Run a starter box tournament. We ran a tournament were only the starter box was used for each table. Everything was already set up for the players, and they did not have to bring anything. The prize for the winner was a starter box. This added several players to our area.

A starter box tournament sounds really interesting, but I have also found games with 2 ties against luke and R2-D2 to be more of a turn off for new players. Do you have a point cap on your tournament to prevent this?

Run a starter box tournament. We ran a tournament were only the starter box was used for each table. Everything was already set up for the players, and they did not have to bring anything. The prize for the winner was a starter box. This added several players to our area.

I was just going to ask if anyone has tried this. It sounds like a fantastic idea.

Ban all children, sell beer and install a stripper pole.

Maybe it's just me... but I really have no desire to see my X-Wing friends try out a stripper pole.

They'd need to reinforce the pole for some of the guys at my LGS

Ban all children, sell beer and install a shower stall with soap.

Fixed your post.

Ban all children, sell beer and install a stripper pole.

I'm pretty sure I've never met an X-Wing player who I'd want to see swinging off a stripper pole.

It's not for the customers you just higher an semi attractive person to dance they don't even have to be any good it's a classic honey trap.

"I came for the stripper I stayed for the x-wing" stick that on a t-shirt with your stores logo job done.

We're talking about male strippers here, right?

Invest in a number of expansions as "store copies." Invest in 4 playmats or so. Start a casual X-wing night where people play at 100 points, and be sure to advertise to your locals. My city has a local X-Wing players facebook page; see if yours does, too. If not, maybe you could start it?

If people are short of their own stuff to make 100 points, of course they can borrow one (or two) packs from the store copies for the night. but not more. You don't want them making uber lists that take cards and ships from 9 different expansions. People will get to try stuff out but if they want to make the really cool lists, they'll have to buy some packs.

After a month or two of casual night, host a tournament. At the tournament, announce that you'll be starting a league with weekly prizes in the next few weeks. get $10 or $15 a person for the league, and then use all of that money to buy stuff at cost from yourself to give out as prizes. Note that the league itself is not going to make you any direct profit, but the people who show up every week will buy stuff off the floor, and they'll bring their friends. If you make weekly facebook events and people rsvp on facebook, all of their facebook friends will see it, and that might bring more in.

For all that effort, you might only get a league of 10 or 12 diehards. but who knows? I once ran a Blood Bowl league with over 50 participants and the store was overflowing on Blood Bowl days, and we could not keep Blood Bowl stuff in stock it was going so fast.

I think a fun league idea would be a weekly 30 point furball dogfight league. You bring just one ship, can outfit it however you want, to a maximum of 30 points. And then you have one giant winner-takes-all furball dogfight. This could encourage sales of expansions to participate in that league, as you could provide the core resources. Plus, it would be fun.

This is a good plan, though instead of points, I'd limit it to small base ship sizes.

I dunno, maybe. If somebody wants to pay for an Outer Rim smuggler without the money to put anything but an auto blaster turret on it, I'm okay with that.

Also, small-ship sizes imply that a fully laden A-Wing is a good match against a fully laden Defender...

Right. Whereas a fully laden A-wing vs even an outer rim smuggler would be amusing. Though my money would be on the A-wing.

Though my money would be on the A-wing.

35 points - Jake Farrell, A-Wing Test Pilot, Proton Rockets, Push the Limit, Autothrusters, Outmaneuver.

Vs

35 points Outer Rim Smuggler, Gunner, Recon Specialists

My money is on Jake from Statefarm as well.

I think a fun league idea would be a weekly 30 point furball dogfight league. You bring just one ship, can outfit it however you want, to a maximum of 30 points. And then you have one giant winner-takes-all furball dogfight. This could encourage sales of expansions to participate in that league, as you could provide the core resources. Plus, it would be fun.

This is a good plan, though instead of points, I'd limit it to small base ship sizes.

I dunno, maybe. If somebody wants to pay for an Outer Rim smuggler without the money to put anything but an auto blaster turret on it, I'm okay with that.

Also, small-ship sizes imply that a fully laden A-Wing is a good match against a fully laden Defender...

Exactly how are you fully ladening a Defender at 30 points? Even 33 points limits you to a Delta with an Ion.

... We have seen a drastic uptick in costumer frequencies due mostly to High school kids ...

Wait - are you telling me people come to your store in Costume? That is AWESOME! =P

I think a fun league idea would be a weekly 30 point furball dogfight league. You bring just one ship, can outfit it however you want, to a maximum of 30 points. And then you have one giant winner-takes-all furball dogfight. This could encourage sales of expansions to participate in that league, as you could provide the core resources. Plus, it would be fun.

This is a good plan, though instead of points, I'd limit it to small base ship sizes.

I dunno, maybe. If somebody wants to pay for an Outer Rim smuggler without the money to put anything but an auto blaster turret on it, I'm okay with that.

Also, small-ship sizes imply that a fully laden A-Wing is a good match against a fully laden Defender...

Exactly how are you fully ladening a Defender at 30 points? Even 33 points limits you to a Delta with an Ion.

The second qoute suggested not using points but only limiting it to small ships. He's pointing out that without point limitations you could see a fully laden A-Wing against a fully laden Defender.

Let's not turn this into a thread about ship building and squad lists... there's a sub-forum for that.

Another thought I had on this would be to see if your local newspaper/tv station/radio (presuming you have those in a small town) has a community interest reporter. Virtually anything Star Wars related is pretty hot for a story now, and I'm sure they'd love to find a way to tap into it. A positive story about how your store provides a good, safe, and fun location for those after school kids to spend their time may be a good angle for it, and generate some good free marketing for you. If you're from that town (or close by) they also love stories with a strong local flavour - especially as I seem to recall you mentioning this was a long-time dream of yours to own a shop like this. Give 'em a call.

Another thought I had on this would be to see if your local newspaper/tv station/radio (presuming you have those in a small town) has a community interest reporter. Virtually anything Star Wars related is pretty hot for a story now, and I'm sure they'd love to find a way to tap into it. A positive story about how your store provides a good, safe, and fun location for those after school kids to spend their time may be a good angle for it, and generate some good free marketing for you. If you're from that town (or close by) they also love stories with a strong local flavour - especially as I seem to recall you mentioning this was a long-time dream of yours to own a shop like this. Give 'em a call.

Once you get to a level where you can hold tournaments with a significant attendance and thus dedicate the event(s) towards a good (local) cause plus donating respectable amount of money coming from the events, that would be an example of something news-worthy.

To get there however, do advertise!

Sort of. If you are talking about small local papers, who take up freelance stories, and you know somebody, they would probably be willing to do a feature story on a tournament or something of that nature, and it might get picked up. I have a friend who freelances and he did a story on a Zombie Apocalypse airsoft game we attended that got picked up for a feature.

Sort of. If you are talking about small local papers, who take up freelance stories, and you know somebody, they would probably be willing to do a feature story on a tournament or something of that nature, and it might get picked up. I have a friend who freelances and he did a story on a Zombie Apocalypse airsoft game we attended that got picked up for a feature.

No disrespect towards you or your friend, but from a professional perspective I find that disheartening.

Slow news days in small towns, they'll cover anything. I've had a bundle of free press/advertising from it over the years. Obviously YMMV.

A game store that hires a stripper to attract customers would be bound to make news especially if you leaked it to some third wave femenists.

See works on multiple levels.

... and considering the lead stories in the local newspaper for Orange City, Iowa appears to be that the local high school will be performing their version of Anne of Green Gables, and that the high schol girls basketball team had an undefeated season and a championship title (Go Knights!), along with a local version of "Dancing With the Stars" that most days could be considered a slow news day... Go for it. They need some good qualit nerd'isms to balance the geek quotient in the paper.

I must not knock women's basketball, I must not knock women's basketball, I must mock women's basketball...wait no bugger...

Sort of. If you are talking about small local papers, who take up freelance stories, and you know somebody, they would probably be willing to do a feature story on a tournament or something of that nature, and it might get picked up. I have a friend who freelances and he did a story on a Zombie Apocalypse airsoft game we attended that got picked up for a feature.

No disrespect towards you or your friend, but from a professional perspective I find that disheartening.

How so? Feature stories have never been the hardest-hitting of reporting. And it's in an arts and entertainment paper.

Personally, my local store has online listings of all the ships and their status (if they are in, how many they have). This is extremely helpful since I do not have time to be going to the store to see if the b wings are in.

Good Luck

If you have enough tables to run a few events, that would be cool. You could do a giant furball on one table that just takes a break and resets after someone wins. You can do a big Trench Run on another that has about 4 people playing. This way, you can have people that want a quick game to jump in and roll some dice (while going "pew pew") and you have something with a story for people that want to dive in deeper.

EDIT: Oh, and see about getting the 501st involved. You know, the guys that dress up in Star Wars costumes?

Just get Harrison Ford to come hang out for a few days and have him fly the Falcon. Let people show up and challenge him, and anyone who beats him gets to kiss Carrie Fisher, because she'll be there too.