Getting away from game systems and pieces for a moment, how do you prevent a gamestore from becoming a free childcare service, while still remaining open and amicable with the public?The case I go back to are the GW Battle Bunkers. The one in Memphis I was familiar with really sold me on the hobby, walking in and seeing 20+ full art, prepped tables and getting to observe games as a youngster was a wonderful experience, but the sheer amount of unattended children and teens was the given as the reason for the closing of the game room (outside of special events, though I believe they're just gone-gone now, correct me if I'm wrong). When I've returned to the Battle Bunker stores recently, they've been sterile, dark, empty, like you walked into a small town's only munition shop. I can't imagine this facilitating the sale of starter boxes or generating referral traffic, though obviously these larger distributor warehouses don't really care about direct sales too too much.So that brings up your LGS. What staff training, procedures, and store policies can really protect a store from becoming an irresponsible parent drop off, while still protecting these entry-level childhood experiences that attach kids to these hobbies and these open, high quality gaming spaces to responsible players? I don't see many of these these days, they're either holes in the wall with one 4x4 table and two blanchard tables for Magic, or they're really low quality, wide open cheap strip mall joints with rows and rows of folding tables and no quality art pieces, terrain, or table builds. How could this be fixed adequately?
It's reaching that point at my local shop, too. I'm just a community leader. But if it were up to me, I'd place a $30 purchase prerequisite if you're coming over to tabletop and dragging your crotch-goblins along. $10 if the kid is over 10 years old, and once the kid is 14, then they may as well be a customer, too. I understand it's not a pleasant concept. But club fees aren't unheard of.
I dunno, someone being young isn't a bad thing in itself. I spent most weekends at my local UK GW, because I wanted to be there with my friends to play. The misbehaviour was generally at a minimum, until one or two discovered underage alcohol, but the staff dealt with it.Kids are more likely to misbehave yes. But it's not like the 20 and 30 year olds can't also be obnoxious and hand around too much.So I'd maybe look back at the Beginners Nights GW used to run. Try to help teach kids how to act.
>>96900083? ? ?What the fuck is this thread even pretending to be?Did you have a stroke while typing it down?Did the AI kind of fumbled when generating the post for you?
>>96900149Actually this kind of raises a good point.My local club is great, but there's not really any kids. It's like £3 a session so not hugely expensive but it is only on a few nights a week 6-10pm. Annual membership is maybe £20.Alongside GWs price rises, and transition to "preorder queuing and fomo boxes", which has taken GW games outside of the pocket money small purchases bracket. Not to mention all the single staffer GW shops don't actually have gaming tables anymore.Must kind of suck being 14 and wanting to get into this. A couple of decades ago your local GW was organising coach trips to Games Day and Warhammer World.
>>96900083LGS went bakrupt, we play in a pub now, it's not a place suitable for children, neither it tries to be.
>>96900083>How do I run a business build around catering to children and autistic friendless losers without having to deal with either?You close the shop
>>96900252See, there's a difference between a precocious 12 year old playing Pokémon and gentle-parenting millennial dragging their eight year old monkeys to the shop and pretending the clerk is a free babysitter.
>>96900315Responsible parent would know better than leave their 12 y/o with bunch of 30-something creeps. And millennials are mostly childless anyway so neither of those scenarios sounds like something that would realistically happen.
>>96900182>Did the AI kind of fumbled when generating the post for you?Rajeetrashama you can't throw stones with a post like that
Ban under18s. If they're under18 and can convince people they are over 18, then they can stay. Unwritten exceptions but the point is that it demands a standard of 18+ behavior.
>>96900395>If they're under18 and can convince people they are over 18, then they can stay.this approach will get somebody in jail sooner or later
>>96900410Nobody is having sex so it's fine.
>>96900083Store has to put up a policy about unattended children under a certain age. Anything less and the LGS gets treated like a daycare. Setting up parent-and-child activities on the regular might help to some extent, but it's well within a store's rights to otherwise say>You can't leave your kids here. Stop it.
>>96900182Homie you're going to have to specify when your point spaced question marks, I wanted to get people to focus on the running of the businesses we rely on rather than something like blaming the current edition of warhammer or MTGs prices, I'm not sure how else I could have honed my message.This board is like 20 years old, some people are going to want to discuss topics that require real world knowledge and consideration, and Reddit spacing doesn't apply to long OPs.
>>96900428My concern was inadvertently facilitating underage smoking or drinking, but your priorities are apparently elsewhere.
>>96900433Would you, WASPy mid forties HR lady who is considering quitting to be a stay at home mom, want to buy the big, Storm Blood Alien Titansphere starter set for your little nerdy 15 year old Richy from a store with a sign that says, to your red wine addled brain, that 'kids aren't allowed in here'? I mean, you were already on the border after letting him watch that anime chain man movie, but the theater atleast allowed him in when you bought the ticket. This store is actively telling you that the product he's asking for is explicitly age locked, that's like porn right?Sorry to lay it on thick, but I hope you get my point.
>>96900544Who the fuck allows smoking in a game store? Drinking age is 21 here and as shop owner I would not allow drinking in the store. What the fuck is this concern? If you provide alcohol or smokes to a minor it's your own problem. That's like using "she was in an 18+ club!" As legal defense for banging a 15 year old. Not that I give a fuck, but the point is it's not the clubs fault.
>>96900570That's why you specify kids, and not teenagers.
>>96900083I would probably run mine as a club where you cant come in without a card, like costcoThe point isnt actually ever checking the card because you dont want to keep people out, its to make people aware that the store is open for them (and to evict shitty kids before they can break anything)
>>96900083American problems.
>>96900613>Drinking age is 21 hereah, my apologies, that explains everything
>>96900525>I wanted to get people to focus on the running of the businesses we rely onThe fuck online shopping has to do with anything, now?Or you are actually so out of the fucking loop, you think anyone is buying anything in actual fucking stores, like this is 2005?>I'm not sure how else I could have honed my message.You could start with realisation that you are discussing something that stopped being a thing before you learned how to read. LGS were always bad business, and now they are effectively extinct, for a whole slew of reasons.
>>96900636So Bobby, Richy's younger brother who is 12 can't participate? Seems like Richy isn't going to get that Storm Blood Alien Titansphere starter set, given he's barely a teen in the first place, and Bobby will be using that product.You are one dumb motherfucker, but then again, you still consider LGS to be a viable business venture.What next? Questions about running your marketing via MySpace?
>>96900315>Anon imagining owning an LGS, a type of establishment he clearly never visited in his life, day-dreaming about scenarios that would happen if he was a store ownerGet up, Garry, you shat the bed again. Now back to your MgRonald's shift
Op has never set foot in a lgs.
>>96900083My LGS used shoplifting as an excuse for banning unattended kids. It wasn't actually a big problem, but works as a reasonable justification to prevent being used for daycare.
>>96900083Trick question: why are you day-dreaming about owning an LGS?Nobody told you this is basically a non-profit activity you do for the sake of itself, rather than staying afloat or solvent?
>>96900083I remember back in the day as a little kid I'd go with some buddies to a LGS in the middle of town on Saturdays, our parents would drop us off with some pocket money and pick us later. So at least we would buy some minis and tool around the warhammer club.Currently I go to a D&D club in a shared space, it's free but there's an onsite bar & kitchen where most of the group orders meals and beers, so at least we pay in some way.DESU I've never really seen what you describe, any shopkeeper can tell people to GTFO if its a problem, same as anywhere. Most clubs have "Don't be a dick" rules and will equally tell you to fuck off you aren't welcome
>>96900083Why shouldn't we have places that provide free childcare?
>>96900083You obviously fix it by opening your own shop. You won't, of course.
>>96900752Yes, it explains why his civilization runs the world and yours is irrelevant.
>>96900570I really don't give a shit. No kids.
>>96900083Where the fuck do you live that still has game stores? Has your city heard of the internet?
>>96901681Because the sort of people that's willing to look after children for free is often the sort of people that shouldn't be left alone with children.
>>96901748Wait you guys haven't rounded up all your peds into camps yet? Why not?
>>96900792Is Richy going to watch Bobby and take responsibility for him the entire time he's there? If so, he can stay. If not, "No unattended kids."
>>96901764Shit, we elect them.
All the game stores I've been to has had a sign saying something to the effect that children under 15 need to be accompanied by an adult. One had a sign that said "Unattended children will be taught Magic the Gathering and given Redbull." Another store actually had a play area with wooden puzzles and board games and charged $10 an hour. (this one was in a mall)
>>96900083I just try to play up the homosexuality as much as possible within reason:>shaved face>thin>tucked in small shirt into tight pants>looksmax>feminize your voice>swing hips when you walk>call models cuteDon't overdo it, but if they think you are gay, they won't ever leave their kids there. Be friendly and professional, the parents will internally feel bad about judging you in such a way, and then they'll buy something most likely.
>>96900544>facilitating underage smokingIs this a crime where you live? Where I live it's illegal to sell cigarettes to minors, and it's illegal to smoke indoors in public places, but afaict it's not illegal to give cigarettes to minors. I know of a few parents who give cigarettes to their kids some of whom aren't even teens yet but, afaik, it's not legally considered child abuse or unfit parenting.
>>96903006Sure is. It's illegal to provide child with substance unsuitable for children, regarless of whether it's being sold or given for free. Common loophole to get around it is saying the child took it without permission, but that only works when the child is willing to take the blame and there's no witnesses to dispute it.
Tables are rented, 5 bucks an hour per person, these are reverted into credits for snacks and products, that expire when the shop closes.
>>96900348>Responsible parent would know better than leave their 12 y/o Jesus Christ. Do you also leash your toddler. No wonder the current generation of burgers is mentally stunted.>>96900083Unattended children bellow the age of X aren't allowed to play at the tables.
>>96900083>how do you prevent a gamestore from becoming a free childcare service, while still remaining open and amicable with the public?That's the neat part. You don't.
>>96900083Seems like a pretty easy fix, put up a sitgn that says>No Unaccompanied Minors Except [insert designated beginner kids shitting the place up day here]and then enforce it.
>>96903006I actually fondly remember a Gamesday trip as a young teen, one of those store-organised coaches down to the venue in England, there were a few of us who smoked and this one puffed-up faggot wagie decided he had to police us, every single rest stop we led him on a runaround and by the time we got back home he was furious. Then we all just sparked up right in front of the twat and laughed at him.Good times.
>>96900083An employee has to take the parents name and phone number before the kid is allowed inside by himself. The parent is informed that the kid must be on their best behavior and can be kicked out at any time if they aren't. The parent must come pick them up, and if they don't come fast enough, you have to call the police because this isn't a daycare and you aren't liable for taking care of children.An employee will have to watch out for the kid, and immediately warn them if they misbehave. If it continues, the employee should call the parent immediately for pickup. You should either have a security camera or the employee should be ready to film the kid to ensure they don't steal or damage anything while they're waiting for pickup. If they do, the video will be shown the parent and they will be required to pay for losses/damages. If they don't, you have video evidence of it and can turn it over to the police.
>>96906785That's just turning your store into a literal childcare center.
>>96906785Still too much trouble and that is taking on a heap of legal liability. And what do you do then when a parent can't come and grab their kid right away? Your employees are going to be 20-something nerds who just want to talk about comics and card games all day. They aren't fit to watch someone's kids.
>>96900083Anyone under 14 requires supervision. Doesn't have to be the parents if it's some kiddos learning the game from friendly locals or their siblings or whatever but someone has to be responsible for them.
>>96900083If you have a healthy grog community they will naturally filter out kids by being grogs unless said kids are in groups stewarded by adults who will bring kids into the hobby in a managed way.Then you just have to deal with banning the occasional shithead
>>96900348>And millennials are mostly childless anywayThis isn't actually true, try going outside sometime.
You don't. Because those sproglings dropping mommy and daddy's money on Pokemon and Magic cards is half your income.
>>96900083Get an alcohol license and put in a fridge with some beers. Second profit center and unattended kids are literally illegal to have on premises.
>>96903006How’s the weather in Romania anon?
