Games Workshop to open new stores Re-brand as Warhammer and ... *gasp* work with LGS

[Defenestratus]

http://icv2.com/articles/news/view/32359/games-workshop-rebrand-open-more-retail-stores

Takeaway quote for me:

The company also plans to expand is sales to independent retailers, with a particular focus on North America. New classes of trade will be targeted, including toy, craft, book, and comic stores.

[Denzark]

I'll just save post #2 for an Anti-GW wallah to use one of the following clichés:

'Its too little too late'.

'They need to admit they're a games company not a miniature manufacturer'.

'I'm too busy playing warmaxwinghordesinfinityfaux because the rules are tighter than a nun's chuff'




Don't say I never do anything for ya.

[40kGamer]

I remember getting my first box of RT plastic marines at a Walden Bookstore in a mall. I never understood why they pulled back from having at least a limited presence in those type stores.

[Caitsidhe]

I'm not sure why the title of this thread is about them "working" with the LGS? What they are describing is no different than what they are doing right now, i.e. distributing their product through them. They haven't indicated anything favorable is going to happen for the LGS. They have simply indicated there would be a new product package. Until we hear what the new terms are going to be, I'm withholding judgement. I have a hard time believing that we are going to see a three hundred and sixty degree change in their approach to the LGS right after they completed a new website to bypass them, and are talking about opening more of their own stores. :D

[Lexington]

I wondered if this wasn't the end goal of AoS. Curious to see how that goes.

[Wolfshade]

Wait, this isn't 40K general discussion, sounds more corporate to me...off we go...

- - - Updated - - -

Though given the low population density in north america this is something that I have said that they should have done awhile ago.

[Mr Mystery]

That was in their annual report and all.

They used to do this. Argos (UK high street catalogue warehouse type shopping abomination) carried the core games. Then GW decided 'hobby stores only' because.

[Wolfshade]

That was in their annual report and all.

They used to do this. Argos (UK high street catalogue warehouse type shopping abomination) carried the core games. Then GW decided 'hobby stores only' because.

Doesn't hobbyhut still does it

[Erik Setzer]

They used to do this. Argos (UK high street catalogue warehouse type shopping abomination) carried the core games. Then GW decided 'hobby stores only' because.

In the US you could find some of their books and even sometimes some kits on store shelves. You could also find them in stores like HobbyTown USA (a general hobby store), small hobby shops, and at one point you could find their board games and such in toy stores.

Then they decided to pursue the premium niche method. And that's gone swimmingly well, hasn't it?

The bad thing is, Kirby and now Rountree won't admit where their strategy fell hard. If they try to push stuff in other stores with the current pricing scheme and demand no discounts, those stores will tell them rightly where to shove it. They want to price themselves like some premium that only certain people should have access to, then they also lament not having more customers. They make one move to try to get more customers but miss the bigger issue.

They see X-Wing doing well being sold in book stores and hobby stores and all, but miss that you can get a full force for $60 even without finding a place with a discount to drop that to $40 (granted, that's for a small squadron), whereas one box of five Stormcast Eternals is $50, and you certainly need more than that for an army. X-Wing pushes the idea of 100 point games, with 300 points being the start of "epic" games. I was able to get enough models to let my friend borrow some so we could both play a standard match, with stuff left over, for $100. Even the "epic" ships top off at $100, though you can find them online or even at some brick-and-mortar stores for $70. Meanwhile, a Knight will set you back $160, and isn't that large of a chunk of your army.

It all comes back to GW pretending that they're some premium model manufacturer and not a games workshop that produces games and the miniatures to play said games. They're trying to target a market that just isn't for them, keep neglecting the market they're actually in, and when they say "Let's try a new approach!" they still miss the big things they could fix, and even talk up their lack of willingness to correct big issues. Many of the models GW puts out are just too expensive, and the size of games only makes that worse, and with their top game (40K) they push hard for people to play larger games with super-heavies and formations of troops. That's an entry cost with an army of closer to a thousand dollars. Put that on store shelves beside a game you can play for under a hundred? It'll collect dust and burn up the store's money.

But if you allow discounts like those other games do, then you're going to end up trying to compete for core sales with other companies, and lose out. Why buy AoS from GW for $135 when you can get it on Amazon for $90? Now imagine the entire core line being subject to that. It would be a boon for the players, but a nightmare for the guys at GW who insist that everything must be priced as high as possible without asking for a person's newborn or their soul (wait for super-super-heavies for that).

While they refuse to budge on that kind of issue, they won't make much progress.

[grimmas]

I've had a slow day so I've been perusing the Annual report and guess what revenue INCREASED in North America last year, note I didn't say profit I said revenue so despite what's being touted on t'internet it seems like they're doing better in the good ol states (in fact it went up in Oz and UK retail as well).

Edit so as not to offend Canadians and they're pretty cool so you have my apologies.

[Filthy Casual]

The problem with selling GW games outside of hobby stores (GW or LGS) is the lack of support that turns someone from a kid buying a game in a box into a hobbyist, the painting lessons, the people to show you how the game works, that harms retention, the more people buying from somewhere where they're likely to get a good intro to "the Hobby" as a whole, the better.

X-Wing and boardgames don't have this hobby aspect and so they work well in other stores, with a GW (or other hobby wargame) you need paint, glue and more, while the newer GW boxes work ok without this as they have clip together models that not strictly need gluing and some, like Infinity or DZC give you a battlefield and terrain in the starter set, its still not a complete experience.

[Erik Setzer]

I've had a slow day so I've been perusing the Annual report and guess what revenue INCREASED in North America last year, note I didn't say profit I said revenue so despite what's being touted on t'internet it seems like they're doing better in the good ol states (in fact it went up in Oz and UK retail as well).

Trade got a small boost (while retail took a small hit), but it's hard to know the reasons for that without more data. It's interesting to see that Europe more than wiped out that gain, though.

They're focusing more on the US. The jobs site showed a lot of listings for new stores and new positions at their Memphis HQ. The number of new locations is bigger than might be expected. They're bringing in people to try to push sales to toy and crafts stores. The local manager got called up to be a "retail consultant" (yeah, they should listen to him, that guy knew how to get sales). So they're putting a lot of work in. If it doesn't pay off, that'll be more signs of trouble.

[grimmas]

It no surprise continental Europe has been their biggest sales area for some time and it's deep financial trouble and the Euro is badly devalued. The other areas seemed to be slightly better than last year. Until the Eurozone fails it's going to be a problem. They should be trying harder in the USA there's obviously massive potential over there but we have discussed that before.

The net increase seems to be around £1.25M (4% ish)or so that's not so bad and if I was being a little naughty I'd suggest the reason was people buying more stuff.

[Charon]

No, they went down another 4%.
Sales dropped as well (retail and trade). Mail order increased... doesn't seem odd as a lot of stuff went direct only.

Most of their operating profit came from exceptional items & royalties (getting from -3% to +25%)

So no, ppl do not buy more stuff (or at least they buy more "exceptional items") but they handed out licences like candy.

[Erik Setzer]

No, they went down another 4%.

He's referring specifically to North America numbers, not overall.

Their biggest problem with competing in North America is that they almost certainly won't change their vitriolic attitude toward FLGS's and online stores, but that's where people in the US (and likely Canada) do most of their game shopping. If you're screwing over their stores (and also preventing competition in pricing), it makes it hard to gain a foothold with American gamers.

The sales bump might have been from the End Times series, it likely helped as I saw a nice bump in people buying and talking about fantasy stuff here. (Locally, at least, it didn't last... the moment rumors about WFB being replaced popped up, sales dried up, and they aren't picking back up with AoS.)