Well two friends and I took the plunge a year ago and decided to start a Friendly Local Game Store! OC Games and Comics will officially open tomorrow and hopefully usher in new era of gaming and comic book collecting in our little part of Northwest Iowa.

Being an avid X wing player I would be lying if i said that I didn't start this store basically to be able to play more X wing.... because let's face it, I did

Even though stocks are depleted to an almost non-existent state with the precious x wing cargo still on the boats, I still have high hopes that someday soon my store will be glistening with shine of brand new X wings, doom shuttles, phantoms, B wings and Bombers and maybe even the occasional Rebel Transport

We of course will be selling other things but they will not hold a place in my heart as the soon to be dedicated corner I have set aside for nothing but X Wing.

So wish me luck ( hopefully we wont need it) and if your bored check us out on our Facebook page.

I also would like to thank everyone in the forum and X wing community. I have found out so much about how to teach new players and how to keep them interacting and soon addicted to X wing. Can't wait to see you guys at Gen Con.

Good luck with your store!

Good luck dude! If I'm ever in that neck of the woods I'll try to remember to pop by...:-)

Storm Lake? Sioux City?

Edit: OC--I'm guessing Orange City?

The power of Google: Orange City, IA.

Congrats and good luck!

...Orange County perhaps?

GL HF!!

Congratulations and good luck.

Hmm, I wonder if I can find an excuse to get to Iowa...

May I offer some advice from experience.

A rather large fella opened a FLGS near where I lived some winters ago. He immediately painted all windows black with the exception of the Warhammer 50K astartes double headed eagle thing. It was impossible to see into the store. I asked him why, he said the sun in the afternoon was terrible.

As a result, unless you had any experience with that hobby, you had no idea what happened inside that store. My Grandma probably thought it was a devil worshipping cult.

Please please please use your store front for display purposes. I would always stop by a GW and admire their models in the window. One day I ventured in and I don't want to know how much money I spent there over the years. If it wasn't for those little toys in the window though .. who knows.

Also, windows at the store front allow people to see the bikini clad models you employ to flirt with customers

Good Luck! May the Force Be with you

Good Luck!

I considered buy a "successful" and "profitable" store in East Lansing, MI, a year ago...

... until I looked at the owner's take home pay! No way I could feed a family on that little income.

I'm out of Des Moines. I don't get to that part of the state often but good luck either way!

May I offer some advice from experience.

A rather large fella opened a FLGS near where I lived some winters ago. He immediately painted all windows black with the exception of the Warhammer 50K astartes double headed eagle thing. It was impossible to see into the store. I asked him why, he said the sun in the afternoon was terrible.

As a result, unless you had any experience with that hobby, you had no idea what happened inside that store. My Grandma probably thought it was a devil worshipping cult.

Please please please use your store front for display purposes. I would always stop by a GW and admire their models in the window. One day I ventured in and I don't want to know how much money I spent there over the years. If it wasn't for those little toys in the window though .. who knows.

Also, windows at the store front allow people to see the bikini clad models you employ to flirt with customers

You mean the 40K Imperial Aquilla?

Yeah..that sounds like it was a bad idea. Id have to bring in my gas mask and bio suit before I would set foot in a place like that...even if there were bikini clad models.

Good luck on your new business. I hope you have the problem of having to buy a bigger cash register.

Just remember: you are the owner, not the customer. While it may be fun to play "your" game in "your" store, if you neglect the customer (especially a new one) who is standing at the counter waiting to make a purchase you will quickly find yourself back to playing in someone else's store.

Be careful about hiring friends. Your buddy WILL eventually use that friendship to his advantage. You may end up having to fire your soon to be ex-friend.

Don't shy away from CCGs (Magic et al). While us mini-players and those card-players are different animals, most often it is the volume and profit margin of CCGs that let you meet payroll.

Just about every FLGS I've been in sells high end chess sets. While nice and classy in the big glass case, they rarely sell and end up taking valuable shelf space. Think long and hard in what your stock will be vs your customer demand.

Will your store have wi-fi for people to use laptops, tablets, and smart phones?

Will you allow food and/or drinks? (is your store in a strip mall with a McDs or other fast food?). While its really cool to be allowed to eat at the FLGS, many people are pigs (this aint their home...they DONT care) and you will have to clean the floors/carpets several times a year...less bugs and vermin take up residence and you get evicted.

How late do you plan to stay open? (are you in a strip mall with some autonomy for hours, or in a shopping center that has strict hours?). Why are you opening at 9AM on Tuesday...during school time? Do you really think shoppers will be out that early? (Our local GW store closes at 7PM sharp...Managers choice. I get off work at 5PM. It takes 3+ hours to get a 40K game in. Guess where I don't; cant; play...nor where I spend any of my money).

In the end, this is your business. Your JOB. Your source of income to put food in your kids tummies. That is your priority. Treat it as such....or fail.

Listen to Kelly. Love X-Wing; but stock X-Wing, Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, whatever Wil Wheaton's playing this week- whatever will sell, so you can keep playing X-Wing. :-) Good luck!

A store opened locally in my town last year. Fistful of Dice.

They open at 11am and close at 11pm. You can rent a table (generally 3x3 or 4x4) for £2.50 per person for a few hours. They've started hosting tournaments and will soon have a store championship, though there are 32 people so it won't be in the shop.

They're a good bunch and a cool group of X-Wing players has sprung up. The other night there were 8 of us in there for 4 hours. I got spanked in my games but there was great banter so it didn't matter as much .

They have set nights in the week for different types of games. Some nights the CCG guys are in. Other nights 40K and then us lot.

Most importantly, they listen! They ask what we'd like to see then go about it.

If they've got stock I'll buy from them before anyone else as they deserve it.