Tom, Sam, and Zee: I'm making this required viewing for the staff of my music store. These are excellent, EXCELLENT, business practices. NO ONE has an excuse for ANY of your points.
What would the Dice Tower be without the videos with these three guys? They make me laugh out loud every single time. Live gaming soon also I hope. The 24 hour marathon was great. Make it 6 hours or 4 or whatever. just do it. Great video as always.
To be honest, i don't know anything about table top games (dabbled around in games like hearthstone and gwent only) but this randomly popped up as i was researching running a game store. I watched the whole video and haven't laughed so much at a youtube video in years. I'll be checking out some more, you guys are amazing together and really play off each other nicely, a well earned sub!
Video Production tip: If you use multiple cameras, only use one microphone. strip the audio from the best mic whether it be the integrated one in the camera or standalone mic like on Tom's shirt. That way the equalization between cuts is the same. The only issue you have is ensuring the audio track is synced to the video.
18:50 I agree 1000% with this. A couple years ago a friend of mine and i decided to buy 2 islands of blood, he was returning to the hobby after a long time and i was fresh new in WH Fantasy. When i went to the first store and asked for the product he simply said "We don't have it in stock". That's all. He didn't even bothered to look at me more than 2 seconds (i guess his laptop was more important than a customer). Then i went to the second store which unfortunately didn't had them in stock either but the owner right away offered himself to order the boxes. When the store recieved the products we not only bought the boxes but a lot of paint pots and other stuff for a total value of 200€. A money that we would have spent in the other store if the seller had offered himself to order the stuff. The later store is always my first choice since that day. Guess what happened to the former: despite years of success, being even a large franchise in the area with up to 8 stores, they closed the next year, and not only because awful customer service, the store itself was indeed a bad placed troll cave with very poor stock. When the owners got to the top, years ago, they thought they could get lazy and don't care about customer service anymore because they had the largest loyal customer base in the area. Obviously, they thought wrong.
I can just picture now: a new show on Bravo: Game Store Savior by Sam Healy!!! :) One thing you guys didn't explicitly mention: along with cleaning the bathrooms: YOU MUST STOCK THE BATHROOM with TP and HAND SOAP. I happen to live and work really close to a game store that I think gets it right. One thing I thought was amazing was the owner of the store sets aside an hour each week to speak with game players about his store. I have never seen that before, and I think it is something more should try if they want to succeed. Interestingly enough, I have pretty much stopped buying games. I pretty much only play games at conventions due to my schedule, and have a limited budget. HOWEVER, many traditionally non-game players have asked me for a store. This owner knows word of mouth advertising is FANTASTIC advertising. One more thing: an "open game day" where the customer can bring his own stuff in to play (brilliant: gets a customer involved, and frees up--and potentially trains, staff on what is out there). Question: a) would you guys mind if people mentioned game stores by name? and b) I'd love to post a link on my FLGS website (which I do not work for or are directly affiliated with). Would you guys mind?
I can give you a review of Zee. Happy to help. Here goes. "Very entertaining reviewer yet family friendly. He explains his opinions in depth so viewers can form their own opinions. I rate him two board game boxes way up."
I love that you rolled a crapload of dice for that roll off. I like the look in Sams eyes. The excited expression of a mini's player who finally gets to roll his pile of dice. :)
I recently walked into a store to buy root. Had the money for game and all expansions. Was completely ignored. I was less of a customer than the guy standing at the counter contemplating what mtg card to buy. After 1min he finally moved away and the store worker just straight up ignored me. Walked out and paid an extra $10 for the game at another store.
Air Conditioning! LOL, my wife still waits in the car after going in our FLGS on one hot summer night, and somebody had B.O. Bad! Also agree with treating people nicely and not making them feel like they don't belong, Great List!
Love this video. There are two local game shops in the city where I go to college and I went to one twice before deciding to solely patronize the other store. The first store I went to had next to no merchandise, the workers ignored me for 15 minutes while I tried to find a particular comic book, and when I asked for assistance the workers looked at me like I was a crazy woman. It was a very uncomfortable atmosphere. The other game store, which I now patronize regularly, has a great set of workers. They remember all the regulars, have almost all the things in this list, and are always open to demoing a game for you or discussing the pros and cons of a game or a comic with a customer. They also have clearly posted events and let people know about those and other events based on their expressed interests and purchases. For example, if you mention liking anime the cashier will tell you about our weekly anime night event. Game On Games in C/W Nebraska!
I've never been to the US, so i don't know how buisnesses work at yours, but game stores here in Europe usually don't have restrooms, snacks, chairs to sit down, demos to play, nothing of that ^^ At least none i know in a 300km radius i live in. Must be tough to run a buisness over there at all. :(
A good 75% of the time that I walk into a new gaming store, the whole operation is mediocre at best. 40-50% of the time, I have an awful experience at a place that I was really hoping to enjoy. As a general rule, these places can't stay open for more than a couple of years before closing shop. This is not because the market isn't there, but because people want to make a business out of their hobby without applying good business sense. These entrepreneurs NEED to pay attention to this video, and rewatch it several times.
Great list guys. The one thing I would think to add was: have working air conditioning! It's awful sitting in a store with a bunch of folks (some of who, inevitably don't wash because we're dealing with nerds here) and having to deal with that sweaty funk. Be willing to spend the money to maintain a comfortable temperature. I love my FLGS but I've had to leave earlier than I anticipated a few times because it got so hot and uncomfortable in there.
The BEST boardgame store I have been too, better then all the stores and cafes I have visited is one in Chang Mai, Thailand. Named the Game Tree. The guy running the place is an American guy named Stu, A gamer who makes the place. You arrive alone, he will get you into a game or play a game with you himself, Arrive with a group of gamers he will set you up with a game, Arrive with a group of non gamers he will spend the time to teach you a game again and again everytimd you visit if necessary. Also has a Nintendo Wii U available to play upstairs for if you dont want to play that game everyone else is playing or you want to wait for people to finish a game to join in, best idea ever.
Its old, but this is probably one of your best Top 10s. Most of this list covers the reasons I go to restaurant Meetups for gaming and NOT to game stores.
A local shop I used to frequent in Montana had lockers you could rent. Ppl could keep tons of games, snacks, magic cards, or whatever in there rather than have to lug them to and fro. Cool idea!
The Wyvern's Tale in Asheville, North Carolina does every one of these things dead on. Hands down not only my favorite FLGS but my favorite local business. Just great people. Deklan and Simeon knew my name and greets me by name every time after my second visit.
As a consumer, 90 percent of the time I support my local shop. We have a nice shop that has been in business for 25 years (changed locations a few times). my rule of thumb is if the game is in the ballpark price of amazon (aka within 10 bucks), I always buy it at the store. A couple of times I had to go the amazon way (eclipse at 55 bucks was to much of a discount). We owe it to our communities to support the local shop whenever feasible.
The best top ten ever guys! I wish our local game store The Green Dragon would follow your tips. I love going there but he needs a lot of improvement. Every one of your tips are needed in his store. He could be way better. Clean bathroom is number one. You walk in and sometimes no one is there. No one greats you. Great stock on stuff but no demo's. Keep up on the current games and when the new ones are coming out. I hope he watches this and improves his store. We need to keep our local stores alive. Bring in new people to the wonderful world of games.
David Seidner , Will do. I am in Califorina so he would have to fly across the country to come punch me. But I would say that thing was the best foot in the mouth situation I seen in Dice Tower yet. Your great Sam but expect a little friendly teasing.
Very true. I'm often feeling like i'm intruding someone's game/party when i come to a few of our local game stores. And you know that awkward silence, when you know they are waiting for you to leave to move on with their game or talk. And if they have an online page/store, then they should keep it UPDATED and not throwing mysql errors on you for 3 months (yet facebook page still alive) or just close it and leave a sign.
I think you guys hit on a lot of key points. As a game store you NEED to offer something an online store cannot, ie. friendly and clean environment with knowledgeable staff, demo games, playing space, snacks, etc. If you are nothing but a game warehouse with a point of sales, then there is no reason for anyone to buy from you unless you can magically beat an online store's prices.
I can definitely relate to everything on all of the lists. I was having a conversation with my local store about "those" customers. One of the main reasons I avoid gaming at the stores is the know-it-all customers that think you need their opinion. Or the only reason they want to play against you is to beat you into the ground and prove they're better then you. I want to play ALL the games, I don't want to master one. I went into our new Cool Stuff store. It was huge. The game wall was on the opposite side of the store. I was able to walk up and down the entire length, grab my game and get to the register before any one even spoke to me. Get personal with your repeat customers. And especially your big spenders. When I go into the store, I'm not spending .50 on a Magic Card, I'm spending $50 on the latest board game. Who do you think you're going to be able to sell "Ogre" to? The kid with the Magic Card? or the Guy that spends $50 a week on board games? Bathrooms....I've been in that dark hole......nightmares......I had to touch the toilet......can't wash it off......it just won't come off....... Become more than just a store. Since I watched my first TableTop (sorry, you were second) I've been hooked. Like one of you said, have computers running videos from all the big names. If I see a new game, I take a picture of it, head home and jump straight on UA-cam looking for Dice Tower, TableTop or Watch it played to give me a review. (I just want to know who has to clean up the game after Tom dumps it on the table). Get more people hooked on games. It doesn't take expensive computers to run videos. Jump on ebay and stock up on crappy PC's. Very good advice though I enjoyed it as I do all your Top 10's.
I always look forward to a top 10 - they're my favourite vids that you put out, but this one fell a little flat for me. Maybe because I don't have a good game store nearby, but I think a lot of this list could just as easily be applied to any store, not just a game store. To put it another way, I think the theme of "game store" has been tacked on to the question "what makes a good store?" Speaking personally, I watch your videos because I'm a hobbyist looking to further my knowledge of gaming, through your recommendations (which, don't get me wrong, I've found enormously helpful with a lot of your other vids). You must get a lot of suggestions for top ten lists, but to give an example for something that I would like to see over "what makes a good game store?" - I would like to see a solo play top ten list from you guys (please let me know if you've already made one... I can't find it). Anyway, I'm not having a go... Just thought I'd share my thoughts. Have a good one.
A lot does apply to retail stores in general but they did have a few things that apply to game stores specifically like comfortable chairs, demos, etc. But honestly if anyone thinking of opening a store or currently have one found any of the list eye opening they should rethink things or work in a retail store before opening one that has strong customer service.
Many of these lists aren't for everyone. Some of them might be worth skipping for some people. :) This was taken at a game con..with a lot of game stores..it is a good message for the location. They did a top 10 on ways to design a board game, and another on how to design a rule book specifically. Those were totally not for me....it just means one more show I can skip.
Riley Crowder It is a good message but the message is should be blindingly obvious to stores. At least the ones with any form of previous retail experience. The ones I see most "Hobby" game stores not following are not having games for kids and avoiding games with a wider appeal sometimes called mainstream or mass marketed games. Its a business. You stock what the customers are likely to buy. That separates a full game store from the hobby game store where board games are often secondary from CCGs and comics and such. But if you have to tell a proper full game store they should stock Monopoly or Taboo are not likely to do so well. Hobby gamers are a very small minority of the customers that buy games.
I had so much fun watching this video. It's not often I feel like I had fun watching one of the vids from Dice Tower. Usually I just count them as informational. But this one was easily the most enjoyable. Make more like this, and I'm likely to stop skipping through them for just the information I want to hear.
Pre bag your bulk dice!... I dont wanna spend 30 minutes pawing through a bucket of dice trying to put together a set for Dungeons & Dragons to find out that you don't have the d4 to complete the set.
Zee's #7 is pretty much a given. I went to a store on numerous occasions and was treated pretty poorly. They were so elite that when it came to game night, you could pretty much know that you weren't getting into any game because they had their set friends come in and take all the spots. I've seen many people just walk out. It isn't about friends, it is about paying customers.
I hope we as gamers can clean up our act. So many of us smell. Maybe it is the air conditioning or lack of windows down and air circulation, but we need to offer hygiene advice. Ask yourself, why aren't there more women in here next time you hang out at the local store. Tom, Zee, and Sam you are great. Keep up the great work. I look for your videos daily.
Not a bad top 10 list but its surprising and unfortunate that some of the things on the list even had to be mentioned. I will say this video is clearly made more for a "hobby" game store as opposed to a game store. Much of it applies though. Its important NOT to neglect the bulk of the game buying public. Tom touched on it by saying sell monopoly and other popular games. Hobby gamers, though are usually repeat customers, are dwarfed by the larger game buying public. PS I watched this at my store eating a ham sandwich (Sorry I was out of Ramen) but I paused it and demoed a gear cube for some customers. Customers come first, some places apparently forget that which is a little insane to me but I know it happens.
I only know of two gaming stores that have survived longer than 5 years. ONE of them is a printing shop that can create you almost any card game that exists very quickly with many online orders but they are small and way overpriced. 10 people in that store and it's packed. The other because it's HUGE and has many MANY tables, in fact two rooms to play games in. Each room is typically bigger than most gaming stores, their problem though is that it smells so bad in there I refuse to go. When you go in ahead of your friends and they ask you which room we should play in and your answer is "well would you prefer wet dog mixed with stinky socks, or major BO and vomit" It's going to probably be the last time you go in.
@38:00 so true. I've walked into stores multiple times, and stood in front of the counter, and still had to say, loudly "hello, does anybody work here" before someone even looks up from their game of magic.
Tip: Do not have random children/urchins manning the register. I used to go (occasionally) to a game store that was very disorganized. (They could have benefited from many of the top ten essentials listed above, so I'm not focusing on those, although I guess my comment might fall under the "professionalism" umbrella.) The thing that always got to me was the urchins (as I came to think of them). The owner's wife/girlfriend/babymomma? (not sure which, I didn't know the owner that well) often watched over the shop--a number of times that I was there, there was a bevy of 8-12 year old children as well. (To be fair, I recognize that childcare can be hard to come by, and that sometimes the children and their friends need to hang out at the store, where they can be properly supervised.) But when I (a customer) want to buy an expensive game, it makes me a little worried when one of the children/urchins rushes up to man the heretofore abandoned counter. At that point, I make sure that I only use cash (because I don't trust the store to keep my credit card information safe and secure). That's a problem. If your customers don't trust you to keep their personal information private, they're less likely to buy things, and less likely to plunk down the old credit card. "Professionalism" includes being a "real store" that your customers can trust and count on. While children are lovely, they often aren't the best employees, especially when they're fairly young still. At some point, even the "gamer troll" type of legend is preferable, provided he (she?) is an adult and gives off that vibe, at least...
"A sense of professionalism.... sense of *rattling of dice in front of microphone* professionalism" Cracked me up. Yeah, that was professional ;) Great list.
Hey dice tower, would Tom, zee, and Sam consider making a top ten "filler" games list. Games that play in 30 minutes or less? I'm new to board game hobby and am looking to even out the time frames of the games that I already have! Please and thanks for all the time you pour into your reviews.
+momentomori11 Mo games...Mo problems lol 30 minutes is almost so short you'd be better off just chatting, but to give you a real honest answer, I think poker games are well within that time frame, so are games involving marbles, "dice games" like king of tokyo, blokus for simple play, Star trek attack wing or xwing for more depth, heroclix, an old game called "inner circle", Abalone. Those are all my favorite fast play games, that are still enjoyable, and yes I am serious about marbles :)
Often times I'll buy a game from a store if I really want it because even though I got amazon prime....I don't wanna wait a day or two to get it...i want it now haha
Any Canadians out there, if you are in the GTA any time soon, you need to go to J&J Cards in Waterloo, lower prices than Amazon USA!!! They have 2 full aisles of floor to ceiling goodness and have almost every game I have ever tried to buy.
There are 2 games stores in the Kansas City area one is about a 20 minute drive away from me and the other is an hour drive away. I go to the one an hour away (Tabletop Game and Hobby) every single time now because they have the best customer service of any gaming store I have ever been in. I called them once asking about a game because I wanted to replace a damaged version I had and instead of just selling me the game they told me about the publishers customer service department and I got the broken part replaced FOR FREE! I used a 3 strike rule with the closer store and they struck out quick. The store has major issues with the employees playing games instead of helping customers, not having any modern/popular games in stock, and not offering any customer service. Customer service is everything in a game store. DO NOT tell a customer that walks in and asks for help that they have to come back later in the WEEK because you are running a DnD campaign at the time during the hours that you are advertised to be open.
I know this sounds lame but I would really like to see a top 10 train game list. or even top 10 historic games. Even if it was a podcast top 10 list. But great show guys I can't praise you guys enough for the good job on the subtitle graphic, it really gives the show a professional look.
* Loyalty programmes are great. I like to be rewarded for keeping my local store afloat. * Hate it when I can't get the stuff I want. Nothing grinds me like eagerly approaching the x-wing miniatures ready for buying, and then there's nothing but a bunch of Tie-bombers and an aces-pack left. Have the hot stuff available * Integrate online-store and the shop. Let me see if you have a product online, and have it put to a side to fetch it later
My #1 is: Have an organized store! Put all the games in sections. Like, wargames, kickstarter, euro, casual. And maybe even those sections have sections. As in have it so well organized that new people don't have the feeling of searching for that needle in the haystack. That is something I miss a lot. Have those sections filled to the brim, even if there are multiple of the same game in it, so it looks like you have a ton of games.
My local game store is run by a single guy and he does a great job. If I ask for a game he doesn't stock, he won't hesitate offering to order it online for me.
I own a game store. I offer all the things outlined in this video. Clean store. We have 2 very clean bathrooms. It has a modern look. We offer many items. We have a 500+ demo library. etc. Snacks. We struggle to get gamers in the door. To be frank, gamers say they want all these things (I did to and is why I opened my store) but they rarely support it with sales. As gamers you can't expect top notch amenities without supporting the store. Sam even brought up trying to match online sales. That is impossible if you are offering a large play area, hire highly knowledgeable staff, demos, snacks, etc. Margins are very low. Discounting just kills what little profit you would have made. All the "online presence" in the world won't help. Unless you are a cool stuff inc. It is frustrating to be one of the stores "doing it right", but my competitor with the trollcave store does 10X the sales.
I feel you. I also own (co-own actually) a store. We do as best as we can but we are up against 3 other stores, 2 are troll stores and 1 is a Comic store that does gaming so far on the side they hide it in the basement. The comic store does better sales for the big games and they have no boardgames whatsoever. All they do is Magic, Pokemons, Yu-gi-oh and Pathfinder and they are open only til 9ish even on Friday for FNM. WTF??? We are open all night, have an open gaming area visible from the front, a huge demo library and we have drinks and food and at least one person who is knowledgeable about each aspect of gaming there at all times and we barely get any profit.
I've my local game store flat out tell me to go on Amazon to order something because he didn't feel like ordering it. This was not on just one occasion. Ridiculous.
As a customer I have a lot of difficulty purchasing big games from my FLGS. I'm happy to spend $15-20 on something in store, but swinging +$60 on a single purchase is too heavy on my wallet. My question is, how do I balance out my desire to support my FLGS, with my need to be economical?
I've often wondered about this too, John. In my mind, I really enjoy the space in which I play games (since our local store has many tables) and because I don't pay anything to play there for hours at a time, I feel comfortable spending more money there on board games then I could find online because I want to support the business that provides me free entertainment.
I usually just try to balance my online purchases to my local purchases. If there is a substantial difference in price and I'm low on money I will likely buy online, but most of the time if the difference in price is minimal, say less than $5, I try to purchase it at my local shop. I also don't flaunt my online purchases at the store, out of respect. The local shops know you can't always buy everything from them. Just try to give them Your business as you are able and don't be obnoxious about your purchases from other establishments. This way you support your local store but aren't breaking the bank either. Hope this helps!
There have been times when I've walked into a store and you can't even tell who is working and who is there hanging out or whatever. After browsing and grabbing a game I wanted and waited at the counter without any service, after maybe 5 minutes I just walked out, not a word was said to me the whole time I was there.
I'm a table-top gamer from Australia, and i won't name names...but there is one specific store in sydney (quite well known) in which the store owner hovered behind me and constantly told me I was putting the board game onto the shelf the back to front. She did it so many times that I just walked out....
Haha. British consumers are watching this video with their jaws open. "They're allowed to use the bathroom?? In the actual shop??? Snacks????? CHAIRS???? MORE THAN ONE LIGHTBULB!!!!????"
I am a Brit. I suppose the nature of the shop and that they would hold gaming tournaments and demos would mean that chairs, toilets and snacks would be necessary for longer stays. Other shops you would not expect to find that - go to a newsagents - would you expect them to have toilet for customers?
skyblaze eterno I am also British. I think it's just normal for consumers to expect access to a public "restroom" in most stores in America. In this country I would expect to be refused access to the toilet in ANY shop, even if I'd just spent £1000 on their products. I think 70% of the people found in a UK McDonalds are only there for the public facilities! Even my favourite local game shop couldn't meet half the criteria on the list provided here. Mind you, their shop was built before most houses had indoor toilets, so I can forgive them most things.
When I was stationed in West Germany (back in the 80s) I knew a guy who came to visit our group by train from England (where he was stationed) and he always bemoaned the lack of any 'public facilities' there.
10, safety, I will not want to game if I feel like I will get robbed 9 comfortable, good AC, good chairs 8 Inventory, If you have problems with running out of stuff, order more and keep up with what you have and what you do not. 7 know your inventory, hire people who know what they are doing, too many times I walk into a store and I ask a question, they look at me like I have three eyes. Or at least have a computer that I can look up information. 6 Gaming area, Well defined with a lot of room, with big tables. DO NOT put stock for sale where you want people to play games. 5 friendly staff, 'nuff said 4 Variety of games, again goes into inventory, I would like to buy a copy of Flash point but you only have 30 copies of Carcassonne taking up all your space, keep a back stock 3 Calendar, 2 Up to date website w/ calendar, Let people know when events are and when things happen and keep them up to date, if you have to cancel or change dates I would like to know about it. 1 Well established game library w/ demo copies. Sometimes I do not want to shlep around my games, also sometimes I would like to try a new game before I shell out a lot of money for a game, this is also handy if you do not have a knowledgeable staff.
My biggest suggestion, that was kind of mentioned, is MAKE AN EFFORT TO DRAW IN WOMAN! You are missing out on a huge group of potential clients. I want to buy games and get into gaming, but I (and many other females) don't feel safe or don't feel like we belong when being in most gaming stores. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have gone into a store and been met with looks of shock, as if no one in there has ever seen a girl before. There has been a lot of research into woman and gaming and what appeals to them...USE IT! ...Sorry if I offended anyone, that wasn't my intention. In the end this is just my opinion even if it is closely shared by many other woman (and some men) that I know.
KuddlyKisses At the same time if women take offence to to everything men did or didn't do we'd have a lot less to do than we do right now. If we don't try to get into the hobby, we can't blame the men for it. Proof is in the pudding. Most women don't play. Yes, BG's are dominated by men, but they really are meant for kids (just check the ages) and still the men play no holds barred, so what's stopping us? In design, theme and game-play BG's lean a lot more towards the female demographic than the male (Takenoko, Tokaido, Love Letter, Seasons, Once Upon a Time, Fairy Tale, Caverna, and so on), and yet men still play them, despite the art being a little silly and the hobby being "kid's stuff". It's up to the woman to play, not men to try and lure us in. If we play we play, if we don't, big whoop that's our choice. You want them to make an effort to draw in woman? Stop complaining about the hobby not being 'woman-friendly' and just play the games. This is what this hobby entails. Goofy titles and goofy games with a lot of goofy men (no offence guys). Horror Games, Space games, Fantasy games, Worker Placement, Six hour long campaigns TCG, RPG with six year long campaigns, and all the other 'nerdy' and 'dorky' things VG don't like. If you don't like that, then take up knitting or something else. The hobby won't change for woman (please dear god don't change for woman). If you do like the hobby then go to the store, flip the bird and own the fact that you are a gamer. And quite frankly most BG stores are grateful you're there. If they're being asses in the store that is their problem, they can't afford losing a customer, so their loss. In Short: Just Play games.
Mythoscope ...wow...that was quite the reply. I just want to clarify that I am not trying to "complain" about anything or "blame the men for it" and it was not my intention to offend men or male gamers or even male store owners I was just making a suggestion (maybe I shouldn't have used CAPS. I was just trying to highlight the main point :P ). To further clarify, my original comment is meant for store owners and/or people wanting to own/run/manage a game store no matter what gender they are. My point is that a lot of woman DO play boardgames, but they are hesitant to play them in board game stores (regardless of what games are there) likely due to the fact that a lot of the points mentioned in the video aren't present in the store such as a clean/tidy store, control of their customers/noise control, etc. My comment was never meant to be directed solely at men, it is meant for anyone thinking about running a game store. I'm sorry if I offended you, that wasn't my intention and I wasn't complaining...I was making a suggestion. I suppose the difference is greatly determined through tone and I seem to have conveyed the wrong one...internet hazard :P
KuddlyKisses Ah, sorry about that then. I reread your comment and could see where you were coming from >_< Feeling a little silly right now XD But I guess it's a lot different here in SA. Due to the very small interest we have in BG's they really can't afford to chase away customers. Here women and men are both welcomed with equality, and it's really nice. :) Part of the reason I went off on your comment is the amount of feminist comments I've been seeing on the net, it just grates me a little bit. Especially when it comes to gaming. Video or otherwise. I'm a girl who has been LANing with a bunch of guys for over two years now (the only girl :P), and I just find it tiring how many women in my town complain about 'not feeling welcome' in LANing or RPG groups. Just get in there and play! :\ lol But Like I said, I do see where you are coming from, and understand that the situation is not the same in other countries. :) And thanks for being nicer than I was XD
Actually not...I have simply worked in customer service for a good number of years, and I can tell when someone isn't doing it right as a store. Sometimes, poor customer service manifests itself in the lack of an encounter.
Sam Healey I get the impression that some stores just employ their friends - while that can be fun its not necessarily good for business. A Chinese proverbs says that a person should never open a store if they can't smile. You can tolerate poor customer service if its a one off and you get a bargain but you'll probably not go there again People should take their money elsewhere if they get treated poorly. As an example I was queing in a busy Starbucks and eventually got to be served - instead of dealing with me the young man behind the counter decided he'd rather deal with some girl who wasnt even in the queue - I told i him it was rude , made a bit of a scene and walked out. I rarely go to Starbucks anymore
Tom, I have been watching your videos for nearly a year now. This was the final straw. I am going to open a gaming store in Brisbane, Australia. When I do, in about 5 years time, I will take your advice, and if I do, I'd like your recommendation to shop there. ;)
sreyn237 Hey I’m watching this vid for the first time, and it says your comment is “5 years ago”...well, Did you open the store? Did you get that recommendation?
For those of us who are already knowlegable that is great, but for trying to draw in new players it is helpful to have someone who can answer those questions.
Both are necessary. You need someone with good customer service skills to keep people in the store and wanting to come back. Being Knowledgeable though is your leg-up on internet stores. Anyone who learns about a game online can quite easily buy that game online. Relying on those people to choose to come to your store rather than buy the game online is a recipe for disaster. Whereas providing knowledgeable interaction to someone who has 'chosen' to enter your store can sell a game you might not otherwise sell. There's an easy mistake people make in assuming that the people most dedicated to a hobby are the target market of the producers of that hobby. Hobbies would die if they relied on hard core enthusiasts and completionists. Those people are important for the development and advancement of the hobby, but at times they can be downright toxic to the growth of the hobby. Hobbies live and breathe on their successes in drawing in casuals.
Friendly staff is #1. But if I can't communicate with a staff on subject of games, I'm loosing reason to go to that store. Because if I just want a buy game, I can buy it online. Staff in my local store is completely clueless on a subject. I lost interest visiting them just because of that (and yes, they were friendly).
As a semi-retired GW (WHFB, 40K) player, one of the reasons why I've lied low on these is that boardgames are simply more cost effective. I was a true GW fanboy since 1998, but as of today I've opened my eyes and am finally free of the "oh you got to buy the latest very expensive new model in order to be competitive" mentality and to be honest I feel like a burden has been lifted!(although it is now replaced with the burden of "oh no what new boardgame am I getting!")
It's a bit of a surprise to hear that so many game stor owners do not even take the basics of customer satisfaction into account. The customer is king.
xDD brilliant delivery on the presentation. Hi guys ") Thanks for this Invaluable info! Black Diamond Games site is currently under maintenance, I was wondering if you can point me in the direction to any other resources relevant to setting up a TCG/TTG store please? Setting up in the UK as a small independent passion based business and would love to get as much primary research done as possible :) Thank you
Cool Stuff in Maitland area is great! Hollywood location is fine as long as you don't go past the publix. Made that mistake walking with my family. The store itself is great, but the neighborhood is very shady after 100 yards
i live in malta a small island south of italy and there are literally 2 game stores worth visiting on the island and they are both terrible, one couldnt give a hoot about its customers and the other is overly focused on getting you to buy a game and get out and neither has a good selection of games, i hate buying online and getting games shipped to malta is a hassle and expensive, its so annoying the store this list describes sounds like heaven for gamers, i would spend alot of my time and money in this store for sure.
Omg I love how you guys hit all the points of a lovely game store in Manhattan that will not be names it's out dated, staff are elitists the 2 that is there, old games, trying to push a game on to me, etc etc u hit a lot of points so if anyone knows a good game store please reply to this oh and let's say the store is around 33rd st. FYI so any others let me know plz!
Discounting old stock is an issue one of the local stores here has. They are still selling their D&D 4E books for release day prices even though it's the previous edition, has been the previous edition and isn't selling like the current edition. I'm not paying full price for something that sat on your shelf for four years. No one else wants it, I do, cut me a deal and I'll get those 4E books no one wants off your shelf.
I'm actually a little surprised that nobody has just left their stack of games they would have bought on the counter and walked out if the workers couldn't be bothered to make a sale. Do tend to agree with the list, though - good for any store with some points specific to games.
This is from 2014 is there an updated one in looking to start up a store my self and its 2018 and most of this stuff was common sense that I had already planned to do and there are still so many questions I have that feel like they hold me back
This might be a tough one but I would like to see a Top 10 of Games to playing with Kids. As I said tough as there are young kids games and older kids games. My two daughters are 12-13 but have a very short attention span. Maybe you could do more than one.
"if nobody has bought this game in a few months, get rid of it" normally I'd agree, but since GW insisted that all their stuff cost you an arm and a leg, I've been going to local stores that have the old stuff for the old prices. Yes those exist in my area :P also in some cases you might find some rare games that are out of print like say hero scape or mission red planet. either way, love the top ten! :)
I go to a friends house to play games and when i go to their bathroom it has wood on the floor, that is rather freaky. What builder designed this house?????
Tom, Sam, and Zee: I'm making this required viewing for the staff of my music store. These are excellent, EXCELLENT, business practices. NO ONE has an excuse for ANY of your points.
What would the Dice Tower be without the videos with these three guys? They make me laugh out loud every single time. Live gaming soon also I hope. The 24 hour marathon was great. Make it 6 hours or 4 or whatever. just do it. Great video as always.
Zee is the best, always has me rolling. I hope he does more reviews!! I'd love to see more of him and Tom together or just him by himself.
That is interesting. He comes aliiiveeeeee on camera :3
Noe Huerta I think it's more that his closeness with Tom/Sam brings out more of his (probably more normally reserved) personality.
To be honest, i don't know anything about table top games (dabbled around in games like hearthstone and gwent only) but this randomly popped up as i was researching running a game store. I watched the whole video and haven't laughed so much at a youtube video in years.
I'll be checking out some more, you guys are amazing together and really play off each other nicely, a well earned sub!
You three are the best part of the whole Dice Tower network.
49:01, this always makes me laugh, even today when it's been an AWFUL day, this always makes me laugh, thanks Tom, Zee and Sam
For me it's 16:05 with Zee trolling followed by Tom and Sam being alarmed.
I just realized I've never seen any of these men's lower body
Once you have seen, you can't unsee...
Video Production tip: If you use multiple cameras, only use one microphone. strip the audio from the best mic whether it be the integrated one in the camera or standalone mic like on Tom's shirt. That way the equalization between cuts is the same. The only issue you have is ensuring the audio track is synced to the video.
18:50
I agree 1000% with this. A couple years ago a friend of mine and i decided to buy 2 islands of blood, he was returning to the hobby after a long time and i was fresh new in WH Fantasy.
When i went to the first store and asked for the product he simply said "We don't have it in stock". That's all. He didn't even bothered to look at me more than 2 seconds (i guess his laptop was more important than a customer).
Then i went to the second store which unfortunately didn't had them in stock either but the owner right away offered himself to order the boxes. When the store recieved the products we not only bought the boxes but a lot of paint pots and other stuff for a total value of 200€.
A money that we would have spent in the other store if the seller had offered himself to order the stuff.
The later store is always my first choice since that day. Guess what happened to the former: despite years of success, being even a large franchise in the area with up to 8 stores, they closed the next year, and not only because awful customer service, the store itself was indeed a bad placed troll cave with very poor stock. When the owners got to the top, years ago, they thought they could get lazy and don't care about customer service anymore because they had the largest loyal customer base in the area. Obviously, they thought wrong.
The Queen-Sized Feline rocked this list!
I can just picture now: a new show on Bravo: Game Store Savior by Sam Healy!!! :)
One thing you guys didn't explicitly mention: along with cleaning the bathrooms: YOU MUST STOCK THE BATHROOM with TP and HAND SOAP.
I happen to live and work really close to a game store that I think gets it right. One thing I thought was amazing was the owner of the store sets aside an hour each week to speak with game players about his store. I have never seen that before, and I think it is something more should try if they want to succeed. Interestingly enough, I have pretty much stopped buying games. I pretty much only play games at conventions due to my schedule, and have a limited budget. HOWEVER, many traditionally non-game players have asked me for a store. This owner knows word of mouth advertising is FANTASTIC advertising. One more thing: an "open game day" where the customer can bring his own stuff in to play (brilliant: gets a customer involved, and frees up--and potentially trains, staff on what is out there).
Question: a) would you guys mind if people mentioned game stores by name? and b) I'd love to post a link on my FLGS website (which I do not work for or are directly affiliated with). Would you guys mind?
I would love to see some Zee Garcia reviews if he has the time/interest
Especially of all his really obscure favorites!
Yes more Zee!
I can give you a review of Zee. Happy to help. Here goes. "Very entertaining reviewer yet family friendly. He explains his opinions in depth so viewers can form their own opinions. I rate him two board game boxes way up."
I love that you rolled a crapload of dice for that roll off. I like the look in Sams eyes. The excited expression of a mini's player who finally gets to roll his pile of dice. :)
I recently walked into a store to buy root. Had the money for game and all expansions. Was completely ignored. I was less of a customer than the guy standing at the counter contemplating what mtg card to buy. After 1min he finally moved away and the store worker just straight up ignored me. Walked out and paid an extra $10 for the game at another store.
Air Conditioning! LOL, my wife still waits in the car after going in our FLGS on one hot summer night, and somebody had B.O. Bad!
Also agree with treating people nicely and not making them feel like they don't belong, Great List!
Love this video. There are two local game shops in the city where I go to college and I went to one twice before deciding to solely patronize the other store. The first store I went to had next to no merchandise, the workers ignored me for 15 minutes while I tried to find a particular comic book, and when I asked for assistance the workers looked at me like I was a crazy woman. It was a very uncomfortable atmosphere. The other game store, which I now patronize regularly, has a great set of workers. They remember all the regulars, have almost all the things in this list, and are always open to demoing a game for you or discussing the pros and cons of a game or a comic with a customer. They also have clearly posted events and let people know about those and other events based on their expressed interests and purchases. For example, if you mention liking anime the cashier will tell you about our weekly anime night event. Game On Games in C/W Nebraska!
I've never been to the US, so i don't know how buisnesses work at yours, but game stores here in Europe usually don't have restrooms, snacks, chairs to sit down, demos to play, nothing of that ^^
At least none i know in a 300km radius i live in. Must be tough to run a buisness over there at all. :(
A good 75% of the time that I walk into a new gaming store, the whole operation is mediocre at best. 40-50% of the time, I have an awful experience at a place that I was really hoping to enjoy. As a general rule, these places can't stay open for more than a couple of years before closing shop. This is not because the market isn't there, but because people want to make a business out of their hobby without applying good business sense.
These entrepreneurs NEED to pay attention to this video, and rewatch it several times.
instablaster.
Great list guys. The one thing I would think to add was: have working air conditioning! It's awful sitting in a store with a bunch of folks (some of who, inevitably don't wash because we're dealing with nerds here) and having to deal with that sweaty funk. Be willing to spend the money to maintain a comfortable temperature. I love my FLGS but I've had to leave earlier than I anticipated a few times because it got so hot and uncomfortable in there.
The BEST boardgame store I have been too, better then all the stores and cafes I have visited is one in Chang Mai, Thailand. Named the Game Tree. The guy running the place is an American guy named Stu, A gamer who makes the place.
You arrive alone, he will get you into a game or play a game with you himself,
Arrive with a group of gamers he will set you up with a game,
Arrive with a group of non gamers he will spend the time to teach you a game again and again everytimd you visit if necessary.
Also has a Nintendo Wii U available to play upstairs for if you dont want to play that game everyone else is playing or you want to wait for people to finish a game to join in, best idea ever.
Totally agree with Sam. Happened to twice in the same day. Baffled that they wouldn't even offer to order it--they were guaranteed the sale!
29:00 just saving my spot to finish watching later ☺
Have a clean bathroom? That's an important tip for ANY kind of store. Period.
I think that this must be my favourite ever Top Ten video. Very funny but honest too.
Its old, but this is probably one of your best Top 10s. Most of this list covers the reasons I go to restaurant Meetups for gaming and NOT to game stores.
A local shop I used to frequent in Montana had lockers you could rent. Ppl could keep tons of games, snacks, magic cards, or whatever in there rather than have to lug them to and fro. Cool idea!
POST YOUR SCHEDULED EVENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Post it in the store, post it on meetup, post it on your website. Dear lord, why is this not obvious.
This! My FLGS has their schedule on the wall of their game, not in the store part. I always miss events because I'm not the game room often enough
An events calendar for the next 30 days, right there on the front page of the website. 95% of the time, that's the reason I went on the website.
Hey Seth you're the top comment!
The Wyvern's Tale in Asheville, North Carolina does every one of these things dead on. Hands down not only my favorite FLGS but my favorite local business. Just great people. Deklan and Simeon knew my name and greets me by name every time after my second visit.
Greet* not greets. Stupid cell keyboard.
As a consumer, 90 percent of the time I support my local shop. We have a nice shop that has been in business for 25 years (changed locations a few times). my rule of thumb is if the game is in the ballpark price of amazon (aka within 10 bucks), I always buy it at the store. A couple of times I had to go the amazon way (eclipse at 55 bucks was to much of a discount). We owe it to our communities to support the local shop whenever feasible.
The best top ten ever guys! I wish our local game store The Green Dragon would follow your tips. I love going there but he needs a lot of improvement. Every one of your tips are needed in his store. He could be way better. Clean bathroom is number one. You walk in and sometimes no one is there. No one greats you. Great stock on stuff but no demo's. Keep up on the current games and when the new ones are coming out. I hope he watches this and improves his store. We need to keep our local stores alive. Bring in new people to the wonderful world of games.
"I'm a queen-sized feline" - Sam Healey
Why isn't this a meme yet? quick photoshop of cat ears and nose and done, all over the internet
The Gamers Grind
cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2075685_md.jpg
David Seidner but where are the cat ears?
Hey, it's a start. Feel free to add cat ears and repost. :)
David Seidner , Will do. I am in Califorina so he would have to fly across the country to come punch me. But I would say that thing was the best foot in the mouth situation I seen in Dice Tower yet. Your great Sam but expect a little friendly teasing.
Very true. I'm often feeling like i'm intruding someone's game/party when i come to a few of our local game stores. And you know that awkward silence, when you know they are waiting for you to leave to move on with their game or talk. And if they have an online page/store, then they should keep it UPDATED and not throwing mysql errors on you for 3 months (yet facebook page still alive) or just close it and leave a sign.
I think you guys hit on a lot of key points. As a game store you NEED to offer something an online store cannot, ie. friendly and clean environment with knowledgeable staff, demo games, playing space, snacks, etc. If you are nothing but a game warehouse with a point of sales, then there is no reason for anyone to buy from you unless you can magically beat an online store's prices.
Entertaining top ten list! You guys seem like you would be fun to hang out/play games with. Hope to see you guys at Gencon this year.
I can definitely relate to everything on all of the lists.
I was having a conversation with my local store about "those" customers. One of the main reasons I avoid gaming at the stores is the know-it-all customers that think you need their opinion. Or the only reason they want to play against you is to beat you into the ground and prove they're better then you. I want to play ALL the games, I don't want to master one.
I went into our new Cool Stuff store. It was huge. The game wall was on the opposite side of the store. I was able to walk up and down the entire length, grab my game and get to the register before any one even spoke to me.
Get personal with your repeat customers. And especially your big spenders. When I go into the store, I'm not spending .50 on a Magic Card, I'm spending $50 on the latest board game. Who do you think you're going to be able to sell "Ogre" to? The kid with the Magic Card? or the Guy that spends $50 a week on board games?
Bathrooms....I've been in that dark hole......nightmares......I had to touch the toilet......can't wash it off......it just won't come off.......
Become more than just a store. Since I watched my first TableTop (sorry, you were second) I've been hooked. Like one of you said, have computers running videos from all the big names. If I see a new game, I take a picture of it, head home and jump straight on UA-cam looking for Dice Tower, TableTop or Watch it played to give me a review. (I just want to know who has to clean up the game after Tom dumps it on the table). Get more people hooked on games. It doesn't take expensive computers to run videos. Jump on ebay and stock up on crappy PC's.
Very good advice though I enjoyed it as I do all your Top 10's.
I always look forward to a top 10 - they're my favourite vids that you put out, but this one fell a little flat for me. Maybe because I don't have a good game store nearby, but I think a lot of this list could just as easily be applied to any store, not just a game store. To put it another way, I think the theme of "game store" has been tacked on to the question "what makes a good store?"
Speaking personally, I watch your videos because I'm a hobbyist looking to further my knowledge of gaming, through your recommendations (which, don't get me wrong, I've found enormously helpful with a lot of your other vids). You must get a lot of suggestions for top ten lists, but to give an example for something that I would like to see over "what makes a good game store?" - I would like to see a solo play top ten list from you guys (please let me know if you've already made one... I can't find it).
Anyway, I'm not having a go... Just thought I'd share my thoughts.
Have a good one.
They've said before, they don't play solo games so that list is not going to happen.
A lot does apply to retail stores in general but they did have a few things that apply to game stores specifically like comfortable chairs, demos, etc. But honestly if anyone thinking of opening a store or currently have one found any of the list eye opening they should rethink things or work in a retail store before opening one that has strong customer service.
Jeff3210 Zee plays solo games, and he listed his top 10 via twitter.
Many of these lists aren't for everyone. Some of them might be worth skipping for some people. :) This was taken at a game con..with a lot of game stores..it is a good message for the location.
They did a top 10 on ways to design a board game, and another on how to design a rule book specifically.
Those were totally not for me....it just means one more show I can skip.
Riley Crowder It is a good message but the message is should be blindingly obvious to stores. At least the ones with any form of previous retail experience. The ones I see most "Hobby" game stores not following are not having games for kids and avoiding games with a wider appeal sometimes called mainstream or mass marketed games. Its a business. You stock what the customers are likely to buy. That separates a full game store from the hobby game store where board games are often secondary from CCGs and comics and such. But if you have to tell a proper full game store they should stock Monopoly or Taboo are not likely to do so well. Hobby gamers are a very small minority of the customers that buy games.
I had so much fun watching this video. It's not often I feel like I had fun watching one of the vids from Dice Tower. Usually I just count them as informational. But this one was easily the most enjoyable. Make more like this, and I'm likely to stop skipping through them for just the information I want to hear.
Pre bag your bulk dice!... I dont wanna spend 30 minutes pawing through a bucket of dice trying to put together a set for Dungeons & Dragons to find out that you don't have the d4 to complete the set.
Zee's #7 is pretty much a given. I went to a store on numerous occasions and was treated pretty poorly. They were so elite that when it came to game night, you could pretty much know that you weren't getting into any game because they had their set friends come in and take all the spots. I've seen many people just walk out. It isn't about friends, it is about paying customers.
I have somehow never come across this before... Zee has always been a treasure ;)
There's a button on the bottom right of the video, I highly recommend watching at 1.25 speed, maybe even 1.5 speed.
I love Endgame in Oakland. It has all this and much much more. Cafe coming soon! Glad I helped Kickstart it.
I hope we as gamers can clean up our act. So many of us smell. Maybe it is the air conditioning or lack of windows down and air circulation, but we need to offer hygiene advice. Ask yourself, why aren't there more women in here next time you hang out at the local store. Tom, Zee, and Sam you are great. Keep up the great work. I look for your videos daily.
Not a bad top 10 list but its surprising and unfortunate that some of the things on the list even had to be mentioned. I will say this video is clearly made more for a "hobby" game store as opposed to a game store. Much of it applies though. Its important NOT to neglect the bulk of the game buying public. Tom touched on it by saying sell monopoly and other popular games. Hobby gamers, though are usually repeat customers, are dwarfed by the larger game buying public.
PS I watched this at my store eating a ham sandwich (Sorry I was out of Ramen) but I paused it and demoed a gear cube for some customers. Customers come first, some places apparently forget that which is a little insane to me but I know it happens.
What's the difference between a hobby game store and a game store? Agricola/Eldritch Horror/Catan vs Monopoly/Sorry!/Risk?
I only know of two gaming stores that have survived longer than 5 years. ONE of them is a printing shop that can create you almost any card game that exists very quickly with many online orders but they are small and way overpriced. 10 people in that store and it's packed. The other because it's HUGE and has many MANY tables, in fact two rooms to play games in. Each room is typically bigger than most gaming stores, their problem though is that it smells so bad in there I refuse to go.
When you go in ahead of your friends and they ask you which room we should play in and your answer is "well would you prefer wet dog mixed with stinky socks, or major BO and vomit" It's going to probably be the last time you go in.
My board game store does pretty much all of these things pretty well. Three cheers.
@38:00 so true. I've walked into stores multiple times, and stood in front of the counter, and still had to say, loudly "hello, does anybody work here" before someone even looks up from their game of magic.
Can I dream? A shop that isn't full of unwashed Magic kids (or 32 year olds). #hatin
Truth!
Unwashed kids or 30 somethings of any fandom.
Tip: Do not have random children/urchins manning the register.
I used to go (occasionally) to a game store that was very disorganized. (They could have benefited from many of the top ten essentials listed above, so I'm not focusing on those, although I guess my comment might fall under the "professionalism" umbrella.) The thing that always got to me was the urchins (as I came to think of them). The owner's wife/girlfriend/babymomma? (not sure which, I didn't know the owner that well) often watched over the shop--a number of times that I was there, there was a bevy of 8-12 year old children as well. (To be fair, I recognize that childcare can be hard to come by, and that sometimes the children and their friends need to hang out at the store, where they can be properly supervised.) But when I (a customer) want to buy an expensive game, it makes me a little worried when one of the children/urchins rushes up to man the heretofore abandoned counter. At that point, I make sure that I only use cash (because I don't trust the store to keep my credit card information safe and secure).
That's a problem. If your customers don't trust you to keep their personal information private, they're less likely to buy things, and less likely to plunk down the old credit card. "Professionalism" includes being a "real store" that your customers can trust and count on. While children are lovely, they often aren't the best employees, especially when they're fairly young still. At some point, even the "gamer troll" type of legend is preferable, provided he (she?) is an adult and gives off that vibe, at least...
"A sense of professionalism.... sense of *rattling of dice in front of microphone* professionalism"
Cracked me up. Yeah, that was professional ;) Great list.
Hey dice tower, would Tom, zee, and Sam consider making a top ten "filler" games list. Games that play in 30 minutes or less? I'm new to board game hobby and am looking to even out the time frames of the games that I already have! Please and thanks for all the time you pour into your reviews.
+momentomori11 Mo games...Mo problems lol 30 minutes is almost so short you'd be better off just chatting, but to give you a real honest answer, I think poker games are well within that time frame, so are games involving marbles, "dice games" like king of tokyo, blokus for simple play, Star trek attack wing or xwing for more depth, heroclix, an old game called "inner circle", Abalone. Those are all my favorite fast play games, that are still enjoyable, and yes I am serious about marbles :)
Often times I'll buy a game from a store if I really want it because even though I got amazon prime....I don't wanna wait a day or two to get it...i want it now haha
Any Canadians out there, if you are in the GTA any time soon, you need to go to J&J Cards in Waterloo, lower prices than Amazon USA!!! They have 2 full aisles of floor to ceiling goodness and have almost every game I have ever tried to buy.
There are 2 games stores in the Kansas City area one is about a 20 minute drive away from me and the other is an hour drive away. I go to the one an hour away (Tabletop Game and Hobby) every single time now because they have the best customer service of any gaming store I have ever been in. I called them once asking about a game because I wanted to replace a damaged version I had and instead of just selling me the game they told me about the publishers customer service department and I got the broken part replaced FOR FREE! I used a 3 strike rule with the closer store and they struck out quick. The store has major issues with the employees playing games instead of helping customers, not having any modern/popular games in stock, and not offering any customer service. Customer service is everything in a game store. DO NOT tell a customer that walks in and asks for help that they have to come back later in the WEEK because you are running a DnD campaign at the time during the hours that you are advertised to be open.
I know this sounds lame but I would really like to see a top 10 train game list. or even top 10 historic games. Even if it was a podcast top 10 list. But great show guys I can't praise you guys enough for the good job on the subtitle graphic, it really gives the show a professional look.
* Loyalty programmes are great. I like to be rewarded for keeping my local store afloat.
* Hate it when I can't get the stuff I want. Nothing grinds me like eagerly approaching the x-wing miniatures ready for buying, and then there's nothing but a bunch of Tie-bombers and an aces-pack left. Have the hot stuff available
* Integrate online-store and the shop. Let me see if you have a product online, and have it put to a side to fetch it later
Blame Fantasy Flight on the most recent X-Wing releases, they didn't make enough and the stores all got allocated.
My #1 is: Have an organized store!
Put all the games in sections. Like, wargames, kickstarter, euro, casual. And maybe even those sections have sections. As in have it so well organized that new people don't have the feeling of searching for that needle in the haystack. That is something I miss a lot. Have those sections filled to the brim, even if there are multiple of the same game in it, so it looks like you have a ton of games.
My local game store is run by a single guy and he does a great job. If I ask for a game he doesn't stock, he won't hesitate offering to order it online for me.
I own a game store. I offer all the things outlined in this video. Clean store. We have 2 very clean bathrooms. It has a modern look. We offer many items. We have a 500+ demo library. etc. Snacks. We struggle to get gamers in the door. To be frank, gamers say they want all these things (I did to and is why I opened my store) but they rarely support it with sales. As gamers you can't expect top notch amenities without supporting the store. Sam even brought up trying to match online sales. That is impossible if you are offering a large play area, hire highly knowledgeable staff, demos, snacks, etc. Margins are very low. Discounting just kills what little profit you would have made. All the "online presence" in the world won't help. Unless you are a cool stuff inc. It is frustrating to be one of the stores "doing it right", but my competitor with the trollcave store does 10X the sales.
I feel you. I also own (co-own actually) a store. We do as best as we can but we are up against 3 other stores, 2 are troll stores and 1 is a Comic store that does gaming so far on the side they hide it in the basement. The comic store does better sales for the big games and they have no boardgames whatsoever. All they do is Magic, Pokemons, Yu-gi-oh and Pathfinder and they are open only til 9ish even on Friday for FNM. WTF??? We are open all night, have an open gaming area visible from the front, a huge demo library and we have drinks and food and at least one person who is knowledgeable about each aspect of gaming there at all times and we barely get any profit.
Sorry to hear this guys! Wish I lived near you.
I've my local game store flat out tell me to go on Amazon to order something because he didn't feel like ordering it. This was not on just one occasion. Ridiculous.
As a customer I have a lot of difficulty purchasing big games from my FLGS. I'm happy to spend $15-20 on something in store, but swinging +$60 on a single purchase is too heavy on my wallet. My question is, how do I balance out my desire to support my FLGS, with my need to be economical?
I've often wondered about this too, John. In my mind, I really enjoy the space in which I play games (since our local store has many tables) and because I don't pay anything to play there for hours at a time, I feel comfortable spending more money there on board games then I could find online because I want to support the business that provides me free entertainment.
+Ladimir Geake blandly stating support them anyway really doesnt address my issue.
I usually just try to balance my online purchases to my local purchases. If there is a substantial difference in price and I'm low on money I will likely buy online, but most of the time if the difference in price is minimal, say less than $5, I try to purchase it at my local shop. I also don't flaunt my online purchases at the store, out of respect. The local shops know you can't always buy everything from them. Just try to give them Your business as you are able and don't be obnoxious about your purchases from other establishments. This way you support your local store but aren't breaking the bank either. Hope this helps!
I've never seen a game I want with a price difference of only $5.
I usually diss Dice Tower but this was one of the best videos they have made. Some good advice - I thought they were store owners...obviously not
Good Lighting, so much ! There's a store in Ljubljana that's so dark. It' called "Black hole" after all
There have been times when I've walked into a store and you can't even tell who is working and who is there hanging out or whatever. After browsing and grabbing a game I wanted and waited at the counter without any service, after maybe 5 minutes I just walked out, not a word was said to me the whole time I was there.
Entertaining Episode.
Really funny guys.
Thank you very much for the video. Its very usefull. Also thanks for good humors!)))
I'm a table-top gamer from Australia, and i won't name names...but there is one specific store in sydney (quite well known) in which the store owner hovered behind me and constantly told me I was putting the board game onto the shelf the back to front. She did it so many times that I just walked out....
A certain store on Pitt St perhaps?
Haha. British consumers are watching this video with their jaws open. "They're allowed to use the bathroom?? In the actual shop??? Snacks????? CHAIRS???? MORE THAN ONE LIGHTBULB!!!!????"
I am a Brit. I suppose the nature of the shop and that they would hold gaming tournaments and demos would mean that chairs, toilets and snacks would be necessary for longer stays. Other shops you would not expect to find that - go to a newsagents - would you expect them to have toilet for customers?
skyblaze eterno
I am also British. I think it's just normal for consumers to expect access to a public "restroom" in most stores in America. In this country I would expect to be refused access to the toilet in ANY shop, even if I'd just spent £1000 on their products. I think 70% of the people found in a UK McDonalds are only there for the public facilities!
Even my favourite local game shop couldn't meet half the criteria on the list provided here. Mind you, their shop was built before most houses had indoor toilets, so I can forgive them most things.
When I was stationed in West Germany (back in the 80s) I knew a guy who came to visit our group by train from England (where he was stationed) and he always bemoaned the lack of any 'public facilities' there.
10, safety, I will not want to game if I feel like I will get robbed
9 comfortable, good AC, good chairs
8 Inventory, If you have problems with running out of stuff, order more and keep up with what you have and what you do not.
7 know your inventory, hire people who know what they are doing, too many times I walk into a store and I ask a question, they look at me like I have three eyes. Or at least have a computer that I can look up information.
6 Gaming area, Well defined with a lot of room, with big tables. DO NOT put stock for sale where you want people to play games.
5 friendly staff, 'nuff said
4 Variety of games, again goes into inventory, I would like to buy a copy of Flash point but you only have 30 copies of Carcassonne taking up all your space, keep a back stock
3 Calendar,
2 Up to date website w/ calendar, Let people know when events are and when things happen and keep them up to date, if you have to cancel or change dates I would like to know about it.
1 Well established game library w/ demo copies. Sometimes I do not want to shlep around my games, also sometimes I would like to try a new game before I shell out a lot of money for a game, this is also handy if you do not have a knowledgeable staff.
My biggest suggestion, that was kind of mentioned, is MAKE AN EFFORT TO DRAW IN WOMAN! You are missing out on a huge group of potential clients. I want to buy games and get into gaming, but I (and many other females) don't feel safe or don't feel like we belong when being in most gaming stores. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have gone into a store and been met with looks of shock, as if no one in there has ever seen a girl before. There has been a lot of research into woman and gaming and what appeals to them...USE IT! ...Sorry if I offended anyone, that wasn't my intention. In the end this is just my opinion even if it is closely shared by many other woman (and some men) that I know.
KuddlyKisses I couldn't agree more!! I don't mind having a lack of girls, but being the only girl in the store can be a bit daunting :(
Cool
KuddlyKisses At the same time if women take offence to to everything men did or didn't do we'd have a lot less to do than we do right now. If we don't try to get into the hobby, we can't blame the men for it. Proof is in the pudding. Most women don't play. Yes, BG's are dominated by men, but they really are meant for kids (just check the ages) and still the men play no holds barred, so what's stopping us?
In design, theme and game-play BG's lean a lot more towards the female demographic than the male (Takenoko, Tokaido, Love Letter, Seasons, Once Upon a Time, Fairy Tale, Caverna, and so on), and yet men still play them, despite the art being a little silly and the hobby being "kid's stuff". It's up to the woman to play, not men to try and lure us in. If we play we play, if we don't, big whoop that's our choice.
You want them to make an effort to draw in woman? Stop complaining about the hobby not being 'woman-friendly' and just play the games. This is what this hobby entails. Goofy titles and goofy games with a lot of goofy men (no offence guys). Horror Games, Space games, Fantasy games, Worker Placement, Six hour long campaigns TCG, RPG with six year long campaigns, and all the other 'nerdy' and 'dorky' things VG don't like. If you don't like that, then take up knitting or something else. The hobby won't change for woman (please dear god don't change for woman).
If you do like the hobby then go to the store, flip the bird and own the fact that you are a gamer.
And quite frankly most BG stores are grateful you're there. If they're being asses in the store that is their problem, they can't afford losing a customer, so their loss.
In Short: Just Play games.
Mythoscope ...wow...that was quite the reply. I just want to clarify that I am not trying to "complain" about anything or "blame the men for it" and it was not my intention to offend men or male gamers or even male store owners I was just making a suggestion (maybe I shouldn't have used CAPS. I was just trying to highlight the main point :P ).
To further clarify, my original comment is meant for store owners and/or people wanting to own/run/manage a game store no matter what gender they are. My point is that a lot of woman DO play boardgames, but they are hesitant to play them in board game stores (regardless of what games are there) likely due to the fact that a lot of the points mentioned in the video aren't present in the store such as a clean/tidy store, control of their customers/noise control, etc.
My comment was never meant to be directed solely at men, it is meant for anyone thinking about running a game store. I'm sorry if I offended you, that wasn't my intention and I wasn't complaining...I was making a suggestion. I suppose the difference is greatly determined through tone and I seem to have conveyed the wrong one...internet hazard :P
KuddlyKisses Ah, sorry about that then. I reread your comment and could see where you were coming from >_< Feeling a little silly right now XD But I guess it's a lot different here in SA. Due to the very small interest we have in BG's they really can't afford to chase away customers. Here women and men are both welcomed with equality, and it's really nice. :)
Part of the reason I went off on your comment is the amount of feminist comments I've been seeing on the net, it just grates me a little bit. Especially when it comes to gaming. Video or otherwise. I'm a girl who has been LANing with a bunch of guys for over two years now (the only girl :P), and I just find it tiring how many women in my town complain about 'not feeling welcome' in LANing or RPG groups. Just get in there and play! :\ lol
But Like I said, I do see where you are coming from, and understand that the situation is not the same in other countries. :)
And thanks for being nicer than I was XD
Judging from Sam's tips, seems like he'd have had a lot of unpleasant staff encounters...Sound like a good video would be Top 10 Staff encounters..XDD
Actually not...I have simply worked in customer service for a good number of years, and I can tell when someone isn't doing it right as a store. Sometimes, poor customer service manifests itself in the lack of an encounter.
Sam Healey
I get the impression that some stores just employ their friends - while that can be fun its not necessarily good for business.
A Chinese proverbs says that a person should never open a store if they can't smile. You can tolerate poor customer service if its a one off and you get a bargain but you'll probably not go there again
People should take their money elsewhere if they get treated poorly. As an example I was queing in a busy Starbucks and eventually got to be served - instead of dealing with me the young man behind the counter decided he'd rather deal with some girl who wasnt even in the queue - I told i him it was rude , made a bit of a scene and walked out. I rarely go to Starbucks anymore
Tom, I have been watching your videos for nearly a year now. This was the final straw. I am going to open a gaming store in Brisbane, Australia. When I do, in about 5 years time, I will take your advice, and if I do, I'd like your recommendation to shop there. ;)
sreyn237
Hey I’m watching this vid for the first time, and it says your comment is “5 years ago”...well, Did you open the store? Did you get that recommendation?
Knowledgeable Staff is an interesting one - I'd rather have someone who has good customer service skills, I can learn about games on the net
For those of us who are already knowlegable that is great, but for trying to draw in new players it is helpful to have someone who can answer those questions.
Both are necessary. You need someone with good customer service skills to keep people in the store and wanting to come back.
Being Knowledgeable though is your leg-up on internet stores. Anyone who learns about a game online can quite easily buy that game online. Relying on those people to choose to come to your store rather than buy the game online is a recipe for disaster. Whereas providing knowledgeable interaction to someone who has 'chosen' to enter your store can sell a game you might not otherwise sell.
There's an easy mistake people make in assuming that the people most dedicated to a hobby are the target market of the producers of that hobby. Hobbies would die if they relied on hard core enthusiasts and completionists. Those people are important for the development and advancement of the hobby, but at times they can be downright toxic to the growth of the hobby. Hobbies live and breathe on their successes in drawing in casuals.
True, and they actually made the point about friendly staff later on
Friendly staff is #1.
But if I can't communicate with a staff on subject of games, I'm loosing reason to go to that store. Because if I just want a buy game, I can buy it online.
Staff in my local store is completely clueless on a subject. I lost interest visiting them just because of that (and yes, they were friendly).
Spoiler: Sam's #1 will be TI3...
As a semi-retired GW (WHFB, 40K) player, one of the reasons why I've lied low on these is that boardgames are simply more cost effective. I was a true GW fanboy since 1998, but as of today I've opened my eyes and am finally free of the "oh you got to buy the latest very expensive new model in order to be competitive" mentality and to be honest I feel like a burden has been lifted!(although it is now replaced with the burden of "oh no what new boardgame am I getting!")
Awesome episode, really funny and interesting comments.
It's a bit of a surprise to hear that so many game stor owners do not even take the basics of customer satisfaction into account. The customer is king.
xDD brilliant delivery on the presentation.
Hi guys ") Thanks for this Invaluable info!
Black Diamond Games site is currently under maintenance, I was wondering if you can point me in the direction to any other resources relevant to setting up a TCG/TTG store please?
Setting up in the UK as a small independent passion based business and would love to get as much primary research done as possible :) Thank you
Does the dice tower crew live in florida? You mentioned the winter park cool stuff location.
Yes
Cool Stuff in Maitland area is great! Hollywood location is fine as long as you don't go past the publix. Made that mistake walking with my family. The store itself is great, but the neighborhood is very shady after 100 yards
i live in malta a small island south of italy and there are literally 2 game stores worth visiting on the island and they are both terrible, one couldnt give a hoot about its customers and the other is overly focused on getting you to buy a game and get out and neither has a good selection of games, i hate buying online and getting games shipped to malta is a hassle and expensive, its so annoying the store this list describes sounds like heaven for gamers, i would spend alot of my time and money in this store for sure.
Omg I love how you guys hit all the points of a lovely game store in Manhattan that will not be names it's out dated, staff are elitists the 2 that is there, old games, trying to push a game on to me, etc etc u hit a lot of points so if anyone knows a good game store please reply to this oh and let's say the store is around 33rd st. FYI so any others let me know plz!
Discounting old stock is an issue one of the local stores here has. They are still selling their D&D 4E books for release day prices even though it's the previous edition, has been the previous edition and isn't selling like the current edition. I'm not paying full price for something that sat on your shelf for four years. No one else wants it, I do, cut me a deal and I'll get those 4E books no one wants off your shelf.
I'm actually a little surprised that nobody has just left their stack of games they would have bought on the counter and walked out if the workers couldn't be bothered to make a sale. Do tend to agree with the list, though - good for any store with some points specific to games.
Thank you all for the delicious entertainment.
This is from 2014 is there an updated one in looking to start up a store my self and its 2018 and most of this stuff was common sense that I had already planned to do and there are still so many questions I have that feel like they hold me back
I am thinking the same thing. I was going to use gamestartstores.com
Demo copys are great to turn into tournament prizes eventually
I had to pause the video after zee rolled the dice and was like "Boom...wait are we supposed to add those?" O_o I was laughing too hard.
i like how Tom had already totalled the dice far before Zee - made me chuckle
I'd be lucky to find a store at all, I'm pretty sure there are about 10 'game stores' in this country.
I feel like all this can be applied to most comic book shops.
This might be a tough one but I would like to see a Top 10 of Games to playing with Kids. As I said tough as there are young kids games and older kids games. My two daughters are 12-13 but have a very short attention span. Maybe you could do more than one.
Play not playing. Should not type in a hurry :)
Whats the ending song called?
"if nobody has bought this game in a few months, get rid of it"
normally I'd agree, but since GW insisted that all their stuff cost you an arm and a leg, I've been going to local stores that have the old stuff for the old prices. Yes those exist in my area :P
also in some cases you might find some rare games that are out of print like say hero scape or mission red planet.
either way, love the top ten! :)
i see what you are saying but I think that they were trying to say - if it aint selling make the discounts worthwhile
Awesome video. Very funny!
I think a clip of Sam's #5 should be made into a national (nay, international!) PSA.
Awesome video! You guys rock!
Dat Sam's Number 5!!!! So True!
EDIT: Zee's Number two even more true!
I install carpet for a living. You would be surprised how many people get carpet in their bathrooms.
I go to a friends house to play games and when i go to their bathroom it has wood on the floor, that is rather freaky. What builder designed this house?????
I'm surprised, no one had Air Conditioning on their list. That's almost a deal breaker for me.
What about an update on this list?