Actually a FLGS co-op would be nice. But I doubt it could ever be realized.

15 hours ago, ClassicalMoser said:

Curious: With the growth of massive businesses conglomerating/cannibalizing the "nerd industry," I wonder what would be the viability of a business that funds/supports local and independent LGSs across the country, holds them to certain brand standards (simple stuff like cleanliness, customer service, etc) but fostered a better sense of camaraderie between those that participate. With economies of scale it could even allow stuff like local pickup of out-of-print items only in stock in some random FLGS in Alaska, better fulfillment services for certain order types, better quality assurance of what to expect when visiting a FLGS in another town etc., while still offering stocking, scheduling, and focus-area autonomy to the local game stores, and (yet more importantly) keeping them afloat during these interesting economic times...

Like FLGS.com or something. Just a dumb idea.

I think the trouble with a sort of "big box FLGS" is that each of these little corner game/comic/nerd stuff shops has their own niche. You can't create any sort of uniformity because the entire point of the FLGS is to not be uniform. Since each one has a different base your franchise just becomes a different distributor and somebody to come in and boss a guy around who started a store in big part to be his own boss.

1 hour ago, Frimmel said:

I think the trouble with a sort of "big box FLGS" is that each of these little corner game/comic/nerd stuff shops has their own niche. You can't create any sort of uniformity because the entire point of the FLGS is to not be uniform. Since each one has a different base your franchise just becomes a different distributor and somebody to come in and boss a guy around who started a store in big part to be his own boss.

Oh I definitely think individual culture and ownership is a powerful asset, and it would be sad if someone attempted to do this without the business sense to see that. I guess the idea here is not to impose a new culture so much as to foster what exists and help it rise to the best of what it can be.

Also maybe to solidify the notion that the competition of an FLGS isn't the other LGS down the street but rather Amazon and B&N. Price-matching and certain types of non-compete agreements could be mutually beneficial while still allowing a tremendous amount of stock and cultural independence. The worst thing for the game store industry is when all three game stores in town just sell Magic and Pokemon, but no one does X-Wing, for example. It ends up hurting everyone as they fight over the same customer base but fail to offer something that would increase the overall pool of money to draw from.

I would see it more as a sort of umbrella company or business club membership than a "chain store" for sure.