Not Going to visit again

Hey everybody,

I thought everyone might appreciate one lowly store owner's point-of-view on this particular topic.
FIRST; Thank you to everyone who gave me props for the effort I've been making toward Warhammer. It is very much appreciated.
SECOND; I gotta give props to Eric at Sci-Fi. I've known Eric a long time, and he lost his job at Comic Book World when I bought the store (now UU&A, natch) in '06. Being the stand-up guy he is, he understood the situation, took the high road with the change, and now has all the headaches associated with his own store!
I wish I had his space for gaming!

Anyway, I'm not a Warhammer player. Or a Magic player. Or much of a video game player, either. I'm a comic book guy trying to accommodate the needs of the gamers in the area. I only mention this because I can be completely ignorant sometimes of what you guys might want, and that's where I need your help. Tell me. I can't give you the space Sci-Fi can, but I think everyone will be impressed on Friday with what we can do with the store after hours. When I bought CBW in '06, the Yu-Gi-Oh kids had taken over the store, much to my comic book customers' dismay. I've spent the last 2+ years making UUA a great comic book store. And I want it to be a great Warhammer store. I don't carry RPGs beyond D&D anymore. I carry HeroClix & Star Wars minis (& RPGs) and Magic. Just enough Yu-Gi-Oh & Pokemon for the kids (usually the children of my regulars.) Every other spare dime in the gaming budget is devoted to Warhammer.

I figured if I couldn't offer lots of space, I would offer the city's BEST selection of Warhammer, in store, all the time. All available terrain is on the shelf. Need a razor saw? Got it. Baneblade. Got it. Warhammer Fortress? Yup. Every paint color, brush, tool, grass AND snow? OK. I stock way more Warhammer Fantasy than anybody. 40K sales outnumber Fantasy sales in most stores 10-to-1, but if I find out 1 guy likes Lizardmen, then I'll order ALL the Lizardmen SKUs available, cuz I know you guys want to be able to walk in, grab that blister you need and get on with that battle!

I'm not prattling on about this to toot my own horn. I just thought that you guys would want to know how I view what we're trying to accomplish at Up Up & Away. My bathroom is always clean, I have plenty of toilet paper, and I really want you to feel welcome in my store. For many of you, it's out of the way, but only 10 minutes further West than Sci-Fi. Sci-Fi is a great place to play, and we're a great place to shop. If Illuminadi doesn't want your business, I do. If YottaQuest won't stock Warhammer, I will. And if I can do something more/different/better...TELL ME.

I'll post more next time about the economics of discounting, and the benefits to using our U-Card.

Thanks for listening,

Kendall

Kendall,

Thank you from all of us Caggers. We really do appreciate everything you have and are doing. That's why we have given you so much praise because you do take the time to listen to us and you do actually care about some of our problems in the gaming community. So again thank you.

Kendall, isn't it past your bedtime?

PS Kendall, as if you didn't already have ENOUGH stuff that you do for us... you should have t-shirts. Like, UU&A t-shirts. I'd buy one. And I'd make Liz buy one.

Bedtime!?

Nobody told me I was allowed to sleep!

I got too much to do!

Thanks for the post Kendall.

you deserve the props buddy boy......you have done way more then anyone. And you know you got my support.....so.....Get the Battle reach stuff put together yet??? LOL

testing something

Neat graphic, carl!

Qoltar SciFi City has always been good to us when ever we go up there I enjoy playing there. Good atmosphere and we always feel welcomed.

Kendall UpUp and Away has extremely gracious and very accomadating. As Kendall said they are more of a comic book place but that has started shifting... Especially seeing as he is a huge supporter of our tourneys

Yotta Quest another big supporter of us gaming and another big supporter of the Tourneys. Good place to play. However I just can't bring myself to order something. I have to see it and hold it in my hands.

Acme has the space, acme has the minis for 40K, and the staff was very nice. Another big supporter of our Tourneys. Horrible parking, and a few people made it a little uneasy at times, not nescesarily Acmes fault but I just didn't get a good vibe because of those people.

Illuminadi has the space but not very accomadating. The sales person there acting annoyed when I first arrived as if I had no reason to be there. I brought about $300 to spend on minis and assorted stuff but after that kind of treatment I bought only what I needed at the moment and I bought my son some starwars minis. They lost a lot of buisness that night.
I actually didn't mind the arrangements I just didn't like the accomadations.
On behalf of the sales guy though he got much better towards the end of the night and was patient with my son when he wanted to buy candy and drinks(Don't tell Cherry Darling).

All in all heres my opinion:

Scifi First place I played in Cincinnati will continue going there.
Up,Up, & Away new place (for me)will continue going there.
Yotta Quest If I'm Broke i'll play there because they don't have much for me to buy anyway, I.e. get more fantasy and 40K minis in and you'll see me more.
Acme the closest store to me but I will try playing some more there to see if it was just that one time of akwardness. The hours of operation are not that good for me but not a mark against them.
Illuminadi some adjustments need to be made and some love shown for me to frequent more often.

lets see if we can get some posts from the other people who went.. how much did you take to spend? how much did you spend?

im going to see if i can impress the necessety to the owner of making it a better gaming store..

wittdooley wrote:

Neat graphic, carl!

Thanks! I'm letting the cat outta the bag.

bad??? bag i think you mean LOL

altahara - I had about $150 to spend. I spent $0.69 on a bottle of water.

Ouch....My budget doesn't stretch as far as i like to for gaming stuff but when i swing by sci fi i usally drop at least a couple of bucks on someting if not more. Being nice does bring in business. Ask eric bout the group of kids saturday night! Mans a saint...or a satan hidden in a saint body

Yes, Eric can be a very patient and gracious man.


- Ed C.

I have to say I agree w Makari. I used to live 10 min from Acme. They have a consistent group Monday nights but a few guys are very much rules lawyers (seen them actually stop a game and email GW for a question on rules) Sci Fi is my first pick as I work there in the mall and I can walk there straight from work and play with anyone (very convenient) and Eric has always been great to me. I visited U U & Away Sat prior to work. Kendall was actually off but his guy he had there was great and even offered to call Kendall on his off day to answer ??? for me, which I refused as a manager I HATE being called on my off day. I was very impressed with the selection, service and cleanliness of the store. Also close to work. So Sci Fi and U U & A are my first picks. Was not impressed w/ Illuminadi at all (had $150.00 to spend and never even played a game)

altahara wrote:

lets see if we can get some posts from the other people who went.. how much did you take to spend? how much did you spend?

im going to see if i can impress the necessety to the owner of making it a better gaming store..

I spend about $200 a month on minis and/or hobby supplies. Admittedly not always GW stuff but hey we all can't be perfect.

The store is, like Altahara, about 5 minutes from my house. I've stopped in several times to look/browse but there is nothing I need and I just don't special order, sorry I know every store can do it but if I'm going to special order I might as well get on line myself.

I'm all for supporting LGSs that want to support gaming but I don't get that vibe from Illuminaudi.

Despite the big post when they switched their name....you get the feeling that it just isn't wanted in the store from the folks that work there.

Even when I've stopped to spend your money you need to ask to turn on the lights. The one time I went their to play it was almost too much trouble to get up and help me finds the lights in the back room.

I even emailed them back 2 months ago about hosting a painting event but never got a response back so I didn't set anything up. The phone number listed in that post also is disconnected.

Overall...I expect the store to be empty or another owner in short order.

If your target is CCGs then it really isn't a welcoming environment for that either. I can't see a bunch of soccer moms wanting to drop their kids off their for a Saturday afternoon of playing cards.

I thought soccer moms dumping off their kids for CCGs just wanted to get rid of them for a few hours of free babysitting?

I heard about the whole friday night Illuminadi debacle from the guys yesterday.

Then Altahara (who was going to play there yesterday) found out they were closing early so he went to UU&A with us instead and ended up spending almost $300 on a whim (Necron Phalanx, SM predator, and CSM 10-man and 2 copies of White Dwarf; add it up if you want).

I know that a bunch of kids buying a few Magic boosters add up after a while, and maybe some stores make the majority of their year's profit that way, but it is still sheer idiocy to blow off the couple of guys that will drop $300 in one sitting.

Quote :

However I just can't bring myself to order something. I have to see it and hold it in my hands.

I like Yotta, but this is so true, especially when it is so easy to order things for yourself online, get them sent directly to your house AND usually pay less for them. The only advantage a brick and mortar store has is that things are actually there. Otherwise they're just the IRS, taxing you after you did all the work.

I actually spent a whole whopping .50 (i think) on a can of soda (in reality it was a $1.00 cause the munchkin waiter aka Kaiu kept the rest of the change). Wherever we go I usually buy something that will help either my fantasy or 40k. Usually buy wood elf stuff cause not many stores have much Witchhunter stuff other than SOB's and Serephims. The feel inside the store with all the lights off and the product (what little there was) was behind a counter. I didn't even look but was told there were SOB's behind the counter (and i do mean it as Sisters of Battle not the other way). As said before I won't be back unless things change.

Yeah, I'm not a huge in-store buyer other than paint and such, more of an ebay pirate most of the time, but while there I was actually debating being a last minute entrant into a Fantasy tourny at Krystal Keep the next day and would have possibly bought some dwarf warmachines to make my list legal the way I wanted, but no Fantasy stock at all. Sorry Illuminadi.

Quote :

Then Altahara (who was going to play there yesterday) found out they were closing early so he went to UU&A with us instead and ended up spending almost $300 on a whim (Necron Phalanx, SM predator, and CSM 10-man and 2 copies of White Dwarf; add it up if you want).

Sooo many necrons.... so many pieces... must.. keep.. assembling...