Thoughts on possible new store in cornwall

[hendybadger]

i am looking to open a hobby store in the near future.

this is not advertising. its just abit of research.

it will be situated in north cornwall.

just like to see what people think?

is this a good idea?

what should it be called?

what should it stock?

what should the store consist of?

would you or anyone you know use it?

and any other thoughts and opinions welcome.

 

[freakinacage]

where in n. cornwall?

 

[hendybadger]

it will possibly be in wadebridge

 

[Beelzebrush]

Impossible to say really... it\'s a lot of outlay and risk in very uncertain times for retail I\'d be worried personally!

Having said that, I don\'t know Wadebridge particularly well - so who knows!!

 

[mattsterbenz]

While I don\'t live anywhere near the UK, I can give you some tips that you might find helpful.

Get involved in the local gaming community first (if you haven\'t already). Once you are well known and are friends with most everybody, people will be more likely to stop by and tell their friends.

Whatever you sell, make sure that you actually know how to play the games, support them with events, and RUN DEMO GAMES. So many game store owners just expect customers to walk in and buy stuff without introducing them to the product. These game stores fail because they don\'t get new customers involved with the games. Getting the same dozen regular customers in each night for gaming is great, but it\'s very important to get new gamers in the hobby too.

A clean and friendly gaming environment goes a long way. Don\'t let your store turn into the typical \"dungeon\" associated with game stores, and you\'ll see much more business.

-Matt

 

[gohkm]

Relying on word-of-mouth advertising isn\'t enough, either. You\'ll need to take out ads (within reason, of course!). You can also make contact with other stores so that they are aware of you. One guy on the Heresy forums spent 3 months doing nothing but that - getting in touch with other stores, exchanging banners, coming to agreements on advertising, etc.

If you start up your own store, be prepared to do some serious legwork.

 

[Amazon warrior]

Please to be reading this:

LINK

The guy\'s written it with the US in mind (i.e., all figures are in dollars etc), but I think a lot of the advice in there works wherever you are in the world. My bf and I have talked about opening a FLGS in the distant future (like, in ten years time....), and I read the columns with interest. Hope you do make it work!

 

[hendybadger]

thanks for that. looks like it could end up being really useful

 

[Infidel Castro]

Do you reckon an added string to the bow could be in selling (or selling out) to tourists and doing jazzy Arthurian and Celtic stuff? It could help a great deal, though might water down the appeal of what you\'re hoping to do. Tourists would lap up Arthurian chess sets, I\'m sure....