State of the hobby business

uglybug

uglybug

New member
Where do you see the small hobby store trend going? I am late coming back into the hobby but it just seems like they are all barely hanging in there or is this just how hobby stores like to look? They are only a few that i find scattered far and wide and they are normally small and dark. I did find a really cool place that is 40 min away were i play malifaux and was a little worried about how they were going to do since they just moved to thier new location and stock levels were low and website updates are slow. Then suddenly this week i go and major stock increase of GW malifaux, hordes, warmachine, some board games, plus tons of those card games . Talking to the one guy behind the counter he tells me things are going great they are getting 3 or 4 people a day that stop in to see what the store is all about and chances are some of them are buying. Now i know the old saying "location location location" but do you think we could be seeing an upward trend coming? Or has it been going and im just noticing?
 
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uberdark

New member
as a part owner of a LGS. I would say we are going to be fine. Its much like people that got into computers a long time ago. If you didnt learn about them, then you were left in the dust. We break up battleforces and sell them online, we sell magic the gathering and offer a lot of things at 20% off. We dont make a crap ton of money, but enough to keep us going. My friend who used to run a store, easily made 50k a year off of ebay auctions. he knew what to do. He sold online 75% of product and 25% at the store. Thats how ya do it.
 
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IdofEntity

New member
uberdark said:
as a part owner of a LGS. I would say we are going to be fine. Its much like people that got into computers a long time ago. If you didnt learn about them, then you were left in the dust. We break up battleforces and sell them online, we sell magic the gathering and offer a lot of things at 20% off. We dont make a crap ton of money, but enough to keep us going. My friend who used to run a store, easily made 50k a year off of ebay auctions. he knew what to do. He sold online 75% of product and 25% at the store. Thats how ya do it.
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Just spoke with the owners of our LGS on Sunday and they gave a similar account. Most of their business is online.
 
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Barnaby

New member
I must confess, I am an online shopper, and have had better than average results online. Who knows what the state of the classic "hobby shop" will be in the future? Kind of a shame really.
 
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Jedrock777

New member
MY LGS is great. Combination hobby, board game, comic, collectible, Magic store. They built a community, have a large open space, helpful staff, run events, and stay invested in their customers. They would probably make a bunch more money if they did online stuff, but they are more about face to face interaction and events.
 
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nosirrahkcaz

New member
I worked at a LGS for a couple years, recently left (2 years ago) but I still stay in contact with the management and things there are going fine. The store owner diversified his store with alot of board games and puzzels as well as the mini's and card games. The store has a great downtown location and that certainly helps as they have constant walk ins. I remember during the busy months after Thanksgiving-Christmas they would gross 180-220k per month and during the slow months around 50k.
 
uglybug

uglybug

New member
Wow that would make me want to get into the hobby biz, what city/state is that store located nosirrahkcaz? The one store near me is moving to a larger location. And they are wanting to expand the types of games they sell. I see game workshop is loosing it's grip. It does seem like all of those card games are the main draw with kids though, Don't know the profit margin on those.
 
No Such Agency

No Such Agency

New member
Jedrock777 said:
MY LGS is great. Combination hobby, board game, comic, collectible, Magic store. They built a community, have a large open space, helpful staff, run events, and stay invested in their customers. They would probably make a bunch more money if they did online stuff, but they are more about face to face interaction and events.
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^ ditto. The Dragon here in Guelph recently moved to a slightly upscale new location (downtown mall) and does a LOT of business in comics, graphic novels and collectibles. Even kids books, comic-y ones like Tintin at least :) Very community-oriented.

I do wish their miniatures section wasn't exclusively GW... but that's the market *shrug*
 
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nosirrahkcaz

New member
sorry for the late response But it was in Indiana. Its a town dominated by a college with no competition, its the only show in town.
 
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