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Friendly FLGS challenge

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Fri, 07/21/2023 - 18:20
questccg
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A few days ago while chatting with a Friend we were discussing the TOPIC of me, as a Game Designer, looking to find a Publisher for "Crystal Heroes" (CH). I remember discussing with him that in a Publisher List I obtained from BGDF.com, at about a rate of 50%, the Publishers on that list were INVALID (or out-of-business).

And so we got onto the discussion of FLGS ... And he issued to me a sort of "challenge" to see what the REAL NUMBERS look like when it comes to a store.

So in Montreal (which is pretty large if we talk about stores and population), one particular FLGS is located on the 2nd Floor in a Shopping Mall.

The "challenge", you ask???

He told me to go there during the week and just sit down "outside" the store and see how many people walk out of the store with a GAME (because it's a FLGS)...

That's a real great idea. If you want to know ANYTHING about STORE OWNERSHIP numbers (like how many sales in a DAY) this is one way. We're not talking super HIGH TECH... Just how many people walk out with a BAG for their purchase.

And so yeah the other alternative is to do the SAME on a Saturday and compare WEEK to WEEKEND and see how the number vary.

It's a very SIMPLE "challenge" and can give you REAL INSIGHT into how FLGS are doing in your area.

I may do this ... But not until some time in August. We are currently in the two (2) weeks known as "Construction Holidays" where more people take time to leave the city and/or go on Vacations in Europe or the Caribbean, etc.

So the numbers these two (2) weeks would be OFF by a respectable margin. So I'll follow-up with this in the Middle of August and see how it evolves... We'll see IF I find the TIME to TRY this and know what the situation looks like...

Cheers all!

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Fri, 07/21/2023 - 20:39
#1
questccg
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I might wait until September...!

Why? Because that's when it's Back-to-school and most people are no longer on Holidays taking time away from the cities or going to the South (USA or further) and this usually goes hand-and-hand with the returning of Students... After Labor Day weekend. Even thought CEGEPs and Universities start at the end of August (1 to 2 weeks earlier).

Anyhow ... It's an interesting challenge and you can do this to see the amount of sales (maybe repeating the process 1 to 2 times over).

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Sat, 07/22/2023 - 10:12
#2
larienna
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You might want to try "tour

You might want to try "tour de jeu" downtown. At least you can sit in the food court with a laptop and have wifi. Or go in laval, it looks like people have more money over there somehow.

Still, it might be hard to spot purchases, especially the small ones as people could put it in their back packs. Some people could end up with a non-game purchase.

I am not sure what is the objective here. What number are you looking for. It might be easier to befriend an flgs owner and as if business is going well.

I think in Montreal, it really weird, because, yes I have seem many stores close, but there are more stores than before than holds non-hasbro games, like libraries for example.

So does it sell worst or better than before even with the advent of the internet and online purchase, hard to say. Maybe the target audiance got bigger.

Also from my observation, most board game players seems like rich people willing to spend a lot of money and they seems unaffected by inflation. The quantity of games that gets math traded is crazy. Some people buy in a year more games than I bought in my lifetime.

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Sun, 07/23/2023 - 13:57
#3
questccg
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Same store, different location: Fairview Mall

Funny, the store in question is "Tour de Jeu" in Fairview Mall (Pointe-Claire). So you are correct this is the same chain of FLGS.

The GOAL would be to see HOW MANY "Customers" in a DAY. And we can average out the sales to $50 CAD per person (yes it may be a bit HIGH... But we sell in CAD and the prices are HIGHER in Canada than the USA). And average that out during a normal weekday vs. a weekend day (Saturday for example).

Yeah librairies like Renaud-Bray (which I tried to SELL "Quest AC" to...), the head-office used to be located on the second floor on Saint-Denis (next to another FLGS = Valet d'Coeur). I also tried selling to Valet D'Coeur my "Quest AC" Card Game as my first experience. Both no success... It's the Journey not the Destination...

Like I have said, I visited (toured) a Distributor in Saint-Laurent and they told me they sell to around ~300 stores in-and-around Quebec. So there is business but at the time of this writing I KNOW of TWO (2) stores which CLOSED.

One was on Blvd Dicarie near the Cote-Vertu Metro and the other was in the West Island off of Saint-Johns, not too far from Fairview in Pointe-Claire. It was in one of the smaller malls (it passed ownership by two owners). But sadly neither of those FLGS survived.

In any event, some people COLLECT Board & Card Games. And they go to a LOT of trouble to order NEW games when they are available. In any event, the reality is that some Families enjoy playing Board Games and collect them for their kids to play (as well as the adults in the context of some modern day Gateway Games... like Catan or Ticket-To-Ride, etc.)

In terms of market: it generated a revenue of over USD 18 billion in 2022.

So that's a lot of money! (Or Power if you prefer)...

Nice to see you around @larienna ... Thanks for giving us a comment concerning your observations... Muchly appreciated!

Cheers to you!

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