Quote from: Seanchai;461119And sells in Wal-Mart and gets tons of support, etc..

Seanchai

That, too.

But I have found that their brick & mortar initiative for the new releases has really helped bolster the few LGSs in my area and drive business towards the small shops.  At least, the ones willing to put in the effort to run a family-friendly business, and not a grognard-den.  The toy/comic/card/general game shops do well, but the miniatures/RPG focused shops tend to putter out unless there's a significant pocket of Warhammer/Warmachine players in the area.

Although a couple of the more CCG/Comic oriented shops around me have started stocking Essentials and running Encounters, which is promising, considering they usually don't do RPG events.  I think the "evergreen" nature of Essentials and the boxed-set format is a little more attractive to them instead of the ever-flowing stream of supplements.

Still, I don't know how that's going to affect D&D.  If they can nab the younger MtG and Yugi-Oh players, or the casual board-game fans, it might help some.

Quote from: Peregrin;461098You do realize that MtG has been doing extremely well and was even called out by name on one of the last few quarterly reports?

RPGs are money-holes from a "big publisher" standpoint, but Magic is still a very strong brand, and I've seen a pretty big resurgence in play in my own area, as well as a bunch of marketing across appropriate demographics, like Adult Swim, Penny-Arcade and PAX (they gave everyone a free starter deck in the convention swag-bag).  As far as WotC goes, Magic is still their lifeblood and it's doing well for them.

No, I did not know this. I will have to adjust my assumption because I was under the impression that MtG was in the decline.

At two nearby gaming stores, the main cash flow is from card games like Magic: the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, etc ...  The 4E D&D + Pathfinder books, board games, and comic books are slow movers in comparison.

One of the managers mentioned that if there were no D&D or Pathfinder games being hosted at the store, they would actually get rid of rpg games altogether and not stock them anymore.  They've had to throw so many rpg books into the bargain bins over the last several years, that it's not turning much of a profit for them.

For the last year or so, they didn't bother backordering any older 4E D&D books outside of the PHB1/MM1/DMG1 and PHB2.  (I wouldn't be surprised if they already completely stopped backordering these particular titles too).

That's the nice thing about Essentials from a store owner's perspective -- you order the full set of Essentials, and you only have to restock when someone buys something, vs. buying the regular 4e stuff and having to buy more product to be "up to date."  

Honestly if I were handling RPG products in a store, that's how I'd do it.  Stock Essentials and core Pathfinder with the other books available on backorder, and for the rest of the RPG section, stock 1 or 2 copies of the "new shiny", a la Dresden Files, and maybe a handful of the cheaper, quirkier indie games.  Being the "convenient" location for people to buy books by having them in-stock is a nice idea, but it rarely works out well in the long-run.  Though I guess you could do pre-orders on new releases so you'll have them on launch, and so you're sure you'll move the book.

Quote from: jeffNo, I did not know this. I will have to adjust my assumption because I was under the impression that MtG was in the decline.

It was for a little while in the early 00s, but it's been coming back pretty strong -- granted WotC has put a ton of money into marketing it to new players, with free starter decks, cards, and other promotional materials that are easy to come by.

Quote from: Peregrin;461142Honestly if I were handling RPG products in a store, that's how I'd do it.  Stock Essentials and core Pathfinder with the other books available on backorder, and for the rest of the RPG section, stock 1 or 2 copies of the "new shiny", a la Dresden Files, and maybe a handful of the cheaper, quirkier indie games.  Being the "convenient" location for people to buy books by having them in-stock is a nice idea, but it rarely works out well in the long-run.  Though I guess you could do pre-orders on new releases so you'll have them on launch, and so you're sure you'll move the book.

For the most part.

At these two nearby gaming stores, they don't even bother stocking non-WotC and non-Paizo rpg books anymore.  They found that non-WotC/non-Paizo/non-d20 stuff, ended up sitting on the shelves collecting dust for many years.  They eventually made their way into the bargain bin.

Quote from: ggroy;461143For the most part.

At these two nearby gaming stores, they don't even bother stocking non-WotC and non-Paizo rpg books anymore.  They found that non-WotC/non-Paizo/non-d20 stuff, ended up sitting on the shelves collecting dust for many years.  They eventually made their way into the bargain bin.

That is weird to me.  There is a game shop here in Salt Lake City, waaaaay out of the busy downtown area right next to a pawn shop with very little visible presence from the road.  Walk-in traffic is just about nil.  Yet, they are quite busy at nearly any time of the week, and they stock pretty deep on several non-WotC/Paizo lines, and at least a showing for a dozen more.  

Mostly CCGs and Warhammer, a raft of computer stations, and the side wall dedicated to Euro-games (the other wall is for Games Workshop), but the shelves of RPG books are still a pretty respectable variety.

Quote from: StormBringer;461148That is weird to me.  There is a game shop here in Salt Lake City, waaaaay out of the busy downtown area right next to a pawn shop with very little visible presence from the road.  Walk-in traffic is just about nil.  Yet, they are quite busy at nearly any time of the week, and they stock pretty deep on several non-WotC/Paizo lines, and at least a showing for a dozen more.  

Mostly CCGs and Warhammer, a raft of computer stations, and the side wall dedicated to Euro-games (the other wall is for Games Workshop), but the shelves of RPG books are still a pretty respectable variety.

Sounds like the person who runs this store has a genuine interest in rpg games.

I have no idea what the managers of the nearby gaming stores here are really into.  Though as far as I can tell, they keep the two stores orderly and clean, and routinely kick out people who are behaving badly and/or stinking up the place.  They treat the two stores as a business first, and not as a "hangout" for dysfunctional nerds/geeks.

Hastur's has it!

I love that place.  I find odd stuff like JadeClaw, and my daughter loves the stuffed Cthulhu toys...

Quote from: Esgaldil;461189Hastur's has it!

I love that place.  I find odd stuff like JadeClaw, and my daughter loves the stuffed Cthulhu toys...

I think they have cut back on some of the variety.  I haven't seen anything really off the wall in there for a while.  Some Battletech books, a bunch of RIFTS and White Wolf, I think I saw Shadowrun, and the core books from a couple smaller press folks.  Hollow Earth Expedition is one I remember recently; they seem to rotate those through fairly regularly, so JadeClaw might be back on the shelves any time or maybe not at all.

They do have some pretty cool gamer-related merchandise.

Quote from: ggroy;461157Sounds like the person who runs this store has a genuine interest in rpg games.

I've talked to or overheard him a couple of times.  He is probably about my age, so I would assume his interests correlate fairly well.  He has a couple of employees, they seem to be more knowledgeable on the CCGs and stuff.

QuoteI have no idea what the managers of the nearby gaming stores here are really into.  Though as far as I can tell, they keep the two stores orderly and clean, and routinely kick out people who are behaving badly and/or stinking up the place.  They treat the two stores as a business first, and not as a "hangout" for dysfunctional nerds/geeks.

The best way to do it, really.  Unless a particular owner plans on using it as a tax dodge.  They say the best way to make a million dollars with a gaming store is to start with two million.  I think the ones that run it as a business first and foremost do much better than the ones that open up gaming space for their nerd-posse.

Quote from: StormBringer;461203Unless a particular owner plans on using it as a tax dodge.

How exactly would they use it as a tax dodge?

Does this involve buying new stuff for personal use, and deducting the cost as a "store expense" when it comes to taxes? (ie. Such as under the store's LLC structure).

Or is it something more sinister, like money laundering?

Not that I encourage anyone to break the law, but it'd be super-easy to launder cash through a game store.

You'd report the income you got from selling H to schoolkids or from knocking over the local Clunky Drunky as entry fees to non-existent weekend tournaments. Then you'd run real ones on the weekend, pocket the cash in hand at the end of the weekend without reporting it (I suspect this goes on anyhow, money laundering or no). Do it 50 times a year, and you can break it up into small enough amounts that it wouldn't raise any eyebrows.

Quote from: Pseudoephedrine;461271Not that I encourage anyone to break the law, but it'd be super-easy to launder cash through a game store.

You'd report the income you got from selling H to schoolkids or from knocking over the local Clunky Drunky as entry fees to non-existent weekend tournaments. Then you'd run real ones on the weekend, pocket the cash in hand at the end of the weekend without reporting it (I suspect this goes on anyhow, money laundering or no). Do it 50 times a year, and you can break it up into small enough amounts that it wouldn't raise any eyebrows.

I don't doubt this happens already. Not too different from vending/arcade machines (very common) or little "gift" stores that stay open despite no foot traffic. I figure comics stores probably did this a lot in the speculator days and for all I know still do.

Quote from: ggroy;461266How exactly would they use it as a tax dodge?

Does this involve buying new stuff for personal use, and deducting the cost as a "store expense" when it comes to taxes? (ie. Such as under the store's LLC structure).

Or is it something more sinister, like money laundering?

Yeah, I wasn't thinking of the criminal uses.  Just a place to bring in just about enough money to cover rent and expenses, but otherwise it keeps the owner out of the house and gives a place for his buddies to hang out most of the night playing Magic or RPGs or whatever.  Generally like you said, they buy stuff and call it an expense or use some other deduction, like capital losses or inventory depreciation.

Nothing sinister, just something to do that doesn't involve actually running a store.