GameStop's concept stores: A "laboratory," not a Hail Mary
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It seems to me that this type of store is always precariously close to shutting down, or is funded by the owner's spouse/old career.
I like the concept as a novelty, but I think tabletop players are wary of supporting a chain instead of their LGS. Might as well go to Walmart at that point.
I like the concept as a novelty, but I think tabletop players are wary of supporting a chain instead of their LGS. Might as well go to Walmart at that point.
I feel like most areas already have niche places to do this, and they're constantly hanging on by a thread.
I don't think this is going to save gamestop. Speaking from experience, having people hang out at your store doesn't keep the lights on. I had a local store that did this stuff, we would pop in on occasion. One day they were just gone and there was a for rent sign out side the window. Never heard a bad word about the place and there always at least 10 people hanging out in there playing games.
Holy shit, I live a mile from this store. Small world. I can tell you it looks much nicer and has way more foot traffic than it's ever had. I've even felt the urge to pop in to check out what people are playing when I'm picking up dinner from the Jersey Mike's which is right next door.
Yepppp, Gamestop is in no position to deliver on this as a successful chain either. It's a neat idea but who the hell is gonna spend serious money here? Also a lot of universities and even some high schools are investing in gaming clubs and esports setups for students to enjoy, which is practically the only age group that could support this kind of business model. I just do not see any long-term future for this, there competition is essentially free.
I live in Tulsa and have been to this particular store several times since its renovation. It's a neat concept, but I've never actually seen anyone in there using the board game table or the gaming stations at the back of the store. I'm sure it happens -- just never seen it myself. I took my nephew there to play games at the gaming stations for about an hour, and it was $5 a person, which is reasonable. There are like 30 different gaming monitors and setups, so Gamestop would really shine if it was able to find a way to keep those seats filled all the time (tournaments, events, launch night events where you get to play the game a little early with friends at the store, etc.).
The employees are still as pushy as ever when it comes to pushing merchandise, but I get that it's not really their choice to do that.
Overall, the changes make the store a lot more inviting and welcoming, but it doesn't feel like something that is going to save Gamestop. As someone else mentioned, there are several local places in Tulsa that already have similar setups to the new Gamestop and dedicated patrons that keep them running, and I would much rather support local businesses than Gamestop.
The employees are still as pushy as ever when it comes to pushing merchandise, but I get that it's not really their choice to do that.
Overall, the changes make the store a lot more inviting and welcoming, but it doesn't feel like something that is going to save Gamestop. As someone else mentioned, there are several local places in Tulsa that already have similar setups to the new Gamestop and dedicated patrons that keep them running, and I would much rather support local businesses than Gamestop.
This is a great idea.
There's a board game cafe here in Victoria and the place is literally packed on weekends [the car games, in particular, are gross though, bring sanitizer!].
I would TOTALLY patronize a GameStop / EB Games version of this, especially what with all the video gaming setups.
edit: they'd need to offer food / refreshments to make money off these people though, no?
There's a board game cafe here in Victoria and the place is literally packed on weekends [the car games, in particular, are gross though, bring sanitizer!].
I would TOTALLY patronize a GameStop / EB Games version of this, especially what with all the video gaming setups.
edit: they'd need to offer food / refreshments to make money off these people though, no?
I think its a cool idea to move towards, but I'm not sure if this will be successful. GameStop still needs to move away from hammering people to buy buy buy every time they walk into the front door. I'm not confident that I will walk into one of these "community" driven GameStops to play games with people and not continue to be hammered to buy this and that constantly.
The high street needs to move in this direction, why would I both going to GAME when I can get same day from Amazon for cheaper? They need to make going to stores an experience and offer something Amazon can't.
so they are finally turning into what every local card shop is..........about damn time they focused on the social aspect as well as gaming.
Bingo. They don't even know the answer to this question, by the way. The article is rosy, but then you see this from the GameStop executive:
So they are trying to get feet in the door, which is vitally important, but will they make enough money from those people? They don't know.
It's also interesting that they still have sales quotas at these new stores.
I'd actually really enjoy it if GameStop had more stores like this. There are 2 tabletop gaming/card stores nearby and one is absolutely vile and the other one is in an incredibly inconvenient location. Meanwhile, there's a GameStop smack dab in the middle of a shopping area that would be large enough for this. Part of the problem with TTRPG and card shops is how utterly entrenched into a certain set of regular customers they can get.
I don't want to go to a mom and pop store that caters towards the worst elements of tabletop gaming because those people have been customers of theirs for a long time.
I don't want to go to a mom and pop store that caters towards the worst elements of tabletop gaming because those people have been customers of theirs for a long time.
I feel that this idea is way more suitable for a locally owned mom and pop business rather than a big multinational chain. You really need to be nimble with this kind of thing, changing out and customizing everything based on what your specific neighborhood/clientele is into and what they're asking for. And even then, most places like this are one of three things: 1) a hobby enterprise for the owner who doesn't depend on the income, 2) a failed dream for someone who loses their shirt, or 3) a money laundering operation.
If this expands, is GameStop Corporate going to give the local managers the freedom to make big changes and decisions almost on the fly? History would indicate a big fat no, but I guess we'll find out. I can already see the anecdotes like "corporate is telling us to push this new tabletop game that they bought 60 million of but nobody wants to play, so we're being forced to cancel all of the popular tournaments in favor of events based on this game."
If this expands, is GameStop Corporate going to give the local managers the freedom to make big changes and decisions almost on the fly? History would indicate a big fat no, but I guess we'll find out. I can already see the anecdotes like "corporate is telling us to push this new tabletop game that they bought 60 million of but nobody wants to play, so we're being forced to cancel all of the popular tournaments in favor of events based on this game."
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I personally love the idea of a place to engage face-to-face in both video and board games.
I am curious how they can make enough money to keep the doors open, although their current business model clearly isn't sustainable.
I wonder if Gamestop will start reporting MAUs.
I am curious how they can make enough money to keep the doors open, although their current business model clearly isn't sustainable.
I wonder if Gamestop will start reporting MAUs.
It's risky but it's also a business model that works quite well for LGS' already. There definitely are groups that gather at the local mall/strip mall to play D&D and I've seen this in multiple cities here in the Southeast US. In particular, in Knoxville TN I know of a store literally in shopping malls that already kindof does this, they buy/sell video games as well as having tables/events set up for tabletop. It is definitely more of a niche thing in general however, so it will be interesting to see if Gamestop can keep it up considering how mainsteam it is in the video game space.
It may seem strange to people on this forum but if you've ever played card games you've seen these store plenty of times, and they do work as mom & pops.
it's absolutely a niche thing. Niche things aren't going to save GameStop. That there are local places here and there that anecdotally do well (to say nothing about how many local game shops open and fail) doesn't mean it's something that will scale to the kind of mass market retail model GameStop needs.
In some areas there are local mom and pop music shops that are thriving, some even turn into small venues for live performances on nights and weekends, that doesn't mean anybody is itching to being back Sam Goody or Tower Records.
This is a fine concept, we have many businesses that rotate around this idea - movie theaters, bars, pubs, board game shops, coffee stores, etc, etc all revolve around social spaces with some minor tweak where you hang out. The big key difference is they sell food and alcohol as the way to really make their money. Its not a vastly scalable business, there's only room for 2-3 max in most cities, and it will not do a damn thing to help Gamestop in any real way. They have over 4000 stores in the US and short of super crazy innovation -- buy online/app and combine with pickup for amazon orders, reselling digital games, etc -- gamestop is going to shrink to 1/20th of the size it is now and there is no way it can survive as a public company.
In reality the company will shut down sometime in the next few years and small mom and pop video game stores that are more niche and serve local customers better will hopefully be allowed to thrive in the vacuum.
The PS5/xbox2 series I think is going to really expose how weak they are, the hardcore fans who will want to buy those systems day 1 are used to buying digital and online and will not want to put up with all the bullshit Gamestop has between deposits, rewards programs, protection, and the million other ways Gamestop is focused more on making money as its top priority rather than giving a pleasant and great customer experience. They will always fail because of that.
In reality the company will shut down sometime in the next few years and small mom and pop video game stores that are more niche and serve local customers better will hopefully be allowed to thrive in the vacuum.
The PS5/xbox2 series I think is going to really expose how weak they are, the hardcore fans who will want to buy those systems day 1 are used to buying digital and online and will not want to put up with all the bullshit Gamestop has between deposits, rewards programs, protection, and the million other ways Gamestop is focused more on making money as its top priority rather than giving a pleasant and great customer experience. They will always fail because of that.
Gamestop now to begin stocking Febreeze.Interact in a crammed room full of "gamers"?
Count me out.
Not a single GameStop in my area has the space to support this kind of model, and I agree with monetizing hanging out. Good luck with that on a national scale.
I'm already a cheap ass gamer, you can't even get me to buy chips and a drink while fellow nerds play Mario Kart.
I'm already a cheap ass gamer, you can't even get me to buy chips and a drink while fellow nerds play Mario Kart.
.Interact in a crammed room full of "gamers"?
Count me out.
"Gamestop stock surges!"
Same. They have the comic shop and then next door is the game shop.
The game shop used to have an arcade in it for like a week or so and I guess they realized how much maintenance was needed and they shut it down.
Years ago, like in 2000/2001 when I worked at an EB games fresh out of high school, there was a Games Workshop right next door. It was a nice little setup and it lasted longer than I thought it would. Though eventually it went out of business and the spot was taken by a sports collectibles place.
This would work really well for rural/small urban areas where Gamestops tend to have more room and where there aren't a ton of geek gathering sites to begin with. Having lived in Jackson Mississippi during my college years, I would have really appreciated something like this and many (though not all) of our Gamestops had the space to make it happen.
In bigger cities, however, they couldn't possibly afford the space and the competition would be too intense.
In bigger cities, however, they couldn't possibly afford the space and the competition would be too intense.
Very true, that is the interesting question. I doubt it will work in every single place Gamestop has stores but I don't doubt it working in some places pretty well. They won't be as profitable as the stores were before but they could make them profitable in places that are under-served for spaces like these.
Yeah definitely. There are a ton of small/medium sized cities in the US that GS already has presence in that could be perfect for this.
There was a month or so a couple years ago where EB Games in Canada was just throwing Axe Body Spray in with every purchase. I'm not sure if that improved things or made it worse.
Well the tabletop stores will work for flagships that are pretty large and there are a fair of those. The smaller ones you probably turn into try and buy kiosks. It's a novel idea. I don't think it saves them without cutting a ton of stores.
It'll be interesting to see if this is a novelty that wears off or if these lab stores have staying power. Table top in a larger store always seemed like a no brainer to me and hiring freelance DM's could be a massive selling point. I know plenty of people who love the concept of D&D but don't play because finding a DM or a group is hard, but probably not enough to bring in some serious cash.
This is a good idea to save the stores if they can tastefully moneytize it.
This is GameStop though, so they will ruin it soon enough.
They shouldn't have much, if any. Being a game store is what is killing GameStop, as it depends on people buying physical games, an increasingly niche market.
This is GameStop though, so they will ruin it soon enough.
They shouldn't have much, if any. Being a game store is what is killing GameStop, as it depends on people buying physical games, an increasingly niche market.
gamestop trying to bring the lan party and couch co-op fun to a new generation isn't a bad idea. I think itd be pretty great if it catches on, and tying card and tabletop games in with it is a no brainer. Its also a market gamestop should've started adding in more thoroughly a long time ago. The niche is certainly growing.
It's a cool idea, but don't you need to completely overhaul your business model with something like that? People will mostly walk in and play without buying anything.
You're most likely moving to a game cafe type model where you're selling them food and stuff to make their stay more enjoyable. Providing a community gaming space is nice and all, but it's not going to support the store on its own.
You're most likely moving to a game cafe type model where you're selling them food and stuff to make their stay more enjoyable. Providing a community gaming space is nice and all, but it's not going to support the store on its own.