I know that you guys never heard of the place - unless you happen to live in Seattle like I - but Gary's Games up in Greenwood is closing. It's a retirement thing, not a failing to make money thing, so that's not quite as bad I guess.

Sure I've got several other FLGS's in my vicinity, but it's always a shame when a business of 20+ years closes it's doors. The internet might be great for price - but nothing will ever beat going into a store and actually talking to the clerk or seeing what your buying.

So here's to the local game stores:

(Sadly the EotE stuff was mostly gone save for a set of dice and a Beginners Set and the X-Wing stuff was all but vanished. I did get me an extras B-Wing and a copy of Lupin the Third for pretty cheap though. . . .)

When I lived in Seattle I used to hit up the used game room at Gary's all the time. Found some real gems in there occasionally.

That's two old line stores that have closed in the area since 2011 when I moved away... and the Half Price Books on Capitol Hill which used to a have a great RPG section.

The hobby moves on, I guess.

Always sad to hear about a game store closing its doors, even when it's for non-economical reasons. Here's hoping that the others in Seattle will take up the slack.

Where I live (Bergen, Norway) we have precisely one FLGS. While they've changed their name three times since opening they fortunately show no sign of going under (knock on wood).

I've never had a FLGS. They have always been neither F nor L. The nearest NFNLGSOSON (non-friendly, non-local, game store of smelly opinionated nerds) is 40 miles away.

I personally am glad for the internet, and wish game companies gave loyal internet customers as much support as they do "FLGS".

(Sorry for rant, it's just one of my pet peeves with RPG companies/stores. Carry on!)

I know that you guys never heard of the place - unless you happen to live in Seattle like I - but Gary's Games up in Greenwood is closing. It's a retirement thing, not a failing to make money thing, so that's not quite as bad I guess.

Sure I've got several other FLGS's in my vicinity, but it's always a shame when a business of 20+ years closes it's doors. The internet might be great for price - but nothing will ever beat going into a store and actually talking to the clerk or seeing what your buying.

So here's to the local game stores:

(Sadly the EotE stuff was mostly gone save for a set of dice and a Beginners Set and the X-Wing stuff was all but vanished. I did get me an extras B-Wing and a copy of Lupin the Third for pretty cheap though. . . .)

It's been awhile (more than a year) since I've dropped by there. Nice store. I'm spoiled down in Olympia, but if I hadn't have been I would have stopped by more often when I had reason to make the drive up to Seattle. Sorry for your loss.

I have grown up in a rural Ontario town. We had to drive twenty minutes to an hour over the years to get to different stores and get our gaming fixes, and the closer stores just didn't cut the mustard in terms of profitability, I think for obvious reasons. This of course, was in the days before the internet, when Dragon Magazine and in-store calenders were our only indication of when new stuff was coming out.

As an adult, I have become conscious of local economy and have continued to support FLGS's wherever I can.

Recently in Hamilton, Ontario, we lost another one, and in this case, it was partly due to the web.

Bayshore Hobbies had been a staple of the Hamilton gaming community for decades, and was run by a delightful woman and her husband, an avid strategy gamer, and each of them voracious tabletop gamers. If you like, search Bayshore Hobbies, Hamilton on FB. They still organize casual and themed game nights in different locations around the city. They have photos of their final days, as well as notes and tributes from long time customers turned friends. It was a true mom and pop store with the kind of staff that help guide people's lives when they need it most.

As internet trade became more common and convenient, Rose lost business, as I think a lot of establishments in any industry did. What made it harder and harder to compete though, was demoralization over price wars. So many customers would come in and challenge the pricing of an item by finding a better price on the internet and demanding the owners to match/beat it, on threat of taking their money elsewhere. After a while, seeing people come in and take pictures of their inventory and plug it into Google Goggles right there in front of her became too much.

I'm sure there were other factors involved in the closing of the store, but ultimately the owner's love of the store was defined by the love of the hobby and their mutual affection for their customers. I think it began to be a bitter exchange, and they decided to end it before it sucked the life out of the hobby. As I said earlier, they still organize events, promote local designers and products, and generally haven't left the hobby, but the store itself is gone, and that is bitter sweet.

I can understand stinky, elitist jerk establishments, and understand a desire not to support that economy. I am a musician as well as a gamer, and there is no group more guilty of elitist, clique ridden arrogance and self-importance than the world of art and music. I have been to many a music store full of self-righteous, egotistical music snobs and their over-priced, gouging wares (I'm looking at you Music Pro, Barrie). If you can't bring yourself to give them money, don't. I don't.

All of that said, brick and mortar is an amazing thing. The first time I took my son to a real gaming store, it was like walking into wonderland. His eyes went wide and he stared at all the boxes, displays, minis and props that littered the room. I was reminded that that must have been the look on my face the first time I went into a game store. Having inherited a limited amount of AD&D books from my aunt and uncle, I was awe struck to see the massive display shelf of 2E resources at the far end of the room when I first set foot in the door.

There are two reasons to support an FLGS. One, you keep your money in your town, or at least in your region. You help make things go round in your little corner of the world, and as I get older (I'm 37), I have been able to look beyond the selfish arrogance and ignorance of my youth and see how my dollars change the world, even in a minute way, by putting food on the tables of people in my community. That's important to me now.

Two. At some point in your past, whether by inheriting books like I did, or walking past a classroom or cafeteria table at school, you started down this road. At some point you were lost and outnumbered by a world where your interests were in the minority, and you started to speak a language that so few understood, it left you searching for a place to belong, where you could make your world a little bigger. And then you found it. You saw the marquee, or your cousin/friend, etc. said there is a place for us, and you stepped inside. Everybody there spoke your language, and everywhere you looked, there was MORE. At that moment, you were reborn.

And you kept going. Maybe it wasn't for long. Maybe the people there were on the ******-y side and you bought your items and that's all you ever did, but it was a kind of bastion. A home free kind of retreat. A wooby. I loved going to the various stores in my part of the world. It was like a secret club, and I knew the handshake. You know those stories about iconic bands or artists where fans claim that they were down such a dark path and headed for the end, when so-and-so came into their lives with whichever album and saved them? That's what an FLGS can do for us.

In my town we have finally had a game store added to the mix, and my above point was proven. A girl of about twelve expressed interest in D&D night, and so her mom, gramma, and sisters all came down and the owner ran a starter session. Since then, this girl and her sister and a couple of friends she has recruited have come back week after week, and her mom has said how great it is to have her coming a little further out of the shell and finding her own. When I show up to run our weekly EotE game, I am always glad to see that table show up, because however long it lasts, that girl has found a little sanctuary to explore this world and herself. That is important to her, whether she knows it or not.

That is not to say that everyone has an awesome time in a store. I am sure that a store full of A-holes might have crushed the same girl. Those should be the exception, not the rule. That is up to us to change, by getting involved or at least expressing our opinions as customers and consumers, and ultimately, if need be taking our dollars elsewhere.

If you have stuck with me until now, thank you. I have been thinking about this over the last little while, and this topic gave me the muse to get it out. I'm not trying to be soap-box-ish or lecture anyone, this is more of an Op-Ed kind of rant, and you may take it for what it is.

My family and I try very hard to support local business in any capacity, and while we can't do it 100% of the time, we try very hard where we can to support the businesses we like and agree with, and spend no money at the places we don't.

I'm always sad to see any small business close, but in this case, they made it. They retired. Life is good. Good for them.

Op-Ed.

Simply put: brilliant.

I've never had a FLGS. They have always been neither F nor L. The nearest NFNLGSOSON (non-friendly, non-local, game store of smelly opinionated nerds) is 40 miles away.

I personally am glad for the internet, and wish game companies gave loyal internet customers as much support as they do "FLGS".

(Sorry for rant, it's just one of my pet peeves with RPG companies/stores. Carry on!)

ive never had a FLGS either, nearest one is about 15 miles away i think, sadly i can only really go there on a Saturday which is

'YOOOO-GIIIIIII-OOOOOO'

day where it's apparently ok to just scream that out at random intervals (maybe its when they win a hand? ) sufficed to say it gets old very quickly and i go in/out asap

it can be a bit intimidating when there's core regulars in a LGS as well, like a kind of clique

Sadly I lost my flgs last year. People would spend 20 minutes looking at a game, and then scan the bar code for the cheapest price. I feel that in the long run it is going to be detrimental to gaming as a whole.

Sadly I lost my flgs last year. People would spend 20 minutes looking at a game, and then scan the bar code for the cheapest price. I feel that in the long run it is going to be detrimental to gaming as a whole.

My flgs is actually cheaper than other options by about 15 to 20%. So if they can do it and grow then I don't see how others could not.... It is also a sort of rigid though that is still alive in many (not all, mind you) of the old time stores (not just game stores but also dvd's, cd's, books, etc.) who are just not willing to be a part of the 21st century.

My other FLGS consistently meets or beats the prices at Mini Market and CSInc - sure I have to pay local tax, but that means I don't have to get over 75 bucks for free shipping. Plus the gratification of Get It Now versus watching all you guys talk about a book while I'm waiting for the mailman. So win-win all around!

@polyheadronman

I've been going to bayshore for... two decades. It closing was bittersweet for me.

On one hand I lost a place to go to buy my books. There are other game stores, but the ones devoted to gaming have made it clear to me that they don't want my business. Rude and lacking knowledge (or even offering to find out) I turned to the online. The plus is I found a store that offers great prices as well as a brick and mortar store, that is unfortunately not local.

Oh, man. I live in Seattle and this is depressing news.

Have you heard of Card Kingdom in Ballard? It's a great place.

I moved from Madison, WI and had my FLGS which is the famous "Pegasus Games"

WHen I moved up to LaCrosse there was another one that did a lot of Comic Book sales, from the locals it seemed the owner was a High School coach, and most of the kids in the area saw him as a father figure. Didn't have much of a BoardGame collection, or RPG. But it did have a lot of Warhammer stuff... and comic books

Last year he died of a heart attack and the place closed down. Fortunately, another store about 40 Minutes away bought it ,and is going to re-open it in April

It is sad that the Game makers are not making it easier for brick and motor stores to survive. When you have online retailers who buy CMGs and CCGs in bulk, then sell them online under retail value, there is not much a brick and motor can do

I've shopped at Gary's since The Game Place went out of business many years ago. It didn't have the best prices in the world, but was friendly enough and usually had what I wanted in stock. It was also only 1/2 mile from my workplace. I'm really sad to see it go. The buildings around it have really been gentrifying, so I'm betting the rent has been starting to go up, or would be soon. Probably easier to retire then keep going in that neighborhood.

As a non-driver it's going to be tough for me to get to the next nearest store. I'll have to rely more on the internet, or friends to grab what I need from another spot.

Thanks for many years of good service Gary's.

Stuff about online sales "back-stabbing" brick and mortars.

I'd place an order for Yu-Gi-Oh or MTG. I'd write a check for $X per box. I'd mark it 10-15% under MSRP. I'd have some spaz ask me if I could match the discount price of Derp's Online CCG Market Saturation at less than half what I paid per box. And lose money? No, I can't match that. "Fine! I'll just take my business somewhere else if you're not interested in making the sale!"

That's not making a sale. In fact, spaz never actually offered me a legitimate choice.

Or spaz would scan the code of Game X, show me his phone, and ask for that price...

Then spaz gives me the riot act because I had to close shop. He has nowhere to go play his games...that he never purchased from me.

Eff spaz.

Spaz? Really? What's next? Racial slurs?

Protest too much?

What am I missing here? Spaz is the informal of spastic, referring to muscle spasms, cerebral palsy, and similar. Also, it's been used in a derogatory manner as a diagnosis of low intellect. It's also used to denote a person that forgoes rational thinking, which is the context in which I intended the word be interpreted. Now, it's not like I went out of my way to specifically offend anyone, rather I was merely sharing an anecdote. However, if I've touched upon a nerve (no pun intended) with my verbiage, then I offer my sincere apology.

What are you missing? Respect? Decency? Using a derogatory term for disabled people to describe someone that behaved in a manner you disliked is about as rude as you can get. The fact that you even defend it by giving a definition that includes handicapped people makes me wonder why my first remark didn't make you realize that you crossed a line.

The fact you think it would be funny to state:

Protest too much?

Always sad to see a store close, same things happening here in Portland to Bridgetown.

And Polyhedronman, excellent post.

And I now know why others chose to ignore you.

Wow, really? Do you call cheap people Jews and then act all indignant when someone tells you that it is offensive?

Why is it is hard to see why that (as a family member of someone with palsy) would really be hurtful to me? If you want to put me on ignore so you can feel good about saying offensive stuff then go ahead, but I really don't get why you would think it a normal thing to say...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4902432.stm

Perhaps this clears up why I find it offensive. I am not trying to be an ass about this, since apparently you didn't intend to be hurtful my initial reaction might have been very harsh but having seen how my cousin was treated and the names she was called ("spaz" included) when growing up I get very protective when I hear people use that word in the way you did. It is along the lines of "retard" or even the n-word in its singling out someone and adhering a very negative meaning to something they never chose nor can do anything about.

Hey, hey, hey, hey-now. Don't be mean; we don't have to be mean, cuz, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.