I've heard the stories of good, bad and ugly LGS in their area. Whether its too expensive tournament fees, bad players and thieves, to the fun environments, great owners and epic monthly tournaments, what do you consider as ideal for a LGS?
I am asking as an individual who wishes to open my very own LGS, and would love insight on what the gaming community has found good, bad and ugly in regards to their own personal experiences. Specifics and stories are encouraged. Thanks!
For me, a good LGS is one that has a variety of events to play in, actually fires those events, runs them professionally, and doesn't cater to one specific group of people. It needs to provide an atmosphere that is friendly towards both new and experienced players. Having food available on-site is a great bonus!
The things I look for:
-Do the advertised events actually fire? For me, there is nothing worse than going to a shop that I have never visited, amped to play the advertised event, only to find that the event doesn't have enough people. I had this happen twice recently, and then learned that certain advertised events only fire every 3-4 weeks. Needless to say, I won't go back.
-Does the shop offer a variety of formats and try to promote all of them? If the shop only caters to Standard, for example, I am less likely to go there.
-Does the shop cater to/show favoritism towards a certain person/group of people? I have seen this several times to the point where the shop owner has "overlooked" borderline threatening behavior because the antagonist was one of "his guys." This kind of stuff will kill off attendance in the long run.
-Will the shop and staff step up to correct problems? A big one - players who really, really stink. Not only is this distracting for anyone in the vicinity, but its also just disgusting. If the shop is not willing to do or say anything, I won't go back.
-A good selection of singles available for sale.
-I rarely care about the actual entry fee for an event or the prize structure. I run Tier 1 decks in every format, but I just really want to play and have a good time.
That's my short list. I have a newer LGS that is close to home. Not only is it a short drive, but they offer Standard, Modern , and Limited events, great prize support, free food at bigger events, and a customer loyalty program. I love the place and the owner is a genuinely nice guy to boot. I will keep going back.
I'm actually in the same boat as you OP, in the brainstorming phase of opening a store. What augie said in regards to events actually firing is extremely important. If you are just starting out and aren't sure if you will have a good enough playerbase to fill tournaments (at least 8 people), then I think a good idea is to seed the tournaments personally. This is similar to seeding a server for an online video game. Get some friends to hang out on tourney days and they can make sure that someone who enters is going to have a tourney. Nothing is more discouraging than looking up an event, driving upwards of 30-40 minutes to a store, and realizing that there aren't enough people for it.
An LGS is a two-fold business: A retail store and a hobby-driven, socializing place. My favorite thing that some stores do to focus on the latter point is to have video games. A full-on PC LAN is probably too much for someone just starting out, but I wouldn't hesitate to donate your Xbox/PS and a TV (you're practically going to be living there anyways), getting hand sanitizer and planting it right by the TV, and just letting anyone play. It's especially nice with the modern systems because you can digitally download games to them, so people won't need to constantly fetch a different game from behind the counter. I've seen some stores attract a lot more community from this, as people love to have a social place to go play Super Smash Bros., Killer Instinct, or even just CoD/Battlefield or something. These people may or may not be interested in anything you're selling, but at the very least you can boost snack sales, which I believe are a large part of your income. And not to mention it makes the store look less dead.
I'd like to actually discuss more with you in detail. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.
My LGS has free tournaments, other than Competitive REL tournaments like IQs and GPTs. There are Modern FNMs, which have 24-32 players. There's a lot of advantages to the LGS that I go to, which is why I go the extra miles (I drive 22 mi. to get there).
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
First I'll tell you about a store I went too last night and how my friend and I both decided we will never be going back.
-All three events they were hosting started way late to let the people who called to hold a spot get there.
-Doing triple dragons draft instead of DDF. (They previously did this with fate as well doing FFK the whole time I heard).
-Annoying players who talked loud and berated other players during the drafting portion: "you're an idiot why would you pass this" over and over while also having loud theory debates over pointless MTG story crap.
-Awful prize payout, the two 8 person pods were playing for a grand total of 7 packs in the pod. MTGO does 12 packs payout for the same entry price.
-No snacks beyond candy.
-Charging almost a dollar for any common or uncommon you ask for.
-Friendly mulligans
-No parking. We had to park at a daycare across the street because the shop only has 5 parking spots in their parking lot not reserved by other businesses.
So to say what you should have in a shop:
Parking- if people can't get there your tournaments will be limited. Also may cause people to not bother going because it's such a hassle to park.
Decent singles selection- doesn't have to be amazing but at least try to have one of each of the standard legal rares
Snacks- Even if just chips or something try to have more than just candy and soda.
Players- While you want them to have fun don't let your store be a place that becomes overly clickish and rude to people new to the shop.
But most importantly be nice to your customer base, help them when needed, and teach your players to teach new players how to better play the games you offer, which in turn makes more business for you and a better place to play.
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Trying to make crappy pet cards work since 2002.
I'm usually typing quickly at work or on my phone so I appolize from the crummy grammar
I love my LGS and it's been very successful for a long time. Here's what they do well:
- Events in a huge variety of formats (Standard, Modern, Legacy, Limited, EDH, Tiny Leaders, they even used to do sanctioned Vintage semi-regularly)
- Excellent selection of singles for most formats, not a ton of Legacy / Vintage however
- Friendly and extremely knowledgeable staff
- Clean and professional environment
- Events fire on time ~90% of the time
- Quality players and a high level of competition (they hold a SCG IQ just about every week), but also friendly to newer players
I don't ask for a lot: just that the place is spacious, well-lit, clean, and well-stocked. And the staff must be helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. It helps when they stock board games too (so I can browse) but it's not essential. I found this new LGS called Game Café and I love it: the owner is a great guy (even gave away promo Ojutai's Command just 'cause), the regulars are nice too, and he stocks board games and stations for PC games and consoles. The store itself is small, but we can use the roomy next-door place with its tables and playmats for larger events. My only gripe is that the place's singles stock is kind of limited, but given the store's size, it's forgivable. So Game Café is my weekly Modern destination There's even a Facebook group for it!
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EDH/Commander
UBR Sedris RG Omnath, Locus of Rage UB The Scarab God RUG Maelstrom Wanderer WU Dragonlord Ojutai
I'm from Maryland, and there are two shops there that are pretty much everything I want in a LGS. They're clean, well-stocked, run a wide variety of events with great frequency, as well as having courteous, knowledgable staff. High Tide Games and Games & Stuff, if you're curious.
I'm in Charleston, WV for school now. There isn't a single decent LGS around here. Not one. All it would take is for someone to come in and establish a half-decent shop, and the four around here would fold. Either that, or one of them could just start giving a damn.
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Can you name all of the creature types with at least 20 cards? Try my Sporcle Quiz! Last Updated: 6/29/20 (Core Set 2021).
-Prereleases for $20.
-A relatively cheap takeout food place next door.
-An atmosphere that is great for newer players.
-Some regulars who also make the store fun for more experienced players and can serve as judges.
-Limited, standard, and modern tournaments every week.
-Boosters 3 for $10.
-A good singles stock.
-Lots of open spaces for tournaments.
-Random extra promos (I just went to a backdraft there where they threw four judge promo stoke the flames and four judge promo hordeling outbursts into the backdraft pool for free)
-Occasional free tournaments with prizes.
-A good crowd for most events.
-A nice owner.
-60% sell value.
-70% trade value.
-Backdrafts for $10, keep drafts with prizes for $12.
-A spacious parking lot.
-Casual and more competitive events, but even the competitive events have a friendly atmosphere.
-Events that always fire and almost always start on time.
-25c random foil commons, 50c random foil uncommons, $1 random foil rares, $2 random (nonfoil) mythics. Mythics and rares are mostly bulk in this box, but I have found occasional good ones.
All tournaments are everybody wins, so entering a $12 keep draft you are guaranteed at least one booster for a prize.
In addition, they sometimes do things like throw in a free Pack Wars tournament with the prereleases or drafts.
If you ever played at actual nice clean tables you dont want to miss that.
A competent judge should be present during every tournament, helps a lot.
Clean toilet (really) , and some drinks to sell in house, otherwise the crew might need to go out in some fast-food shops or whatever.
For me FNM starts actual in the night, 8pm , and lasts till midnight and longer. The store is long closed at that time so we still are allowed to play in the store, which is a real nice option and mandatory for the "adult" play groups (we work all day, theres simply no way to play earlier).
What tournaments are offered depends a lot on the actual playgroup in that store. Some areas prefer standard, in our store we really only draft in FNM , all the time for a discounted price which attracts a fair deal of players. At weekends some bigger constructed tournaments / prereleases and such, which are mostly on a demand basis ; enough people want to play a format and a tournament is announced for that.
Its a very good idea to give store credit as prices, which helps to ship product and its the easiest most cost efficient way to provide prices for a tournament aswell.
Prices of actual product and the like should be clear anyway. I dont care if a shop has single cards to sell and the like. As a LGS its pretty much impossible to fight against online traders, trying should be useless. Encouring players to spend money in the LGS should be "obvisious" for someone that regularly plays in that store.
Things that have annoyed me about stories that I have gone too:
-Prize payout not being announced until the end of an event, which happened as an employee of the store was playing in the finals. Once number of players is known, prize should be determined.
-Events actually started earlier than the event was announced on facebook to start. People who showed up fifteen minutes early, but ten minutes after we started were added in as having byes.
-No singles selection. Then complaining about how the store didn't make money off of the IQs they hold...
-Events starting late.
-Trash on tables and gross bathrooms.
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One of these day I have to get myself organizized.
That's not necessarily true. The local store I frequent the most in the NOVA region is the Comics and Gaming chain. The "partner" owner of the branch I play at the most is probably the biggest douchebag of a person I've ever encountered. That being said, douchebags can make good business decisions, and in the case of the comics and gaming franchise, their employees from store manager on down are some of the best I've ever seen at their jobs. The store's business model reflects the owner--overpriced singles, crappy buylist prices, overpriced events, the membership program scheme--but EVERYTHING the employees have any control over is the most top-notch I've seen. Events fire on time, rounds turn over quickly, the store is pretty much always spotless and as easy to navigate as possible, there's events in basically every format you could wish at least once a week (Even a proxy vintage afternoon), they keep the environment welcoming and inclusive, most days of the week you can walk in and there's an employee with an EDH deck and a passion for that format, if you want board games they're all generally able to talk about them and help you find the ones that would be most enjoyable for you and your gaming group...
It's not the owners of the stores that matter. It's having excellent staff in charge of the player experience. There's a ton of leeway for stores to have bad price/prize structures, or poor selection overall, provided that the player experience at that store is consistently excellent and fun. If I wanted straight value or top-tier playtesting I'd play at someplace like Curio Cavern or some of the stores in MD, but while those stores are a better set up from many other perspectives (price, selection, competitiveness, event times/start times), the C&G chain gets my business because the EXPERIENCE overall is much better when I play in the events, even the free/casual events.
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Yes, I am a local area mod. WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
Primary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
That's not necessarily true. The local store I frequent the most in the NOVA region is the Comics and Gaming chain. The "partner" owner of the branch I play at the most is probably the biggest douchebag of a person I've ever encountered. That being said, douchebags can make good business decisions, and in the case of the comics and gaming franchise, their employees from store manager on down are some of the best I've ever seen at their jobs. The store's business model reflects the owner--overpriced singles, crappy buylist prices, overpriced events, the membership program scheme--but EVERYTHING the employees have any control over is the most top-notch I've seen. Events fire on time, rounds turn over quickly, the store is pretty much always spotless and as easy to navigate as possible, there's events in basically every format you could wish at least once a week (Even a proxy vintage afternoon), they keep the environment welcoming and inclusive, most days of the week you can walk in and there's an employee with an EDH deck and a passion for that format, if you want board games they're all generally able to talk about them and help you find the ones that would be most enjoyable for you and your gaming group...
It's not the owners of the stores that matter. It's having excellent staff in charge of the player experience. There's a ton of leeway for stores to have bad price/prize structures, or poor selection overall, provided that the player experience at that store is consistently excellent and fun. If I wanted straight value or top-tier playtesting I'd play at someplace like Curio Cavern or some of the stores in MD, but while those stores are a better set up from many other perspectives (price, selection, competitiveness, event times/start times), the C&G chain gets my business because the EXPERIENCE overall is much better when I play in the events, even the free/casual events.
Some people don't realize that you can have it all. My LGS does everything as well as they can and very professionally. Still, they have a lot of customers, decent pricing, and great prizes. I honestly feel badly for people who have a professionally run place, but total douchebags for owners. The owners (5 different ones since I've been here) have all been very cool with me, especially since I pick up Legacy staples here and there.
You can have your cake and eat it too. I've never been to a place as good as this since 2002. Those days just naturally had owners who were in it for the love of the game (and even had unsuccessful businesses quite often).
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I don't play at LGS much anymore, I moved and haven't really found a store I like enough to make the effort. I basically just do a few pre-release/releases every now and then.
Here's things that I look for as a non regular still looking for a good LGS
1. Have your Judges / Organizers be clearly identifiable so people know who to see.
2. Good communication and organization for rounds helps, hate when stores assume everyone knows everyone etc.
3. I hate stores with play areas spread over different rooms / floors, it can be so frustrating if your not familiar with the store.
4. Invest in Good Chairs! the Comfier the better.
Foster the social environment, encourage your regulars to take the time to get to know new players and get them playing and interacting. It's just so easy to lock out new comers from an
established play group.
Is this a joke or is crossing the street a massive problem? Otherwise it sounds like there is ample parking, assuming the daycare was shut and they had quite a few spaces.
Sadly this is not a joke. The daycare parking lot only adds about 8 spots, then people block it with their cars so that no one in the lot can leave. We were unable to leave on friday after FNM because two people blocked the entrance/exit with their cars. They do this because all the other businesses around call tow trucks on players cars in their spaces/lots.
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Trying to make crappy pet cards work since 2002.
I'm usually typing quickly at work or on my phone so I appolize from the crummy grammar
1: Space to play. The LGS I attend has had 30-35 for drafts. You also want enough space to be able to accommodate for PPTQ, GPT or SCG IQ's.
2: Proper heating/cooling. No one likes sweating after being in a card shop for 5 minutes.
3: Fair prices, and fair prizes.
4: Beverage/snacks available to purchase.
5: A clean store.
A good thing to do maybe would be to investigate how many stores are around you would have to compete with, and their prize support they offer. I know from experience that 1 store near me I did not even know existed because they did not advertise on FB like other stores (and this store was a 5-minute walk from me). Advertising on FB in local MTG groups and encouraging players to spread your store via word of mouth will make a big difference.
As someone said above, having a good staff can help you be very successful. Staff that are knowledgeable about the game and its current affairs will help players a lot and make them feel welcome.
- Staff who have the time to help you when you have questions or want to see product.
- Singles with prices marked or with a way to look up the prices without having to ask about the price of every individual card.
- Staff who are willing to deal with problem behaviors such as rudeness, uncleanliness, excessive slow play, and other issues that drive people away.
- Responsiveness to the games and formats that the stores patrons want rather than just running formats or games that few players are interested in.
- Events that fire (even if only a few show up) and usually on time.
- A good mix of casual and competitive patrons and efforts to attract both.
- Clean tables, counters, binders, and bathrooms.
- Staff eager to help new players with deckbuilding or play practice at slower times.
- An easily-accessed, informative online event schedule.
- An atmosphere welcoming to women and younger players.
-Non-******** employees
-Events that fire (not necessarily under your control)
-Player Cliques are bad. Player-Judge cliques are even worse. (not that you can do anything about this)
-Jerkoff players (not that you can do anything about this)
-Working climate controls (broken AC in summer or no heat in winter is no bueno)
-Working bathrooms (there is one shop in town notorious for bathrooms that don't work - done going there for any reason. Not just for me, because nonworking bathrooms encourages other players to be filthy and I'm going to be shaking their hands?)
-Decent prize payout (don't get greedy and start undercutting prize support but no one is asking you to give away an abnormal amount of prizes either)
Thanks for all the input so far! Seeing that the simple elements of cleanliness, lighting, clarity in prizes, as well as people (both staff and players) helps me know what fellow players look into! Please continue to contribute more info!
In addition, is there anything at your LGS, or perhaps a LGS you went to, do that is unique compared to other places that you like/dislike? For example, I went to a LGS in Lynchburg, VA that had something called "Feed the Dragon", where you roll four d6, and if you get certain prizes based on what is rolled. Only costed a dollar per try, and players enjoyed giving it a shot. StarCityGames had a box of mostly played cards they wouldn't sell on their online store for only 25 cents each, as well as a coin machine where you get a random rare for a quarter.
- Clean, welcoming, spacious, orderly place. I might be a geek, it doesn't mean I go play strategy games in a dank grotto, and I hate promiscuity.
- Incentive to come back. I used to frequent an LGS with a fidelity program that would take you years of FNM (no kidding) to grant you a one-time coupon, only to be used at specific kind of tournaments (actually, the ones you never attend, you see). Another LGS has its own ranking system with extra goodies every month and a simple discount program based on what you buy.
- Open community. I don't want, need or seek to be friend with everyone in the store, but it doesn't mean I'll be happy if I'm treated like a complete stranger disturbing their routine.
- Focus on limited play. It's a personal taste, but I only play limited, and luckily most people in my place also, so there's always volunteers to start a draft or crack a box.
- Events that start and finish ON TIME! No, I don't want to wait an additional 25 minutes when I was there well on time straight from work because some guys on holiday or not working took their time to finish their TV show or walking their dog before coming. My first LGS allowed that, and he never saw me back.
- I'm fine paying a premium to get singles I need right there, right now, but please take the time to divide them by price in your binders, thanks
- Something else than junk food and candies to eat, or at least allow to bring your own food if you don't offer anything beyond that.
I don't go to one of my LGS's because one of their employee's decided to yell abusive and horrendous remarks towards me for 5 minutes (with kids around and other staff around) for saying their store's new look was done well. The store never apologised for their own employee, stating it "never happened" and still keep that same employee on staff, so my friends and myself (about 20 people) don't go there anymore. So from my experience, a good LGS is one that has people who are kind to each other and the staff treat you with respect.
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Modern: U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
Thanks for all the input so far! Seeing that the simple elements of cleanliness, lighting, clarity in prizes, as well as people (both staff and players) helps me know what fellow players look into! Please continue to contribute more info!
In addition, is there anything at your LGS, or perhaps a LGS you went to, do that is unique compared to other places that you like/dislike? For example, I went to a LGS in Lynchburg, VA that had something called "Feed the Dragon", where you roll four d6, and if you get certain prizes based on what is rolled. Only costed a dollar per try, and players enjoyed giving it a shot. StarCityGames had a box of mostly played cards they wouldn't sell on their online store for only 25 cents each, as well as a coin machine where you get a random rare for a quarter.
One store ran a magic league. That was interesting but I never went often enough to partake in it. Now, many years later, I'm looking to revive this idea in my play group.
I run a die rolling game where you roll 3d12 and based on what you roll you get a pack of 4 cards. It's a quarter a roll. Seems popular enough. We've also run "limited" type games with this where you have a set minimum number of paid rolls (you can roll more if you want). Then each player makes decks based on the cards they got.
In addition, is there anything at your LGS, or perhaps a LGS you went to, do that is unique compared to other places that you like/dislike? For example, I went to a LGS in Lynchburg, VA that had something called "Feed the Dragon", where you roll four d6, and if you get certain prizes based on what is rolled. Only costed a dollar per try, and players enjoyed giving it a shot. StarCityGames had a box of mostly played cards they wouldn't sell on their online store for only 25 cents each, as well as a coin machine where you get a random rare for a quarter.
Might this be a "game of chance" that falls under state regulation?
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"Because we cannot prevent draws in paper Magic we allow IDs. If we could prevent draws we would not have IDs in paper Magic. " Scott Larabee.
I don't want to repeat what everyone else has said, so I'll mention one thing I've not seen mentioned, which for me (and my friends) is HUGE:
Sell things for MSRP (or below, in the case of standard booster boxes and standard loose packs). What I'm talking about is, don't be the store that jacks up specialty products. I know it may be tempting, and I have no problem with a store making money off of me, but I don't want to feel like you're bending me over in the process. What am I talking about? Maybe I'm in the minority here, but we have a fantastic LGS in my town, and he sells the following at MSRP:
--From the Vault sets
--Commander's Arsenal, when it was released
--The most popular Commander precon (like the one that had True-Name Nemesis two years ago, or the one that had Containment Priest in it this year
--Modern Masters boxes were sold for $10 over MSRP, but only because he had his allocation reduced.
Again, I have no problem with you making money off of me, but when I see you getting greedy, that's when I'll stop supporting you, and do my business elsewhere. I get it, you're a business, you have overhead. But don't take advantage of me or my friends. Just because YOU'RE working hard for your money, don't assume I didn't work just as damn hard for mine, and I'm not about to give it all to you because of your rampant avarice, or some misguided notion that I owe you because you provide a place in which to play. Trust me, I'll spend enough in your store at MSRP to make it worth your while. Let's establish a good retailer/customer relationship, in the long run it will be beneficial for us both. It's why a shop in my town closed down about a year ago, where NO "hot product" ever went for MSRP, and why the shop I still continue to go to celebrated it's 10-year anniversary last summer, and has recently had to knock down a wall to create more space AND rent out empty storefronts in the complex to handle the spillover attendance at prereleases. People know when they go there, they're getting a fair deal.
I am asking as an individual who wishes to open my very own LGS, and would love insight on what the gaming community has found good, bad and ugly in regards to their own personal experiences. Specifics and stories are encouraged. Thanks!
(On a side note, what would be a good LGS name?)
The things I look for:
-Do the advertised events actually fire? For me, there is nothing worse than going to a shop that I have never visited, amped to play the advertised event, only to find that the event doesn't have enough people. I had this happen twice recently, and then learned that certain advertised events only fire every 3-4 weeks. Needless to say, I won't go back.
-Does the shop offer a variety of formats and try to promote all of them? If the shop only caters to Standard, for example, I am less likely to go there.
-Does the shop cater to/show favoritism towards a certain person/group of people? I have seen this several times to the point where the shop owner has "overlooked" borderline threatening behavior because the antagonist was one of "his guys." This kind of stuff will kill off attendance in the long run.
-Will the shop and staff step up to correct problems? A big one - players who really, really stink. Not only is this distracting for anyone in the vicinity, but its also just disgusting. If the shop is not willing to do or say anything, I won't go back.
-A good selection of singles available for sale.
-I rarely care about the actual entry fee for an event or the prize structure. I run Tier 1 decks in every format, but I just really want to play and have a good time.
That's my short list. I have a newer LGS that is close to home. Not only is it a short drive, but they offer Standard, Modern , and Limited events, great prize support, free food at bigger events, and a customer loyalty program. I love the place and the owner is a genuinely nice guy to boot. I will keep going back.
An LGS is a two-fold business: A retail store and a hobby-driven, socializing place. My favorite thing that some stores do to focus on the latter point is to have video games. A full-on PC LAN is probably too much for someone just starting out, but I wouldn't hesitate to donate your Xbox/PS and a TV (you're practically going to be living there anyways), getting hand sanitizer and planting it right by the TV, and just letting anyone play. It's especially nice with the modern systems because you can digitally download games to them, so people won't need to constantly fetch a different game from behind the counter. I've seen some stores attract a lot more community from this, as people love to have a social place to go play Super Smash Bros., Killer Instinct, or even just CoD/Battlefield or something. These people may or may not be interested in anything you're selling, but at the very least you can boost snack sales, which I believe are a large part of your income. And not to mention it makes the store look less dead.
I'd like to actually discuss more with you in detail. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)-All three events they were hosting started way late to let the people who called to hold a spot get there.
-Doing triple dragons draft instead of DDF. (They previously did this with fate as well doing FFK the whole time I heard).
-Annoying players who talked loud and berated other players during the drafting portion: "you're an idiot why would you pass this" over and over while also having loud theory debates over pointless MTG story crap.
-Awful prize payout, the two 8 person pods were playing for a grand total of 7 packs in the pod. MTGO does 12 packs payout for the same entry price.
-No snacks beyond candy.
-Charging almost a dollar for any common or uncommon you ask for.
-Friendly mulligans
-No parking. We had to park at a daycare across the street because the shop only has 5 parking spots in their parking lot not reserved by other businesses.
So to say what you should have in a shop:
Parking- if people can't get there your tournaments will be limited. Also may cause people to not bother going because it's such a hassle to park.
Decent singles selection- doesn't have to be amazing but at least try to have one of each of the standard legal rares
Snacks- Even if just chips or something try to have more than just candy and soda.
Players- While you want them to have fun don't let your store be a place that becomes overly clickish and rude to people new to the shop.
But most importantly be nice to your customer base, help them when needed, and teach your players to teach new players how to better play the games you offer, which in turn makes more business for you and a better place to play.
I'm usually typing quickly at work or on my phone so I appolize from the crummy grammar
- Events in a huge variety of formats (Standard, Modern, Legacy, Limited, EDH, Tiny Leaders, they even used to do sanctioned Vintage semi-regularly)
- Excellent selection of singles for most formats, not a ton of Legacy / Vintage however
- Friendly and extremely knowledgeable staff
- Clean and professional environment
- Events fire on time ~90% of the time
- Quality players and a high level of competition (they hold a SCG IQ just about every week), but also friendly to newer players
WRG Burn
WUG Spirits
UBR Sedris
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage
UB The Scarab God
RUG Maelstrom Wanderer
WU Dragonlord Ojutai
I'm in Charleston, WV for school now. There isn't a single decent LGS around here. Not one. All it would take is for someone to come in and establish a half-decent shop, and the four around here would fold. Either that, or one of them could just start giving a damn.
My 720 Peasant Cube
-Prereleases for $20.
-A relatively cheap takeout food place next door.
-An atmosphere that is great for newer players.
-Some regulars who also make the store fun for more experienced players and can serve as judges.
-Limited, standard, and modern tournaments every week.
-Boosters 3 for $10.
-A good singles stock.
-Lots of open spaces for tournaments.
-Random extra promos (I just went to a backdraft there where they threw four judge promo stoke the flames and four judge promo hordeling outbursts into the backdraft pool for free)
-Occasional free tournaments with prizes.
-A good crowd for most events.
-A nice owner.
-60% sell value.
-70% trade value.
-Backdrafts for $10, keep drafts with prizes for $12.
-A spacious parking lot.
-Casual and more competitive events, but even the competitive events have a friendly atmosphere.
-Events that always fire and almost always start on time.
-25c random foil commons, 50c random foil uncommons, $1 random foil rares, $2 random (nonfoil) mythics. Mythics and rares are mostly bulk in this box, but I have found occasional good ones.
All tournaments are everybody wins, so entering a $12 keep draft you are guaranteed at least one booster for a prize.
In addition, they sometimes do things like throw in a free Pack Wars tournament with the prereleases or drafts.
There is like 4 LGS I go to
EDH: Xenagos, God of Revels.
A competent judge should be present during every tournament, helps a lot.
Clean toilet (really) , and some drinks to sell in house, otherwise the crew might need to go out in some fast-food shops or whatever.
For me FNM starts actual in the night, 8pm , and lasts till midnight and longer. The store is long closed at that time so we still are allowed to play in the store, which is a real nice option and mandatory for the "adult" play groups (we work all day, theres simply no way to play earlier).
What tournaments are offered depends a lot on the actual playgroup in that store. Some areas prefer standard, in our store we really only draft in FNM , all the time for a discounted price which attracts a fair deal of players. At weekends some bigger constructed tournaments / prereleases and such, which are mostly on a demand basis ; enough people want to play a format and a tournament is announced for that.
Its a very good idea to give store credit as prices, which helps to ship product and its the easiest most cost efficient way to provide prices for a tournament aswell.
Prices of actual product and the like should be clear anyway. I dont care if a shop has single cards to sell and the like. As a LGS its pretty much impossible to fight against online traders, trying should be useless. Encouring players to spend money in the LGS should be "obvisious" for someone that regularly plays in that store.
WUBRG#BlackLotusMatterWUBRG
👮👮👮 #BlueLivesMatter 👮👮👮
-Prize payout not being announced until the end of an event, which happened as an employee of the store was playing in the finals. Once number of players is known, prize should be determined.
-Events actually started earlier than the event was announced on facebook to start. People who showed up fifteen minutes early, but ten minutes after we started were added in as having byes.
-No singles selection. Then complaining about how the store didn't make money off of the IQs they hold...
-Events starting late.
-Trash on tables and gross bathrooms.
It's not the owners of the stores that matter. It's having excellent staff in charge of the player experience. There's a ton of leeway for stores to have bad price/prize structures, or poor selection overall, provided that the player experience at that store is consistently excellent and fun. If I wanted straight value or top-tier playtesting I'd play at someplace like Curio Cavern or some of the stores in MD, but while those stores are a better set up from many other perspectives (price, selection, competitiveness, event times/start times), the C&G chain gets my business because the EXPERIENCE overall is much better when I play in the events, even the free/casual events.
Yes, I am a local area mod.WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVEPrimary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
Some people don't realize that you can have it all. My LGS does everything as well as they can and very professionally. Still, they have a lot of customers, decent pricing, and great prizes. I honestly feel badly for people who have a professionally run place, but total douchebags for owners. The owners (5 different ones since I've been here) have all been very cool with me, especially since I pick up Legacy staples here and there.
You can have your cake and eat it too. I've never been to a place as good as this since 2002. Those days just naturally had owners who were in it for the love of the game (and even had unsuccessful businesses quite often).
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Here's things that I look for as a non regular still looking for a good LGS
1. Have your Judges / Organizers be clearly identifiable so people know who to see.
2. Good communication and organization for rounds helps, hate when stores assume everyone knows everyone etc.
3. I hate stores with play areas spread over different rooms / floors, it can be so frustrating if your not familiar with the store.
4. Invest in Good Chairs! the Comfier the better.
Foster the social environment, encourage your regulars to take the time to get to know new players and get them playing and interacting. It's just so easy to lock out new comers from an
established play group.
Sadly this is not a joke. The daycare parking lot only adds about 8 spots, then people block it with their cars so that no one in the lot can leave. We were unable to leave on friday after FNM because two people blocked the entrance/exit with their cars. They do this because all the other businesses around call tow trucks on players cars in their spaces/lots.
I'm usually typing quickly at work or on my phone so I appolize from the crummy grammar
2: Proper heating/cooling. No one likes sweating after being in a card shop for 5 minutes.
3: Fair prices, and fair prizes.
4: Beverage/snacks available to purchase.
5: A clean store.
A good thing to do maybe would be to investigate how many stores are around you would have to compete with, and their prize support they offer. I know from experience that 1 store near me I did not even know existed because they did not advertise on FB like other stores (and this store was a 5-minute walk from me). Advertising on FB in local MTG groups and encouraging players to spread your store via word of mouth will make a big difference.
As someone said above, having a good staff can help you be very successful. Staff that are knowledgeable about the game and its current affairs will help players a lot and make them feel welcome.
WBG Karador GBW
R Daretti R
RG Omnath GR
WRG Modern Burn GRW
WB Modern Tokens BW
DCI Rules Advisor as of 5/18/2015
- Staff who have the time to help you when you have questions or want to see product.
- Singles with prices marked or with a way to look up the prices without having to ask about the price of every individual card.
- Staff who are willing to deal with problem behaviors such as rudeness, uncleanliness, excessive slow play, and other issues that drive people away.
- Responsiveness to the games and formats that the stores patrons want rather than just running formats or games that few players are interested in.
- Events that fire (even if only a few show up) and usually on time.
- A good mix of casual and competitive patrons and efforts to attract both.
- Clean tables, counters, binders, and bathrooms.
- Staff eager to help new players with deckbuilding or play practice at slower times.
- An easily-accessed, informative online event schedule.
- An atmosphere welcoming to women and younger players.
-Events that fire (not necessarily under your control)
-Player Cliques are bad. Player-Judge cliques are even worse. (not that you can do anything about this)
-Jerkoff players (not that you can do anything about this)
-Working climate controls (broken AC in summer or no heat in winter is no bueno)
-Working bathrooms (there is one shop in town notorious for bathrooms that don't work - done going there for any reason. Not just for me, because nonworking bathrooms encourages other players to be filthy and I'm going to be shaking their hands?)
-Decent prize payout (don't get greedy and start undercutting prize support but no one is asking you to give away an abnormal amount of prizes either)
In addition, is there anything at your LGS, or perhaps a LGS you went to, do that is unique compared to other places that you like/dislike? For example, I went to a LGS in Lynchburg, VA that had something called "Feed the Dragon", where you roll four d6, and if you get certain prizes based on what is rolled. Only costed a dollar per try, and players enjoyed giving it a shot. StarCityGames had a box of mostly played cards they wouldn't sell on their online store for only 25 cents each, as well as a coin machine where you get a random rare for a quarter.
- Incentive to come back. I used to frequent an LGS with a fidelity program that would take you years of FNM (no kidding) to grant you a one-time coupon, only to be used at specific kind of tournaments (actually, the ones you never attend, you see). Another LGS has its own ranking system with extra goodies every month and a simple discount program based on what you buy.
- Open community. I don't want, need or seek to be friend with everyone in the store, but it doesn't mean I'll be happy if I'm treated like a complete stranger disturbing their routine.
- Focus on limited play. It's a personal taste, but I only play limited, and luckily most people in my place also, so there's always volunteers to start a draft or crack a box.
- Events that start and finish ON TIME! No, I don't want to wait an additional 25 minutes when I was there well on time straight from work because some guys on holiday or not working took their time to finish their TV show or walking their dog before coming. My first LGS allowed that, and he never saw me back.
- I'm fine paying a premium to get singles I need right there, right now, but please take the time to divide them by price in your binders, thanks
- Something else than junk food and candies to eat, or at least allow to bring your own food if you don't offer anything beyond that.
U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
EDH:
G Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Fighting for Rivendell
WU Brago, King Eternal, Long Live the King
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Worship the Dragon
One store ran a magic league. That was interesting but I never went often enough to partake in it. Now, many years later, I'm looking to revive this idea in my play group.
I run a die rolling game where you roll 3d12 and based on what you roll you get a pack of 4 cards. It's a quarter a roll. Seems popular enough. We've also run "limited" type games with this where you have a set minimum number of paid rolls (you can roll more if you want). Then each player makes decks based on the cards they got.
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Sell things for MSRP (or below, in the case of standard booster boxes and standard loose packs). What I'm talking about is, don't be the store that jacks up specialty products. I know it may be tempting, and I have no problem with a store making money off of me, but I don't want to feel like you're bending me over in the process. What am I talking about? Maybe I'm in the minority here, but we have a fantastic LGS in my town, and he sells the following at MSRP:
--From the Vault sets
--Commander's Arsenal, when it was released
--The most popular Commander precon (like the one that had True-Name Nemesis two years ago, or the one that had Containment Priest in it this year
--Modern Masters boxes were sold for $10 over MSRP, but only because he had his allocation reduced.
Again, I have no problem with you making money off of me, but when I see you getting greedy, that's when I'll stop supporting you, and do my business elsewhere. I get it, you're a business, you have overhead. But don't take advantage of me or my friends. Just because YOU'RE working hard for your money, don't assume I didn't work just as damn hard for mine, and I'm not about to give it all to you because of your rampant avarice, or some misguided notion that I owe you because you provide a place in which to play. Trust me, I'll spend enough in your store at MSRP to make it worth your while. Let's establish a good retailer/customer relationship, in the long run it will be beneficial for us both. It's why a shop in my town closed down about a year ago, where NO "hot product" ever went for MSRP, and why the shop I still continue to go to celebrated it's 10-year anniversary last summer, and has recently had to knock down a wall to create more space AND rent out empty storefronts in the complex to handle the spillover attendance at prereleases. People know when they go there, they're getting a fair deal.