FLGS. If you build it, will they come? Today we take a look at the birth of an FLGS.
Greetings fellow wargamers! Caleb withWhite Metal Gameshere. This is the first in a series of articles that will follow the toils and struggles of game store and their owners We will examine how they are founded, how they are shaped, how they are ran, and ultimately, their demise as store after store loses the war to marked down online retailers and lack of player base.
To start with, we will examine a brand new game store, the first of many, or so the owner hopes.
Event Horizon Games is a new store in Raleigh, NC, that opened on Labor Day weekend. For those not native to the Triangle area, we have our share of game stores, over half a dozen in a thirty mile area. That’s a lot of game stores, even for a college town. In my time in Raleigh I’ve seen more than a few close down, each struggling a bit more than the last.
So when I hear about a new game store about to open, I always take the news with a grain of salt. The owner and primary shareholder, Paul Coulter, agrees to a sit down interview, despite the fact that he was opening the store is less than 48 hours.
Finding the store was a challenge because they didn’t have a sign up, just a banner in the window advertising their name. Guess the sign is on order.
Stepping into the store for the first time, my immediate thought is ‘how are they ever going to open in two days?’ The walls are upainted, carpenters are applying mud to the walls even as I stand in the middle of an empty store. Well, not empty. There are display racks, shelving, tables, boxes of product have begun to arrive ; all the pieces are there, but none of them are in the right places. Like a puzzle just out of the box.
However, there is a feeling of calm and confidence in the store. There is no rush, no worry. The worker’s move with purpose. EH has the feel of a ship . . scuttling across turbulent water, but definitely on course.
A countdown timer on their website reads:
1 Day, 16 hours, 27 minutes
Paul assures me. “We’re really at the finish stages . . . the last of the custom design display cabinets are being finished, then it’s just cleaning the carpet, laying out product.” A fresh order of product lays on the floor. Two days til they open and they’re only just now getting product. I’d say that’s cutting it close . . .
I watch as they check in inventory. There is barely enough to stock a shelf, let alone the 5300 square feet of store that is EHG. Four retails spaces were combined to create this gaming plaza. That’s a lot of space to heat, cool, and furnish. It’s often been said overhead is the death of the brick and mortar industry. “Most game stores are destination stores anyway. So we didn’t choose a space that was $30 a square foot. The difference is we can survive.” Paul tells me.
“How do you plan to compete with online retailers like Amazon?” I ask
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“You can’t play a game at Amazon. If you want to keep a neutral place to play, you have to support your local gaming store.” So it’s a give and take relationship. You support the gaming store, and they guarantee you a clean, safe, comfortable place to play with a reliable, courteous staff. “We’re going to have stock on hand, so you don’t have to wait to get it in the mail. You can even assemble it here.” Paul indicates an area where a dedicated hobby area will soon be located, for gluing, painting, and the like.
Paul moved to the area in 2006 from California. Paul relocated to the Raleigh area for a job with Alltel, but opening his own game store was never far from his thoughts. “I’ve had a business plan in place since 98.” Fifteen years is a long time to plan for a business.
Paul set up EHG as an LLC. It’s a joint venture with multiple investors, including several investors from his native state, one of whom is his oldest son. Of the locals, another of Paul’s sons, Gavin, is a partial owner and acts as the Event Organizer. His younger son Michael acts a night manager. It’s a family business. “I’ve got seven kids. This is my inheritance to them. If it makes money, they can open their own store and hopefully not drive it into the ground.”
Speaking of driving stores into the ground, Paul was a part of two gaming stores before this, both of which went under. In the case of the first store, Paul is quick to point out that the owners were all equal shareholders and as such there was no direction for the store. No one really made any decisions to move the store in a direction, good or bad, and both stores went under after Paul left the stores. “We had seven partners but no majority partner . . . so nobody could tell anyone else what to do and because of that nothing ever really happened. The people (owners) weren’t business people.”
The first store in question opened when Magic the Gathering was in it’s hey-day (not that it’s showing any signs of stopping, but the store developed a bad reputation for ripping customers off. “If a kid came in and wanted a soda, they’d trade him a soda for his Shivan Dragon, which at the time was a $20 card!” So Paul left.
The second store Paul was a part of was in need of a RPG and Miniature specialist. The other owners were had opened a comic book store that dabbled in gaming. The store couldn’t make overhead costs and closed as well. “This is where I get to find out if everything I thought went wrong in the other stores was real.”
Another way of putting that is it’s all on Paul. If the store fails, he can’t blame the other owners this time around. Pressure? Yes, but let’s remember, pressure turns coal into diamonds.
So what will be different this time around? “At the new store (EHG) there is one person in charge (Paul). I have a lot of input, but I’m willing to hear different ideas from the joint owners. And if they can prove me wrong, hey, I’ll go with their idea.” Sort of like a tribe. Many warriors, but only one chieftain.
“My wife helps out a lot. I tap her for help with the books, monetary decisions. She helps me interpret how mothers and parents will look at the store.” The store shares a shopping center with a grocery store and a women’s apparel store. “I want mothers to drop their kids off while they get their hair done or go grocery shopping, or they can stand outside and watch their kids while they (the kids) do their thing.”
The store takes advantage of an open concept. “From a parents perspective, I can stand anywhere in the store and see my kid.” EH boasts an impressive 2000+ square foot dedicated gaming space, but there are large windows running the length of the area, double panned. “Most gaming stores are really loud. It’s all about sound breakage. Most of my tables are beyond that barrier of windows.” There’s also a wheelchair ramp leading up to the space. Feels a little like entering a battle arena.
There are also two semi-private gaming rooms. These rooms are easily the size of a bedroom, and could support a small group of gamers looking for a more intimate, personal experience. “These rooms will also be set up as digital tabletops, so if GM’s want to use projected maps, or steam games from their laptop, that’ll show up on the tv and they can play their game.” The rooms have the same windows used in the dedicated gaming space, so they should afford some measure of isolation.
But unlike these isolated gaming areas, the main room will be in full view of the public. “There will be a few premier gaming tables over by the window. So folks can look in and see whatever popular game is being played currently. X-wing this weekend.” In fact, Gavin tells me that an entire squad of Mandalorian warriors will be on patrol this weekend. It’s a cosplay group and they’ll be at the store helping to kick off opening weekend.
In a quiet (relatively) corner of the store, there is a sofa and coffee table. “It’s going to be a book nook. You can come chill out, bring a book, take a book, play a game. It’s whatever they want to do with it.” He says ‘they’, not what ‘he’ wants to do with it. It’s clear he’s trying to foster a since of community ownership. “I want this to be the Cheers of gaming stores.”
With all these upgrades, it’s like the Millenium Falcon of game stores. Completely pimped out with all the trimmings. I had to ask. “How much was your opening investment in this store, including product?” Paul thought about it for a second. “Close to fifty (thousand)”. I was expecting him to say twice that!
“We had friends look on Craig’s list for the shelves, the windows, the lockers . . . we probably saved close to $20,000 just shopping for deals.” The lockers he mentioned aren’t in the retail space. They’re in a corridor behind the retail space. This same area houses restrooms, terrain storage, and yes, lockers. A row of nine club lockers sit by, idly waiting occupants. “You can use them for books, bags, dice.” In fact, Gavin shows me how his Warmachine bag fits comfortably in the locker with tons of room left over for, well, another bag or two.
The lockers also encourage clients to return to the same store, since all their stuff is already there anyway.
From the wooden shelves, second hand furnishings and ice cream cooler in the corner give the store less a feeling of being a retail venue and more a feeling of someplace inviting and familiar. .
EHG is on the border between the small town of Garner and the capital city of Raleigh. When asked about the location, Paul indicates “Price and location where the major factors. This store is halfway between State (NCSU) and Wake Tech (technical community college). Two major colleges in the area. “There is a traffic count of over 31,000 cars a day on the highway that goes by the store.”
When asked about his product line he plans to carry, Paul states “We want to be a store that does more. We want to carry used books and games, comic books, sports cards, some collectibles, but also card games, miniatures, board books, roleplaying games.” I asked him how knowledgeable his staff was about the games they plan to carry. “Well, we don’t have a staff. Everyone you see here (five or six people) are investors. But Gavin, Michael, and I are the gamers. Between us we cover the majority of the games we carry. My wife handles mostly board games, Lee (another investor) is a GM.”
“So if I come in and want to learn D&D, someone can help me with that?” Gavin smiles, confidently “Which edition?”
While they don’t plan to do video games, they do plan to have some classic, legacy, trash 80’s games. Atari, Nintendo 64.” It’s clear Nostalgia is something Paul is passionate about. “I want to be able to pull out old Gamma World modules and run those again, or play Necromunda or Mordheim.” They in fact already have plans to start a Blood Bowl league.
Paul is currently a consultant with another company as his primary source of income, so he plans to let his wife handle the day shift at the store. This will also be a good way to keep the family close by. And he assures me they play all the same games Paul does. The family that plays together, stays together, it would seem. “I’ll be right here in the back room, if they need me.” Paul has an office on site.
Paul tells me that a good store has about a 12-15 miles radius. More than that and the gamer’s will find a closer store. “I already have plans for the second and third store.”
For opening weekend, they plan to have a casual Friday with Magic and store copies of board games, but on Saturday they plan to kick it into high gear with a 35point Steamroller (Warma-Hordes) tournament, as well as Star Wars themed miniatures gaming all day. Did I mention the Mandalorians? Go big or go home, I guess.
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I can see that the need to get back to work, so I wrap things up. “Any fear about opening day?”
Paul looks tired, but confident. “No fear. I feel really good. I’ve done this a few times.”
It seems to me they’re set up for success. Best of luck, guys!
In our next article, we will examine a thriving game store, several years into it’s operation. In addition, we will revisit EHG six months from now to see how things are shaping up, and what’s changed for them.
PS: I visited EHG the morning of their opening. As expected, the shelves were being stocked, and the investors looked tired but eager. Tune back in 6 months from now to see which of their plans came to fruition, and how business is doing!
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So what will be different this time around? “At the new store (EHG) there is one person in charge (Paul). I have a lot of input, but I’m willing to hear different ideas from the joint owners. And if they can prove me wrong, hey, I’ll go with their idea.” Sort of like a tribe. Many warriors, but only one chieftain.
There are also two semi-private gaming rooms. These rooms are easily the size of a bedroom, and could support a small group of gamers looking for a more intimate, personal experience. “These rooms will also be set up as digital tabletops, so if GM’s want to use projected maps, or steam games from their laptop, that’ll show up on the tv and they can play their game.” The rooms have the same windows used in the dedicated gaming space, so they should afford some measure of isolation. 
“We had friends look on Craig’s list for the shelves, the windows, the lockers . . . we probably saved close to $20,000 just shopping for deals.” The lockers he mentioned aren’t in the retail space. They’re in a corridor behind the retail space. This same area houses restrooms, terrain storage, and yes, lockers. A row of nine club lockers sit by, idly waiting occupants. “You can use them for books, bags, dice.” In fact, Gavin shows me how his Warmachine bag fits comfortably in the locker with tons of room left over for, well, another bag or two.
