electronicham said:

I'm pretty certain that you would still need some kind of licence even for alcohol to be consumed on the premises. Licences would add cost and complexity to the business.

Plus, how many avid gamers started when they were too young to buy alcohol? If you exclude these people from your business then you won't have customers in ten years. Your beer drinking customers will be dropping away due to other life commitments and your next generation will have got into the habit of playing at someone's house (or not at all).

The solution would be to find a pub with a function room and see if you could get the room for cheap/free on a quiet night (like a Tuesday).

I'll refer back to my earlier post about the game store being a "hub" for games and gamers, it's going to be pretty difficult for a store operating in a niche market to be all things to all people. The store can get around this by supporting gamers and game groups.

If I could create the 'ideal' game shop it would be one that's a little more, for lack of better terms, classy and less 'nerd-dungeon' type. Despite being a life long geek (I use the term with pride) I've always kind of shied away from game and comic shops because they always just seemed like a haven for the socially awkward. Now, that may be more of a problem with the customer base than the shops themselves... you can make a shop classy all you want, but if that's the demographic it attracts, there's not much you can do about it.

My first suggestion would be not to have the shop be overly crowded with stuff; I particularly hate feeling like I'm walking through just a tight packed warehouse with just a few tables out near the front where people can play Yu-Gi-Oh or whatever else. And enough with the fading posters on the wall. I think more of like a sharp looking indie-cafe atmosphere, rather than hentai-worship site, would be the kind of thing I would be attracted to. I remember quitting comic shops all together until one opened up near me that was just kind of the comics equivalent of like a Borders/Starbucks, and it made it feel good to go to. Something like that for a games shop may also get me to go again.

But, like I said, I don't know how feasible that is given the demographic. I don't mean that as an insult really, I consider myself part of the demographic... but, honestly, it's hard enough sometimes to tolerate Avi's presence, could you imagine an entire store full of people like him? ;P

HyeJinx1984 said:

Gee, thanks Mike ;'D It's a good thing I know where you live so I can now go over and murder you.

Ahahah. Dude, I found another Arkham player at my school.

Krawhitham said:

I see your point. I guess even if you make it 18 and over past a certain time, you will still get rid of the kids whose parents do not care how late they stay out or the kids who just stay out late.....the true gamers

HyeJinx1984 said:

Did you touch him? I need to know if your taint rubbed off on him and if I have to murder him too ;'D

By the way, come and visit my apartment already :'P (I know, death threats, so inviting).

Avi_dreader said:

Why, Avi, so he can touch YOU instead? o_O

Avi murdered me over Skype a couple of times.

Tibs said:

Guilty y'honor...

Play Arkham Horror through Skype...

electronicham said:

Mail each other items for trades?

EcnoTheNeato said:

I'm not touching that remark ;'D

gn0x said:

No :') You need to design proxy maps and use microsoft word and arkham horror wiki to keep track of everything. If you're seriously interested, I'll dig out my notes on how it was done last time.

*shudders and sniffles* he touched me... and I knew what true eldritch horrors were...

My idea of a great game store? One with a big back room filled with lots of used games that are sold at a discount.

Of course, those kind of stores are great no matter what they sell.