

>>46200999
One of the shops I go to just uses their credit as reward points. Seems to work well

>>46200865
Drop your friend as any kind of business partner. It WILL cause problems and he WILL tank the business if he thinks of it as his personal club. It's almost as dangerous as treating your own bar as your drinking hole.

>>46200865
The problem with such a small town is that you'll be relying on the rest of your county for business. People far out won't drive a long way just to buy stuff when they can order online for cheaper. Also most people won't drive over 45 minutes or so just to play a game so you really don't have much of a draw the farther radius you look.

Also as someone who used to live in a small town (2200 people) in a low population county, I can tell you most rural folks have zero interest in tabletop. I know many people can be converted, but rural people usually much much prefer outdoor activities and working with their hands. My entire county had no FLGS, but my tiny town had 3 auto parts stores and two large hardware stores.

>>46203132
Probably this actually.

Unless you make your shop a catch-all for all nerdy hobbies, getting a full shop with a community of 10,000 is struggling.

If you live in a metropolitan and fairly rich city like I do in Edinburgh, you have the demand that results in me having at least 5 LFGS within walking distance of my apartment.

Unless you plan on moving to a larger city then it's not going to take off.

Remember that 80% of businesses fail within the 1st year.

>>46200865
>If I can pay my bills and feed myself and get to spend my days playing games
You're running a business. Not playing games.

Don't abandon your counter so you can play another round of magic with the regulars. That's how these stores die.

>>46200023
Every LGS I've been to makes extensive use of volunteer labour and has poor heating and lighting.

Every LGS I've been to barely breaks even when factoring in the low salaries of the paid staff.

I doubt this is a coincidence, they really aren't profitable.

>>46203243
Yeah I've been to a few stores that the owner was treating like a club. When you:

>are playing during the work day with no one running the till
>talking with the regulars more than your customers
>not keeping the store perfectly clean
>not policing your grognards
>not being friendly and greeting customers as they walk in
>not even being fucking identifiable

Then I probably won't buy anything and definitely won't come back. It's a huge turn off and sends a subconscious message to new customers and tabletop newbies that they aren't welcome.

>>46200865
The thing is, even with a website why should anyone order from you online? There are already Canadian online TT stores. I know of Starlit Citidel and Black Knight Games and I'm not even Canadian. Not to mention Amazon. also remember Games Workshop doesn't allow you to sell its products online unless it's through email.

I would imagine you can't afford a large warehouse, which means you probably aren't able to offer as steep of discounts online as other dedicated businesses.

I'm not trying to shit on your idea. I want our market to keep growing and more people to discover it, but it might be a better idea to just form a dedicated club with members and a rented space. You can advertise and grow the hobby without the financial risk.