What do you want in a FLGS

[TechnoViking]

After looking for work in my chosen field (Computers/System Administration) for over eight months since I moved to Salt Lake City, I have decided to start applying for a small business loan and maybe open a gaming store.

What do you look for in a FLGS (Friendly Local Gaming Store)?

Things I would like to carry:

Games (RPG, card, board and War).
Anime
Comics (probably by order only)
Sci-fi/Anime shirts
If possible shirts and small items from ThnkGeek.com
Bawls, Jolt and other geek drinks.

I would also have Arena (computer) gaming.

What other things have you seen in a gaming store that you like?

The one thing I refuse to carry is weapons (swords and daggers), I can’t believe the profit is worth all the insurance you would have to carry. Also the big gaming store and the big comic store in town already carry I large selection of weapons, the market has to be full.

Thanks for any advice,
Mike

[Fitz]

My requirements in a FLGS are simple -- that they'd get Hero products in a little quicker than 6 to 12 months after they're released everywhere else in the world.

I live in a city which has one comic store, one roleplaying store, and one miniatures store, and they're all the same store. The market here just isn't big enough to support any competition, so unfortunately they don't really have any impetus to go out of their way to service the tiny Hero-playing population here — I think there's just me and my group :(

[Nato]

I would like a store that gets major products in almost as soon as they're available. I would also like a store that doesn't shrinkwrap their books on the shelves so I can actually look at them to decided whether to purchase. So far, All Star Games in Diamond Bar, California doesn't really do either. Every once in a while they get a hot product in right away, but they always wrap the books which annoys the hell out of me. I've stopped shopping their and just order completely online. If I can't look before buying, I may as well get it cheaper and FASTER.

[Peregrine]

Bear in mind a couple of basic business facts:

1. The majority of your revenues will come from repeat business.
2. The majority of your repeat business will come from product lines with frequent new product, bringing your customers 'back for more'.

(Note: This is the revenue model that both CCG's and clicky-base minis are using, as well as the model that GW has used for over a decade, to great success.)

I'd recommend that, if you carry comics, you realize that they will likely become your 'bread and butter' in terms of revenues, as your customers will come back on a recurring basis for their 'fix'. Collectible games, whatever's hot in the industry, will have a similar short term (duration of the fad) impact on your business as well. Games will bring revenues based on the frequency of new product and the local popularity of the game.

[JohnTaber]

Hi Mike: How about some of these ideas...

+ Reservation Services - Save me 1 of everything Hero OR let me put something new on reserve (i.e. Delta Green). ;)
+ Discounts For Reservation Users Or Frequent Buyers - Some simple reward program for us die hard types.
+ Room To Run Small Demos Or Demo Game Sessions - Foster new products and such.
+ Knowlegeable and Friendly Staff - I guess this is assumed huh??? :)
+ Late Hours - Open Noon to 8 PM or something like that...

That's what I can come up with right now... ;)

[TechnoViking]

One game store I use to frequent use to have a membership. Pay $10, and members 10% discount on everything, special discounts, and allowed to put things on reserve.

Mike

[Evil Steve]

One that hasn' been mentioned...

A willingness to special order. Put whatever requirements you need, but be willing to get me something (or willing to try) that you don't normally stock. It could give you the edge over competitors if word gets around that you can get game/item/component X.

[Bartman]

I am fortuante to live in a town with multiple competing stores. And although I will occasionally frequent any of them, I buy almost exclusively from a single store. Why? Price. They offer all RPGs at 20% off cover price. The fact that they have an excellent selection and knowledgeable sales staff certainly doesn't hurt, but it is the pricing that draws me back.

As for SLC, I used to live in SLC until '97, and at the time the market seemed fairly saturated with game stores. I would definately suggest a long in depth look at both Comics Utah stores and identify what you like about them and what you would change. I would also get in contact with CONduit (http://conduit.sfcon.org) , which is the Sci-FI, Fantasy, Gaming con in SLC. Their convention is in May and would be an ideal location to meet a good portion of your potential clientele.

[TheEmerged]

At the risk of becoming Captain Obvious...

The first requirement is that you're Friendly. This is a *big* problem with the "FLGS" I'm currently using; it's clearly a comic store first and foremost and they clearly have their favorites in terms of product lines. I've actually been asked "why would you want to spend money on that?" when calling to ask if something is in. It can be very subtle, like saying "No, we haven't gotten (HERO product that came out three months ago) yet, but we did get in (completely unrelated gaming product from a completely different company)" -- again, something I've actually been told when calling.

The "Local" part may not be as big a deal (insert internet/ebat joke here), although there is a lot to be said for location. Location isn't just traffic -- adequate parking and ease of egress (entrance & exist) can influence the buyer's decision-making process as much as where you are. Speaking for myself, the store I actually buy comics from (NOT the store described above!) is almost 10 miles from my house despite having one within 3 miles. I go to the one I do because a> he's literally right on the way to work (less than a 100 yard detour) and b> part of a shopping center with excellent parking -- neither of which is true for the closer store (I had to walk almost a quarter mile the one time I checked it out).

Which brings us to the Gaming. I've only had contact with one true gaming store in the area, and it closed not to long ago. However, it was tempting to make the 25 mile drive on Saturdays to go in there for their in-house games -- had the drive been less or my schedule more forgiving, I'd have done it for certain. Again, this strikes me as being something a good location could make easier -- I imagine if my comic store were a gaming store, having a Subway in the same shopping center and three other medium-fast foods within very short range would be a major asset.

As for Store, all I can offer is to stay professional. Much like gaming itself, good record keeping can be a major asset.

[Koshka]

This one will really depend on rental space in your area, but try to arrange the store so it's easy to move around in. I've got a choice of game stores, and one of them I refuse to go to in the evenings because they put the public gaming tables right by the front door. That's as in "if he's got his chair pushed back, you aren't getting through". No thanks.

[TechnoViking]

Originally posted by TheEmerged
At the risk of becoming Captain Obvious...

The first requirement is that you're Friendly. This is a *big* problem with the "FLGS" I'm currently using;
I think that is big problem with the big store in SLC. Unless your in the in-store clic or buy $50 worth of Yu-Gi-Oh cards every day the owner and manager can be pretty stand-offish.

Mike

[TechnoViking]

Originally posted by Bartman

As for SLC, I used to live in SLC until '97, and at the time the market seemed fairly saturated with game stores.
There seems to be only one store in town offer a wide selection. The other store only offer d20 and CCGs.

Mike

[Bartman]

Originally posted by Mike Basinger
There seems to be only one store in town offer a wide selection. The other store only offer d20 and CCGs.

Mike

Well it has changed a bit then. I can think of at least 3 that were selling Hero products 6 years ago.

[ShelleyCM]

I'd be happy with clerks who aren't patronizing/overly solicitous. Sheesh, sometimes women do show up in gaming stores. Get over it already!

-Shelley

[TechnoViking]

Originally posted by ShelleyCM
I'd be happy with clerks who aren't patronizing/overly solicitous. Sheesh, sometimes women do show up in gaming stores. Get over it already!

-Shelley
Really, I thought women in gaming store was a myth, like UFOs and Bigfoot :).

Since I'm married, I promise not to gawk at women in the store.

Mike

[BlackSword]

RPGnet has an ongoing series of articles about running a game shop.

http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/columns/counter02apr03.html

Well, okay, there are only two articles so far and one is an introduction, but its a start.

I think the biggest thing is making good use of the room you have. There are two gameshops local to me and each went with a different philosophy. One has the tables in the center of the store and games on display around the store. The second store has more room and has a divider down the center of the store with game tables on one side and all merchandise on the other side.

One day I visited the larger store and they were having a Magic:tG contest with a bunch of little munchkins running around. I was glad for the divider, I could shop in peace. On the other hand, at the smaller store I was browsing and saw some people playing WH:40K and it peaked my interest back in that game. Being able to see a game being played is nice and shows local interest in various games.

I think overall though I would prefer to have a divider. As many games get loud at one time or another, and not having shoppers look over your shoulder and talk about your character would be nice too.

Again though, it depends entirly on how much space is available and at what cost.

Commenting on the parking issue, in my hometown the one major gamestore had 4 parking spaces which backed onto a major street, the next closest parking was half a block a way. Not too bad for a walk, but still inconveinant. They shop moved to a much better location and I started to visit more often.

Finally stock. If there are a lot of other game stores in the area, have the stock so when people visit they can buy it, otherwise they won't order it, they'll just go somewhere else. One of my local game shops lacked Hero 5th Edition rules, so off to the larger shop for the purchase.

For discounts, most of the comic shops I have gone to give discounts to people who have a 'box'. I just give my friendly salesperson a list of my favorite comics and they order and set them aside for me so I don't have to go through every shelf trying to find my comics for the week.

Guess I have repeated enough of every previous post.

--
Dan

[Lord Mhoram]

Originally posted by ShelleyCM
I'd be happy with clerks who aren't patronizing/overly solicitous. Sheesh, sometimes women do show up in gaming stores. Get over it already!

-Shelley

My wife games, and works one day a week at the games shop I work at. Last year we had a different lady working there. It did cause some consternation amoung the high school magic crowd, at seeing this rare type of gamer.

My wife works on the "RPG" day at the store, and now the players ask her for advice on what to do when they are stuck, because she has been at it so long, they have come to respect her opinions about these things.

So we are doing our part in educating the biomass out there about female gamers.:D

[Lord Mhoram]

From the business end... get good distributors. A lot of gamers want a book the day it is out (and almost all CCG and CMG players do to). If you have a slower distributor you may loose on sales. We use Alliance, and because we have very low RPG sales, we don't always get stuff in right away (we hold to two RGP orders a month usually) we have lost a sale or two- some people won't wait that extra 3 or 5 days for you to get it in. Now if you are good about getting in thier orders they might, if they are a regular customer, but you might loose walk in sales that way.

Comics - It takes 2-6 weeks to get you account set up with Diamond for comics, so be ready for that.
Marvel has a no overprint policy, and comics are on a two month delay order cycle, so you may have a month or two lag in getting your Marvel titles up to speed when you first open, expecially on the more popular titles.

Gaming stuff- as much as I personally love roleplaying, as a retailer I love the collectable gamers. That is where a _lot_ of your money is going to be in a game shop. The product takes up less space and inventory turns in that category are much higher.

If you are doing the CCG, CMG thing, a lot of money is in the aftermarket single sales. We are the only game shop in Ogden that does singles for Clix games, and we move a lot of em. But in order to do this well, you have to know what your market is, and what people want, so you know what to buy. People selling entire collections are great, but if there are no good rares in the collections, it is a waste of your time to get them.

Know retail. Most game shops are run by gamers that have no clue when it comes to retail, or how to run a business, so they run it by the "seat of the pants" or by what they like or by instinct. That doesn't cut it. If you have no retaile experience, hire someone who does, that can help you in "Store" part of FLGS. You know the "Games" part, make sure the "store" part is taken care of, or you will close your doors way too soon. The shop I work at has been open about 12 years. It is on its fifth owner. The current owner (and a good frined of mine, which is how I got the job) bought the place for a certain amount. We do 6 times that in yearly sales now, two years later. The old owner had absolutely no business sense... the current owner on the other hand has a degree in business. He knows how to handle the store side in addition to the game side. Since he has taken over we have in two years had a 6 fold increase in sales, if not more. That is what someone who knows business can do for you.

You will also want to think about the business end- which credit cards you handle, paypal or not (if you do internet sales or not), check policies, who to go through for returned checks, signage, that sort of thing.

[Wolfgar]

As a word of really basic, even maybe stupid advice, keep main system book in stock whenever possible. People buy a lot more of them than they do supplements and it helps introduce new people to the game. One of the reasons it took me so long to get into Champions was the gamestore didn't have the main book handy. So keep yourself stocked up on those first, especially for popular systems.

[Tasha]

Originally posted by ShelleyCM
I'd be happy with clerks who aren't patronizing/overly solicitous. Sheesh, sometimes women do show up in gaming stores. Get over it already!

-Shelley

I would just be happy if they said "hi" then didn't talk to me until I spoke to them. I really hate when someone trys to be overly helpful. I also hate when someone assumes that I am ready to be rung up when I was just trying to ask a question.

Actually, I am very happy with the FLGS that I frequent.

I want a place that gets new product when it first ships
I want a store that has a clearly defined "new item" rack or shelf. Both for minis and Books.
I want the minis to be organized in some way so that I have a prayer of finding something
Being able to special order and pre-order items is also important.
Having the staff know me well enough that they sometime will save things that I may find interesting.
I agree that the staff shouldn't be condeseding just because I am a woman. Heck I have been gaming longer than most of the Game store clerks have been alive (Damn I feel old)
A good collection of games. That they replentish when the stock runs out.

Again, these are things that I already have in the place I currently shop.

Tasha :)

[Vondy]

First and foremost - be friendly and helpful. If you see someone more than once try to remember their names. It wouldn't hurt if you had a database set up to track their purchases so you can "upsell" items they might be interested in: "hey, the new hero X book is in!"

Second - if they play a game you don't care for don't let them know you don't like it (they're a customer, not a convert to your favorite system), and if they say something negative about your competitition do not pick up the ball and run with it, just smile and say that you aim to please.

Hearing people trash their competitors or favorite games is one of the fastest ways you could lose my business.

Third - know your products. If you're selling it you should be able to talk about it, know the fundamental concepts and mechanics for each system, and the contents of the various books. You don't have to be expert, but an 11- KS: role playing games would do wonders.

You have no idea how many times I've walked into a game store and asked if they had any Hero products and heard: "they're out of business" from the pink haired eye-brow pierced individual behind the counter. I've also had someone (this one with a mohawk) say "what a stupid name" when I asked them if they had any Jovian Chrinicles materials.

Fourth - if you're into the counter-culture look you may be offended, but a lot of your customers will be parents searching for gifts, parents accompanying adolescents, and even parents who are a little wary of role playing games and want some straight answers. You want to look as clean cut and middle American as possible, and you want your employees to look that way to. It will set the guardians of growing beings at ease, and make them more comfortable with the hobby in general, and you in specific.

With the religious parents you can sell something other than 3e on the merit of it not being D&D alone, and don't be afraid to sell to their concerns: "I know some people are concerned with the pagan gods and devils in some games - like X. But not all games are fantasy, does your son like spies or superheroes?"

Fifth - as much as I loathe to say it: you need to have the grandaddy (3e) on your shelves. Its got name recognition and you'll get a lot of people looking for it. It seems obvious, but I've met a few people with excellent taste in games who are out of business because they tried to run a gaming store without it. Whoops! Gurps is a must, too.

Sixth - while you will, of course, want to have every champions product imaginable on your shelves, you also want to have an ecclectic alternative, preferably cool systems, for each genre.

Seventh - have demo games on the weekends to show off the systems people are less aware of.

Eighth - you have to have the card games, and some cool board games like axis and allies are a good thing, too. I don't play card games, but its a necessity. Do you research, and don't be afraid to go with the trends 9 year olds want. Pokemon rules when you're taking it to the bank.

Ninth - do you know why I don't buy miniatures? because their ugly if their not painted and I don't have that kind of time. In addition to your unpainted miniatures, try to find a couple of talented mini painters and tell them you'll sell them their painted minis on consignment. Then get their cards and a price sheet for people who want their services.

Tenth - have order sheets for each company ready for the customers. If you don't have something someone wants tell them you have a complete listing of their products and can get it for them in X days. They may decide to wait instead of hunting around for it.

Eleventh - location. When you go looking make sure you find a place with good foot traffic, near or in a mall, and check for bus stops to make sure people without cars can get to you. My favorite local game shop is right on a freeway interchange and traffic in the afternoons is a drag. I don't "just drop in" after work because, even though its only four miles out of my way, it takes an extra 45 minutes to get there.

Twelfth - if you hire a 16 year old remind them that the 30 year old guy who's asking specific questions about games may have been playing role playing games longer than they've been alive. I've had a few 16 year olds assume, since I'm an adult, that they needed them to walk me through the market or warn me off about certain products that I happened to love, Hero included. I played games that were out of print before they were born before they were born. I was polite about it, though. I asked if I could get some help from a grown up.

But it all boils down to #1 - customer service mindset.

[Lord Mhoram]

Originally posted by D-Man
I asked if I could get some help from a grown up.


That is so beautiful it brings tears to my eyes.

[Wolfgar]

Originally posted by D-Man

Twelfth - if you hire a 16 year old remind them that the 30 year old guy who's asking specific questions about games may have been playing role playing games longer than they've been alive. I've had a few 16 year olds assume, since I'm an adult, that they needed them to walk me through the market or warn me off about certain products that I happened to love, Hero included. I played games that were out of print before they were born before they were born. I was polite about it, though. I asked if I could get some help from a grown up.


And if you hire a 30 year old don't let him treat the younger set like garbage just because they don't remember Traveller. In general, respectful employess are a good thing. Every customer deserves fair treatment until they show otherwise.

[allen]

Originally posted by Mike Basinger

What do you look for in a FLGS (Friendly Local Gaming Store)?


I should preface this by saying: I strongly suspect that what I want out of a gaming store leads to an unprofitable business, and the majority of retail store owners will tell you you're nuts if you run your business this way, but anyway...

I want overcrowded book racks. I want to be able to look through four, six, maybe even eight books, and at the very back of all those books, with a nice layer of dust, is a book I didn't want to buy 10 or 15 years ago and probably still don't want to buy, but I get a kick out of looking at it and flipping through the pages.

If a store carries comics, I want the last three or four months of a title on the shelf. I oftentimes either don't notice a title when it comes out or change my mind, and if I decide to buy the title, I want to buy the whole most recent story arc then and there. As a corollary to this: I want most every trade -- Marvel, DC, and independent -- published in the last couple of years on the shelves.

I want to walk in to the store and be greeted by the smell of old paper.

I want the staff to be more knowledgeable than me about current comic books and gaming products. For comic books, they should know not just current and up-coming storylines for a whole heck of alot of comics, but also current and upcoming "first-" and "second-tier" writer and artist projects -- if I ask what's so-and-so doing these days (and he is indeed doing something) the staff better be able to tell me what he's doing or will be doing shortly.

For gaming products, providing a summary of what a game is like is fine. But I never want to hear, "I don't know. I've never played it." from a staff member. At least be able to sum up the backcover blurb for goodness' sake, and tell me what other gamers who come into the store think of the game. Jeez-louise... the guy sits in a gaming store for many hours a week, surely someone's said something about the game.

I don't mind uppity staff -- wet-nosed or grognards, makes no nevermind to me -- but if staff is going to uppity and vocal, they better be able to put their money where their mouth is, tell me why they think something I buy sucks, and point me in the direction of something they think is better. If I've never heard of it and it looks good, I'll buy it when I have the cash and am looking for something new. Corollary to this: If I buy it and come back in the next week and tell the uppity and vocal staff member his recommendation sucks and why it does so, he or she better not get all sniffly and teary-eyed.

Kind of related to this... I also like staff selections with a seperate rack or little signs or whatever. If I see that a staff member recommends books I already like, and then recommends one I've never heard of, I'm usually tempted to pick it up.

As far as minis go, I agree with a previous poster: Have painted minis on display and change the minis regularly. Also have at least one staff member who can talk about painting. He doesn't need to be a member of the 'Eavy Metal team or anything, but at least be able to discuss the pros and cons of drybrushing over a black base coat and washes over a white base coat, describe the basics of converting, etc.

I also like a section of 'weird stuff'... foreign language comics (and not just Japanese, but French and other European publications), magnets, toys, weird books, model kits, what-the-heck-ever.

For gaming products, it goes without saying I prefer a store that gets new stock in reasonably soon after it's released. I'm willing to wait a month or so, so long as the store is consistent and I'm confident the store will get the product within that time frame.

I do not want a discount, convenient location, a clean and spacious store, demo space, or in-store gaming space. (Although, if a store does the miniature thing, I do like to see the occasional battle board set up with terrain and all the bells and whistles.)

Anyway, I'm sure I've just outlined a sure plain to drive a beginning retail store into bankruptcy (haha) but maybe there's something useful there...

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by Wolfgar
And if you hire a 30 year old don't let him treat the younger set like garbage just because they don't remember Traveller.

What kind of half-ass game store employee doesn't remember Traveller? Why, when I was your age...

Oops...sorry....

[Wolfgar]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious
What kind of half-ass game store employee doesn't remember Traveller? Why, when I was your age...

Oops...sorry....

Please don't. Those walker beatings really hurt. :)

[ShadowRaptor]

Ok, here is something I experienced earlier today from my LGS "no longer F".

I walked in, two guys behind the counter looked up, NO HELLO! Okay, perhaps they were having a bad day. Walked around a bit, saw their enormous d20 collection and massave Games Workshop (noticed that Talisman was rereleased, good game but I have 2nd edition so I passed). Saw they put HERO books on the bottom shelf in the back shelf, and when I asked if they got the latest HERO books in they asked me if they even carried HERO. OMG, what the hell! The counter person asked me, a customer, if they carried it.

I showed him, he said, "Ohhhhh, that game. We never sell any of that." No wonder, its where no body can see it. Dummy!

Then he went back and started making his Magic Deck. The other guy never looked up at me again as I was there.

Then I walked up, asked him if he could order me a couple books (neither HERO but not d20), Talislanta 4e and the new Savage Worlds. First he asked me what they were, I told him they were rpg's. Then he asked me who made them, and I told him. He looked in his database for rpg's, couldn't find either of them.

I walked out. He didn't say goodbye after I said goodbye to him.

Whatever you do, if you hire people like these, I would not go into your store!

[BlackSword]

My weekend FLGS story.

Went into the store and the person behind the counter asked what I was looking for, told him I was just waiting to meet someone.

The store was packed due to some card game competition (no problem if it keeps the store in business) so I looked at their fine selection of d20 (2 whole cases), Hero (half a shelf) and other miscellaneous books.

I decided to ask about a book I had ordered I went back towards the counter and that's when I discovered the annoying fact. The person running the counter was also running a Legend of the 5 Rings game. Not playing in one, running the game. The store was packed, so there is no easy way for someone walking in to discern who to talk to. Also being distracted by the game customer service dropped as he rushed to get things done at the counter.

Moral of the story, whoever is working the counter should be working.

--
Dan

[BlackSword]

Another shopping experience. This really annoys me as this store is close enough for me to walk to and I doubt if I will shop there again.

I ordered a book a little over a month ago from them. Last week when I checked they said it was on backorder and would be in this week. I went in and they said they had gotten two copies of it. But neither of the books were anywhere in the store. Apparently they had sold both copies. They store owner looks at me and says, "At least you know someone else who is playing the game." I could only fume and think, "NOT ME." Don't sell a book someone ordered.

In addition, I heard an odd screaming from the TV screen. They were watching _The Exorcist_. There was a mother there with her two children, one about 10, the other maybe 13. She was mortified by it. I was mortified by it. I don't mind the TV screen though it does becoming distracting at times, but OMG, keep it PG-13 at most. I mean really, _The Exorcist_ could you have found a more offensive movie to watch in a "family" store.

[Mark Taylor]

Make friends of customers. There are bound to be some customers that you will like, don't be afraid to go make friends with them on a social basis. After all, friends are more loyal to your store. :D

[buzz]

Originally posted by BlackSword
RPGnet has an ongoing series of articles about running a game shop.

http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/columns/counter02apr03.html

Well, okay, there are only two articles so far and one is an introduction, but its a start.

Good advice. I would also seek out advice from an RPG.net frequenter, Chris Aylott, who runs The Space Crime Continuum (http://www.spacecrime.com/) gaming and book store. He always seems to have great insights.

Otherwise, all I can do is parrot what others have been saying. Don't fall into the trap that most comic and game stores do. This is a business like any other, and you need to know your industry and live to serve your customers. Keep the place spotless, organized and do displays, keeping them seaonal or current with some new or hot product line. Be newbie- and veteran-firendly. Make room for people to actually come in and play the games you sell. Sponsor events (like RPG.net or ENWorld Game Days) and run demos of all kinds of products. Don't let product that isn't moving sit and gather dust; start moving them on eBay. Know your local market. Etc, etc, blah, blah...

One interesting tip would be to try organizing games by subject, rather than publisher, i.e., have all fantasy products in one area, all supers in another, and so on.

[rowport]

First off, I think the fact that you are asking for this feedback is very (postitively) revealing about the quality of the store you will be running!

As Buzz said (and, I notice, he has moved from "older than you" to "so freakin' old" over the weekend...) I will not repeat the good ideas already listed. But, I will reinforce a few with more details:

I really like to flip through books. Doing so makes me infinitely more likely to buy than sight-unseen; I am not recommending cover-to-cover reading here, but seeing the chapters, artwork, etc. will be more likely to sell me than drive me off. And, if it does drive me off, I will be more likely to buy something else that I will like better, so you get that sale anyway, and I am a happier customer. That said, open books likely cause more damage, so my suggestion is to have sealed sale books, and one or two "review" copies open in the store.

My weekend anecdote goes like this: I forgot about Free Comics Day on Saturday, so I stopped by a different store on Sunday than my usual shop. I was so blown away by the new store, I am a convert. Seriously. That is how strong the effect of a meticulously clean, organized, open-spaced, nearly Spartan store had on me. I have never seen a comic shop that looked like a well-run book store, and now I am spoiled forever. The real indicator of success in the model was that not only did my not-a-geek wife not rush me out of the store, she commented on how "nice" the store was, and even looked at some of the character bust statues. Wow- that is a first. I noticed after her reaction that there were several couples in the store- that can only be good. Comfortable customers are happy customers. I will go back to that place.

As an aside, you also asked about stock items: while I stopped by there to pick up some comics and/or graphic novels, I also picked up a novel from their (mostly alternative) book section. While I did not buy any, there were also action figures, clix games, some RPGs, and even some Hello Kitty items (which my wife enjoyed seeing).

Best of luck in your venture!

[buzz]

Originally posted by rowport
That said, open books likely cause more damage, so my suggestion is to have sealed sale books, and one or two "review" copies open in the store.

I often fantasize about opening my own store, and this is always an idea that comes up. If I had enough storage space, I would definitely use display copies and keep pristine sale copies in back.

If ti weren't possible, I would at least be quick to give even a small discount for items that had been manhandled.

Booyah, rowport! :)

[wcw43921]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned, is some sort of layaway program. When buying high-end items like RPG books or graphic novels, it's helpful for me to pay it off a little bit at a time than pay for it all at once.

It can be as simple or sophisticated as you need--my local comic/game store owner writes the amount paid on the paper bag that the product's kept in. Of course, he knows me very well, so it works out for both of us.