On Friday I eagerly arrived at my friendly local game store (FLGS), Fortuna Games in St. Louis, at opening time. I was there in the hopes of getting a few Disney Lorcana starter decks so Megan and I could play over the weekend.
I was delighted (and a little surprised) to find a line out the door. It was mostly couples excited to play the game together; that was also the case for the person in front of me, who said he and his wife were looking forward to playing the game.
Fortuna handled the line efficiently and sold their Lorcana starter packs at $20 each, limiting customers to one of each product (we did end up playing quite a bit; I talk about my favorite mechanisms in this video). The store also had a growing crowd of people there for a Magic Commander event.
Seeing a bustling game store made me happy as a publisher (it was also nice to see some Stonemaier Games on their shelves). I had a similar feeling when I recently saw a photo of dozens of people playing Wingspan at an event at Labyrinth Games in DC. I love when people come together to have fun on the tabletop, and the best local stores provide that experience.
I recently asked Stonemaier Ambassadors to share the most recent event at an FLGS that they participated in, and here’s how they responded (multipliers for multiples of the same response):
- learn-to-play or demo event (Disney Lorcana, Terra Mystica, Expeditions, other games): x5
- board game and geek quiz/trivia nights: x3
- tournament (Catan, Carcassonne, variety of games): x4
- special store sale: x2
- garage sale (customers selling/swapping games): x2
- gaming meetup or game night: x10
- trading card game night, league, or event (Magic, Flesh and Blood, Pokemon): x12
- miniatures gaming (Warhammer): x1
- introduction to miniature painting: x1
- Blood on the Clocktower night: x3
- charitable auction or fundraising event: x4
- role-playing (ongoing, free RPG day): x3
- unpublished game playtesting: x4
- Gen Can’t event: x2
- store opening: x2
It’s neat to see such a variety of responses. Of course, this is a very small sample size (and from people who primarily play board games), but still neat to see. Most of the comments about experiences at FLGS were positive, though a few also mentioned disorganization and miscommunication.
As a publisher, I don’t expect a local retailer to do anything special for our games, but it’s awesome when they do. I would love to find more ways to support retailers who want to run special events for our games. At the same time, there needs to be interest from their customers to actually participate, especially with so many different games tugging at their time and attention.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about how publishers can better support stores who want to feature their products, your experiences at local stores (beyond just buying games), and how stores can best serve customers for hot releases like Lorcana.
***
If you gain value from the 100 articles Jamey publishes on this blog each year, please consider championing this content! You can also listen to posts like this in the audio version of the blog.
35 Comments on “Some Recent Thoughts about FLGS from a Publisher”
Leave a Comment
If you ask a question about a specific card or ability, please type the exact text in your comment to help facilitate a speedy and precise answer.
Your comment may take a few minutes to publish. Antagonistic, rude, or degrading comments will be removed. Thank you.
For stores doing organized play, don’t forget about the “organized” part! A few thoughts after going to Lorcana events across a few different stores:
– If events are going to be weekly, announce each event a week or more beforehand. Establish the rhythm and the method of communication (website, Facebook Event, Google Cal, etc). Even if it’s just a save-the-date with more detail to come later, at least people can mark their calendars.
– Run on time. Sure there’s always going to be stragglers, but don’t make the people who made the effort sit around twiddling their thumbs every time.
– Be clear with format. 1 game vs. 3 game matches; 50min timer vs. no timer; 3 rounds with X players vs 4 rounds with Y players; cut to top 4 or top 8. Relatively simple things that can be figured out beforehand to cut down on questions and confusion.
– For Lorcana and its distribution shortages (definitely a whole other article), one store mixed in “Proxy Tournaments” with Standard Constructed Tournaments. Basically allowed you to play the deck you want vs. the deck you have and are unable to improve upon without available cards. This was a nice variant that allowed for people on a budget to not get priced out of a competitive deck, but didn’t become the one and only format.
Just like bars and sporting stadiums open your drink or take your cap, game stores open your package (or remove shrink wrap etc). If the customer actually plans on playing the game, they don’t mind, and the game store no longer has the excuse they’re worried about flipping. This would be a limited thing, perhaps the first 7 days a product is available, giving people time to come and buy.
That’s definitely one approach that could work for the many people who just want to play the game. :)
As I don’t drink, I didn’t realize this was a thing those places did. That said, I think it’s a wonderful idea, especially for products such as Lorcana.
Advertising your product or events we run for your product. that’s it. Free promos don’t attract new players only the enfranchised, who have either already bought the game, or (in most cases) would buy online from a discount retailer.
So when an untested game hits my shelves and the publisher/distributor wants me to run a learn-to-play, I’d rather you give me the $100-200 cash I have to spend on social advertising to fill out the event than some shiny promo cards that you have spend time working out the logistics for. It’s likely cheaper for you in the long run and it’s more effective for me to get engaged bums in seats.
Thank you for sharing, Dylan. That’s a big spend on social advertising–I haven’t spent money on social ads in years! You can post on social media to your followers for free to get the word out about events.
Speaking as a marketer who specifically works with game stores, you’re not wrong about posting to social to get the word out. Stores should certainly be posting about their events on social media, but the effectiveness of organic has declined a lot in the last few years. Somewhere between 1% to 10% of your followers will see any given post, and those are people who already like what you do. If you want to reach new customers who have never heard of your store before, running paid ad campaigns is the way to go.
Definitely, reaching new customers is quite a challenge, and big possible piece to that puzzle involves paid ads. Though I think the most likely people to attend events at a game store are those who already follow the store, so the percentage might be much higher for them. Also, this is an area where I think email newsletters are hugely important.
Librarian here! We are currently working on programming for learn-to-play events at our library (I’ve even got Wingspan down as our spring semester game to learn). We have a blossoming board game collection, so it’s not huge yet, but it would be spectacular if publishers would be willing to offer some promotional items or even sample games for non-profits at wholesale or even no cost. Even things like artwork and posters so we can decorate our walls would be cool! But we deal with a really tightly limited budget, so we can’t buy games (or promo items) as often as we’d like. Our goal is to get people interested in gaming, and maybe those are the people that will go out and purchase your games after playing a few times in a really low-commitment (read: not having to purchase outright in order to play) way. If we did something like a sponsored learn-to-play event, maybe being supplied with some promotional items that we can give away at no cost would be huge for places like libraries. I hit up my FLGS often, and that’s usually how I get ideas on what to add to our board game collection for the library. But in actuality, I will often buy for the library, play a game to “test it out,” and if I like it, then I will go buy a copy for myself.
Thanks Amber! We actually have a library support program for the very purpose you describe (and I think it’s wonderful that you’re doing this): https://stonemaiergames.com/about/library-support-program/
This is wonderful! I have forwarded the info to our Collection Manager, so that we can use this for our next purchase!
Hi Jamey, a long time ago I did a Stonemaier day event at my store, and you kindly send us a copy of Between Two Cities as a demo. I think this kind of action help a lot FLGS, as I can open some game to demo, but not all of them. Adding B2C to the SM day was cool, as many people havent try it yet, and could play it waiting for Viticulture and Scythe to be free.
Also, as it has alredy been said, there is very few promotion material for boardgames. No promos, no posters. As a Store Owner I want something to give to my customer that will make them happy to get it from me, and at the same time not something value that can be resale. Example: A diferent starting tile for Carcassonne with a colored back. It something usefull but not something that have mechanical relevance.
Thanks Diego! Since then we started offering retailers demo copies through distributors, as it’s a little more efficient to offer a free demo copy among a carton than just ship a single copy. That’s a good point about special promos too.
This is exactly what I’ve done in the past. I hosted “Learn to Play” events at our FLGS. We offered a demo of the game and usually handed out some type of promo card or other item as both a reminder of the event and as a thank you for trying out the game. I love seeing the happy faces when they receive something just for trying out a game. And I especially love how many game companies do provide material for “Learn to Play” events as well as organized play. But to do this, you do need a champion that works with the FLGS, coordinates with the game company, and knows how to “get the word out” for these events ahead of time to increase awareness and participation. Sometimes your FLGS just doesn’t have the resources to run lots of different events. As a thank you for running such events, the FLGS usually gave us some type of store credit. Which is a nice thanks for bringing some business into their store!
That’s wonderful, Josh! I agree that having such a champion helps in a big way, whether it’s a champion for the store or for a publisher.
Here at Coke Street Game Vault we sold Lorcana at MSRP. We also limited purchases and cracked the seals on boxes purchased to help deter resellers. In the end I was very surprised that all of the folks that came out to be in line and/or preordered through us were very much there to play the game (and collect). I didn’t get a sense that anyone was there simply to flip the product. We went all out with our launch event and had Mickey and Minnie on hand for photos, hot dogs and a popcorn machine and an energy drink station. During the launch tournament (sealed Trove) we were really excited to learn that Steve Warner, designer of Lorcana as well as a couple of producers on the game were in attendance! All in all it was a spectacular event and we couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. And from what I’ve seen it will pull all kinds of folks into the community!
That’s awesome, Chad! I like the methods you described, and well done going above and beyond with the treats and atmosphere.
I think it would be great if designers and publishers recognised that a game store can have the capacity to promote and run great events for games. I am just a retail assistant, but I am currently trying to convince some local designers that they should come in and run their games much like book stores have nights for local writers (both store and designer need to advertise these things though).
For games like Pokemon and Magic there are posters, flyers, and other decorations sent to promote upcoming sets. I was quite surprised when Wingspan Asia came out that people didn’t know it was coming.
When I go to conventions like PaxAus I see booths for games advertising and offering free board game pins for trying out demos. I really want to see these pins and a demo copy of games make their way to trusted game stores so that demos can be run.
Ps, perhaps it is just different here in Australia, but I don’t understand stores that sell above the recommended retail price, that seems like a great way of finding out at first glance which stores are trusted and which are not.
Kerry: Thanks for sharing these thoughts. So you think stores want more promotional posters and decorations? I agree that we could do more to help stores share with their followers that new products are available or incoming. Do you think maybe that stores can also do some of that without more pieces of paper that will ultimately be thrown away? I would think that most community-driven retailers have an enewsletter and a strong social media presence that they can use to share information like that with customers–whenever a retailer does that on Instagram (tagging @jameystegmaier), I’m quick to share it. That way their local audience is learning about it, and I’m amplifying to as a publisher too.
I am not sure; I just work in a FLGS, I don’t run the store, but I do have motive in wanting to promote board games more because that is my area of interest (the store sells TCGs, Warhammer, and RPGs too).
I know that Pokemon and MtG send these promotional things to get things going. We have a community board and I do my best to let people know what presales are available (eg, if a customer mentions Ticket to Ride or Legacy games I will let them know that the Ticket to Ride legacy game is up for presale), but sometimes it feels like board games could do with a little more release hype.
I’ll mention the instagram thing to the owners of the store I am at ^_^.
That’s totally fair, and I appreciate your voice either way. I think it’s great when stores keep their fingers on the pulse of the game industry. It’s a lot to keep track of, to be sure, but it is possible to be aware of most new releases; I think it’s also pretty easy to be aware of major releases (like Wingspan Asia). Here are some sources for this type of news: https://stonemaiergames.com/the-ladder-approach-to-media-coverage/
Oh yeah, for sure. I watch many different channels on youtube, read articles, and am chatting online all the time about games.
I am trying to get out information to casual to intermediate gamers. A lot of the more hard-core gamers buy their games from overseas (we still don’t have Locarna in Australia, for instance, and still don’t even have a hint at a release date), and they have thier fingers on the pulse anyway.
It’s the people who, for example, come in for warhammer who play board games with their families who miss this stuff and I want to grab the attention of.
The videos do work though. We have tellys at work, on mute, with rolling advertising. Wingspan and Marvel Champions are probably the only board game ads I see up there.
As a retailer of a couple of stores and a cafe, we’ve learned over the past 20 years that building community through the experience at the table is critical to our long term success.
We limited purchases, keystoned pricing so we were able to get fair margin,; something that many publishers seem to fail to consider when setting MSRP, and reward in store play with experiential add ons – like Disney Princess photo ops, as well as access to a small amount of additional product. The payer / customer experience we provide whether on a large scale or on intimate small groups is what sets us apart as the game store of choice in the communities we serve.
As far as Wingspan, it has achieved the legendary Evergreen Status at all of our locations and we’d welcome the opportunity to have the Stonemaier team join us for one of our signature Play with the Publisher events whenever you decide to visit northeastern Wisconsin.
Pat: I’d love to learn more about what you’re referring to in regards to keystoning prices and what you’d like publishers to do to ensure you get a fair margin. Let’s use the Disney Lorcana starter packs as an example: I’m pretty sure the MSRP is $20, which means that you probably bought them from your distributor for around $10, right? What price did you choose for those starter packs to create the margin you’re looking for? I’m just trying to understand so I can better serve you as a publisher.
We have ambassadors in Wisconsin who would love to join some of your signature play sessions! :)
Based on some quick googling, I think the starter MSRP is $16.99. I’ve seen stores charging $19.99. What retailer cost (happy to see a range of costs) from distributor would be unreasonable to you for a FLGS to increase the cost to $19.99.
(2 of the 3 starters are selling at over $30 on tcgplayer right now, for additional context.)
I paid $20 each for my starters, which was what I was expecting to pay, and I was happy to pay it. If the retailer had charged me $40 per starter (which is 60 cards plus 1 booster), I wouldn’t have paid that. As for $30…that’s a price I would have liked to know in advance so I could make the choice if it was still worth going to the store. $30 in the tabletop game world gets you many great 2-player dueling games, but here that’s $60 just to have the most basic version of a playable 2-player game.
On Facebook I learned some things I didn’t know about TCG margins for retailers that I thought were interesting. For tabletop games, distributors pay publishers around 40% of MSRP to buy products, and the price that distributors charge retailers is around 50% of MSRP. For TCGs, though, retailers pay around 65% of MSRP, which really cuts into their margins.
So if retailers paid 65% of msrp and PHD’s site says starters are msrp $16.99 that’s $11 and some change per starter retailers were charged. The $20 you and I saw gets retailers closer to margins they’d expect to keep the doors open, even with as successful a product as this launch looks to have been.
But that’s still retailers charging more than MSRP. If $20 is what Fortuna charged where you bought them; you were misinformed about MSRP for the product, and they also charged what I’ve seen. (Which I agree, seems like a fair price versus $30. There seems like enough people online who are willing to pay $30 for two of the starters that we could be wrong. Or it’s nearly twice MSRP, and those selling online are wanting the same margins themselves.)
I wasn’t misinformed; Fortuna didn’t claim to be selling for MSRP. $20 was their listed price, and that’s what I paid (and was happy to pay). MSRP is just a suggestion, not a rule.
“Fortuna handled the line efficiently and sold their Lorcana products at MSRP”.
That was what I meant from your article; glad to have the additional clarity that they weren’t advertising that they were.
I see what you’re saying. I thought MSRP was $20, hence why I stated it that way. I’ll rephrase it.
As a boardgame cafe, we chose to sell at MSRP, and we actually still have product. Our local board game stores sold out in 2 days. We are limiting customers to 1 item and 3 booster packs per customer. We are trying to give everyone a chance to get what they need to start playing.
I have to admit I struggled selling it at MSRP to make a small profit, when the buyer could walk out the door and sell it for triple what they paid. Ultimately I wanted to serve our customers and luckily our FLGS also sold at MSRP, so we followed suit. By not selling boxes, we can somewhat deter resales.
Thanks for sharing this, Mark! I like the strategy of just selling packs instead of boxes to curb resellers (though I really think quite a few people are buying the game to play it, not sell it).
I had a somewhat related interaction with a FLGS recently that I was curious to ask you about: I was visiting a pretty small comics/game store looking to buy Wingspan Asia for a friend, and noticed it wasn’t on the shelf so I asked if they had it. They said that, at least in our region (Maryland), it’s basically impossible to get Wingspan or other Stonemaier games, as the distributor only sells them to the big box stores (Barnes & Noble, Target) and doesn’t make them available to the smaller stores. They attributed this as part of the reason why another local game store closed its doors a few months ago, since it had trouble getting copies of high selling games like Wingspan (although I’m sure there were many other factors that went into it closing).
I was surprised to hear this as you very consistently and positively talk about local game stores and their positive impacts on the hobby. (I also know that, in a casual conversation like this, important details may very well have been missed that may have provided additional context.) I do know that you somewhat recently changed your distribution model, is this a known impact of the model? How much say do you have in how your distributor sells your games to retailers?
Hi unclesamb,
I’m honestly a bit surprised by that conversation with your retailer! Retailers in the US have two ways of buying our games, through a single distributor (GTS) or directly from us. GTS even has a warehouse in New York, very close to your retailer. We have a page on our website dedicated to how hobby stores can get our games! https://stonemaiergames.com/about/retailer-information/
It is true that Wingspan Asia has gone in and out of stock in distribution. We have a restock coming in about a month! That said, Wingspan has been readily available to retailers without being out of stock since 2021!
We have quite a bit of impact on how our distributors sell our games. You mentioned big box stores, but those stores actually only can buy our games from completely separate distributors than the one who sells to hobby stores on our behalf. We have a very close relationship with our hobby distributor and we’re constantly communicating about how we can better serve hobby game stores together. For example, we implemented a program together where any hobby retailer who signs up can receive guaranteed copies of any new game we release making sure they don’t have to be afraid of receiving an allocation and not getting our games.
Hopefully that gives a better sense of what we’re doing and if your local store is struggling to get our games for any reason, we’re here to help and sort out whatever problem there is so they can get our games. Sometimes it’s just a matter of a store not realizing their options because there are so many moving pieces that any given store is dealing with! I certainly don’t expect any store to have been thinking about Stonemaier this past week with the Lorcana release!
As a Marylander, I just wanted to add my perspective. I can’t speak for every FLGS in the area, but the 2 I frequent most often (Third Eye Games, Games and Stuff) are always well stocked with Stonemaier titles, to include Wingspan. If you are ever in the area, definitely check those spots out!