http://investor.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2014-15-Press-statement-final.pdf (http://investor.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2014-15-Press-statement-final.pdf)
GWs 2nd half 2014 results are released and profits are down again. GW continues its decline, and seems to be blaming it on its front line sales staff, rather than its disastrous management decisions, and insistence that is sells 'collectable figurines' rather than games and gaming pieces.
With the rise of Warlord, Mantic, and others moving onto GWs ground with Kings of War and Bolt Action, and the Privateer Press threat from Warmahordes; GW has lost its monopoly, and its way. Basically the people that founded GW and who've been kicked out by bean counters are now running companies that are taking GW down.
I think we've been waiting a long time for the "killer app" that brings GW down. It appears the killer app is what always kills hydraulic empires - the god kings in management milk the subjects so hard they die, and then the barbarians who should be limited to picking at the margins just kick in the rotten gates and occupy the whole real estate.
Sales down by nearly 7% and profits down by 17%... Without delving in further, the profitability would be worrying me if I were a shareholder. They must have a massive level of fixed overheads that will result in profits dive bombing every time the sales slip even slightly. Another similar result in the next set of accounts would see them losing a third of their profits over a 12 month period. :o
I can't see them fixing this unless they buy in another huge licence like they did with LOTR (but I can't think of one that would be available?) or if they find a minor miracle in a new game/system. The planned changes to their fantasy setting are going to fail as well, you can't just throw away an entire world and decades of development, as that's one of your key ties to the customer base. People will keep buying when they've got a connection to the figures/world, take that away and you're just another company pushing a fantasy world.
And I doubt whether the board will ever blame themselves. This isn't a regular corporation where you hire a fancy suit with business knowledge and they can adapt to the market. You need to understand the industry and what it takes to get people buying again. Unfortunately the exact people they need to do that, are the ones now running the competition.
If they want to hire me on £100k per year, I'll go fix it for them... :D
When I pop into out local GW shop during the week (when it is open that is) it is always empty, compared to even 5 years ago. Will probably stock up on a few of the paints I use regulary just in case...
There is a certain morbid facination in watching the seemingly relentless decline of GW.
I wonder how bad it'll have to get before the CEO gets the boot? He'll certainly never admit to any failure.
Here's a poser; much as most of us dislike GW, or their business approach at least, would their implosion be a good thing or a bad thing?
Might be good for the smaller companies for a while, but I wonder whether it would cut off the most popular entry point for children into the wider hobby in the long run.
QuoteI wonder whether it would cut off the most popular entry point for children into the wider hobby in the long run.
I've never been convinced that GW bring that much new blood into the wider hoby. For years their business model has stressed that players of GW products are participating in the GW hobby and nothing else and this was emphasised the few times I went to Nottingham to play in the Historical days, while the Warhammer historical and WarMaster Historical people would walk arround and chat to the 40K players there was absolutely no interest the other way round and the staff in the shop didn't seem to understand there were other non GW games available and couln't get their heads arround what the historical chaps were doing.
Thread got me thinking, I looked this up. www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,9597.45.html
We are an ageing bunch, are new players coming through from GW?
All at my club are over 40, the next nearest club is mostly under 40 but apart from GW, Saga and similar fantasy/SF skirmish games (mainly unpainted figures too), no figure games are played it's all boardgames, cards or RPG.
Too much to invest in a wargames army in terms of cost and time for a lot of the instant gratification generation.
Cheers
Ian
Our club is probably 50/50 youth and greybeards. However, weaning the kids off 40k and on to historical has so far proved wellnigh impossible. Never mind, we live in hope. :)
Therefore it might be that the death of GW would see an upserge in yooff playing other game systems which, if they're not as closed as GW, could have a beneficial effect across the board..... fly free little gamer, escape from the evil talons of the Dark Empire.
Lots of 40k players appear to be moving to Bolt Action.
There may be hope yet...
There will be !
Cheers - Phil
My "generation" of about 40 all seem to have started with GW and Warhammer, then mostly dropped that in favour of historicals and other sic fi/fantasy systems as Workshop changed from a cool hobby with loadsa stuffs to "the one true path" approach in the mid nineties.
Just out of interest - because I couldn't care less if GW crash and burn - how many staff do they employ nowadays, compared to, say, 10 years ago? How many at Nottingham and how many in the shops in the UK and also worldwide? It must be much fewer than before, surely?
A lot less than even a couple if years ago - they "reorganised" the stores and "rationalised" a lot of staff :/
That's what usually happens, isn't it ?
Cheers - Phil
Quote from: Sandinista on 15 January 2015, 03:43:04 PM
Thread got me thinking, I looked this up. www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,9597.45.html
We are an ageing bunch, are new players coming through from GW?
All at my club are over 40, the next nearest club is mostly under 40 but apart from GW, Saga and similar fantasy/SF skirmish games (mainly unpainted figures too), no figure games are played it's all boardgames, cards or RPG.
Too much to invest in a wargames army in terms of cost and time for a lot of the instant gratification generation.
Cheers
Ian
I am 29 and started with 40k 2nd edition and fantasy 5th edition when i was 12. I now play blitzkrieg commander, axis and allies war at sea, do acw gaming, napoleonics, and a myriad of board and card games.I just (read 2 days ago) bought d&d's castle ravenloft and wrath of ashardon, and bought a boatload of new x wing stuff.
I never got the satisfaction i was looking for from playing gw only. So broadening the spectrum was a no-brainer.
Actually i had been painting airfix and revell minis and constructing plastic tank models since i was 9, and stopped doing that because i started 'the hobby'. So you can actually say that gw didn't lead me to historical wargaming, but took me away from it for many years.
It was just more accesible at the time. After gw it became mage knight for me, and then magic, wich was also widely available. After that i hopped into the lord of the rings, again by gw, just because i like LOTR so much (and i still find it one of the best games they produced).
Although i must admit, being a youngster, i didn't have the means to buy into 10 different 'settings'/systems like i do know, so that might have been a factor too.
Techno - sadly, yes. And the directors will go onto bigger and better and loot the saleable rains whilst the guys actually working will get a P45 and Workfare :/
Peter - I think GW scored by having an excellent "one stop shop" - models, paints, a background, opponents, somewhere to play all in one easy package ON THE HIGH STREET. Now, the advent of the net, forums and social media and other manufacturers "touring" indie shops with their varying degrees of "all in one" games/settings has rather dented that. Ok, there might not be a Mantic store on your small town high street but a quick pop to the website and here's a bunch of players and games in easy reach, loads of army info, and all the ancillary info you want or need, job done.
Quote from: toxicpixie on 15 January 2015, 11:30:44 PM
Peter - I think GW scored by having an excellent "one stop shop" - models, paints, a background, opponents, somewhere to play all in one easy package ON THE HIGH STREET. Now, the advent of the net, forums and social media and other manufacturers "touring" indie shops with their varying degrees of "all in one" games/settings has rather dented that. Ok, there might not be a Mantic store on your small town high street but a quick pop to the website and here's a bunch of players and games in easy reach, loads of army info, and all the ancillary info you want or need, job done.
Indeed! Also, in mantics case, they offer free shipping if you buy at least 30£ worth, so the 'having to mail order things' is not so bad when you don't pay shipping.
Gw used to offer free shipping starting at 15£ as far as i know, but recently they changed that to 40£ so most of their big kits just about fall out of 'free shipping' as they are around 33 to 37£ (like the screaming bell, coven throne ,zombie dragon etc..), buying elsewhere starts to look more and more economical for the customurs.
That's cutting their nose off to spite their face - sounds like a good revenue based decision, but will drive down sales in the long term. This is why we shouldn't let directors and sales and marketing people run companies ;)
Indeed, last week i was snooping about their website, as i wanted to get a box of the empire free company. I still was used to their 20€=free shipping police, so was actually considering getting a box (30€) to make some skirmish guys for Song of blade and heroes skirmish.
Seeing the change in the minimum amount to buy for free postage i didn't even bother. So it really affects sales. Maybe not the sales from the 'hardcore' buyers, but guys like me who just want to pick something up to use for a different setting search for cheaper options instead. If i buy about the same amount with mantic, i get:
A) more models (40 men at arms for 34,99 instead of 20 militia for 30+7 shipping)
B) free shipping
C) mantic points that i can save for free stuff
So if you are on a tight budget like me, that really matters!
I was inducted into wargaming at Senior school way back when "Flares" were in fashion the first time round, playing historical, I kept this up until at the age of 18 other intrests came into my life, rock music, cars, women and the occassional pint or 2. GW got me back into the hobby about 19 years ago and I did enjoy the back ground, games systems and miniatures. About 5 or 6 years ago a few members of our club, Redcar Ironbeards, started to get fed up with the way they (GW) were mucking about with the rules so we ventured out into the wider world of Wargaming. Now nobody in our club plays GW but we still play a bit of sci-fi by playing X-Wing.
I am not suprised the GW profits are down as they 1/ no longer own the monopoly of great games, 2/ have cheesed off a lot of us wrinkly gamers and 3/ the constant rule/codex changes have priced themselves out of the market.
Don't get me wrong they still make some cracking miniatures but nowadays I might buy the odd one to paint rather than spending all my monthly gaming budget on GW toys...........their loss is someone elses gain :D
Long live the smaller manufactures :-bd :-bd
After this thread opened I had a mooch at the GW site last night... flippin heck prices are somewhat higher than they used to be. I loved their Lord of the rings figures and use them in my One Ring games, however the fact the Wargs have changed as have the goblins into the hobbit put me off getting them (Not GW's fault though).
I had been looking at Perry plastics...36 figures for £20 and then GW...10 for £25 or whatever... A battalion of Ratty things £60, with no command or heavy weapons...zoiks
My club is repleat with 'veterans', 'bitter enders', 'grognards', and 'greybeards'.
A couple of years ago, by chance i found myself gaming with a group of younger chaps (and chapesses), and so i have some insight perhaps into this idea of GW being the 'gateway company' into historical gaming.
So the chaps play mostly 40k/WFB, although they also had invested in Warmahordes.
So anyway, i introduced them to the club, and to other forms of games, including historicals. They're now members, and are building their Bolt Action armies (small steps). They're also keen on Dystopian Wars, and have played a variety of other games i've foisted on them.
So, there were two main points they made:
1. They had no idea there were other forms of wargame other than GW - and certainly not the huge range and choice.
2. The simple fact is, you play the games you can find opponents for. Everyone they knew played GW, so they played GW.
For me, i think, therefore its for the other companies to step up. If GW is on the decline, there's a 'youth' market to be picked up. Warlord seem to be doing it with Bolt Action.
There's also something to be said for the (how many?) wargames clubs around the country to get in on the act. In that regard, GW 'dominates' the hobby world simply by virtue of being organised. We don't (as far as i'm aware) have any sort of national wargames organisations. Its a Heath Robinson, garden shed hobby. *Shrug*
Are players going to get some sort of 'federation' together? Nope. Maybe? The virtual community of the interweb has certainly brought the hobby participants together more than they've ever been, but beyond that...?
I think perhaps the wargames companies might be able to do something along those lines, but they're generally similarly fractious with the added complication of being commercial competitors.
Quote from: Luddite on 16 January 2015, 03:51:34 PM
For me, i think, therefore its for the other companies to step up. If GW is on the decline, there's a 'youth' market to be picked up. Warlord seem to be doing it with Bolt Action.
There's also something to be said for the (how many?) wargames clubs around the country to get in on the act. In that regard, GW 'dominates' the hobby world simply by virtue of being organised. We don't (as far as i'm aware) have any sort of national wargames organisations. Its a Heath Robinson, garden shed hobby. *Shrug*
Are players going to get some sort of 'federation' together? Nope. Maybe? The virtual community of the interweb has certainly brought the hobby participants together more than they've ever been, but beyond that...?
I think perhaps the wargames companies might be able to do something along those lines, but they're generally similarly fractious with the added complication of being commercial competitors.
BRIAN: Are you Games Workshop?
REG: F**k off!
BRIAN: What?
REG: Games Workshop! We're Warlord Games! Games Workshop! Cawk.
FRANCIS: W***ers.
BRIAN: Can I... join your group?
REG: No. Piss off.
BRIAN: I didn't want to sell this stuff. It's only a job. I hate Games Workshop as much as anybody.
GAMERS: Shhhh. Shhhh. Shhh. Shh. Shhhh.
REG: Stumm.
JUDITH: Are you sure?
BRIAN: Oh, dead sure. I hate the Games Workshop already.
REG: Listen. If you wanted to play Warlord Games, you'd have to really hate Games Workshop.
BRIAN: I do!
REG: Oh, yeah? How much?
BRIAN: A lot!
REG: Right. You're in. Listen. The only people we hate more than Games Workshop are f**king Mantic Games.
GAMERS: Yeah...
JUDITH: Splitters.
GAMERS: Splitters...
FRANCIS: And Battlefront.
P.F.J.: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Splitters. Splitters...
LORETTA: And Warlord Games.
GAMERS: Yeah. Splitters. Splitters...
REG: What?
LORETTA: Warlord Games. Splitters!
REG: WE'RE Warlord Games!
LORETTA: Oh. I thought we were Pendraken.
REG: Pendraken! C-huh.
FRANCIS: Whatever happened to Pendraken, Reg?
REG: He's over there.
GAMERS: Splitter!
;D ;D ;D =O =O =O
:o
Aren't we the Peoples Front of Pendraken? Or are we the Pendraken Peoples Front?
We are the Pendraken Popular Front!
Splitters! We hate them worse than anyone!
Games Workshop, what did they ever do for us?
Nothin!!!
Apart from Warmaster ;)
And Warmaster Ancients
QuoteGames Workshop, what did they ever do for us?
... and Blood bowl! (Awesome game), Adeptus Titanicus, Epic 40K, Space Hulk, Man of War, Phil Lewis...
all things they discontinued :(
but are still alive elsewhere :D (and also in Wales)
What's a splitter, other than Abe Lincoln and his rails?
And Necromunda, Mordheim, and Talisman.
Uh... :)
So yeah, trawling about the investor and stock sites, the news has been taken as a bit of a warning, with advice being 'wait and see' on GW share prices.
The key figures are:
Turnover down 10.4% to £60.5m
Pre-tax profit down 30.6% to £7.7m
Basic EPS down 30.9% to 17.7p
Dividend - cancelled (was 18p last year)
Net cash £9.3m (£15.6m last year)
The reasons given for this poor performance are;
A continuation of the trend that developed in H2 of 2012/13
Disruption caused by rapid transition to one-man shops & reduced trading hours.
Decline in sales through independent stockists.
So basically GW are admitting they're on an extended downward slide at the moment.
As to the other causes, they are poor decisions by senior management, and frankly the chumps at the top have got to take responsibility for those decisions.
The switch to 1-staff stores inevitably hit sales as opening times are reduced, stores are now single points of failure for staff sickness absense, and frankly if you're the only boots on the ground, you're not going to be selling as much in a busy store.
The GW change in terms for independent stores (bricks and mortar requirement, limits to stock access etc.) inevitably hit sales as fewer stores will put up with that sort of toss from a supplier.
So, GW have hiked their prices to insane levels (ground-up buy in is now at, what £500? What parent is going to shell out that sort of cash?), and cut down their two main sales channels reducing income.
GW used to have a diverse portfolio and the beancounters in charge have steadily shut down everything but their core lines, boxing themselves into an unsustainable niche-line wallet-gouging strategy. The figures over the last couple of years have got to be alarm bells for the bosses and shareholders.
I'm no business guru but common sense tells you - bad, bad ideas.
Unless they've got a major genius move coming in the next 6 months?
Oh yeah, that's right - scrapping 35 years of WFB asset for a root and branch reboot. It might work...when your facing competitor companies run by the people who made GW the massive success it was, well, good luck with that.
Quote from: Luddite on 16 January 2015, 05:30:54 PM
Unless they've got a major genius move coming in the next 6 months?
Oh yeah, that's right - scrapping 35 years of WFB asset for a root and branch reboot. It might work...when your facing competitor companies run by the people who made GW the massive success it was, well, good luck with that.
Especially this!!
As for the other games they cancelled, i think it was one of the baddest moves they could make! My last purchase i made with gw was an epic armageddon thunderhawk, a few weeks before they shut down specialist games.
I never understood that, it was just 'easy money'. it wasn't being supported so they didn't have to pay a designer to work on it, the models and moulds where existant and they just had to cast it up when they sold something. at least that's how i see it, maybe that's a wrong assumption;
Quote from: Matt of Munslow on 16 January 2015, 05:12:05 PM
... and Blood bowl! (Awesome game), Adeptus Titanicus, Epic 40K, Space Hulk, Man of War, Phil Lewis...
all things they discontinued :(
but are still alive elsewhere :D (and also in Wales)
Not to mention Gorka Morka and mighty empires... Wish I still had my tiles :(
QuoteWish I still had my tiles Sad
still got mine and all the other stuff still in the box they came in :D
Quote from: Matt of Munslow on 16 January 2015, 07:31:11 PM
still got mine and all the other stuff still in the box they came in :D
Meany :P
Quote from: Maenoferren on 16 January 2015, 06:51:25 PM
... Wish I still had my tiles :(
You can make your own. Search for 'memaptiles.pdf'
Cheers, Martyn
Quote from: DanJ on 16 January 2015, 05:06:15 PM
Apart from Warmaster ;)
Well, that's how I got into 10mm, and ended up here.
Cheers, Martyn
Question - If they do go bust in the next few years (oh dear, how sad, never mind lovely boy), would that mean the intellectual property, such as Warmaster, becomes "open source", for want of a better description. This would allow other miniature manufacturers to reproduce the original Warmaster minis perhaps?
Quote from: Raider4 on 16 January 2015, 09:07:29 PM
You can make your own. Search for 'memaptiles.pdf'
Cheers, Martyn
You da man!!!
Quote from: andys on 16 January 2015, 09:29:13 PM
Question - If they do go bust in the next few years (oh dear, how sad, never mind lovely boy), would that mean the intellectual property, such as Warmaster, becomes "open source", for want of a better description. This would allow other miniature manufacturers to reproduce the original Warmaster minis perhaps?
The rights to all the figures would still remain with the dissolved company until the assets were sold off to someone else. Even if the company disappeared completely and no buyers were found, the IP would still exist. There would be a lot more freedom for the other companies though, as GW would no longer be throwing court cases about at the slightest hint of a Spacey Marine.
Naughty boy Leon, you said those two words, on behalf of GW I am slapping a cease and decist order on you, and demand that all your goods and chattels be impounded for an unspecified amount of time.
Quote from: Matt of Munslow on 16 January 2015, 05:12:05 PM
... and Blood bowl! (Awesome game), Adeptus Titanicus, Epic 40K, Space Hulk, Man of War, Phil Lewis...
Oi !! ;). ;D
(Man of War must have come out after I left, 'cos I don't remember that one at all.)
Cheers - Phil
Leon meant a figure of Kevin Spacey in marine garb.
Quote from: Techno on 17 January 2015, 06:50:05 AM
Oi !! ;). ;D
(Man of War must have come out after I left, 'cos I don't remember that one at all.)
Cheers - Phil
Ships 'n' stuff. Not I hasten to add the new giant floating cities they brought out a while ago.
I started collecting Man of War and painted ships and had sea elementals and all sorts. Then I decided I really wanted a Dwarf Navy, but it had gone by then!
You still do get some of the "Uncharted Seas" stuff.....
IanS
Long long ago when I started wargaming (41yrs ago) the main options where airfix airfix of airfix and the rules of Donald Featherstone. Where I lived in Sheffield had no wargames shops so one waited for the Sheffield wargames show,can anyone remember it being at the victoria hotel,anyhow I digress.the day a new shop called Games Workshop opened on the Moor was a dream come true cos it sold allsorts citadell miniatures heroic and ros etc etc then suddenly almost over night all you could get was GW. And once more Sheffield became devoid of options until the birth of wargames emporium. Its interesting to find out when I visited Sheffield last year that GW had closed its shop at Meadowhall shopping complex thus leaving its shop on the Moor. One wonders at the business acumen of those in power thee to shut a shop in one of the busiest shopping centres in the country and keeping a shop which unless you know its there does not have passing custom cos it at one end of town and off the main drag
Shutting high street shops - They did the same in B'ham and Wolves - I think they just see the cost of rent and go "nah, our captive customers will schlep out wherever we are, move back to the back streets!".
Quote from: raykey on 18 January 2015, 01:52:35 AM
Long long ago when I started wargaming (41yrs ago) the main options where airfix airfix of airfix and the rules of Donald Featherstone. Where I lived in Sheffield had no wargames shops so one waited for the Sheffield wargames show,can anyone remember it being at the victoria hotel,anyhow I digress.the day a new shop called Games Workshop opened on the Moor was a dream come true cos it sold allsorts citadell miniatures heroic and ros etc etc then suddenly almost over night all you could get was GW. And once more Sheffield became devoid of options until the birth of wargames emporium. Its interesting to find out when I visited Sheffield last year that GW had closed its shop at Meadowhall shopping complex thus leaving its shop on the Moor. One wonders at the business acumen of those in power thee to shut a shop in one of the busiest shopping centres in the country and keeping a shop which unless you know its there does not have passing custom cos it at one end of town and off the main drag
Yep and the one at the bottom of the Moor is a pain to get to by car, thanks to the council's hate affair with the private motorist. Yet another reason to steer clear of GW in my book.
Also happened in Southport. The shop in a well trod shopping arcade closed and re-opened in a much less frequented area. In fact I have not needed to visit it for about a year so I don't even know that it's still open.
Quote from: toxicpixie on 16 January 2015, 04:39:29 PM
:o
Aren't we the Peoples Front of Pendraken? Or are we the Pendraken Peoples Front?
No, we are the Popular Peoples Front of Pendraken ;D
Are we Popular People? I thought we were a shadowy underclass?
Quote from: raykey on 18 January 2015, 01:52:35 AM
One wonders at the business acumen of those in power thee to shut a shop in one of the busiest shopping centres in the country and keeping a shop which unless you know its there does not have passing custom cos it at one end of town and off the main drag
Quote from: toxicpixie on 18 January 2015, 09:34:39 AM
Shutting high street shops - They did the same in B'ham and Wolves - I think they just see the cost of rent and go "nah, our captive customers will schlep out wherever we are, move back to the back streets!".
Quote from: Dour Puritan on 18 January 2015, 10:45:58 AM
Also happened in Southport. The shop in a well trod shopping arcade closed and re-opened in a much less frequented area. In fact I have not needed to visit it for about a year so I don't even know that it's still open.
It might seem an odd decision, but the first thing I'd do if I were in charge of GW is move the stores onto secondary high streets or out-of-town retail parks. The rental on prime high street space is ridiculous and I don't think wargaming is the type of thing that attracts a lot of people in who are simply passing. Most people buying from a GW shop are already a GW customer, so the high street location is not really important. Now the argument is of course that having a high street presence will hopefully generate some sales, but I don't think that those walk-in sales will justify the added costs of being there. Moving to a secondary high street or retail park means lower rent, usually better access and parking options, and would also allow the option to take on a larger premises without it costing a fortune.
As an example, a quick Google brings up a 2400 sq/ft retail unit in Meadowhall, Sheffield (probably a bit bigger than the average GW shop) currently available with a rent of £264,000! On top of that you've got rates of £125,000 taking you upto almost £400k before you've even considered insurance / staff / stock / etc. That's a huge amount of money to try and recoup through sales. Going on their latest statement, that one shop would need to be taking over £5 million to be hitting their current margin, which is virtually impossible. £100k per week in one shop? No chance.
Another quick search throws up a variety of other similarly sized retail units on what still look to be shopping areas in the £30,000-£50,000 bracket, over 80% saving on your rent. If you did that with every shop they've got, they would save an absolute fortune and I don't think sales figures would be hit too badly.
Even in Middlesbrough, the GW shop here will be paying around £40-£60k in rent for a shop that's in a pedestrianised area, you can't park near it, slightly away from the main footfall and it's always empty. Why not move that onto one of our local retail parks, where for the same price they could get a bigger shop with parking right in front of the building? More space for stock or tables and a lot easier to get to and visit.
I'm sure the GW board and exec's will probably think that having a high street presence is vital to their business and almost a status symbol of the company's success, but it's not something I think is necessary anymore.
Quote from: Leon on 18 January 2015, 07:20:18 PM(...) if I were in charge of GW (...)
Lord spares us !
;)
Yeah, ok, that's rather more rent than I'd imagined! Makes me wonder how *anyone* makes enough margin for that!
I wonder if they'd be better at the Hobbycraft model as you suggest but would that lose a lot of "visibility" - I'm assuming they deliberately aim for capturing the whole mid teen potential Wargamer market in every town across the country....
I'd have thought the Hobby Craft model is a good plan for GW.
We would often make a significant trip to a Hobby Craft, usually to get stuff for my wife, but also because I knew that I could always find something of interest wargames wise too. Retail parks are much better for parking - also they tend to have a variety of stuff close to hand.
Bigger retail park stores would allow more gaming space.
But the biggest problem with the GW model, is that they believe that there is just the GW hobby and there are no other wargarmers (or gamers for that matter) in existence. A big store with various boardgames and other more family games could work. Bit like GW was back in the day?
Quote from: fred 12df on 18 January 2015, 10:08:12 PM
But the biggest problem with the GW model, is that they believe that there is just the GW hobby and there are no other wargarmers (or gamers for that matter) in existence. A big store with various boardgames and other more family games could work. Bit like GW was back in the day?
That would be Part 2 of my 'Fix GW' plan, where we would start to acknowledge the wider wargaming community and companies. They've got the biggest distribution network in the industry, so if they were able to arrange some good deals with the likes of Mantic or Reaper, bringing more stock selection into their stores, they would open themselves up to a wider customer base and make themselves a more attractive destination.
Again, there would be arguments from the board/execs about this, but they're not beating the competition currently anyway, so why not use the success of these other companies to add to their own offering? They've already got the retail space, the infrastructure and the staff in place, so all they need to do is buy the stock in, allocate a couple of shelves/racks to these other companies and away they go. The likely 40-50% margin they could negotiate on that stock is an easy profit for little work.
The key question would be how many people would walk in, see the price difference between GW and the other products, and then go for the cheaper Reaper/Mantic models instead? That's an unknown, but it's worth a punt to make the shops more attractive to more people. If it succeeds then you've created a wider wargaming shop that caters to more people and has more viability as a business.
Carrying direct competition would be brave. It depends how much you think your marketing - i.e. that there is only GW works.
I was thinking as a first step carrying broader gaming stuff, that isn't in direct competition, things like Carcassonne, Settlers etc, or Collectable Card Games.
Quote from: fred 12df on 18 January 2015, 10:46:43 PM
Carrying direct competition would be brave. It depends how much you think your marketing - i.e. that there is only GW works.
I was thinking as a first step carrying broader gaming stuff, that isn't in direct competition, things like Carcassonne, Settlers etc, or Collectable Card Games.
Possibly, a start would be to allow the shop managers the freedom to bring in products / do things they think would add sales/interest to the stores depending on local interest/trends. Currently they seem to be treated like automatons, given a set of instructions and expected to follow them to the letter. It wouldn't have to be rival products to start with, as you say card or board games could be options.
Popped into Bristol since I last posted to find GW had closed the shop in the town centre so I found I would have to then go to Cribbs Causeway where they have a large cupboard, sorry economically sized shop so I thought sod it and went for a pint instead
QuoteThat would be Part 2 of my 'Fix GW' plan, where we would start to acknowledge the wider wargaming community and companies
But the GW model has for more than 25 years refused to acknowledge that there is any alternative to GW, they have been selling 'The GamesWorkshop Hobby' for so long they probably can't change the mind set now, it would simply be too radical a step for them.
Yup, that's their key issue - it's not "A" hobby, it's "THE" hobby. The money has assumed that's always going to be a constant and have tried (pretty successfully until now) to reinforce and capitalise on that for maximum profits. That they've had some great game designers and excellent product (and some duff) along the way has only been a bonus. Unfortunately, that model now doesn't work - other games and manufacturers are doing the same thing cheaper to the customer, can distribute and sell and advertise almost as easily and much cheaper for their costs and GW have responded in the most short term, worst possible way - they've closed down anything that's not immediately profitable, hiked prices and driven more churn in background and rules to try and force users to buy in again and again at ever higher prices.
Which given there's now any number of alternatives, gets fewer and fewer core players and just exacerbates the loss of the purchasing base each time :/
Agreed pixie.
OF course we all know that the GW business model hasn't always been that way. They started out essentially distributing games (mainly RPGs and boardgames) imported from the US, so somewhere in the deepest bowels of GW there must be a memory of that time.
I guess their problem now would be the generally bad relationship thay have with the rest of the hobby; having enthusiatically wielded the C&D-hammer, and generally treated possible allies (like independent stores) pretty poorly.
I know many people have been saying it for years, but it really does look like the GW Empire is on the wane.
As with all empires its collapsing from within (and in this case the fish very much is rotting from the head) and the 'barbarians' are capturing the territory it can no longer hold.
There are many reason why this is a bad thing, but it also opens opportunities for other companies to take market share.
I guess for Pendraken, this would be picking up the Warmaster crowd? But hasn't that largely collapsed since GW ditched the fantasy and screwed down on the historical (including sticking the boot into Rick Priestley)?
Quote from: Leon on 18 January 2015, 07:20:18 PM
I were in charge of GW
It would shift to predominantly 10mm miniatures. they would retail at £40 for a warmaster size unit. Generals would be £5 each and vehicles £10.
Leon would have a gold plated Xbox, Dave would be drivings a Rolls and Adelle would be a kept woman covered in diamonds !!
Meanwile us poor forum members would be selling our wives and children to feed our lead addiction ;D ;D ;D
What am I bid for Ian? Do I hear 1 Vietnamese Dong? Payable over twenty years in installments? A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a vaguely anthropomorphic automaton that says "No Aztecs" as frequently as French people say "service extra"?
Quote from: FierceKitty on 19 January 2015, 01:57:33 PM
What am I bid for Ian? Do I hear 1 Vietnamese Dong? Payable over twenty years in installments? A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a vaguely anthropomorphic automaton that says "No Aztecs" as frequently as French people say "service extra"?
FK I think that rather then try to sell Ian you need to give him away with a VERY LARGE dowry.
I RESEMBLE THAT REMARK. NO AZTECS
Leon, please block all votes for chocolate bars.....
IanS
Can you still get classics like Aztec and Old Jamaica?
I suspect that the Aztec was taken off sale as it was a complete rip off of the Mars Bar....
Now there's a solution - cast the Aztecs on Mars......
IanS :D
Quote from: ianrs54 on 20 January 2015, 08:37:54 AM
Now there's a solution - cast the Aztecs on Mars......
IanS :D
I suspect we will have colonised Mars by the time we have 10mm Aztecs
Quote from: ianrs54 on 19 January 2015, 04:06:43 PM
I RESEMBLE THAT REMARK.
IanS
Who's got the code book?
In which language?
Scouse of course.
IanS
With red cabbage or beetroot of course.
In a new twist GW are now recruiting for managers of a Black Library and Forge World store at head office: http://jobs.games-workshop.com/2015/01/12/warhammer-world-supervisor-nottingham-uk/ (http://jobs.games-workshop.com/2015/01/12/warhammer-world-supervisor-nottingham-uk/)
Check out their careers page it looks like their slashing and burning their current retail staff and replacing them with new recruits. Nice.
After browsing that web site I found I was quite depressed, especially by the 'Culture' page which basically says they only want GW robotnics, if you don't fit that narrow mould you won't enjoy working for them. I could find nothing about creativity, inovation or encouraging original thought, no wonder all the original creative designers and managers who built the company have left, either voluntarily or otherwise.
Unfortunately with this attitude it's very unlikely GW will be able to come up with anything new or exciting and the slow spiral of endless re-hashes, re-writes and declining sales will continue until it implodes.
GW seems to be going the same way as education in this country - you will teach in this particular way and use these particular phrases otherwise you are doing it wrong. Sign of the times in a country which has lost its self confidence.
I think we (and GW) just replaced "doing well for everyone in interesting and fulfilling ways" with "CHASE THE MONEY DAMMIT! Now pass it ALL TO ME!"...
Quote from: DanJ on 21 January 2015, 09:49:52 AM
After browsing that web site I found I was quite depressed, especially by the 'Culture' page which basically says they only want GW robotnics,
I went for a (relatively) senior (global) position at GW last year, and this seemed to me to be the determining factor. As i'm a bit of a cantankerous old rogue, it became evident through the interview that we weren't suited to each other.
Rather feel i dodged a bullet on that one now. I'd hate to work somewhere where the senior managers, in a public statement, blame their own sales staff for financial losses.
The fish rots from the head boys...
Quote from: Luddite on 21 January 2015, 01:33:58 PM
I went for a (relatively) senior (global) position at GW last year, and this seemed to me to be the determining factor. As i'm a bit of a cantankerous old rogue, it became evident through the interview that we weren't suited to each other.
Rather feel i dodged a bullet on that one now. I'd hate to work somewhere where the senior managers, in a public statement, blame their own sales staff for financial losses.
The fish rots from the head boys...
Had you got it the post we would have had to ban you from the Forum, :o or forced you to wear sck cloth and ashes in penitance.
(I was going to suggest self flagellation, but thought you might enjoy it ) :D
Aye it was a close clal JafO.
A moment of madness really, caused by local employment instability, and indeed the 'could be required to work anywhere in the world' part of the job description. Hehe...
I'm basically looking for any excuse to move back to Australia. :D
Anyway the results were all clear so...*sigh of relief*
Perhaps you could have singlehandedly returned GW to their mid eighties much loved persona, and away from their mid-nineties onwards ever increasing director bonus based persona...
True.
I am an Emperor-class Grognard.
On second thought the sheer volume of casualties might not have been worth it :D
Attempts by Company Commanders to call down close-ranged artillery fire can result in disastrous casualties amongst the Imperial Guard. Whilst the loss of life is regrettable, the waste of ammunition is INTOLERABLE!
Fire mission! Coordinates are board room by board room, all batteries, OPEN FIRE!
Quote from: raykey on 19 January 2015, 01:47:26 AM
Popped into Bristol since I last posted to find GW had closed the shop in the town centre so I found I would have to then go to Cribbs Causeway where they have a large cupboard, sorry economically sized shop so I thought sod it and went for a pint instead
Eh? Walked passed the Bristol GW today - still open.
Cheers, Martyn
Very sad handwritten sign in Liverpool GW yesterday -'We are open but are huddling to keep warm.'
Where they are it's not surprising....
IanS
Coffee spit moment:
http://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Radagast-the-Brown-on-giant-eagle/
£40 notes!
Link's broken for me Lemmey.
Is this the one? http://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Radagast-the-Brown-on-Great-Eagle (http://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Radagast-the-Brown-on-Great-Eagle)
'This resin kit contains 11 components, and a large flying base with two ball socket stems with which to make Radagast™ the Brown on Great Eagle.'
So at least you get two ball socket stems, presumably a replacement for when the first one snaps?
£40 isn't bad for such a high quality resin collectable miniature.
For a wargames figure there isn't enough urine in the UK to be extracted...
I think I'd be both Radagast and The Brown if I flew on a giant eagle.
These prices are riotous :o
Agh missed the capital letters off 'Giant Eagle' (must be in capitals so they can copyright it)!
Quote from: fsn on 25 January 2015, 06:19:27 PM
I think I'd be both Radagast and The Brown if I flew on a giant eagle.
;D ;D =D>
Interesting.
http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2015/01/games-workshop-vs-asmodee-tale-2-companies.html (http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2015/01/games-workshop-vs-asmodee-tale-2-companies.html)
What's a Belloflost soul. Can't do stats and never heard of Amarinth or whatever pseudo elfy name they've given themselves.
Quote from: fsn on 25 January 2015, 06:19:27 PM
I think I'd be both Radagast and The Brown if I flew on a giant eagle.
Hang on and rewind.... Radgast flew on Giant Eagles™ at the battle of the five armies™... Since #%!!! when?
I must have a really defective couple of Hobbit™ books as I can't get remember that at all. >:(
Ooh that dramatic licence thing!!!! >:(
To misquote The Beatles, "Take a dull book and make it better."
I was considering going to the Kendal GW store on Saturday to pick up some paints. My plan was to leave early, get to Kendal just after 9:00 then go on to the Lakes for the day.
When I checked the GW site for opening times they came up with 12:00 to 18:00! That's for a store in the cenre of a busy market town on a Saturday morning! Needless to say I wasn't going to hang arround for 3 hours just to get a couple of pots of paint. Scratch one sale, ant hope selling anything else and a even lower view of GW than I had before.
I presume it's due to the store only having one staff member, but even he/she seems to be working part time, no wonder turnover is down!
Teenagers don't get into town for 9am on a Saturday ;)
You now get loads of paint from Pendraken through the post. I've stopped going in GW stores as I now find it embarrassing.
I only need a few paints to replace some very old GW pots which are now just about empty, does anyone know the Vallejo equivalents of these?
Dark Angels Green
Shadow Grey
Codex Grey
Scorched Brown
Agorax Earthshade (brown ink)
I can live without most of them but the Dark Angels green is a lovely colour.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Paint_Range_Compatibility_Chart
For the ink Dan ,Army painter strong tone ink is exactly the same shade and consistency
You might want to look at a comparison at a show or other model shop between Vallejo Game Colour and Vallejo Model Colour. GW changed all their paints relatively recently so even that may not be the same as it was.
QuoteFor the ink Dan ,Army painter strong tone ink is exactly the same shade and consistency
I find the light tone a better match and water that down as the army painter stuff seems a bit 'gloopy' straight out of the bottle.
I was in the local GW store just before Xmas to get some paint and they had a chart to show what the current range equivalent of the old paints was. E.G. Hawk Turquoise is now Sotek Green apparently.
I absolutely abhor their stupid paint titles which leave you wondering what actual shade of (colour X) it is. In fact I just abhor Games Workshop.
Quote from: Leman on 26 January 2015, 05:27:49 PM
I absolutely abhor their stupid paint titles which leave you wondering what actual shade of (colour X) it is. In fact I just abhor Games Workshop.
The stupid new names are there simply because they can be trademarked. The chairman or CEO boasted about it in one their annual reports.
It's the same reason that the Imperial Guard in 40K now have a stupid new name, and I wouldn't be surprised it's not behind the rumoured changes coming this year in the fantasy game.
I've not been in a GW since the new paint range dropped, and I see no reason to change that.
Cheers, Martyn
Last time I was in the Kendal store the lone staff member was about 30 - 35 years old, I was quite surprised. The problem is the catchment for such a store is the surrounding villages and towns, although public transport is not fantastic it generally does exist usually from 8am - 6pm Monday - Saturday, this means that the shop is missing out on being easily available to visit for many if not most yougsters by not having opening times (i.e. mornings when mums and dads go shopping and therefore a lift is available).
Also of course you have to wonder about the question just how much information can one shop assistant give when there may be 3, 4, or 5 potential customers in the shop (though I haven't actually ever seen that many people in the Kendal shop).
What does strike nme about Leon's comments earlier about out of town premises is that these are generally well served by public transport as well, that would mean that youngsters could generally get to the stores and home again, this therefore would be a bonus in extending the catchment area of the shop in such a situation. Rather than have high street shops whereby you are limited to the local town and 'visitors' the idea would be to choose 'County/Area' shops within the UK, perhaps numbering about 100 in total. There would be many advantages to such a system, for example the ability to run inter-County/Area tournaments perhaps even a league. The County/Area shop could handle all local internet sales thus bringing a connection between each sale and the customer who could feel like they could call in to the store and be known as a 'customer' (though I would incourage some form of membership to reinforce the associaton).
Perhaps the biggest thing is I would encourage carrying other peoples manufacturers ranges, this will not only give a financial gain from sales but also give important and valuable information about what is popular against your own GW ranges and allow a more proactive marketing and pricing response based on that information.
But hey, I am just a balding grey haired 50+ year old who will NEVER be involved in the GW debacle - THANK GOODNESS! ;D
Quote from: Fig.ht on 26 January 2015, 09:06:59 PM
Perhaps the biggest thing is I would encourage carrying other peoples manufacturers ranges, this will not only give a financial gain from sales but also give important and valuable information about what is popular against your own GW ranges and allow a more proactive marketing and pricing response based on that information.
There are other people who sell stuff for 'the hobby'? :o :o :o :o :o
=) ;)
Quote from: petercooman on 26 January 2015, 10:10:43 PM
There are other people who sell stuff for 'the hobby'? :o :o :o :o :o
=) ;)
Thank goodness there are. I was simply referring to what GW should do, IMHO.
It's not
Quote'the hobby'
It's 'The GW Hoby
tm'
The Imperial Space Marine
tm, Heresy Hunting Inquitors
tm, will be in touch
tm, R, C
Quote from: DanJ on 26 January 2015, 02:35:59 PM
I find the light tone a better match and water that down as the army painter stuff seems a bit 'gloopy' straight out of the bottle.
Although I dont measure I reckon I water it down about 50/50
Wonder what the share price is like?
Off to find a graph!!!
Down 495.00Price decrease9.00 (1.79%) started day at 503...
They just released teasers for the 'new' Harlequins too.
26 days into the job CEO Kevin Rountree must be so pleased.
(http://gw.londonstockexchange.com/chart/CompanySummaryChart2_image.aspx?key=GB0003718474GBGBXSSMM&imageFormat=png)
Looks like the height chart of a 'tour de france' étappe. :-\
There are a few uncatagorised climbs there, Peter. :D
Best thing is the fanboys defending those awesome figures (the ones in the report) 8)
Loosing sales is never good and for the last 3 reports they cannot hide it anymore. Reap what you sow I guess.
Might have to buy 20 bottles of their dark wash (Nuln oil or whatever it's called this month). Without that I will have to learn to paint again. Other than that: STUFF EM!
Quote from: getagrip on 31 January 2015, 08:09:18 PM
Might have to buy 20 bottles of their dark wash (Nuln oil or whatever it's called this month). Without that I will have to learn to paint again. Other than that: STUFF EM!
Vallejo Black Wash from the friendly sellers that Pendraken are.
i actually find the vallejo washes easier to work with than GW's. They 'flow' better for me.
Quote from: sebigboss79 on 31 January 2015, 08:19:00 PM
Vallejo Black Wash from the friendly sellers that Pendraken are.
I like the thickness of the workshop one: does the Vallejo "cling?"
All the rest of my paints are Vallejo supplied by Leon :)
Quote from: getagrip on 31 January 2015, 10:30:47 PM
I like the thickness of the workshop one: does the Vallejo "cling?"
All the rest of my paints are Vallejo supplied by Leon :)
yes it does :)
I see Spartan Games gave just announced that they have reached an agreement with Microsoft and will be releasing the official HALO table top games in due course.
I've never played HALO but it has a huge fan base and a huge back story, if this doen't scare GW into changing their ways then they really are doomed.
Yeah, i saw that too Dan. Like you i've never got into HALO, but you're right its a huge franchise and a major win for Spartan.
Warlord Games got the Terminator franchise too. I'm a lot more interested in that i have to say.
GW have painted themselves into a corner and these 'newcomer' companies (often stocked full of ex-GW talent) are taking their customer base.
Quote from: Luddite on 12 February 2015, 04:43:46 PM
GW have painted themselves into a corner
Good!
Quote from: Luddite on 12 February 2015, 04:43:46 PM
'newcomer' companies (often stocked full of ex-GW talent) are taking their customer base.
Yep and this talent
really understand what gamers want, which the GW bean counters don't!
Stuff 'em!
It is a sad thing. :(
http://pijlieblog.blogspot.nl/2014/07/gw-guilty-as-charged.html (http://pijlieblog.blogspot.nl/2014/07/gw-guilty-as-charged.html)
Good stuff, Pijlie.
Cheers - Phil
Excellent blog, you've hit the nail on the head, GW have killed creativity in the company and they don't seem to realise that that was what made GW great in the first place.
I feel sorry for the ordinary rank and file GW staff who will be the ones to suffer, the CEO etc. will take the money and run screaming 'it's not my fault' and the gamers will just find other games and in 10 years in pubs across the land will witness conversations like, "GW, didn't they make that Warhammer stuff?"
Quote from: DanJ on 13 February 2015, 09:57:10 AM
Excellent blog, you've hit the nail on the head, GW have killed creativity in the company and they don't seem to realise that that was what made GW great in the first place.
Before it went all corporate, there was a "rawness" to GW, but that rawness made it
FUN!As an analogy; the company "felt" like the Traveller cartoons from early White Dwarfs (raw, edgy and quirky), now it's become like the magazines my 4 year old likes: no content, glossy and with plastic crap on the front to make them want to buy :-\
Quote from: Pijlie on 13 February 2015, 07:32:12 AM
It is a sad thing. :(
http://pijlieblog.blogspot.nl/2014/07/gw-guilty-as-charged.html (http://pijlieblog.blogspot.nl/2014/07/gw-guilty-as-charged.html)
I'd agree with you all, there. It felt like they were pushing boundaries, not slick product before. With a whole set of "hey, guys, guys, this is *cool*, we're genuinely excited, here's stuff to bash about with" and the last decade (or more...) has changed to "here is the new word from up high, please insert cash to value of ALL YOUR MONEY to receive it".
The "one man shop" idea strikes me as terrible - how do you get people enthused and playing and therefore buying if you're doing stock control, sorting a customer, doing the daily clearing up & admin, off sick, opening up/closing, playing games ALL AT THE SAME TIME?!
Quote from: toxicpixie on 13 February 2015, 10:16:55 AM
The "one man shop" idea strikes me as terrible - how do you get people enthused and playing and therefore buying if you're doing stock control, sorting a customer, doing the daily clearing up & admin, off sick, opening up/closing, playing games ALL AT THE SAME TIME?!
I think that is the one idea that will really sink them! I worked for GW as a key timer (evenings / weekends / school hols and the like) whilst at Uni and my role role was essentially to:
a) Run demo games;
b) Give painting advice;
c) Be enthusiastic.
I was earning what would now be minimum wage, at least half of what I earned I spent in store but the new blood I brought into the hobby must have been huge. I think GW have really shot themselves in the foot with this one but the long term effects will slowly become visible. GW shops are now quiet, dull and dead. :( This is not the breeding ground for new enthusiasts.
Quote from: Pijlie on 13 February 2015, 07:32:12 AM
It is a sad thing. :(
http://pijlieblog.blogspot.nl/2014/07/gw-guilty-as-charged.html (http://pijlieblog.blogspot.nl/2014/07/gw-guilty-as-charged.html)
Agree on all fronts.
But i still have my epic 40k armies and my mordheim warbands , and i will still enjoy them, as the community have stepped up and provided the creativity that GW abandoned. There are enough home brew scenarios, rulesets, alternate settings and models on the internet to keep us going for ages!!
Also, i always liked necromunda, but never got round to get it (and the price that stuff now fetches on ebay is way too much for me), but there are enough alternatives around! I shelled out for deadzone last year and although it is not entirely the same, it looks close enough and the components are great, so i get my fix there.
I look at GW as a parent showing a kid how to ride a bike, They put us on the bike, gave us a push, and abandoned us along the way, but we keep pedalling :D :D :D :D
Wasn't that WRG's job?
Please delete...Nothing to see here
Quote from: getagrip on 13 February 2015, 10:23:38 AM
I think that is the one idea that will really sink them! I worked for GW as a key timer (evenings / weekends / school hols and the like) whilst at Uni and my role role was essentially to:
a) Run demo games;
b) Give painting advice;
c) Be enthusiastic.
I was earning what would now be minimum wage, at least half of what I earned I spent in store but the new blood I brought into the hobby must have been huge. I think GW have really shot themselves in the foot with this one but the long term effects will slowly become visible. GW shops are now quiet, dull and dead. :( This is not the breeding ground for new enthusiasts.
I used to manage a large city centre GW store.
On saturday i needed as a
minimum:
1 full timer on till
1 full timer floor selling (preferably 2)
1 key timer running demos/overseeing the paint tables
1 key timer chatting / fielding questions / restocking
+ me overseeing/managing, cue-busting, problem solving/complaints handling, processing returns, filling gaps, restocking, etc.
If we had a head office diktat, e.g. 'this saturday you have to have a new table build going on on the shop floor (to show the punters the tools and terrain building kits etc. mainly...do you know how many pots of bestial brown it takes to paint a 4x4' table? How many small tubes of 'white glue' were needed to flock it? Bonkers...)', i'd need another key timer in to run that.
I'd get everyone in for an hour's sales training session and GW-approved 'pep talk' prior to opening too. Mostly i just wanted to make sure the hungover grots were there for 10am! T
hose saturdays were manic and it was chaotic hell on earth (especially as parents seemed to think were were a free creche service and would throw their sprogs in through the door at 10am, only to return with handfuls of shopping 4 hours later) but amazing fun too. My store BUZZED - i know a lot of the other manager's stores did too.
I honestly don't know how a one man store could possibly do that. I guess if you don't have 50-70 till transactions an hour, you can afford to cut the staff to the bone? Certainly the last few times i've frequented my local store its been pretty quiet.
But then, according to the current GW management they aren't a retailer, and they don't sell games. Go figure... ;D
Quote from: Luddite on 13 February 2015, 11:45:39 AM
My store BUZZED - i know a lot of the other manager's stores did too.
I honestly don't know how a one man store could possibly do that. I guess if you don't have 50-70 till transactions an hour, you can afford to cut the staff to the bone? Certainly the last few times i've frequented my local store its been pretty quiet.
Entirely my experience of working there: manic, crazy...FUN!!! ;)
QuoteBut then, according to the current GW management they aren't a retailer, and they don't sell games. Go figure...
[/b]
This. Entirely this. I don't know if they thought "games" made them look childish, and hurt sales, but good grief - it's
the core of what they do!
No they apparently sell "Colectable Minature Figurenes"
Sounds like a wargames company being run by someone who isn't a wargamer and has no idea what makes a wargamer tick. Bit like a petshop owner who dislikes people who keep pets.
Quote from: Leman on 13 February 2015, 04:01:35 PM
Sounds like a wargames company being run by someone who isn't a wargamer and has no idea what makes a wargamer tick. Bit like a petshop owner who dislikes people who keep pets.
Ahhh, feck, there goes my retirement plan!
Yep, it's similar thing to many "managers" thinking - don't need actual experience or knowledge of the industry/practise your "managing", as that's for the plebs. You just tell 'em what to do and throw a paddy when it doesn't work.
I look forward to the day when the last bit of funnel of the good ship "Games Workshop" slips beneath the waves.
I believe that company has
1) Got rid of pretty much every independant bricks and mortar hobby shop in the land and
2) driven up prices on the basis of "well theyre charging that much, so we can charge just a wee bit less"
Buggers, all of them, bah humbug!
The Y Front strikes back!
QuoteGot rid of pretty much every independant bricks and mortar hobby shop in the land
We're really very lucky in Bristol to have Antics that has been going for decades and staffed by (generally) knowledgeable and helpful modellers. Andy the manager now gives me a discount as he knows I'm a friend and colleague of a long standing friend of his. So generally I will give them my business to keep them going for as long as possible.
Quote from: Steve J on 13 February 2015, 05:56:08 PM
We're really very lucky in Bristol to have Antics that has been going for decades and staffed by (generally) knowledgeable and helpful modellers. Andy the manager now gives me a discount as he knows I'm a friend and colleague of a long standing friend of his. So generally I will give them my business to keep them going for as long as possible.
Same in Leicester; "Gifts for Geeks". Love it; good range of diverse stuff :)