#RPGChat Archive, 29 March 2012: The FLGS
#RPGChat Archive, 29 March 2012: The FLGS
Mar 29
The topic for the March 29 chat was the FLGS (Friendly Local Game Shop) with special guests @EndGameOakland and @labyrinthdc two fantastic game shops.
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Tweets of Note:
@d20Blonde
Greetings, gamers! Tonight is a different format with special guests in our discussion of FLGSs. @labyrinthdc and @endgameoakland#RPGchat
The discussion began with some comments and questions:
@EndGameOakland
It’s like running any small retail business. You should know business and this industry in general as a starter.
@Nakedhobo
@EndGameOakland and don’t think you can just sit and play games all day, there’s work that needs to be done.
@EndGameOakland
@Nakedhobo Yes, that’s one of the more irritating parts of working the counter. Honestly, no “I am not bored.
@TriskalJM
How long did it take to be profitable?
@EndGameOakland
@TriskalJM It has the same vector as any small business you research carefully, and implement.
@Alpharalpha
@EndGameOakland do you play games yourself before giving it shelf space and recommending it?
@EndGameOakland
@Alpharalpha We have more SKUs than a costco: so no 
The issue of shelf space and filling it efficiently was a recurring theme:
@Alpharalpha
@EndGameOakland and @labyrinthdc hello and welcome, how much of your store space is the tabletop RPG section? is the genre dying?
@EndGameOakland
@Alpharalpha Dollarwise or floorspace? To play, or to sell? Dying? No, but moving away from paper, yes
@labyrinthdc
@Alpharalpha A very small percentage of the space in my store is RPGs, but it is a large part of my business.
@RDNottingham
@EndGameOakland In this era of MtG and other card games, do you feel pressured to stock them or welcome them in? Or miniatures?
@labyrinthdc
@RDNottingham We do not carry minis, but I special order. I was pressured by customers to carry Magic. Otherwise we carry few CCGs
@EndGameOakland
@TriskalJM Experience. I read what i can through sell sheets, vendor websites, then reviews if possible
@TriskalJM
The one or two stores here seem afraid to keep stock, but will special order stuff weekly. Thoughts / opinions on that?
@EndGameOakland
@TriskalJM We rely on special orders. Then again, we are pretty good a fulfilling them. We simply _cannot_ stock it all
@EndGameOakland
@d20Blonde We are still a full line game store only. We haven’t branched at all (that I can think of)
@labyrinthdc
@TriskalJM We do LOTS of special orders, because I am rather new and cannot keep a lot. We give 20% discount to make it worthwhile.#rpgchat
Asking questions from the indie game designers side:
@Rolling20s
It was great to know that there are FLGSs that support indie publications like School Daze
@EndGameOakland
@Rolling20s Please tell your indie friends to help us find them! I can’t always find you (as they say)
@Rolling20s
@EndGameOakland I think that a lot of indie publishers forget that brick-and-mortar is still a valid mode of sale
@Nakedhobo
@Rolling20s @endgameoakland other side of some indie publishers is that they need to talk to retailers and ask what sells
@fredhicks
@Rolling20s May be a bit more nuanced than that. I think just as often, they can’t figure out how to sell to the retail channel.
@Nakedhobo
@Rolling20s @endgameoakland there are games I’d love to carry in my store but the packaging is such a negative in some cases.
@d20Blonde
RT @labyrinthdc: I think getting back to RPG part. The future of RPGs in FLGS is indie RPG – at least for us
Expanding the market and attracting new customers:
@d20Blonde
I’m very curious to know about effective FLGS marketing techniques. How do you get new people in the door
@Nakedhobo
@d20Blonde we run a lot of demos of both new and older games
@EndGameOakland
@d20Blonde Social Media, and more importantly word of mouth
@labyrinthdc
@d20Blonde Events, events, events. And word of mouth!
@d20Blonde
Something I need out of my FLGS: The willingness to teach me to game. If I express interest in a game, teach me to play it!
Making note of the great aftercare program at LabyrinthDC:
@d20Blonde
RT @labyrinthdc: Parents pay us to teach their kids strategy and social skills thru game
@Alpharalpha
RT @labyrinthdc: Almost everynight we have a beginner friendly game night. Sometimes D&D, some board games, some indie RPGs.
We close with general observations:
@TheUniverseGM
RT @EndGameOakland: @labyrinthdc Preach, sister. Thats cause you actually sell games, not just stock them
@koboldstyle
What I’m getting from you guys is that the key component to FLGSmanship is the “local” part. Maybe even translated to “area-unique”
@EndGameOakland
I can’t hammer this home enough. Just because something works in one game store, it simply may not in another. Period
@labyrinthdc
@EndGameOakland Soooo true. I think game stores must be responsive to customers to survive
This was simply a great chat, and many thanks to our guests.
As always a complete transcript is available as a spreadsheet, here.
Alpharalpha
