The recession has hit the gaming store

[Dawnchaser]

I roleplay but WoW has taken up so much of my time, I haven't been doing it nearly as much...which means no need for books. Though really, I am happy with D&D 3/3.5 and we have a HUGE collection of RPG stuff we haven't even used so...not much need to buy more for now.

I have to say, I'm not impressed by our local gaming shops. I realize the problems with running a game shop nowadays but it might help if they would stick reasonably close to the business hours posted on the door (a couple of shops in particular, the OWNER would get there hours late, saying he just didn't feel like getting up sooner!) and didn't hire crazy people. These places tend to vanish after a year or two. We do have one or two successful stores, but thanks to the obnoxious customers they tend to attact, I stay away.

Overall, I enjoy the Portland and Seattle gaming/comic shops more when we visit. I could understand supporting those, and ones like them.

[lordlundar]

Sorry I haven't replied earlier, but I have been busy as of late.

My mistake for what I said earlier. I wasn't aware at the time that your store was a close-knit small board,pencil, and card game store. I thought it was a video game store in a chain.

I wish you the best and good luck.

[Dreamstalker]

(a couple of shops in particular, the OWNER would get there hours late, saying he just didn't feel like getting up sooner!)

I would often have to open, even though the owner was always supposed to be there before I was.

Another BIG mistake he made is...no advertising. The store's on a side street, practically invisible from Mass Ave unless you know it's there, equidistant from two colleges with sizable gaming clubs. The place doesn't have anywhere near the level of business one would think.

One Saturday when I decided to pick up some miniature-modding supplies, I arrived to see an increasingly disgruntled horde of Warhammer players standing outside. Store is supposed to open at noon, this was about 1:30 and it was damn cold outside.

What happened? The part-timer who should have been opening got sick the night before, rather than calling the owner she emails. Owner doesn't check his email every fifteen seconds and so was blissfully unaware of what had happened until one of the assembled mob called him at home. Then it took him 20 minutes to find someone else to cover, and an additional 15 for them to get down to the store. Had I had authority to do so (ie still been employed there), I would have gone ahead and opened. I don't want to think about how much business he lost that day (the majority of players wound up going somewhere else to play).

[Akasa]

I have some friends in Hawaii who are cooking up the details of a game store/cafe that they plan to open on Maui (which has only 2 gaming stores on the WHOLE ISLAND!) That way they aren't completely dependant on selling gaming things, and when they host gaming at the store there's munchies available for the gamers.

[draftermatt]

Come next year, family & I will be moving to Anne Arundel County in Maryland. The only major gaming store in Maryland (that I know of) is in Rockville called Dream Wizards and we have plenty of Maryland folks to come down to our stores rather than go there. Not sure how that store stays in business.

Woo! Coming to MD!

Wait there's a gaming store in MD? When did that happen?

I think I saw a small store like that in the Town Mall of Westminster (near where I live) but I didn't pay that close of attention.

Sorry to hear you got laid off. I hope you can find a new job.

[CaroPhoenix]

The "mother store" has been open in Northern Virginia for 18 years. The location I was at has been open 6 of those 18 years.

I really think the cafe is a good thing to have with the gaming store. I'd like at least one enclosed RPG room & at least 2 miniatures tables (painted GREEN not BLUE) and of course lots of other tables for the CCGers & the board gamers.

The gaming store does sell drinks & snacks, but the most expensive drink (if memory serves me correctly is Old Dominion Root Beer) and the most expensive candy bar/snack is a king sized snickers.

I'm sure we really help out the restaurants that are around the area of our gaming store. We do allow customers to come in with their own food (either they made it themselves or bought it from some place else & bring it in, we even let you order food and have it delivered to our place).

Lord Lunder - I figured you meant an electronics gaming store.

draftermatt - yeah ... type in Dream Wizards into google, it might come up. If we live in Maryland, it'll be Anne Arundel County as Mr. Rum is scheduled to work at Fort Meade.

[Kaylyn]

Way off topic, but going back to your first post...

Call of Cthulhu CCG??? How the heck did I miss that!?

*runs to her local gaming store to buy them out*

I've played D&D and the occasional d20 CoC game and just recently got my hands on the 6th edition ruleset for CoC and fell in love! Currently keeping an ongoing campaign in that book and having a blast!

[draftermatt]

draftermatt - yeah ... type in Dream Wizards into google, it might come up. If we live in Maryland, it'll be Anne Arundel County as Mr. Rum is scheduled to work at Fort Meade.

Well that's cool. My boss lives in AA county, nice area, once you get off the interstates anyway.