Happy New Year, and good luck for '25, but not one mention of Old World or Trench Crusade, no phone calls. Was this really a Lords of War games and hobbies video?
It's the same here in Sweden. Rent has skyrocketed, so most places just stand empty. If it isn't a franchise chain, it won't last. Even our biggest hobby stores are struggling, which is so sad to see.
Small businesses are the life blood of our cities. There needs to be legislation to protect them, otherwise downtowns die or lose all of their character, forcing out folks who actually care about the community. Thank you for talking about this.
Lower taxes wouldn't incentive the landlords to keep rent low. They'd just keep the higher rent rate, or boost it up even further to squeeze more out of the tenant. There needs to be legislation that protects their rent and avoids huge hikes in rent per year.
@@BigMan-cp4pi that would be great! It would be even better with incentives or tax breaks for renting commercial properties to small businesses at reasonable rates.
@@joecooper8527 Current small business tax rates are actually really low. In NB, it's 1.5%. The vast majority of small businesses aren't suffering from that. What needs to happen is there needs to be a vacancy tax after a unit is empty for 3 months, and escalates each month it remains empty. Lots of corporate landlords will use empty space as a loss for tax deductions, it has to cost them more than that deduction is worth
Rent and the inability to sell products the customer wants. Two of those kill a well running store in 5-6months, an okeyish running store in 3-4 , and "i opened a store because l like to hobby" in 2 months.
One of the big issues I found when I managed a hobby store was eBay, second-hand dealers, and Amazon. People were shocked when the store finally closed its doors after a decade and a half. I worked tons of overtime for free and ran events, however because people were buying products online, the store could not stay afloat, and the owner was like, "I am done." He could not run it after his heart attack. i could not imagine how you will manage with 3d printers now biting a piece of the pie. I know a store owner here who tried to ban the 3d printed stuff, all it did was drive the people away so they were not even buying his snack and drinks. he laughed in my face when i suggested charging for the tables for x amount of hours.
Props for keeping up the flow of content over the holidays/vacations. I'd stop by and visit the shop, but the commute from Maine, USA to Ontario is a little much. Happy New Year!
A game store that I used to go to every week for Commander night got closed by escalating rents late 2021. They'd been open (initially as a used records/cd place, then adding movies, games, etc over time) for 20+ years, but the landlord finally got them. Doesn't seem the best move to me either, space has been vacant since then and for about a year now the "For Lease" sign has added an "or Sale" onto the end. If commercial real estate stays as hungry/aggressive as it is now they'll just sink themselves too IMO.
Great, level-headed perspective as usual :) I enjoy these individual vids as a way of breaking up the usual format. Even just moving about the shop for your normal pair videos could be a cool addition to the repertoire just to mix things up. Happy new year!
Here in the U.S.A. (Northern Ohio specifically) I can confirm that retail lease increases have been "the straw that broke the camel's back" for just about all games store closings. The only game store that I know of, that has survived for the last 30 years, moves every two to five years. I have spoke to the owner over the decades and 90% of the time it was forced by retail space cost increases. I often forget this because my house mortgage is a 30 year fixed mortgage and forget that if I try to open a shop, that will not be the case (sometimes being a salary wage-slave isn't the worst thing I guess, lol). Kudos to you for keeping a games store alive, I've seen way to many close since 1985, Good wishes for you in the New Year and Good Luck!
The downtown area of my city is a constant revolving door of various shops. Most of the time the big complaint is rent. There are only a handful of businesses down there that have been there for 30 years or so and I know for a fact one spot CONSTANTLY flips through restaurants but they never stay. A local hobby shop down there recently closed, not for rent, but because they just got tired of it apparently. Another card shop bought them out, move in for a bit, then promptly closed and moved farther out to what I presume to be a cheaper place.
Knowing how muchh space the paint racks take up in my FLGS and local scale model shop as compared to the models, would be interesting if you guys had a discussion around what is the biggest profit per square foot between kits, paints/brushes and accessories.
If the unit is occupied the rent will be reviewed. Probably downwards which puts the owner under water with his lender. So the status quo prevails. This is caused by money printing
@@EarlofChutney its a problem with government interfering with free market competition. competition is what drives prices down. the government has been actively stifling competition and not enforcing antitrust laws. The government has been making it overly difficult to build new houses because of overregulation and stupid laws that drive up the cost of materials (like not being able to timber the forests in california which repeatedly just burn down anyway). the government printing up money constantly and massively inflating the dollar also hurts the ability for small businesses to startup and compete. that and banks arnt giving out loans anymore like theyre supposed to.
Our local art store, which was the only place in town that sold hobby products, had to move to a neighbouring (less fashionable) town due to rents. It's not just the small stores, quite a few of the franchises have had to close/move stores in our town due to the rent as well. UK for reference.
Stores are closing, I walked into a store that opened 4 years ago was cut in half, nothing new on the shelf looked like they were going out of buiesness
Have you guys ever done a tour of the store? I'd like to see what kind of set up you guys have, especially since it seems like there is an allusion that your store is kinda different from others.
I hear you! In my county in California a lot of wine industry, and my town over the last 10 - 15 years has seen a big turnover in the downtown from a lot of mom-and-pop stores that have been around for decades, and 99% of the stores have been sent out of business because of rising rent and pretty much every storefront is now a wine tasting establishment. In the big picture I guess that's good business for the town and the county, but it also put all these other businesses out of business.
unfortunately most small business owners do exactly what you just said to deal with increasing fixed costs: just add work hours to make the same salary, effectively reducing their own hourly rate. Thanks for all you do
My biggest issue with local shops (San Antonio area) is most carry primarily games Workshop products. From minis to paints to tools and brushes. And they may have army painter or monument hobbies or reaper paints, but it's very little and never gets restocked. On top of that, most upcharge on products. And some stores that I used to go to all the time because they sold reaper bones or older metal minis or anything like that stopped selling those things. And it pretty much leads to this sense of...a cookie cutter effect. They're all set up the same way. Selling the same products. Having the same things out of stock forever. I don't buy or collect anything GW, so there's nothing really for me to buy. And the few things I do want to buy, they've got 3+ bucks tacked onto it. Whereas online there's stores that have everything I want for prices lower than retail price or at least keep it at retail price. It sucks though because I want to support my local stores but there's nothing really there for me.
Local stores should partner with online designer and model lines and print it locally. So you can choose your army get it printed and pick it up in the store.
@@TorianTammas there is alot of extra work and chemicals when printing. Not saying your wrong. i personally like the idea. but you might have to have someone on staff and insurance and OSHA may not allow for certain things.
Good vid, first thing I ask people when they start talking about opening a store is what does your lease look like. First and most important decision you make.
I really appreciate you talking so candidly about what a store has to deal with in the dark. I also really appreciate you repping the *absolute balls* off of infinity.
Okay, let’s consider rising rents on retail space. The lease expires, and the landlord can theoretically raise the rent to any extent they choose (absent a lease renewal contract with a limit). But in order to have that work out, the landlord has to have another retail business lined up to assume the new, higher rent. So there has to be some other type of business that has profit margins high enough to support that higher rent. In my area, one type of business that seems to be growing is the vape/smoke shop. In fact, one of the local FLGS went out of business due, in part, to increases in rent, and was replaced by a vape/smoke shop. It’s odd to the uninitiated. The owner of the FLGS, which was in a suburban strip mall, sold his house and bought a building “in town” that has several rental apartments above a ground floor retail space. He moved into one of the apartments, and is in the process of getting his store set up in the retail space. Another phenomenon I’m seeing is the death of the large suburban enclosed malls, in my area. The anchor, big department stores are going out of business, and the smaller spaces are being vacated by the small businesses that depended on the draw of the big department store(s).
Yes ! We gamers feel the pull of these corporate robber barons ! They take from us all ! Very interesting to hear your side ( the Canadian side ) of the Biz . I really hope our mad king doesn’t tariff our hobby’s to death. Hold strong and thank you 🙏
Making a shop that the owner wants to shop at is the BEST way to start. I wish you well. Im an old fan of 40k and its through that i found other model ranges - for me GW has grown the market and isnt the enemy. Its mad that canada, with all its amazing people and resources doesnt manufacture more. I hope change comes soon for you, same as over here in the u.k. Stay unique and i wish you all the best.
Hey Chris, regular FaB gamer at your store. just found out about your channel randomly which is pretty funny considering I've been going here for over a year. I'd be interested in hearing how the TCG/board games affect your bottom line. Thrilled with what you guys do. I'll keep showing up every Friday.
When my Dad retired he bought a small Bicycle shop, he enjoyed his hobby of fixing bikes and made a little money, his income base was 10% Cyclists making a niche purchase, and 90% repairs of bikes purchased from big box stores. The owner the building decided he was under-charging on the rent, come lease renewal all six shops in the building had their rent tripled, all six closed down, and the building sat empty for six months until the owner dropped the rent back closer to what he was originally charging. You are right about the changing times, It seems to be a common remark about the speed of new releases currently, you used to be able to purchase something, paint it, and play the game. Now it it's more you need to buy at product in a tiny time frame before it is discontinued, most of projects get "put aside" as next week something new is going to drop.
It's not even small business. In my area a Gamestop just closed up because when their lease was up the landlord told them they were going with someone else who was going to be paying more money. I agree that the smaller businesses need to stick around because eventually all there will be are big box stores and online shopping. We all think that would be convenient and what we want, but in the end nobody will be satisfied with that.
I'm always wondering, who's calling up these landlords chomping at the bit to pay double their going rate? Also, I'm of the opinion anyone opening a hobby store's primary goal at the beginning is finding a commercial property whose construction was clearly a mistake and now the owner is just desperate for anyone to claim the space. My first FLGS as a kid was built into the back of a strip mall. My next one was built at the end of a strip mall, next to a tattoo parlor, on a forgotten road next to a river and a train track where nobody wanted to build anything of value. Another one is at the end of a massive strip mall, literally accessible only by making a half-mile drive through the place's parking lot. And my newest FLGS I go to, is in a commercial building on a major road, but they built the place BEHIND the strip mall that actually sits along the road, so no one can see it exists. All spots that are unviable for 99% of businesses.
I’d love to open a gaming store in my town. Someone just opened one. It’s so small I have no idea how anyone will game there or how they’ll be able to carry enough inventory to make sales consistently. Rent is just impossible right now. With the cost of living constantly rising everything that was once possible is becoming insurmountable. Cheers to the death of the American dream 🥂
Very sad. You need a huge amount of capital now to do something like that...and then the question is, if you have all that money, why would you invest it into this? Lol
@ 🤣 Yeah I know. I don’t want to do an adult business though 🤷🏻♂️ It just seems like “luxuries” like music, games, art etc are slowly being strangled. What are people going to do in the future? Work 80 hour weeks then stare at a screen for their few moments of fun? What’s the end game here?
I think the elephant in the room is how easy it is to get games and miniatures, along with paint and other hobby needs easily and quickly through Amazon and online. A brick and mortar store is no longer necessary to enjoy the hobby.
For small/micro business owners, it seems like much of time its like New Vegas. The game was rigged from the start. I hope 2025 is at least good for our FLGS everywhere. Cheers!
A lot of executives seem to think that way, then they're surprised that as rates increase, demand decreases. People coming out of high school may or may not be able to read, but even they understand supply/demand.
In Dallas, I see plenty of space just sit empty. Rent must be too high, and somehow the landlords must use that empty space as a loss on their federal taxes.
On top of other issues retailers are facing, rents, local business rates/taxes... If you are from the UK and the late 80s/early 90's, GW Retail cribbing GW Wholesale's homework and opening a Warhammer store just round the corner from the local Games Store and having "opening sales"... for months... London used to have like 12 indie/sole premise games shops all reachable by an LT Travel card (you could do like half in a day if you want to spend time in them and started early), only Leisure Games remains because they pivoted to online sales early, Orcs Nest is not one of the originals and its survival still confuses me (though welcome) and must be because they were both a physical and online store from the start. And this was happening in major towns around the country. I now only buy from GW only when all other options turn up a blank.
I've personally seen one shut down due to them bad talking the local non games workshop gaming stores not realizing they've been there for over a decade before GW opened and wouldn't even have a market without them. but that was just the stupidity of the employees not GW, back in 98 or 99 i think...
I personally thought that you were very tactical in your discussion of economics and politics and did it so well that I started subscribing to hopefully hear more in the future. Plus. You recording in front of the infinity wall made me happy.
idk how i watch these videos the whole way through. like it just flies by. im not super entertained. im not really interested in these topics but i just cant turn it off cause its so informative. i dont have a business but i can imagine if i did, yall would be super helpful.
@@frankandluna99 for me it's cause they talk to the viewer like an adult, instead of the constant youtube-isms that other channels rely on. It's refreshing for me to have a 25 minute video of a dude or two dudes just discussing a topic as adults.
No hobbies stuff made in Canada? Sounds like some one needs to push more Dream Pod 9 products! That aside thank your for speaking up about the issue of gentrification and over consolidation in land that has plagued businesses and resident alike. We really do need to put heavy restriction on land ownership from artificial groups like capital investment and corporation, and deincentivised rent seeking behavior when its leads to large scale economic damage for the broad community.
@@irishmadcat yepp seeing it here on the countryside. Only way is in my humble opinion to have ownership of the space, but with the amount of product you’d need to carry to have a decent store I’d say even on the countryside you need the better part of a million euros (don’t forget you need to be able to live for a year if it does not take off immediately, and order the new stuff constantly) in the cities here I’d say 3 million just for the premises and such… There is a German city however that buys their inner city and rents it out to local small business for very low rents. Int he apartments above they put in social apartments (basically rent protected apartments for locals and unemployed and old and special needs people. Seems to work tremendously well for them to have. A lovely inner city and also have brought down crime rates massively as well…
Toronto has become a near-wasteland devoid of anything interesting or unique. So many neat little shops or venues are gone, to be replaced by a Starbucks, Tim Hortons or Rexall. Yay... Though I think it's interesting that a microcosm of this same occurrence seems to be happening within your very store. All of these unique, smaller games are being pushed out to make room for more and more Workshop releases, to 'pay the bills' as you say. You had to decide whether you could afford to take a moral stand and champion the 'little guy', even if meant hurting the bottom line. Property values are highly influenced by rents, and if a property is an investment (as I would imagine 99% of commercial real estate property is), landlords are being asked to essentially subsidize unique businesses at the expense of their own investment. Canada's big problem is that the Boomers tied almost their entire wealth generation strategy to real estate speculation (essentially letting other areas like manufacturing die, as you alluded to in the video), and are very unwilling to let go of that particular bag. Leaves those of us in the younger generations in a not-so-great position, as one person's affordable housing/rent is another person's 'loss on investment'.
Everything you say sounds totally familiar and I don't live in Canada. It's the constant pressure that's always increasing, like frogs in a pot. So your saying your the Sam Malone of the store? Who is Cliff, who the hell is Woody?
i stopped buying in a local store. Before covid i met a lot of people there, we where able to play there and because of that i bought my stuff there. I dont care if its more expensive in the local shop, i pay the higher price because i get a chance to meet other people with the same interest. After Covid they stopped everything. For over a year you where not allowed to play there and also no events and no painting area anymore. So i stopped buying there. Without those things, for me there is no difference to an random online store and because of that no reason to pay the higher price.
i know what cold in poland; bunkrap shop in poland Energy cost; 60% + enery cost is eu onsens tax bacos same burocart dont like same element in our coal
Love your videos and appreciate it that you even do them during these holidays and on such special days like new years. Had to laugh when you said canada is a small country as i am from a country in europe with only 670.000 people 😂 And for the trade wars, well europe wont have any with canada... so the main problem is with goods going through the usa to canada, so i guess europe and canada will have to work together to ship directly to canada if the usa start a trade war... i guess canada doesnt have many/big ship ports? Anyway, happy new year and good luck and success in 2025
I can afford wargames Atlantic and battletech but I can't afford games workshop products over 35 usd for unit packs. Heros are out of the question unless used or old. Or third party. The prices are just not reasonable
Es I played GW games for over 30 years and their price politics are insane. Luckily online designer sell their designs so you can print your army at home or get it printed for a reasonable price
We've lost 3 game stores in the last 6 months (Boston Metro/SNH) and I don't see that stopping. Rents are going up, prices are going up, the next 2 years in the US will be a big shrink in our economy. Last time Trump was POTUS we had a manufacturing recession (before COVID) and he seems not to have changed economic philosophy.
@tomryan3768 I'm right there with you. I'm still holding out hope his other oligarchs and cronies will prevent the most foolish of his impulses, but I'm sure not holding my breath.
I do get kind of peeved at commercial rents. The landlord typically doesn’t have to contribute anything but the space. They aren’t responsible for maintenance of their building or anything, they just collect a rent check and increase rents at leisure.
I don't think rent is the problem as much as the product's we sell have a low margin. for us example our main product margin is 25% meaning just to pay rent of $5,000 you have to sell $20,000. that's before employee , credit card processing, internet ETC. I know TCG have even less Margin ( excluding singles) . Miniatures have 35 to 45% which is better but then again GW does limit how much of new high demand stuff you can get.
You need about 40% margin to have a chance to make ends meet and you need a cheaper spot to rent unless you are on main street with a ton of walk in customers. So do you sell products for 1500 a day you are open? If not then you have to change things pretty fast or your liquidity gap will first let you buy less product then pay your employees late and then the light goes out. Your costs gave to go down and your sales up. Try other miniature lines when this is your highest margin product.
@@TorianTammas @TorianTammas I agree margins of 40% what's needed in the industry However a lot manufacturers have chosen to squeeze the Game store / Toy stores during covid / go direct. And I personally feel smaller stores will have it hard.
Most landlords prefer consistent no hassle tenants. Usually when rent doubles, it is because they are trying to drive out tenants. At our local university there was a coffee shop and the student council doubled the rent at lease end and then once it closed, they opened their own coffee shop in the exact same space.
Unfortunately that is not becoming the case anymore I'd argue. I'm about 20mins aways from their location and commercial spaces have skyrocketed in prices, largely due to demand for spaces. Our monthly rent increased last year from 11.8k to 20k, so by no means a small business, and yet it's still the cheapest location for my business from anywhere else within an hour drive, and moving more than an hour away would significantly hurt our operation cost so its not viable. We're also on very good & personal terms with our landlord and are a large reason why two other tenants are also in that location. Development is just severely behind the demand right now in alot of areas or theres just no space left to develop in others.
'Most' landlords are actually large corporations that make decisions based purely on what will generate them more revenue. It's the same reason many of them can sit on empty units because eventually someone will come along and pay the high asking price, and there's no pressure to rent the place because they are sitting on thousands of units.
@@lordsofwargamesandhobbies3905 From Southern Ontario, and also will echo what you're saying. If there are 2 or 3 landlords, that own 90% of the commercials space in the town (or even a city the size of London, Oakville, or Burlington), what incentive do that have to lower rents? They make more money charging 2k a month and having 40% their spaces empty, than charging 1k a month.
Between game makers releasing solo modes, cheap paint mega sets, and the proliferation of 3d printing; the only thing left I still missed about my local hobby store is the obnoxious insight from owners…. Thanks to you guys for shoring up the last loose ends. I will never have to go back to a store again as long as you guys keep posting videos!!!
Great video. You mentioned how your store has nothing 'made in Canada'. Why do you think Canadian hobbyists are so reticent to do hobby supply manufacturing? Is it a lack of expertise? Its not as if labour is much more expensive than in Spain or the UK.
Lack of expertise is a big one, the reason why majority of miniature companies are UK based is specifically because of GW, the talent goes there and then every now and then they branch out to form their own studios. Those studios typically try to stay close by to continue syphoning experts rather than try to build a foundation elsewhere. There are few other companies in the states but they typically veer towards a different and even more niche side of the market being model trains/cars. Start up cost are also high for that type of company especially if you don't have access to a large pool of experts as well as regulations + health & safety that circle that type of manufacturing, so business' typically stick to a general area that's already familiar with it to make things easier & simpler for themselves. The reason for Spain being a large supplier of hobby supplies is based off that it built itself off an industry that was already large over there, being painting/art industry. So it has similar benefits that the miniature side of things has, that the majority of experts in the field are already in the area, making lower wages and faster recruitment for specialized staff. If you were looking to mass produce hobby supply all your specialized tooling/machinery are gonna come from overseas (since they're built where the industry is) which means even more expense unless you're very savvy, have good connections, or very deep pockets.
@@BrokenCreed92 When I tried to hire consultants from the UK in this field they were extremely insular and difficult to work with. Not easy to gain that expertise... Fortunately there were still some USA people kicking around.
Getting into the FLGS business to make money is a sucker's bet and has been since the 80's. Sure, a tiny card only shop might make enough money for a lower middle class lifestyle with the occasional boom cycle making up for the bust cycles. But the traditional gaming store is a hobby business, you need something else to pay the bills.
I can attest to this being fairly widespread knowledge, for at least 20 years. I can remember an anecdote from the early 2000's (and I'm sure it wasn't new then...) "How do you make a million dollars in the gaming industry?" "You start with 2 million dollars." Heck, how did Gygax himself get money out of the gaming industry? By bringing in investors, and paying himself a salary that was more than the company could actually support. Now it bit him in the ass, and he got run out of TSR, but it probably did work out for him.
you do realise gw wants retail stores to die. why sell wholesale to stores when they can charge retail online? and then jack up the price once they are the only place to get warhammer.
@@lordsofwargamesandhobbies3905 yeah, currently. clearly, you didn't get my point. the people who used to come to your store to buy warhammies will have to find another store near enough, or just order direct from gw's webstore, for retail price, not wholesale. remember when music stores were a thing? now music is easier to get online. you are a music store, 3d printers are napster/torrents and gw is amazon.
“Games workshop being a big part of our store” while sitting in front of a wall of infinity models. This is simply me starting fires thats all just trying to be funny.
In all honesty between games workshop and wizards of the coast they make and break stores. Both of which have also been making running a LGS very difficult these days.
GW should start an MLM model with independent sellers going door to door, or community outreach via highschool and college teams that could start leagues, or target market art instructors to join and invite students to participate for credit...
2025 will be the year that people will have to take a long hard look at themselves and ask the question. What is most important in life? Something is coming and I believe it will shake people to the core of they're being.
@jeremyhess7977 I think there is already a boycott. But yeah I think it will be so much worse. Didn't one of their shareholders completely dump their stock recently?
Happy New Year, and good luck for '25, but not one mention of Old World or Trench Crusade, no phone calls. Was this really a Lords of War games and hobbies video?
The Trench Crusade 'steam valve' was exercised on Guerrilla Miniature Games this week 😂
Haha. Yea I agree ! Strange things are afoot at the lords of war store !!
It's the same here in Sweden. Rent has skyrocketed, so most places just stand empty. If it isn't a franchise chain, it won't last. Even our biggest hobby stores are struggling, which is so sad to see.
Small businesses are the life blood of our cities. There needs to be legislation to protect them, otherwise downtowns die or lose all of their character, forcing out folks who actually care about the community.
Thank you for talking about this.
It's government's intervention that made this a big issue.
Lower taxes would help businesses stay open.
Lower taxes wouldn't incentive the landlords to keep rent low. They'd just keep the higher rent rate, or boost it up even further to squeeze more out of the tenant. There needs to be legislation that protects their rent and avoids huge hikes in rent per year.
@@edwardmills4164 why not both? lower taxes and cap rents
@@BigMan-cp4pi that would be great! It would be even better with incentives or tax breaks for renting commercial properties to small businesses at reasonable rates.
@@joecooper8527 Current small business tax rates are actually really low. In NB, it's 1.5%. The vast majority of small businesses aren't suffering from that.
What needs to happen is there needs to be a vacancy tax after a unit is empty for 3 months, and escalates each month it remains empty. Lots of corporate landlords will use empty space as a loss for tax deductions, it has to cost them more than that deduction is worth
Love all the Infinity and Warcrow stuff in the background.
Happy New Year boys! Thanks for all the vids, i think you guys are sharing important stuff that the community needs to hear.
It's always fascinating to hear from a store owner, thanks for making these vids on your side of stuff
Our pleasure!
Rent and the inability to sell products the customer wants. Two of those kill a well running store in 5-6months, an okeyish running store in 3-4 , and "i opened a store because l like to hobby" in 2 months.
One of the big issues I found when I managed a hobby store was eBay, second-hand dealers, and Amazon. People were shocked when the store finally closed its doors after a decade and a half. I worked tons of overtime for free and ran events, however because people were buying products online, the store could not stay afloat, and the owner was like, "I am done." He could not run it after his heart attack.
i could not imagine how you will manage with 3d printers now biting a piece of the pie. I know a store owner here who tried to ban the 3d printed stuff, all it did was drive the people away so they were not even buying his snack and drinks. he laughed in my face when i suggested charging for the tables for x amount of hours.
Props for keeping up the flow of content over the holidays/vacations. I'd stop by and visit the shop, but the commute from Maine, USA to Ontario is a little much. Happy New Year!
Happy holidays!
A game store that I used to go to every week for Commander night got closed by escalating rents late 2021. They'd been open (initially as a used records/cd place, then adding movies, games, etc over time) for 20+ years, but the landlord finally got them.
Doesn't seem the best move to me either, space has been vacant since then and for about a year now the "For Lease" sign has added an "or Sale" onto the end. If commercial real estate stays as hungry/aggressive as it is now they'll just sink themselves too IMO.
Great, level-headed perspective as usual :)
I enjoy these individual vids as a way of breaking up the usual format. Even just moving about the shop for your normal pair videos could be a cool addition to the repertoire just to mix things up.
Happy new year!
Once again, landlords being absolute bastards ruins everyone's day
Here in the U.S.A. (Northern Ohio specifically) I can confirm that retail lease increases have been "the straw that broke the camel's back" for just about all games store closings. The only game store that I know of, that has survived for the last 30 years, moves every two to five years. I have spoke to the owner over the decades and 90% of the time it was forced by retail space cost increases. I often forget this because my house mortgage is a 30 year fixed mortgage and forget that if I try to open a shop, that will not be the case (sometimes being a salary wage-slave isn't the worst thing I guess, lol). Kudos to you for keeping a games store alive, I've seen way to many close since 1985, Good wishes for you in the New Year and Good Luck!
The downtown area of my city is a constant revolving door of various shops. Most of the time the big complaint is rent. There are only a handful of businesses down there that have been there for 30 years or so and I know for a fact one spot CONSTANTLY flips through restaurants but they never stay. A local hobby shop down there recently closed, not for rent, but because they just got tired of it apparently. Another card shop bought them out, move in for a bit, then promptly closed and moved farther out to what I presume to be a cheaper place.
Knowing how muchh space the paint racks take up in my FLGS and local scale model shop as compared to the models, would be interesting if you guys had a discussion around what is the biggest profit per square foot between kits, paints/brushes and accessories.
commercial rent seems slightly insane to an outsider where I am, so many businesses close and then the property just goes vacant.
If the unit is occupied the rent will be reviewed. Probably downwards which puts the owner under water with his lender. So the status quo prevails. This is caused by money printing
@@juliantheapostate8295 Quantitive easing? Is this a central gov problem then?
@@EarlofChutney its a problem with government interfering with free market competition. competition is what drives prices down. the government has been actively stifling competition and not enforcing antitrust laws. The government has been making it overly difficult to build new houses because of overregulation and stupid laws that drive up the cost of materials (like not being able to timber the forests in california which repeatedly just burn down anyway). the government printing up money constantly and massively inflating the dollar also hurts the ability for small businesses to startup and compete. that and banks arnt giving out loans anymore like theyre supposed to.
Our local art store, which was the only place in town that sold hobby products, had to move to a neighbouring (less fashionable) town due to rents. It's not just the small stores, quite a few of the franchises have had to close/move stores in our town due to the rent as well. UK for reference.
Oof
Can we get your Old World selection as the background next episode? I would like to browse while I listen.
Stores are closing, I walked into a store that opened 4 years ago was cut in half, nothing new on the shelf looked like they were going out of buiesness
So jealous seeing all that infinity merch on a shelf in a nerd shop. No shops carry it where i am dispite a decent sized group in the area
Have you guys ever done a tour of the store? I'd like to see what kind of set up you guys have, especially since it seems like there is an allusion that your store is kinda different from others.
I hear you! In my county in California a lot of wine industry, and my town over the last 10 - 15 years has seen a big turnover in the downtown from a lot of mom-and-pop stores that have been around for decades, and 99% of the stores have been sent out of business because of rising rent and pretty much every storefront is now a wine tasting establishment. In the big picture I guess that's good business for the town and the county, but it also put all these other businesses out of business.
Napa or Sonoma? lol
@@terraneaux Napa, though I'm sure Sonoma is similar. (rereading my original post... what a run-on! I'm glad you could decipher it.)
@@jonmattison3939 I grew up near Healdsburg so I know exactly what you mean. It's crazy that Armorcast used to make stuff in the area....
@@terraneaux That's right, they were Santa Rosa based weren't they?
@@jonmattison3939 partially, yeah.
unfortunately most small business owners do exactly what you just said to deal with increasing fixed costs: just add work hours to make the same salary, effectively reducing their own hourly rate. Thanks for all you do
My biggest issue with local shops (San Antonio area) is most carry primarily games Workshop products. From minis to paints to tools and brushes. And they may have army painter or monument hobbies or reaper paints, but it's very little and never gets restocked.
On top of that, most upcharge on products.
And some stores that I used to go to all the time because they sold reaper bones or older metal minis or anything like that stopped selling those things.
And it pretty much leads to this sense of...a cookie cutter effect. They're all set up the same way. Selling the same products. Having the same things out of stock forever. I don't buy or collect anything GW, so there's nothing really for me to buy. And the few things I do want to buy, they've got 3+ bucks tacked onto it.
Whereas online there's stores that have everything I want for prices lower than retail price or at least keep it at retail price.
It sucks though because I want to support my local stores but there's nothing really there for me.
Local stores should partner with online designer and model lines and print it locally. So you can choose your army get it printed and pick it up in the store.
@@TorianTammas there is alot of extra work and chemicals when printing. Not saying your wrong. i personally like the idea. but you might have to have someone on staff and insurance and OSHA may not allow for certain things.
Good vid, first thing I ask people when they start talking about opening a store is what does your lease look like. First and most important decision you make.
I really appreciate you talking so candidly about what a store has to deal with in the dark.
I also really appreciate you repping the *absolute balls* off of infinity.
Okay, let’s consider rising rents on retail space. The lease expires, and the landlord can theoretically raise the rent to any extent they choose (absent a lease renewal contract with a limit). But in order to have that work out, the landlord has to have another retail business lined up to assume the new, higher rent. So there has to be some other type of business that has profit margins high enough to support that higher rent. In my area, one type of business that seems to be growing is the vape/smoke shop. In fact, one of the local FLGS went out of business due, in part, to increases in rent, and was replaced by a vape/smoke shop. It’s odd to the uninitiated. The owner of the FLGS, which was in a suburban strip mall, sold his house and bought a building “in town” that has several rental apartments above a ground floor retail space. He moved into one of the apartments, and is in the process of getting his store set up in the retail space.
Another phenomenon I’m seeing is the death of the large suburban enclosed malls, in my area. The anchor, big department stores are going out of business, and the smaller spaces are being vacated by the small businesses that depended on the draw of the big department store(s).
Yes ! We gamers feel the pull of these corporate robber barons ! They take from us all ! Very interesting to hear your side ( the Canadian side ) of the Biz . I really hope our mad king doesn’t tariff our hobby’s to death. Hold strong and thank you 🙏
Making a shop that the owner wants to shop at is the BEST way to start. I wish you well. Im an old fan of 40k and its through that i found other model ranges - for me GW has grown the market and isnt the enemy. Its mad that canada, with all its amazing people and resources doesnt manufacture more. I hope change comes soon for you, same as over here in the u.k. Stay unique and i wish you all the best.
Hey Chris, regular FaB gamer at your store. just found out about your channel randomly which is pretty funny considering I've been going here for over a year. I'd be interested in hearing how the TCG/board games affect your bottom line. Thrilled with what you guys do. I'll keep showing up every Friday.
If Trench Crusade doesn’t pay your bills then you’ll probably be forced to close
The peril is real.
When my Dad retired he bought a small Bicycle shop, he enjoyed his hobby of fixing bikes and made a little money, his income base was 10% Cyclists making a niche purchase, and 90% repairs of bikes purchased from big box stores. The owner the building decided he was under-charging on the rent, come lease renewal all six shops in the building had their rent tripled, all six closed down, and the building sat empty for six months until the owner dropped the rent back closer to what he was originally charging.
You are right about the changing times, It seems to be a common remark about the speed of new releases currently, you used to be able to purchase something, paint it, and play the game. Now it it's more you need to buy at product in a tiny time frame before it is discontinued, most of projects get "put aside" as next week something new is going to drop.
It's not even small business. In my area a Gamestop just closed up because when their lease was up the landlord told them they were going with someone else who was going to be paying more money. I agree that the smaller businesses need to stick around because eventually all there will be are big box stores and online shopping. We all think that would be convenient and what we want, but in the end nobody will be satisfied with that.
GW is basically outsourcing their marketing offloading it onto you and the community. They are just growing the spaghetti and you are the wall.
the solo vids make me feel like my hobby dads split custody!
Hahaha
I'm always wondering, who's calling up these landlords chomping at the bit to pay double their going rate?
Also, I'm of the opinion anyone opening a hobby store's primary goal at the beginning is finding a commercial property whose construction was clearly a mistake and now the owner is just desperate for anyone to claim the space. My first FLGS as a kid was built into the back of a strip mall. My next one was built at the end of a strip mall, next to a tattoo parlor, on a forgotten road next to a river and a train track where nobody wanted to build anything of value. Another one is at the end of a massive strip mall, literally accessible only by making a half-mile drive through the place's parking lot. And my newest FLGS I go to, is in a commercial building on a major road, but they built the place BEHIND the strip mall that actually sits along the road, so no one can see it exists. All spots that are unviable for 99% of businesses.
Dream Pod 9, Tundraworks, and Crucible Crush are the only CDN manufacturers I know of.
Don't forget Creature Caster!
I believe RAFM is still in business.
@@raincoast_bear For some reason I had the impression Crucible Crush and RAFM are the same company. Not sure why.
I’d love to open a gaming store in my town. Someone just opened one. It’s so small I have no idea how anyone will game there or how they’ll be able to carry enough inventory to make sales consistently. Rent is just impossible right now. With the cost of living constantly rising everything that was once possible is becoming insurmountable. Cheers to the death of the American dream 🥂
Very sad. You need a huge amount of capital now to do something like that...and then the question is, if you have all that money, why would you invest it into this? Lol
@ 🤣 Yeah I know. I don’t want to do an adult business though 🤷🏻♂️ It just seems like “luxuries” like music, games, art etc are slowly being strangled. What are people going to do in the future? Work 80 hour weeks then stare at a screen for their few moments of fun? What’s the end game here?
@@lordsofwargamesandhobbies3905 the "how many single bedrooms could we fit in there" economic conumdrum
I think the elephant in the room is how easy it is to get games and miniatures, along with paint and other hobby needs easily and quickly through Amazon and online. A brick and mortar store is no longer necessary to enjoy the hobby.
Enjoy all your's and Jay's rambles. You could talk about hottubs, and I'd be entertained. 😁
For small/micro business owners, it seems like much of time its like New Vegas. The game was rigged from the start. I hope 2025 is at least good for our FLGS everywhere. Cheers!
Thanks mate!
Heavy Gear Blitz is from Canada :)
Dream Pod 9, Tundraworks, and Crucible Crush are the only CDN manufacturers I know of.
Commercial rents are going up, because the landlords have lots of empty office space post covid, so need the occupied spaces to pay their morgages
A lot of executives seem to think that way, then they're surprised that as rates increase, demand decreases. People coming out of high school may or may not be able to read, but even they understand supply/demand.
Possibly maybe but if you increase rent heavily people just won't rent places for shops etc
And the landlord won't be a landlord for very long
In Dallas, I see plenty of space just sit empty. Rent must be too high, and somehow the landlords must use that empty space as a loss on their federal taxes.
On top of other issues retailers are facing, rents, local business rates/taxes... If you are from the UK and the late 80s/early 90's, GW Retail cribbing GW Wholesale's homework and opening a Warhammer store just round the corner from the local Games Store and having "opening sales"... for months... London used to have like 12 indie/sole premise games shops all reachable by an LT Travel card (you could do like half in a day if you want to spend time in them and started early), only Leisure Games remains because they pivoted to online sales early, Orcs Nest is not one of the originals and its survival still confuses me (though welcome) and must be because they were both a physical and online store from the start. And this was happening in major towns around the country. I now only buy from GW only when all other options turn up a blank.
I've personally seen one shut down due to them bad talking the local non games workshop gaming stores not realizing they've been there for over a decade before GW opened and wouldn't even have a market without them. but that was just the stupidity of the employees not GW, back in 98 or 99 i think...
I personally thought that you were very tactical in your discussion of economics and politics and did it so well that I started subscribing to hopefully hear more in the future. Plus. You recording in front of the infinity wall made me happy.
idk how i watch these videos the whole way through. like it just flies by. im not super entertained. im not really interested in these topics but i just cant turn it off cause its so informative. i dont have a business but i can imagine if i did, yall would be super helpful.
Lol same bro. Idk - they’re just really based warhammer/Tabletop fans. Not eccentric. I think thats the selling point - just normal 😂😅
@@frankandluna99 for me it's cause they talk to the viewer like an adult, instead of the constant youtube-isms that other channels rely on. It's refreshing for me to have a 25 minute video of a dude or two dudes just discussing a topic as adults.
No hobbies stuff made in Canada? Sounds like some one needs to push more Dream Pod 9 products!
That aside thank your for speaking up about the issue of gentrification and over consolidation in land that has plagued businesses and resident alike. We really do need to put heavy restriction on land ownership from artificial groups like capital investment and corporation, and deincentivised rent seeking behavior when its leads to large scale economic damage for the broad community.
Haha fair
Retail rent is out stripping actual retail space demand in Ireland.
@@irishmadcat yepp seeing it here on the countryside. Only way is in my humble opinion to have ownership of the space, but with the amount of product you’d need to carry to have a decent store I’d say even on the countryside you need the better part of a million euros (don’t forget you need to be able to live for a year if it does not take off immediately, and order the new stuff constantly) in the cities here I’d say 3 million just for the premises and such…
There is a German city however that buys their inner city and rents it out to local small business for very low rents. Int he apartments above they put in social apartments (basically rent protected apartments for locals and unemployed and old and special needs people.
Seems to work tremendously well for them to have. A lovely inner city and also have brought down crime rates massively as well…
Reaper minis are a USA company but a lot of their stuff is from china it depends tho
Really interesting perspective ! I'd love to check a video about "what could Save small businesses in 2025"
Toronto has become a near-wasteland devoid of anything interesting or unique. So many neat little shops or venues are gone, to be replaced by a Starbucks, Tim Hortons or Rexall. Yay...
Though I think it's interesting that a microcosm of this same occurrence seems to be happening within your very store. All of these unique, smaller games are being pushed out to make room for more and more Workshop releases, to 'pay the bills' as you say. You had to decide whether you could afford to take a moral stand and champion the 'little guy', even if meant hurting the bottom line.
Property values are highly influenced by rents, and if a property is an investment (as I would imagine 99% of commercial real estate property is), landlords are being asked to essentially subsidize unique businesses at the expense of their own investment. Canada's big problem is that the Boomers tied almost their entire wealth generation strategy to real estate speculation (essentially letting other areas like manufacturing die, as you alluded to in the video), and are very unwilling to let go of that particular bag.
Leaves those of us in the younger generations in a not-so-great position, as one person's affordable housing/rent is another person's 'loss on investment'.
Everything you say sounds totally familiar and I don't live in Canada. It's the constant pressure that's always increasing, like frogs in a pot.
So your saying your the Sam Malone of the store? Who is Cliff, who the hell is Woody?
i stopped buying in a local store. Before covid i met a lot of people there, we where able to play there and because of that i bought my stuff there. I dont care if its more expensive in the local shop, i pay the higher price because i get a chance to meet other people with the same interest. After Covid they stopped everything. For over a year you where not allowed to play there and also no events and no painting area anymore. So i stopped buying there. Without those things, for me there is no difference to an random online store and because of that no reason to pay the higher price.
Totally fair.. I'm sorry to hear that
So can your store expect a higher profit summer when 40k has a new edition release? And conversely lower when it's an AoS release summer?
The rich get richer and the strugglers continue to struggle. It won't get better anytime soon. But I wish you guys luck.
i know what cold in poland;
bunkrap shop in poland
Energy cost;
60% + enery cost is eu onsens tax bacos same burocart dont like same element in our coal
Wow, the rent situation is pretty scary, good luck.
Love your videos and appreciate it that you even do them during these holidays and on such special days like new years.
Had to laugh when you said canada is a small country as i am from a country in europe with only 670.000 people 😂
And for the trade wars, well europe wont have any with canada... so the main problem is with goods going through the usa to canada, so i guess europe and canada will have to work together to ship directly to canada if the usa start a trade war... i guess canada doesnt have many/big ship ports?
Anyway, happy new year and good luck and success in 2025
Thanks you as well!
I can afford wargames Atlantic and battletech but I can't afford games workshop products over 35 usd for unit packs. Heros are out of the question unless used or old. Or third party. The prices are just not reasonable
Es I played GW games for over 30 years and their price politics are insane. Luckily online designer sell their designs so you can print your army at home or get it printed for a reasonable price
We've lost 3 game stores in the last 6 months (Boston Metro/SNH) and I don't see that stopping. Rents are going up, prices are going up, the next 2 years in the US will be a big shrink in our economy. Last time Trump was POTUS we had a manufacturing recession (before COVID) and he seems not to have changed economic philosophy.
And good thing much of the supply comes from countries that aren't on Trump's idiotic tariff list.
[Checks notes]
....... oh......
Oh no.
@@douglasblouir9185 I'm a comic book reader, guess where comics are printed?
@tomryan3768 I'm right there with you. I'm still holding out hope his other oligarchs and cronies will prevent the most foolish of his impulses, but I'm sure not holding my breath.
You mean like sending billions to foreign wars or leaving the border wide open? Yeah I like the idea of $2 gas and lower cost of groceries.
Recheck notes, tariffs are currently on us but not on them…
Trench Crusade!
I dunno 40$ (cad) sets of data cards that get changed on a whim might not be a great way to keep your customers happy
I do get kind of peeved at commercial rents. The landlord typically doesn’t have to contribute anything but the space. They aren’t responsible for maintenance of their building or anything, they just collect a rent check and increase rents at leisure.
Yep
Ours closed down the street. No manager
Hey from London Ontario. Do you do online sales
Yessir! Lordsofwargames.com
Hello, I’m that 1% excited for new paints to try more than whatever the new model is.
You and me both!
I don't think rent is the problem as much as the product's we sell have a low margin. for us example our main product margin is 25% meaning just to pay rent of $5,000 you have to sell $20,000. that's before employee , credit card processing, internet ETC. I know TCG have even less Margin ( excluding singles) . Miniatures have 35 to 45% which is better but then again GW does limit how much of new high demand stuff you can get.
You need about 40% margin to have a chance to make ends meet and you need a cheaper spot to rent unless you are on main street with a ton of walk in customers. So do you sell products for 1500 a day you are open? If not then you have to change things pretty fast or your liquidity gap will first let you buy less product then pay your employees late and then the light goes out. Your costs gave to go down and your sales up. Try other miniature lines when this is your highest margin product.
@@TorianTammas @TorianTammas I agree margins of 40% what's needed in the industry However a lot manufacturers have chosen to squeeze the Game store / Toy stores during covid / go direct. And I personally feel smaller stores will have it hard.
Prices. GW’s pricing is highway robbery.
Robot snakes?
Why would rents be higher than what tenants can pay? I can think of a few reasons.
Most landlords prefer consistent no hassle tenants. Usually when rent doubles, it is because they are trying to drive out tenants. At our local university there was a coffee shop and the student council doubled the rent at lease end and then once it closed, they opened their own coffee shop in the exact same space.
Unfortunately that is not becoming the case anymore I'd argue. I'm about 20mins aways from their location and commercial spaces have skyrocketed in prices, largely due to demand for spaces. Our monthly rent increased last year from 11.8k to 20k, so by no means a small business, and yet it's still the cheapest location for my business from anywhere else within an hour drive, and moving more than an hour away would significantly hurt our operation cost so its not viable. We're also on very good & personal terms with our landlord and are a large reason why two other tenants are also in that location. Development is just severely behind the demand right now in alot of areas or theres just no space left to develop in others.
'Most' landlords are actually large corporations that make decisions based purely on what will generate them more revenue. It's the same reason many of them can sit on empty units because eventually someone will come along and pay the high asking price, and there's no pressure to rent the place because they are sitting on thousands of units.
@@lordsofwargamesandhobbies3905 From Southern Ontario, and also will echo what you're saying. If there are 2 or 3 landlords, that own 90% of the commercials space in the town (or even a city the size of London, Oakville, or Burlington), what incentive do that have to lower rents? They make more money charging 2k a month and having 40% their spaces empty, than charging 1k a month.
I would like honoured of the chapter and 2 boxes of bladeguard veterans, please.
Between game makers releasing solo modes, cheap paint mega sets, and the proliferation of 3d printing; the only thing left I still missed about my local hobby store is the obnoxious insight from owners…. Thanks to you guys for shoring up the last loose ends. I will never have to go back to a store again as long as you guys keep posting videos!!!
Support your local stores!
Great video. You mentioned how your store has nothing 'made in Canada'. Why do you think Canadian hobbyists are so reticent to do hobby supply manufacturing? Is it a lack of expertise? Its not as if labour is much more expensive than in Spain or the UK.
Lack of expertise is a big one, the reason why majority of miniature companies are UK based is specifically because of GW, the talent goes there and then every now and then they branch out to form their own studios. Those studios typically try to stay close by to continue syphoning experts rather than try to build a foundation elsewhere. There are few other companies in the states but they typically veer towards a different and even more niche side of the market being model trains/cars. Start up cost are also high for that type of company especially if you don't have access to a large pool of experts as well as regulations + health & safety that circle that type of manufacturing, so business' typically stick to a general area that's already familiar with it to make things easier & simpler for themselves.
The reason for Spain being a large supplier of hobby supplies is based off that it built itself off an industry that was already large over there, being painting/art industry. So it has similar benefits that the miniature side of things has, that the majority of experts in the field are already in the area, making lower wages and faster recruitment for specialized staff. If you were looking to mass produce hobby supply all your specialized tooling/machinery are gonna come from overseas (since they're built where the industry is) which means even more expense unless you're very savvy, have good connections, or very deep pockets.
Look he answered for me! Haha
@@BrokenCreed92 When I tried to hire consultants from the UK in this field they were extremely insular and difficult to work with. Not easy to gain that expertise... Fortunately there were still some USA people kicking around.
I thought Trench Crusade would kill Warhammer stores
2025 baby
Games Workshop causes it.
Games Workshop
Second, scumbags that play locally, but only buy online just to save $5. 🤦♂️
Getting into the FLGS business to make money is a sucker's bet and has been since the 80's. Sure, a tiny card only shop might make enough money for a lower middle class lifestyle with the occasional boom cycle making up for the bust cycles. But the traditional gaming store is a hobby business, you need something else to pay the bills.
I can attest to this being fairly widespread knowledge, for at least 20 years. I can remember an anecdote from the early 2000's (and I'm sure it wasn't new then...) "How do you make a million dollars in the gaming industry?" "You start with 2 million dollars."
Heck, how did Gygax himself get money out of the gaming industry? By bringing in investors, and paying himself a salary that was more than the company could actually support.
Now it bit him in the ass, and he got run out of TSR, but it probably did work out for him.
you do realise gw wants retail stores to die. why sell wholesale to stores when they can charge retail online? and then jack up the price once they are the only place to get warhammer.
Trade is their biggest cash cow.
@@lordsofwargamesandhobbies3905 yeah, currently. clearly, you didn't get my point. the people who used to come to your store to buy warhammies will have to find another store near enough, or just order direct from gw's webstore, for retail price, not wholesale. remember when music stores were a thing? now music is easier to get online. you are a music store, 3d printers are napster/torrents and gw is amazon.
new year new army !! NYNAIYKYN !!
Hopefully 2025 will be merciful 🎉
That's all we can really hope for lol
“Games workshop being a big part of our store” while sitting in front of a wall of infinity models. This is simply me starting fires thats all just trying to be funny.
In all honesty between games workshop and wizards of the coast they make and break stores. Both of which have also been making running a LGS very difficult these days.
It hurt to be the 70th like. 😢
Hey look, it’s a new green screen. Much better than than the old one. You really look like shills now lol
Gonna go out on a limb and say "not selling enough product"
GW should start an MLM model with independent sellers going door to door, or community outreach via highschool and college teams that could start leagues, or target market art instructors to join and invite students to participate for credit...
Shops need to sell more stuff to Stuy in business, and GW is too costly.
2 player 😂
Rent controls will only result in property shortages. They won’t help in the long run.
2025 will be the year that people will have to take a long hard look at themselves and ask the question. What is most important in life? Something is coming and I believe it will shake people to the core of they're being.
DEI
I heard usa is making canada the 51st state 😉
Ooof
Femstodes is what would cause the closure.
As soon as we see an actual Femstodes model, a boycott won't be far behind.
GW stock price goes SPLAT!
@jeremyhess7977 I think there is already a boycott. But yeah I think it will be so much worse. Didn't one of their shareholders completely dump their stock recently?
It's a small game but Heavy Gear Blitz is an awesome Canadian wargame property.