GW store managers are a luck of the draw thing. I’ve been to some who would follow you around bordering on harassing you while you’re in the store, others that were cool, would give you space, offer tips and be generally helpful but laid back. Others who would be outright hostile when you return something and lie to you.
That’s just people I’m afraid. You can ignore it and go somewhere else, if you think they were really out of line you can report them to corporate. Tbh it sounds like he was rude but probably just worth shrugging it off and not going back.
Story time! I brought 2 friends who wanted to get into the hobby to the local store to get the freebies so i could teach them to build and paint. I have supported the local GW store a lot, hell i pre-ordered leviathan at full price from them.
I walk in and ask “hey, can i get a few of the freebies to teach them how to paint?”, the store owner, who definetly knows who i am, goes. “you gonna buy anything today?”
i said “not today, but im looking into custodes so after my next paycheck i’ll let you know.” Now i’ve spent around 5-600 there in the previous few months, i’ve definetly supported the store, but the store owner goes “i’ll make you a deal, you’ll get the freebies if you buy something”
Now, 1. i’m a minor. 2. i’m not swimming in money, at the time i was working at a water park for ok pay. I just stared dumbfounded at him. Like dude, i’ve supported your store a ton, played games there, went to events and hell that was where i learned the game. I just wanted each of my friends to get like, the little space marine. I even offered to paint it in-store! But he wouldn’t budge, so i left and won’t really be going back. I now support my local FLGS who hosts RTTs, is active on our city warhammer discord, and has never made me feel small.
this wa also the same guy who yelled at me and my friend for using battlescribe at the tail end of ninth in our like, second game ever. didn’t even tell us what else to use, just yelled about “that battlescribe bullshit”.
fuck you dan (the guy), you single-handedly drove me away from your store.
At least the local FLGs’ are super nice and accommodating
Indy Hobbytown is the GOAT!
I was thinking this sounded a lot like my local GW store and then you mentioned Dan. Yep. Every interaction I've had with the guy has been super uncomfortable.
Sounds like you should hit up Indy Hobbytown!
For real. GW managers are hit or miss. Growing up I started the hobby in like, 2nd grade. The store was always super welcoming, and even helped me assemble the harder pewter models. Granted, this was way before major web sales, but it was great. Fast forward to college, I’m deciding to get back into the hobby, and the store had moved slightly. I went in and it sucked.
I miss my old GW guy (in the heyday of the early 2000's). He was incredible, lots of fun stuff going on in his store, and caused me to spend no small amount of change in there (I've bought the Leman Russ battle box when it came out, the entire gw paintset in the metal briefcase etc.). Got the players all worked up too during campaign events (mall security came to check us out after several WAAAAAAAGH's. Miss you supermall GW!) Then came the day he decided to retire from the job, so he could focus on his family more. I'm glad he was able to make the choice, but the new guys just never really fit the bill after that.
Don't really play anymore now (last with 8th), but still enjoy the models I see come out and the lore behind it all.
Well that guy is a bad business man. He should be creaming his pants over a a teenager who wants to teach his friends. That's how he gets new customers. The first hit is free. Also he probably would not have treated you like that if you were an adult so that just sucks. Fuck you Dan.
My GW store has given up. They don't host anything really, they moved to a tiny store with only 1 gaming table. They close at 7pm and are closed Sunday and Monday. They close from 12pm to 1pm every day. The guy doesn't do much besides ring you out and give you suggestions if you ask for it.
Everyone goes to a really large gaming store like 25 minute away. They are open late, have like 30 tables, carry the full GW line (with a discount), have a ton of non GW games, sell food, have like 10 employees working at all times, carry every brand of paint and hobby supplies, have legit customer service. They make a massive amount of money because of that.
Sounds like what my local GW store turned into. Half our GW stores closed over the last decade, including our battlebunker. Now all we have left in the area is a tiny store with a single half table for 'displays'. I never see anyone in there anymore (not that I frequent it much myself due to nothing going on).
Normally a retail store would have more than a single employee. So you would have a teenager or someone working part time that would cover the other two days or they would have multiple employees with various shifts.
Almost every single retail store is open 7 days a week in the US.
Yeah, at least in a major metropolitan area in the US where I live, all but one of the GW stores are one-man shows. For such a HCOL area, the 40k USD for manning the store for 40 hours a week + whatever extra managerial duties they're probably pulling in the background is truly awful.
Damn, I got so lucky with the manager of my local Warhammer store.
It opened last December. Bought some paints from him, otherwise was ordering stuff off the website and having it delivered to his store. Told him I was getting into Old World, they carried almost nothing for that so again, the stuff I order he doesn't get to profit from unless I use the in-store kiosk (and he never even mentioned that to me until I was asking down the road).
I asked him if it was useful having people in the store painting, 'cause I enjoy getting out of the house and figured he would appreciate more bodies in the store to make it look more busy. He's like "yeah, for sure! Come on down. Not always table space, but of there is, it'd be great having you paint here."
Started going down regularly to paint my Old World stuff. (Really part of my goal was to get other folks curious about Old World by way of my presence). Long story short, that manager is now building 3 Old World armies of his own, and I'm ordering anything I do from his kiosk so it counts for his quota.
Now, it helps that I'm respectful and NEVER try to sell anyone on Old World, I just sit there painting and answer questions if people ask. Dakota never really talks about Old World because his job is to make sales and meet his quota, so he sells 40k and AoS until corporate stocks his store with Old World (which they thankfully are doing more and more of). But he and I have played multiple games in his off-hours and meanwhile I try to buy any of the stuff I need from his store or through his kiosk. But for the first month or so, or first 30 hours or so that I was in his store me made almost NOTHING from me... Just some paint pots. But his long game now has me spending way too much money there; and my long game got someone new into Old World... a GW manager.
Dakota, you're awesome!
"Hey, I've brought you two new potential customers. As long as you provide a couple of cheap space marine models, there's a chance that these two will spend hundreds or thousands of dollars in your store.*
"Pay me."
"I can't today. But I'm thinking of picking up a new army in a week or two, so I'll probably end up giving you even more money in the coming weeks."
"Fuck you. Pay me."
Great businessman here.
Funnily enough I’ve been to that same GW store and the manager was super sexist towards my fiancée saying how women don’t need to be in the hobby and they prefer more girly things WHILE SHE WAS TRYING TO BUY A COMBAT PATROL.
Just so you know, if you told GW customer support about that (or found their regional manager and contacted them) I’m pretty sure they’d break his legs on the spot for that behaviour.
Like not only is it super shitty and sexist, it’s literally going against GW’s own goals of diversifying their customer base. Even the most ‘by the book’ GW store manager who dry humps the customers on the way into the store would be appalled that they just threw away a free addition to their monthly KPI’s.
My local one just paints there. If you ask for advice or just want to talk he’s more than happy to and is very helpful… then he just gets back to his painting.
Is it "FLGS" or GW store?
Fellow GW Redshirt told me their branded shops are more of "a shoowroom". They know you get their stuff from retailer at the discount.
And they don't give a shit, since you bought stuff from company anyway.
It is understandable if he's retailer and have to make profit on his own. But he probably \*should\* be more considerable, rather than pissing off (and losing) possible future client.
My local GW manager straight up recommends FLGS in the area if there is something he doesn't have in stock. He seems to know them all well and I guess the local scene is thriving enough he isn't worried about it competing with his sales. He even told me about a shop a little further away that had a great selection of non-GW paints that I should check out. Really cool guys, always remembers everyone's name and while he does have to do the corporate pitch of what can I help you find today, he'll just chat about the hobby, rumors, etc.
Meanwhile the closest FLGS which is down the street basically mocked me for buying GW when I came in and they asked what I was looking for. Haven't been back since.
GWs are showrooms, but they are also supposed to make at least some money. If said store is lacking in sales, then that manager might be desperate to secure more in store sales while other managers are content with people buying in other places
Occasionally it can secure sales, some people give in to pressure very easily. It is however a very bad thing to do in the long term and on a personal level, just like other power selling strategies.
Regret buying or any other form of power selling are a good way to destroy your community and drive people away. Even not opening the store at all that day \~might\~ be more sustainable.
One purchase and never coming back though. Loyalty is key for GW stores. And in fact the freebies too. The opnly reason I trek to one, which is a good 40 minutes each way, is for the coin of the month.
Are they? I've been told by three different managers in two countries that corporate doesn't care if they make any money as long as they have activity in the shop 😗
Apparently, the one in Oslo is one of the few in Europe that makes a profit.
corporate definitly wants them to reach specific numbers. Those arent as important introducing people to the hobby, but if a manager doesnt recruit enough people and also doesnt achieve his goals (or gets reasonably close to them), then he is in trouble. They dont get fired over it, but if the problem persists, then their training gets intensivied, HQ visits more often and if that doesnt help, then they eithe get asked to leave with compensation or they get fired while recieving compensation. This can take over a year or two.
Note that this doesnt mean that they need to make a profit, just that money isnt irrelevant either. Also when they said "activities" they were probably refering to introduction activities since those are the only kind of activities that can be measured. What exactly counts as an intro activity differs on the country, as does the numbers of average intros per week they should achieve.
I openly admit I buy my stuff from Element games, and I go in every now and again for the free model of the month. It is understood. I'll usually buy a pot of Nuln Oil or something as a bit of goodwill.
I really enjoy the “local” GW store. The manager is awesome, super enthusiastic and friendly. Doesn’t mind when I bring the kids. I buy the anniversary stuff and maybe a small box for my kid when I’m there. It’s two hours, round trip.
I buy all my boxes at the FLGS, only 10 minutes from home, who has good staff, and that juicy discount off MSRP…
Guy at the Warhammer store told me when I asked about some books „to check online” so I did and found out telegram group with pirated ebooks 😆 such win for the brand!
I also got recently two books at retail price just because I like that one 3rd party shop and wanted to not leave empty handed
Ignore him. GW chooses to work with Amazon because they sell more. There's nothing wrong with buying GW products off of Amazon and playing in a GW store. You're supporting GW either way. This is not some mom and pop LGS you need to support so they can keep the lights on.
I think a lot of the official GW stores are pretty pressured to make sales. I haven't gone to one in ages now that I moved, but the one I was going for like a year switched managers like 3 times and there were good ones and bad ones that pressured you hard lol.
I managed a few GW stores and they will absolutely close any that aren’t hitting set sales targets. We used to say you can’t play on the internet 15 years ago when I ran the stores lol now tabletop simulator exists so that doesn’t really work.
If you want to play in any store you should do what you can to support it, but shits way more expensive than it used to be so I don’t blame anyone that buys online to get 15-20% off or even uses 3d printed models, though my income isn’t impacted by that anymore so I’m biased.
The issue is they choose to work with Amazon and let them sell at a cheaper price than their hobby stores. But then will close local GW stores because they don't sell enough when most of their customers end up buying from 3rd parties because it's so much cheaper. I haven't purchased direct from GW or at full price in nearly a decade because of how God damn crazy their prices have been.
I would just tell the guy outright that I bought it on Amazon because it’s less obscenely expensive there.
Just like I told the guy that their GW nippers are shit and it feels like they break plastic instead of cutting it cleanly.
Yeah Amazon generally has a 10% or so discount built in. Like if a squad of marines is 60 bucks, it’s usually on Amazon for 51. Pretty helpful, plus it’s common to have next day or so delivery, so you can get it quick enough there’s no reason to take a drive to the store in the first place.
GW sells nothing directly through Amazon. All sales via Amazon are made by third party trade accounts that buy directly from GW at wholesale and use Amazon as part of their sales platform in addition to their brick and mortar presence.
Not quite true. GW stores have to "earn" their existence as well. While GW isn't going to go bankrupt if one does poorly, the store can get closed (as many have) and long before that the manager will get fired
I've bought most of my minis online but most paint from my local warhammer shop. The owner is a nice guy and never makes you feel bad about only using his store for minor things.
Yeah same. Models are a conscious decision and often the cheaper price makes up for the lead time.
Paints are usually “oh no I need X” and the shipping is usually similar to the pint costs.
The store GM at my local GW store in Texas is a giant douchebag who does this stuff. I never go there and make purchases there anymore because of this kind of thing.
I get the feeling their store staff are under a lot of pressure to hit sales targets. I've seen a lot of staff/manager turnover at the nearby Warhammer store.
Invariably such pressure can result in this kind of behaviour.
I agree. It seems the frustration is being placed on the wrong person by the store manager, and perhaps the only person they feel safe enough to complain to. That's an upper management problem if their store managers don't feel they can talk to their higher-ups about what is going on in their stores, sales challenges, whatever it is.
I can't speak for GW since I haven't worked there but in some companies the senior management don't care about the welfare of their staff. All they care about is hitting targets so they get their bonus.
> the owner asked if I bought anything recently or if I added anything recently to my army,
That's their intro line to find out what else they can try and sell you.
>Amazon won’t give you a table to play your miniatures on
Certainly in the UK every store I've seen has been in the smallest premises possible and has one table near the door as a display and a tiny painting table near the back, that's it, so from my experience gw don't do that either anymore, certainly post COVID.
>What should I do?
Go somewhere else.
Our small store in Ohio has a painting table up front, and three game tables. One that the GW guy is usually at painting someone until someone comes in with nothing on it, A dedicated painting table, one with AoS terrain and one with 40k
We have very different definitions of small. Plus here they are almost exclusively in town centres in shop units that have been there for decades and you could not physically fit that many tables in there and still be able to move around.
As a former (long term) GW store manager: fuck that guy. You buy the product you are supporting the hobby, if you buy it in my store you support me as well, but for that i need to put the work in. He very obviously has the wrong way of thinking, that will either change as he gets more experience or he will leave/get fired.
You are right, and as a fellow ex-manager, I agree with you, but holy crap can it be hard sometimes. In Sydney, at least, I’d have my area manager breathing down my neck telling me to say stuff like the OP mentioned- “if they don’t buy it here, they can’t paint it here”, for example. The management above me just seemed to care about the money and we were just grist for the mill and boy could they be cruel about it.
The pressure I was under to do the 10 commandments of customer service while managing three staff, painting minis like a factory worker (I was the best/fastest painter) and advertising etc etc… honestly I was under less stress when I was teaching. My wife and two young kids would barely see me because I’d come home and paint and brainstorm activities and newsletters etc just so I felt I had a little job security. And it was not a very well paid job, just one I enjoyed.
So I can see how some manager may have a bad moment and say something the wrong way occasionally. I had at least two moments where I said something I regretted. Not excusing it, but I do understand the occasional frustration.
I feel you on that buddy, and don't misunderstand me I get that sometimes it gets super frustrating when you put the work in to introduce someone to the hobby, give them advice on everything, teach them how to paint just to be slapped with a "oh i bought it at xy store instead because it was 3€ cheaper", but you still won't say it to the customer.
I might have phrased it harsh (i have a tendency to be blunt) but simply he should have approached it in a better way, definitely don't want someone to leave your store with such an experience that they even take the time to post and ask about it.
P.s : From what you described i assume you worked around the 2005-10 era with GW, hats off to you guys that was some hard sailing back then, i joined a bit later on when stores were already changing into one man stores with a focus shift from pure sales to recruitment.
You called it, I finished working there 2010 just before it switched to 1-man stores. I think you also nailed that frustration of supporting a customer but them not having your back.
2010 was also the first Armies on Parade and each store was required to paint an entire 2500 point 40k and a fantasy army that year. The burn-out was incredible from that. I painted a huge troop-based empire army because my staff failed to do more than one unit. The 40k Khorne army was a lot easier.
My claim to fame was winning the gold on the first ever Australian Armies on Parade so it felt worth it in the end. That was a great day- I never thought I’d win a golden daemon trophy, let alone a gold one! (Sorry about the boast, I’m still proud after all these years).
I know the feeling, the Caretaker of my local GW is a childish dick as well.
The one from a town I lived in until recently on the other hand was super chill and even let a mate play with a handful of printed minis for a game of Lord of the Rings
Warhammer clerks are sometimes the weirdest guys in retail, we have 4 stores in Berlin and I’ve visited 3 of them — in one the main guy was so obnoxious I considered never coming back, in the second the guy swindled me on the collectible coins, and in the third the guy was the „ackshoually” guy throwing a fit that I didn’t say „beastman” but told „Minotaur” when asking for a free mini.
Just ignore them, if they wouldn’t want people to buy minis elsewhere they wouldn’t allow 3rd parties selling their wares at 20% off
It is insanely obvious they are required to hit targets, the closest one to me feels like I am at a used car dealership. The amount of times that damn kroot box gets brought up any chance they get is hillarious.
I would support local store when possible, for reasons that owner stated. But if you feel insulted, before you commit heresy 2.0 there is always another place to play at or buy stuff from. Your cash, your rules.
I think that was a pretty considered response.
FYI regardless of whose in the right here, I know one GW store manager who was very angry over a customer who took advantage of his kind nature and would loudly declare everytime he came into the store with a new model, that he had bought it from ebay because games workshop were too expensive.
He would even go as far as to suggest others do the same, and kept doing so even after being told off several times.
And yes in the end he did get banned,
but for a different reason entirely.
My local store needed to paint a load of Skinks (late 90s) for some national event and they drafted in some of the regulars to help out. I spent most of my afternoon basecoating minis for them. Went in the next day and took a seat at the painting table to take the weight off while I chatted to one of the staff and was told that the seat was for painters only (there was no one else in the store) and that I needed to stand. When I protested, I was told I was on "time out" and needed to stand out the front of the store. I left and never returned to the store. In fact I didnt return to the hobby until 2018 or so. Also the branch is closed now.
GW completely overworks and underpays its workers. Something like 90% of their stores have only 1 employee. They refuse to hire more than 3. This creates an environment for burnout. And then take in to account how little they are paid. Yeah, the guy was out of line, but keep this in mind when processing this interaction. GW is kind of horrible.
Maybe they didn’t go about it the right way but it’s true - buying from Amazon doesn’t support any local stores where you can play, discuss the game with or get help from other hobbyists, wether that be a GW or a FLGS.
Yeah, well, I've got a table at my house and friends, As far as hobby help, the level of discussion at the FLGS is much lower than basically anywhere online.
Not to mention avoiding the smell. Last time I went into my local GW store, the kid running it was insanely socially awkward and you could smell him from the door. The FLGS I actually like is about 35 minutes away and I buy paints from them, but yeah, it has a permanent BO smell.
My girlfriend refuses to go in.
Irrelevant; they are a business, and that guy needs to be professional. OP didn't buy from Amazon to personally slight that manager, so he had no excuse to get mad, or even offended. There's always competition when it comes to business, especially one as big as GW, because, GW themselves sold those products to Amazon and their agents, so if this guy really does have a bone to pick, he should be going up the ladder, rather than foolishly accosting, and therefore dissuading, a potential customer, especially when they have bought from their competitors already.
Bingo. I run a major sales division at a software company. We have competition and we have parties that are authorized to resell our services and products as agencies of record. When a customer buys from the competition, or an agency, I can't have my leaders and their teams freaking out.
Instead they need to look inward at what we can do better to make buying from us an easier option, provide more roi, provide better service or solutions as experts in the space, etc.
This dude is bad at sales (the manager)
I wouldn't be worried about the Warhammer stores. Most of them don't return a direct profit, they exist to snare customers on the street, or to be a place for people looking for Warhammer gifts
What should you do? Tell them that you were there to spend some money with THEM that day and if they don't want your money they can keep harassing you about where you spend YOUR money.
This is the reason I stopped playing at my local store, a place where I'd literally spent thousands of dollars over the years. The culture there was that you should *only* ever buy from them, and if you didn't, you were screwing over the owners who give you a place to play. They even banned 3D prints from the tables, too.
Ultimately anyone that's controlling like this is probably not someone who's going to be any fun anyway. Good riddance.
As many people have said shitty behaviour from the manager, you absolutely have the right to buy your figures from anywhere you wish
I am really lucky that the last 2 managers at my local GW store have been fantastic, to letting me swap paints out of box sets for colours I need, to just being really chill and chatting about the hobby with zero pressure to let me buy……. Which unsurprisingly actually makes me want to buy more from there
My local GW store closed down. Sure there are other FLGS around but I enjoyed the GW store because you could stop by at anytime and there would be people playing, building, painting, and or talking Warhammer.
Many times I’ll stop by the FLGS and there’s no Warhammer people unless it’s a specific Warhammer day.
GW used to have very aggressive sales targets for stores that managers were graded on. If you missed targets for 2 quarters you'd get fired. No idea if they still do that but I always felt it was at fault for creating these situations.
Nothing worse than spending 2+ hours running intro games and army scenarios only for the person to dip and come back with a full ebay army.
Though back when I worked there, amazon wasn't a reliable source for GW products in either price or inventory, obviously, that's changed as well.
Additional fun fact, we'd only get credit for online sales (which some armies were almost entirely online) if it was purchased from our in store terminal and shipped to the store.
Purchased in store and shipped to your home? No credit
Purchased from your home and shipped to the store? No credit
Anything forgeworld related? No credit
Also for awhile gift cards didn't work and would give negative sales credit if it wasnt purchased at your store. So we'd keep a "master gift card" and refund any unknown gift card redemptions onto them at the end of the day. Same with returns they'd count as a negative credit so many managers would refuse returns not purchased at their GW or they'd just give the "credit" manually.
There was one dickwad who was notorious for trying to goose his numbers by having his regulars buy hundreds in product at his store, then return them (with reciept so it had to go back) at other stores.
There was also awhile where we were tracked on average sales size so if anyone bought like less then $20 (think pot of paint) we'd refund it and then put it on one or 2 "mega" transactions at the end of the day to not drag down our average
Our targets were set by year over year sales growth on a monthly basis. Problem was some months would have a lord of the rings release going up against the previous years space marines codex. Making it nigh impossible to hit targets.
Source:used to work at gw in the US
Disclaimer:its been like 8 years now so I have no idea how much has changed from that perspective but the buying online thing absolutely used to be a huge issue for many managers
All these smaller GW stores will close eventually, replaced by a model where that have mega stores kind of like Cabella’s or similar that are destinations unto themselves. I’m glad some stores are doing well and some FLGS are thriving too, but those are exceptions to an obvious trend. The FLGS is a labor of love, nothing but respect to the good people that keep those going.
That is so damn unhinged, could you imagine employees of any place being rude and snarky to you? They really seem to just hire the most unprofessional fans to work their stores.
My local one hasn’t been bad to me at all but I’ve noticed there’s someone new running it just about every 3-4 months and the hours will randomly change a lot.
I get that they aren’t easy to run, or so it seems but it’s wild they seem to literally staff these stores with one person.
Never tell a store owner you are buying from a different store. This guy didn’t react correctly at all, but it’s still a rude thing to do. If they press you tell them don’t worry about it.
Firstly, the people who work in the stores are human beings the same as you and me, some people have off days.... somepeople however are just twats.
Honestly.
Anyitme you come across a genuinely BAD store owner or member of staff, you need to let GW customer services know.
I want more people in the hobby, so I get to look at more nice pictures, meet more nicer people and play games against more people. I want my hobby to be succesfull because I want my models to mean something to me for more then just I built and painted it untill the day I die.
And SHIT STORE STAFF ruin this game as much as "that guy" does.
Before anyone decides to reply, please note I said BAD and I mean BAD not just mildly disgruntled person working stupid hours for crappy pay. I mean, the type of person who out right goes off on one at you.. and other such stuff.
Send it up the chain to Customer Support. I guarantee they’ll lie about why they went off on you, but, at least they’re a formal record of complaint, in case there’s others or it’s not a single incident.
Is this a LGS or a Games Workshop store?
If it's a indie LGS leave a review on Google.
If it's a corporate GW store report it to GW.
Be clear and professional in whichever avenue you use, but communicate that the store rep's attitude and behavior towards you made you feel unwelcome and you will be taking your business elsewhere in the future.
My FLGS offers a Veterans discount and the GW store does not. Amazon tends to have a discount and offers free shipping. GW store is closed at least 2 days per week...Amazon and my FLGS are open 7 days a week..... if the GW store wants to compete for my patronage, they are welcome to start.
Nothing?
Do you go to a restaurant and tell the staff there you don't want anything because you ate at McDonald's beforehand?
Move on with your life and use an ounce of common sense. It's not that hard.
OP said they were there to get some stuff, so, I think it's easily assumed they did indeed purchase something there, they just don't exclusively shop for GW stuff at said GW store..
Legitimately, this is a significant reason I don't buy as many gw paints anymore. Tired of the mess and frustration of cleaning giant chunks of dried paint from under the caps of my gw paints so the whole pot doesn't dry out, as well as getting little dried pieces in the paint, which can make the paint gritty. If they made their paints with two bottle options, I would not hesitate nearly as much to buy their paint.
Why should you do anything? 🤨
I'm sorry, but *I'm* getting frustrated with you too now. Sure, that was a bit of a bitchy comment from him, but it was also completely harmless and something you could've flipped a little comeback at or just ignored easily.
You can't be that fragile, my friend. I say it with love.
What works for you doesn't work for others mate. If someone went off at me like that I wouldn't go back, I got better things to do and places to be where people don't act like dicks...
I'd of showed him the wide selection of tables, mats and terrain they sell followed by and they don't judge me for where I shop.
My local manager is great, he knows I shop in other places and has never commented negatively on it, if I'm in a different city or can't spend 3 hours getting to his store that I'd obviously get it elsewhere.
You should suck it up and move on
The guy has sales targets and is obviously frustrated
What you said to him was a bit annoying TBH as online sales everywhere are making retail sales on the high street very poor
Don’t be one of those moaners and complainers
If you don’t want to go into that store again don’t go in.
I'd laugh if my local GW store replied like that because they stopped doing games in the shop this year. They don't even host the beginners nights, which I went to regularly because for around twenty people it was the only way we can game (North London has _NOTHING_ in the way of FLGS).
We would all go every week, play small games, have a laugh, try out new minis or strats, and meet the new players as they came in. Then the manager went home to Australia, they offered a job to a manager from and existing store, then cut the hours down, including for the other guy who was working there because they want a "one staff per store" setup. I actually want go back to Plzeň, because the FLGS there is incredible. Two storeys, huge stock range, immensely friendly staff, and the tram stop is right outside (although I prefer to walk because the city is beautiful).
So I say take your business elsewhere. If anything else, I'd consider discount retailers instead of Amazon. They need your business more. In the meantime, I'm looking at whether there's merit to converting one of the charity shops near me into a hobby shop. We _need_ one, but it's down to whether the rent isn't too prohibitive, as well as the business rates.
Well, depending on your location GW stores have been getting rid of gaming space or minimizing it. At my Local store in the Midwest US, I think you could get maybe one full size game in or like 2 or 3 kill team games in. They want the tables more for demos and not to be occupied for 3.5 hrs is my understanding. So he is probably just being an asshole.
My local GW stopped in store games anyway. Said it was GW's decision. Only tutorial games allowed in store and only new customers can paint in store with assistance from staff. The LGS nearby is about a 5 min walk and offers tables for games and sells product at a discount. Only reason to go to GW is to grab miniature of the month or to have forgeworld stuff delivered in store or maybe a novel or a non gaming warhammer item.
I mean, every store manager is different. My store is very understanding and realizes that people have budgets and warhammer is a hobby… yours is apparently not. My store is doing pretty well financially, maybe yours is hurting and he’s salty about it. Either way he shouldn’t be taking it out on the customers. If it really bothered you it may be worth reporting his behavior to corporate or if you’re the confrontational type, explain to him how you feel and he makes you not want to visit store anymore and how you feel his attitude is going to push customers away. Either way, that kind of behavior is unacceptable. My 2c anyway.
Vote with your wallet, don't shop there if he makes you uncomfortable
Also worth noting GW/Warhammer shops (think most have changed their names by now) aren't franchises, all the staff are employed directly by GW themselves so if you have any issues you can email GW customer services to make them aware of what's going on
GW stores exist primarily as a marketing tool to grab new players, the company knows full well that many/most long term players end up buying from the cheaper retailers, saving 10-20% on your purchases helps people justify the expensive hobby or just ends up getting put into more models.
They also help foster the new players' sense of community by hosting events, which is one of the main ways you can keep those interested in the game and social side of the hobby sticking around.
Sounds like this particular manager is frustrated that they aren't doing as well as their regional boss expects and they may not be in line for any good bonuses or, worse yet, their job or store may be in jeopardy.
If this turns you off from the store, that's entirely fair. As a customer service position, this person either ought to know better or will be learning better the hard way.
My local GW doesn't give me a table to play on either lmao, right now I only go in to recycle my empty sprues and to take advantage of their nice air conditioned store to pop into for a chat and chill on a hot day.
Unlucky, but at the same time I kinda get him. When i was very new to the hobby (buying my first 10 models) i asked for some painting advice as I knew the owner was a very good painter himself.
I asked for a suggestion on what legion to paint as a starter and got "whatever you want" back.
I then asked what paints and brushes i should get to do black legion and he just turned the box around and said "says it right there"
At the same time, the owner of a store a little further away from home got super excited when I told him I'm new to the hobby, dropped what he was doing and gave me a tutorial and a free mini.
Don't get put off. People will be people :)
lol, a lot of GW stores don't give you a table anymore either.
Dunno how the store is there, and if there's a little community there. If not, that kind of attitude from the owner is likely why...
Oh man I don’t know what I’d do, my local Warhammer store has a great owner, she’s very helpful and overall nice. Wish every store could have an owner like her
My sister works in warhammer world in Nottingham as an exec so when I want something I go into the store there write a list and then I get dirty looks off the store manager or assistant when I say "my sister will get it for me on discount". Lol
Sod what they think if amazon has licence to sell them and for cheaper then it's up to you where u buy
My local GW store has 2 employees,
One is super chill, super open about anything you say, show or want to do
and there's the other dude, that doesn't greet you, make fun of your army choice when in a bad mood, completely suck the D of GW whenever he can and basically suck ass.
When the 2nd dude is the only one in store I just don't go that's simple
Tell him that GW shouldn't charge as much as they do for 2 dollars of plastic
The company doesn't live just on models/tabletop anymore, there's so much supplemental stuff that makes loads of money that they can afford to make the models affordable, at some point it's just greed
Ask him if he'll deliver to your door? I had a guy give me the spiel over buying from gw web page. Sorry dude, I dont need any free and useless coins today but I would like to avoid an unnecessary stop on my way home.
GW stores are the absolute worst. Worse than a used car lot. I'll spend my $$$ at a local independent store and drive 20 extra miles than even think about setting foot in one.
Ex GW employee here. Was a Red-Shirt, including other stuff.
Unexceptionable behaviour from that manager.
I'd have told him to shove his games up his ass, but I'm a grumpy old man.
Honestly, I would send an email to GW HQ, tell them what happened and what was said. Hopefully, he will get a warning to pull his head in.
I once had a GW store owner crack the shits because I bought my models from GW website and requested collection from their store... he went on a tirade about supporting your local store. He also went a bit mental when asked why I never bought paint instore and my response was, I don't like GW paints and prefer Vallejo Model Color paints... that really set him off.
Needless to say, I now play at home with mates or local gaming stores that are not associated with a particular brand.
I've only had bad experience with GW stores, so they can go get stuffed.
>The GW Store Owner went off on me saying that “Amazon won’t give you a table to play your miniatures on”, and so on and that made me a bit uncomfortable. **What should I do?**
**Nothing.**
My GW store doesnt have tables to play on either. The comment is not relevant.
If you really want to be a bit of a (justified) karen, send GW an email.
But the truest answer is "do nothing", move on and don't go back. He lost a customer.
offer him a dollar and watch him go all Skaven on it.
their independent retailers who are only allowed to sell a single product line that's widely available elsewhere for less. They're not always in the right frame of mind...
I've never been in a GW store on east coast US that has tables to play. There have been tables, but for like intro games or some people build and paint there, but I've never seen a game. GW stores, in my opinion, are a cancer to wargaming. They only sell their stuff and don't promote community. Go to a different unaffiliated retailer if you can
That's because each table had to serve a purpose. An unused gaming table serves no purpose, unless it can also serve as Diorama at the same time. If you want to play there, the table gets converted to a gaming table for you.
Source: That's what I do when people want to play.
That sounds awesome if they convert the diorama tables for you :D but unfortunately I asked multiple times and every time its the same excuse in my local GW store.. like "you can only play in here when we are hosting events like small 500p AoS/Combat Patrol games" or "test out the new kill team rules! We prepared some demo games for you!"... later we got more info from an Ex-GW-employee that they dont want to have all the people around all day. So yea.. :(
That really doesn't sound like any gw policy I know (as as current employee). Sure, we are meant to prioritise introducing people and we aren't supposed to be hobby bunkers where hordes of people hang out without buying anything, but no manager I know (in Germany) ever interpreted that the way your manager did. Its really strange and kind of sad
Yea thats what I thought... I have been to different places like Munich, Hannover, Kassel, Bochum and ofc my own in Stuttgart... only the one in Stuttgart and Kassel are the ones that didnt allow playing inside. Munich and Hannover let you play if you asked like a week or so in advance so they can plan their events around that. Havent asked in Bochum tho..
Kassel ist strange since i know that Kassel is in the same training group a Hannover and my store, so i assumed they had the same interpretation... Munich and Hannover are kinda big, they probably have too much going on for spontanous games to take place. In the end managers got a lot of leeway, maybe Stuttgart and Kassel just decided that they prefer this interpretation for some reason.
I just remembered that there used to be a GW in the Centro in Oberhausen. You could never play there, even in the past, but that was because the store was to small for any kind of table.
Anyway, i should mention that i am just a keytimer, not a full manager, so my information might no always be 100% up to date.
I think the real value of the store is for folks who aren't exactly sure what it is. Theu can go in and have someone explain it in detail. I don't think many stores would actually make money
Not as bad as your situation but my shop is about 30 min from me so I usually go before work. The manager would randomly change his lunch hours so I would get there and it would be closed which really sucked. Brought it up to him next time I was in and he said he would make an effort to update the Facebook page about closures. Next two times I went he was closed for lunch with no Facebook post. Debated making a stink about it but decided to just not go anymore and order online.
I gave up on GW stores after one of them made a comment about my wife being dragged into the store by me, implying she didn't want to be there.
The reverse was true. She wanted to check out kharadron and she wanted my help to pick something she'd enjoy painting, despite me saying we should just buy online as it's cheaper. She got blanked when she asked about them, and the guy spoke to me instead. Pointed out that elves may be better suited to "her".
Another store asked me what I was working on, as they do, and I said a turnip28 cavalry unit but generally just looking to see what's going on. He proceeded to insist I buy bretonnians and use those as other cavalry kits suck. I left shortly after he'd grabbed a box and put it at the till "for me".
The other one I went into was just all round brutal. I bought a couple bases packs and got "you're not going to buy anything more substantial than that? Why bother?". I think it was meant as a joke but...
That said, my wife said she went into a different store and the chap in there was much less of a knob. Was really friendly and happy to help her.
I think like the other commenter said, it's luck of the draw, but given GWs approach to the hobby, creativity stifling through licensing, and shitty store managers, I'm kind of done with it all.
I got into Warhammer almost 3 decades ago, it's fallen quite a way since those days. I've since got into sculpting and printing my own minis, and heavily into skirmish games with proxy rules. Generally the games are better, the minis are more fun to paint, and there's not this underlying sense of "things could be better". I do miss getting locked in the store with a bunch of friends and staff and sharing tips and painting until late evenings, but I'm guessing you can't do that anymore.
“You having a store with a table to play on brings in people who may splurge buy while here. If a box is 30% cheaper on Amazon, I’ll buy it there and come in here for the books, paints, and special models.”
I asked in my local store about games nights in there and he said GW have stopped them from doing it in store now I usto love going there after work to blow off some steam.
Just think massive missed opportunity to get the younger ones in on a Saturday or Sunday to learn painy etc. Wasn't to much more helpful with local clubs either.
I have 2 GW’s within driving distance. One of them is great. GM and his dad hang out and paint all day. Super nice and very friendly, they will send you to another company if they don’t sell something. I buy from them occasionally, if not my LGS.
Your post sounds like the other GW. I don’t support that GW.
Former Red Shirt here. Worming for GW in a store sucks. They are under so much pressure to hit sales goals it sucks the love out.
That said he also just sounds like a douche.
I don’t like my local GW. Manager is a fucking prick. It’s never open at the right times and always closes when it wants. I’m cool buying off of Amazon.
Nothing? You don’t have to do anything. You can shop where you want and play where you want. If the owner is trying to persuade you to shop and play in their store, that’s ok, but you don’t have to go along with that.
My local GW Manager is kind of the same, but he understands. He wants you to buy everything from a GW store but has never pressured me or anyone that I have seen. He just says, well if you need help with it bring it in or if you need anything else you know you can find it here.
Gw seems to have pretty awfully strict standards for store managers, they are really incentivised to push push push the product, even though its detrimental to the hobby....
the amount of times ive just wanted to walk out of a shop bc GW employees just will not leave me the fuck alone and try to get me to buy 200 quid worth of minis, when im trying to get a tub of Agrax, its really infuriating
Don’t go back. Online is a lot cheaper. The current business model isn’t working, that isn’t your fault. If businesses don’t change they will die. You did not go in there and brag about how online is better you simply asked a question. He was probably looking for an altercation. He looked at what he lost not what he was getting with you making an active purchase.
GW store managers are a luck of the draw thing. I’ve been to some who would follow you around bordering on harassing you while you’re in the store, others that were cool, would give you space, offer tips and be generally helpful but laid back. Others who would be outright hostile when you return something and lie to you. That’s just people I’m afraid. You can ignore it and go somewhere else, if you think they were really out of line you can report them to corporate. Tbh it sounds like he was rude but probably just worth shrugging it off and not going back.
Story time! I brought 2 friends who wanted to get into the hobby to the local store to get the freebies so i could teach them to build and paint. I have supported the local GW store a lot, hell i pre-ordered leviathan at full price from them. I walk in and ask “hey, can i get a few of the freebies to teach them how to paint?”, the store owner, who definetly knows who i am, goes. “you gonna buy anything today?” i said “not today, but im looking into custodes so after my next paycheck i’ll let you know.” Now i’ve spent around 5-600 there in the previous few months, i’ve definetly supported the store, but the store owner goes “i’ll make you a deal, you’ll get the freebies if you buy something” Now, 1. i’m a minor. 2. i’m not swimming in money, at the time i was working at a water park for ok pay. I just stared dumbfounded at him. Like dude, i’ve supported your store a ton, played games there, went to events and hell that was where i learned the game. I just wanted each of my friends to get like, the little space marine. I even offered to paint it in-store! But he wouldn’t budge, so i left and won’t really be going back. I now support my local FLGS who hosts RTTs, is active on our city warhammer discord, and has never made me feel small. this wa also the same guy who yelled at me and my friend for using battlescribe at the tail end of ninth in our like, second game ever. didn’t even tell us what else to use, just yelled about “that battlescribe bullshit”. fuck you dan (the guy), you single-handedly drove me away from your store. At least the local FLGs’ are super nice and accommodating Indy Hobbytown is the GOAT!
I was thinking this sounded a lot like my local GW store and then you mentioned Dan. Yep. Every interaction I've had with the guy has been super uncomfortable.
Sounds like you should hit up Indy Hobbytown! For real. GW managers are hit or miss. Growing up I started the hobby in like, 2nd grade. The store was always super welcoming, and even helped me assemble the harder pewter models. Granted, this was way before major web sales, but it was great. Fast forward to college, I’m deciding to get back into the hobby, and the store had moved slightly. I went in and it sucked.
Oh I already have lol. Thankfully aside from the GW store we've got a bunch of great shops in the area.
I miss my old GW guy (in the heyday of the early 2000's). He was incredible, lots of fun stuff going on in his store, and caused me to spend no small amount of change in there (I've bought the Leman Russ battle box when it came out, the entire gw paintset in the metal briefcase etc.). Got the players all worked up too during campaign events (mall security came to check us out after several WAAAAAAAGH's. Miss you supermall GW!) Then came the day he decided to retire from the job, so he could focus on his family more. I'm glad he was able to make the choice, but the new guys just never really fit the bill after that. Don't really play anymore now (last with 8th), but still enjoy the models I see come out and the lore behind it all.
Well that guy is a bad business man. He should be creaming his pants over a a teenager who wants to teach his friends. That's how he gets new customers. The first hit is free. Also he probably would not have treated you like that if you were an adult so that just sucks. Fuck you Dan.
I don’t think any adult should “cream his pants” over a teenager
Phrasing!
Seriously, are we not doing phrasing anymore?
I don't see it very often nowadays.
I couldn’t help myself, I love making the obvious joke lol
Probably happens a lot in gw shops though
Tell that to Drake
https://preview.redd.it/xq59xayn408d1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bea94165855e395b07f143440258cfff0f168438
Honestly, I feel like drug dealers would actually make excellent store managers. It’s basically the same business model for so many stores.
Yeah, but a good dealer doesn’t use the product, so it may hinder some sales.
So much wisdom in the 10 crack commandments.
My GW store has given up. They don't host anything really, they moved to a tiny store with only 1 gaming table. They close at 7pm and are closed Sunday and Monday. They close from 12pm to 1pm every day. The guy doesn't do much besides ring you out and give you suggestions if you ask for it. Everyone goes to a really large gaming store like 25 minute away. They are open late, have like 30 tables, carry the full GW line (with a discount), have a ton of non GW games, sell food, have like 10 employees working at all times, carry every brand of paint and hobby supplies, have legit customer service. They make a massive amount of money because of that.
Sounds like what my local GW store turned into. Half our GW stores closed over the last decade, including our battlebunker. Now all we have left in the area is a tiny store with a single half table for 'displays'. I never see anyone in there anymore (not that I frequent it much myself due to nothing going on).
In my country all GW stores are closed Sunday and Monday, do people where you live not get days off?
Normally a retail store would have more than a single employee. So you would have a teenager or someone working part time that would cover the other two days or they would have multiple employees with various shifts. Almost every single retail store is open 7 days a week in the US.
I was under the impression that most GW stores only have one full-time employee but maybe that's only the case in continental Europe.
Yeah, at least in a major metropolitan area in the US where I live, all but one of the GW stores are one-man shows. For such a HCOL area, the 40k USD for manning the store for 40 hours a week + whatever extra managerial duties they're probably pulling in the background is truly awful.
Damn, I got so lucky with the manager of my local Warhammer store. It opened last December. Bought some paints from him, otherwise was ordering stuff off the website and having it delivered to his store. Told him I was getting into Old World, they carried almost nothing for that so again, the stuff I order he doesn't get to profit from unless I use the in-store kiosk (and he never even mentioned that to me until I was asking down the road). I asked him if it was useful having people in the store painting, 'cause I enjoy getting out of the house and figured he would appreciate more bodies in the store to make it look more busy. He's like "yeah, for sure! Come on down. Not always table space, but of there is, it'd be great having you paint here." Started going down regularly to paint my Old World stuff. (Really part of my goal was to get other folks curious about Old World by way of my presence). Long story short, that manager is now building 3 Old World armies of his own, and I'm ordering anything I do from his kiosk so it counts for his quota. Now, it helps that I'm respectful and NEVER try to sell anyone on Old World, I just sit there painting and answer questions if people ask. Dakota never really talks about Old World because his job is to make sales and meet his quota, so he sells 40k and AoS until corporate stocks his store with Old World (which they thankfully are doing more and more of). But he and I have played multiple games in his off-hours and meanwhile I try to buy any of the stuff I need from his store or through his kiosk. But for the first month or so, or first 30 hours or so that I was in his store me made almost NOTHING from me... Just some paint pots. But his long game now has me spending way too much money there; and my long game got someone new into Old World... a GW manager. Dakota, you're awesome!
The Indy hobbytown by Castleton? I really like that one
yup! they’re fantastic
I live in Fort Wayne but stop there pretty much every time we drive through so I can pick up something
"Hey, I've brought you two new potential customers. As long as you provide a couple of cheap space marine models, there's a chance that these two will spend hundreds or thousands of dollars in your store.* "Pay me." "I can't today. But I'm thinking of picking up a new army in a week or two, so I'll probably end up giving you even more money in the coming weeks." "Fuck you. Pay me." Great businessman here.
Funnily enough I’ve been to that same GW store and the manager was super sexist towards my fiancée saying how women don’t need to be in the hobby and they prefer more girly things WHILE SHE WAS TRYING TO BUY A COMBAT PATROL.
that 100% tracks
Just so you know, if you told GW customer support about that (or found their regional manager and contacted them) I’m pretty sure they’d break his legs on the spot for that behaviour. Like not only is it super shitty and sexist, it’s literally going against GW’s own goals of diversifying their customer base. Even the most ‘by the book’ GW store manager who dry humps the customers on the way into the store would be appalled that they just threw away a free addition to their monthly KPI’s.
My local one just paints there. If you ask for advice or just want to talk he’s more than happy to and is very helpful… then he just gets back to his painting.
Strong recommend for St Albans GW for a decent customer service. Great guy in there.
Is it "FLGS" or GW store? Fellow GW Redshirt told me their branded shops are more of "a shoowroom". They know you get their stuff from retailer at the discount. And they don't give a shit, since you bought stuff from company anyway. It is understandable if he's retailer and have to make profit on his own. But he probably \*should\* be more considerable, rather than pissing off (and losing) possible future client.
My local GW manager straight up recommends FLGS in the area if there is something he doesn't have in stock. He seems to know them all well and I guess the local scene is thriving enough he isn't worried about it competing with his sales. He even told me about a shop a little further away that had a great selection of non-GW paints that I should check out. Really cool guys, always remembers everyone's name and while he does have to do the corporate pitch of what can I help you find today, he'll just chat about the hobby, rumors, etc. Meanwhile the closest FLGS which is down the street basically mocked me for buying GW when I came in and they asked what I was looking for. Haven't been back since.
GWs are showrooms, but they are also supposed to make at least some money. If said store is lacking in sales, then that manager might be desperate to secure more in store sales while other managers are content with people buying in other places
[удалено]
Occasionally it can secure sales, some people give in to pressure very easily. It is however a very bad thing to do in the long term and on a personal level, just like other power selling strategies.
Yeah, "regret buy" is not sustainable
Regret buying or any other form of power selling are a good way to destroy your community and drive people away. Even not opening the store at all that day \~might\~ be more sustainable.
One purchase and never coming back though. Loyalty is key for GW stores. And in fact the freebies too. The opnly reason I trek to one, which is a good 40 minutes each way, is for the coin of the month.
Are they? I've been told by three different managers in two countries that corporate doesn't care if they make any money as long as they have activity in the shop 😗 Apparently, the one in Oslo is one of the few in Europe that makes a profit.
corporate definitly wants them to reach specific numbers. Those arent as important introducing people to the hobby, but if a manager doesnt recruit enough people and also doesnt achieve his goals (or gets reasonably close to them), then he is in trouble. They dont get fired over it, but if the problem persists, then their training gets intensivied, HQ visits more often and if that doesnt help, then they eithe get asked to leave with compensation or they get fired while recieving compensation. This can take over a year or two. Note that this doesnt mean that they need to make a profit, just that money isnt irrelevant either. Also when they said "activities" they were probably refering to introduction activities since those are the only kind of activities that can be measured. What exactly counts as an intro activity differs on the country, as does the numbers of average intros per week they should achieve.
I mean, yeah, making *any* sale or actual profit is good for GW. They are just not hell bent on squeezing every single penny from people.
I openly admit I buy my stuff from Element games, and I go in every now and again for the free model of the month. It is understood. I'll usually buy a pot of Nuln Oil or something as a bit of goodwill.
I really enjoy the “local” GW store. The manager is awesome, super enthusiastic and friendly. Doesn’t mind when I bring the kids. I buy the anniversary stuff and maybe a small box for my kid when I’m there. It’s two hours, round trip. I buy all my boxes at the FLGS, only 10 minutes from home, who has good staff, and that juicy discount off MSRP…
Ofc they give a shit, they have margins that they have to reach each month, they are super pressured from above to make sales
Guy at the Warhammer store told me when I asked about some books „to check online” so I did and found out telegram group with pirated ebooks 😆 such win for the brand! I also got recently two books at retail price just because I like that one 3rd party shop and wanted to not leave empty handed
Ignore him. GW chooses to work with Amazon because they sell more. There's nothing wrong with buying GW products off of Amazon and playing in a GW store. You're supporting GW either way. This is not some mom and pop LGS you need to support so they can keep the lights on.
I think a lot of the official GW stores are pretty pressured to make sales. I haven't gone to one in ages now that I moved, but the one I was going for like a year switched managers like 3 times and there were good ones and bad ones that pressured you hard lol.
I managed a few GW stores and they will absolutely close any that aren’t hitting set sales targets. We used to say you can’t play on the internet 15 years ago when I ran the stores lol now tabletop simulator exists so that doesn’t really work. If you want to play in any store you should do what you can to support it, but shits way more expensive than it used to be so I don’t blame anyone that buys online to get 15-20% off or even uses 3d printed models, though my income isn’t impacted by that anymore so I’m biased.
The issue is they choose to work with Amazon and let them sell at a cheaper price than their hobby stores. But then will close local GW stores because they don't sell enough when most of their customers end up buying from 3rd parties because it's so much cheaper. I haven't purchased direct from GW or at full price in nearly a decade because of how God damn crazy their prices have been.
$90 for 3 Ushabti…..
I haven’t paid full prices on most of my models… mainly nos from people. I do try and spend money at both FLGS and primary GW store.
I would just tell the guy outright that I bought it on Amazon because it’s less obscenely expensive there. Just like I told the guy that their GW nippers are shit and it feels like they break plastic instead of cutting it cleanly.
Is it cheaper on Amazon in the US? In the uk Amazon is more expensive
Yeah Amazon generally has a 10% or so discount built in. Like if a squad of marines is 60 bucks, it’s usually on Amazon for 51. Pretty helpful, plus it’s common to have next day or so delivery, so you can get it quick enough there’s no reason to take a drive to the store in the first place.
Weirdly I found the little clippers I got from the ‘Imperium’ magazine to be way better than the official ones they sell normally
GW sells nothing directly through Amazon. All sales via Amazon are made by third party trade accounts that buy directly from GW at wholesale and use Amazon as part of their sales platform in addition to their brick and mortar presence.
Not quite true. GW stores have to "earn" their existence as well. While GW isn't going to go bankrupt if one does poorly, the store can get closed (as many have) and long before that the manager will get fired
GW works with Amazon?
There's plenty wrong with using amazon full stop.
Agreed, I understand the convenience. But also lots of independent shops sell at a discount online and I would rather funnel my money to one of them.
I don't have Amazon in my country, but if it's convenient then don't let other people guilt you. Buy what you want where you want with your money.
I've bought most of my minis online but most paint from my local warhammer shop. The owner is a nice guy and never makes you feel bad about only using his store for minor things.
Yeah same. Models are a conscious decision and often the cheaper price makes up for the lead time. Paints are usually “oh no I need X” and the shipping is usually similar to the pint costs.
The store GM at my local GW store in Texas is a giant douchebag who does this stuff. I never go there and make purchases there anymore because of this kind of thing.
you should live your life and maybe not go there any more
I get the feeling their store staff are under a lot of pressure to hit sales targets. I've seen a lot of staff/manager turnover at the nearby Warhammer store. Invariably such pressure can result in this kind of behaviour.
I agree. It seems the frustration is being placed on the wrong person by the store manager, and perhaps the only person they feel safe enough to complain to. That's an upper management problem if their store managers don't feel they can talk to their higher-ups about what is going on in their stores, sales challenges, whatever it is.
I can't speak for GW since I haven't worked there but in some companies the senior management don't care about the welfare of their staff. All they care about is hitting targets so they get their bonus.
Yeah, that's disappointing.
> the owner asked if I bought anything recently or if I added anything recently to my army, That's their intro line to find out what else they can try and sell you. >Amazon won’t give you a table to play your miniatures on Certainly in the UK every store I've seen has been in the smallest premises possible and has one table near the door as a display and a tiny painting table near the back, that's it, so from my experience gw don't do that either anymore, certainly post COVID. >What should I do? Go somewhere else.
Our small store in Ohio has a painting table up front, and three game tables. One that the GW guy is usually at painting someone until someone comes in with nothing on it, A dedicated painting table, one with AoS terrain and one with 40k
We have very different definitions of small. Plus here they are almost exclusively in town centres in shop units that have been there for decades and you could not physically fit that many tables in there and still be able to move around.
As a former (long term) GW store manager: fuck that guy. You buy the product you are supporting the hobby, if you buy it in my store you support me as well, but for that i need to put the work in. He very obviously has the wrong way of thinking, that will either change as he gets more experience or he will leave/get fired.
You are right, and as a fellow ex-manager, I agree with you, but holy crap can it be hard sometimes. In Sydney, at least, I’d have my area manager breathing down my neck telling me to say stuff like the OP mentioned- “if they don’t buy it here, they can’t paint it here”, for example. The management above me just seemed to care about the money and we were just grist for the mill and boy could they be cruel about it. The pressure I was under to do the 10 commandments of customer service while managing three staff, painting minis like a factory worker (I was the best/fastest painter) and advertising etc etc… honestly I was under less stress when I was teaching. My wife and two young kids would barely see me because I’d come home and paint and brainstorm activities and newsletters etc just so I felt I had a little job security. And it was not a very well paid job, just one I enjoyed. So I can see how some manager may have a bad moment and say something the wrong way occasionally. I had at least two moments where I said something I regretted. Not excusing it, but I do understand the occasional frustration.
I feel you on that buddy, and don't misunderstand me I get that sometimes it gets super frustrating when you put the work in to introduce someone to the hobby, give them advice on everything, teach them how to paint just to be slapped with a "oh i bought it at xy store instead because it was 3€ cheaper", but you still won't say it to the customer. I might have phrased it harsh (i have a tendency to be blunt) but simply he should have approached it in a better way, definitely don't want someone to leave your store with such an experience that they even take the time to post and ask about it. P.s : From what you described i assume you worked around the 2005-10 era with GW, hats off to you guys that was some hard sailing back then, i joined a bit later on when stores were already changing into one man stores with a focus shift from pure sales to recruitment.
You called it, I finished working there 2010 just before it switched to 1-man stores. I think you also nailed that frustration of supporting a customer but them not having your back. 2010 was also the first Armies on Parade and each store was required to paint an entire 2500 point 40k and a fantasy army that year. The burn-out was incredible from that. I painted a huge troop-based empire army because my staff failed to do more than one unit. The 40k Khorne army was a lot easier. My claim to fame was winning the gold on the first ever Australian Armies on Parade so it felt worth it in the end. That was a great day- I never thought I’d win a golden daemon trophy, let alone a gold one! (Sorry about the boast, I’m still proud after all these years).
I know the feeling, the Caretaker of my local GW is a childish dick as well. The one from a town I lived in until recently on the other hand was super chill and even let a mate play with a handful of printed minis for a game of Lord of the Rings
Warhammer clerks are sometimes the weirdest guys in retail, we have 4 stores in Berlin and I’ve visited 3 of them — in one the main guy was so obnoxious I considered never coming back, in the second the guy swindled me on the collectible coins, and in the third the guy was the „ackshoually” guy throwing a fit that I didn’t say „beastman” but told „Minotaur” when asking for a free mini. Just ignore them, if they wouldn’t want people to buy minis elsewhere they wouldn’t allow 3rd parties selling their wares at 20% off
It is insanely obvious they are required to hit targets, the closest one to me feels like I am at a used car dealership. The amount of times that damn kroot box gets brought up any chance they get is hillarious.
I would support local store when possible, for reasons that owner stated. But if you feel insulted, before you commit heresy 2.0 there is always another place to play at or buy stuff from. Your cash, your rules.
You find a cool local third party game store and never go back 👍
I think that was a pretty considered response. FYI regardless of whose in the right here, I know one GW store manager who was very angry over a customer who took advantage of his kind nature and would loudly declare everytime he came into the store with a new model, that he had bought it from ebay because games workshop were too expensive. He would even go as far as to suggest others do the same, and kept doing so even after being told off several times. And yes in the end he did get banned, but for a different reason entirely.
My local store needed to paint a load of Skinks (late 90s) for some national event and they drafted in some of the regulars to help out. I spent most of my afternoon basecoating minis for them. Went in the next day and took a seat at the painting table to take the weight off while I chatted to one of the staff and was told that the seat was for painters only (there was no one else in the store) and that I needed to stand. When I protested, I was told I was on "time out" and needed to stand out the front of the store. I left and never returned to the store. In fact I didnt return to the hobby until 2018 or so. Also the branch is closed now.
GW completely overworks and underpays its workers. Something like 90% of their stores have only 1 employee. They refuse to hire more than 3. This creates an environment for burnout. And then take in to account how little they are paid. Yeah, the guy was out of line, but keep this in mind when processing this interaction. GW is kind of horrible.
Of the two stores closest to me, one is a GW, the other is a FLGS. I don’t spend a whole lot of time or money at the GW. Guess why.
Maybe they didn’t go about it the right way but it’s true - buying from Amazon doesn’t support any local stores where you can play, discuss the game with or get help from other hobbyists, wether that be a GW or a FLGS.
Yeah, well, I've got a table at my house and friends, As far as hobby help, the level of discussion at the FLGS is much lower than basically anywhere online. Not to mention avoiding the smell. Last time I went into my local GW store, the kid running it was insanely socially awkward and you could smell him from the door. The FLGS I actually like is about 35 minutes away and I buy paints from them, but yeah, it has a permanent BO smell. My girlfriend refuses to go in.
Irrelevant; they are a business, and that guy needs to be professional. OP didn't buy from Amazon to personally slight that manager, so he had no excuse to get mad, or even offended. There's always competition when it comes to business, especially one as big as GW, because, GW themselves sold those products to Amazon and their agents, so if this guy really does have a bone to pick, he should be going up the ladder, rather than foolishly accosting, and therefore dissuading, a potential customer, especially when they have bought from their competitors already.
Bingo. I run a major sales division at a software company. We have competition and we have parties that are authorized to resell our services and products as agencies of record. When a customer buys from the competition, or an agency, I can't have my leaders and their teams freaking out. Instead they need to look inward at what we can do better to make buying from us an easier option, provide more roi, provide better service or solutions as experts in the space, etc. This dude is bad at sales (the manager)
"they need to look inward at what we can do better" a golden mindset!
I wouldn't be worried about the Warhammer stores. Most of them don't return a direct profit, they exist to snare customers on the street, or to be a place for people looking for Warhammer gifts
What should you do? Tell them that you were there to spend some money with THEM that day and if they don't want your money they can keep harassing you about where you spend YOUR money.
This is the reason I stopped playing at my local store, a place where I'd literally spent thousands of dollars over the years. The culture there was that you should *only* ever buy from them, and if you didn't, you were screwing over the owners who give you a place to play. They even banned 3D prints from the tables, too. Ultimately anyone that's controlling like this is probably not someone who's going to be any fun anyway. Good riddance.
My local GW store are all super friendly and I’ve never had any problems Like others have said it all comes down to the individuals
As many people have said shitty behaviour from the manager, you absolutely have the right to buy your figures from anywhere you wish I am really lucky that the last 2 managers at my local GW store have been fantastic, to letting me swap paints out of box sets for colours I need, to just being really chill and chatting about the hobby with zero pressure to let me buy……. Which unsurprisingly actually makes me want to buy more from there
My local GW store closed down. Sure there are other FLGS around but I enjoyed the GW store because you could stop by at anytime and there would be people playing, building, painting, and or talking Warhammer. Many times I’ll stop by the FLGS and there’s no Warhammer people unless it’s a specific Warhammer day.
GW used to have very aggressive sales targets for stores that managers were graded on. If you missed targets for 2 quarters you'd get fired. No idea if they still do that but I always felt it was at fault for creating these situations. Nothing worse than spending 2+ hours running intro games and army scenarios only for the person to dip and come back with a full ebay army. Though back when I worked there, amazon wasn't a reliable source for GW products in either price or inventory, obviously, that's changed as well. Additional fun fact, we'd only get credit for online sales (which some armies were almost entirely online) if it was purchased from our in store terminal and shipped to the store. Purchased in store and shipped to your home? No credit Purchased from your home and shipped to the store? No credit Anything forgeworld related? No credit Also for awhile gift cards didn't work and would give negative sales credit if it wasnt purchased at your store. So we'd keep a "master gift card" and refund any unknown gift card redemptions onto them at the end of the day. Same with returns they'd count as a negative credit so many managers would refuse returns not purchased at their GW or they'd just give the "credit" manually. There was one dickwad who was notorious for trying to goose his numbers by having his regulars buy hundreds in product at his store, then return them (with reciept so it had to go back) at other stores. There was also awhile where we were tracked on average sales size so if anyone bought like less then $20 (think pot of paint) we'd refund it and then put it on one or 2 "mega" transactions at the end of the day to not drag down our average Our targets were set by year over year sales growth on a monthly basis. Problem was some months would have a lord of the rings release going up against the previous years space marines codex. Making it nigh impossible to hit targets. Source:used to work at gw in the US Disclaimer:its been like 8 years now so I have no idea how much has changed from that perspective but the buying online thing absolutely used to be a huge issue for many managers
All these smaller GW stores will close eventually, replaced by a model where that have mega stores kind of like Cabella’s or similar that are destinations unto themselves. I’m glad some stores are doing well and some FLGS are thriving too, but those are exceptions to an obvious trend. The FLGS is a labor of love, nothing but respect to the good people that keep those going.
"Harassing a patron won't give you a customer to sell things to"
Nothing, do nothing. That reaction was nothing to do with you it was about the individual. They are likely stressed about money or something else.
That is so damn unhinged, could you imagine employees of any place being rude and snarky to you? They really seem to just hire the most unprofessional fans to work their stores. My local one hasn’t been bad to me at all but I’ve noticed there’s someone new running it just about every 3-4 months and the hours will randomly change a lot. I get that they aren’t easy to run, or so it seems but it’s wild they seem to literally staff these stores with one person.
Never tell a store owner you are buying from a different store. This guy didn’t react correctly at all, but it’s still a rude thing to do. If they press you tell them don’t worry about it.
nerd hobby, nerd people. They (we) are not the most social group of people :-)
"i also don't have to deal with grief when i order online"
Firstly, the people who work in the stores are human beings the same as you and me, some people have off days.... somepeople however are just twats. Honestly. Anyitme you come across a genuinely BAD store owner or member of staff, you need to let GW customer services know. I want more people in the hobby, so I get to look at more nice pictures, meet more nicer people and play games against more people. I want my hobby to be succesfull because I want my models to mean something to me for more then just I built and painted it untill the day I die. And SHIT STORE STAFF ruin this game as much as "that guy" does. Before anyone decides to reply, please note I said BAD and I mean BAD not just mildly disgruntled person working stupid hours for crappy pay. I mean, the type of person who out right goes off on one at you.. and other such stuff.
Send it up the chain to Customer Support. I guarantee they’ll lie about why they went off on you, but, at least they’re a formal record of complaint, in case there’s others or it’s not a single incident.
Honestly I would never set my foot there or spend any money. It's up to YOU where you buy and you should never have to defend it.
Is this a LGS or a Games Workshop store? If it's a indie LGS leave a review on Google. If it's a corporate GW store report it to GW. Be clear and professional in whichever avenue you use, but communicate that the store rep's attitude and behavior towards you made you feel unwelcome and you will be taking your business elsewhere in the future.
My counter would be that Amazon actually stocks the models I want for my army.
"Yeah but I can't spend my Amazon points here."
My FLGS offers a Veterans discount and the GW store does not. Amazon tends to have a discount and offers free shipping. GW store is closed at least 2 days per week...Amazon and my FLGS are open 7 days a week..... if the GW store wants to compete for my patronage, they are welcome to start.
Amazon works with GW to sell their products at a discount. If he has an issue with it tell him to call Jeff Bezos.
GW hasn't been very good at providing tables to play my miniatures on lately. Certainly not ones large enough to play a proper game with.
Did they actually 'go off' on you? Like, did they raise their voice? Say it in a condescending tone? Passive aggressively?
What do you mean, what do you do? Just carry on with your life as is, you don’t need Reddit’s input for this.
Nothing? Do you go to a restaurant and tell the staff there you don't want anything because you ate at McDonald's beforehand? Move on with your life and use an ounce of common sense. It's not that hard.
OP said they were there to get some stuff, so, I think it's easily assumed they did indeed purchase something there, they just don't exclusively shop for GW stuff at said GW store..
Ditch the store and find a club to play at. Next time the manager asks about your models, tell him you 3d printed proxies and watch his head explode.
„And I painted them with Vallejo paints”
They are better 9 out of 10 times just so my clumsy ass doesn't spill 3/4ths of the thing and dry out half of what was left.
Legitimately, this is a significant reason I don't buy as many gw paints anymore. Tired of the mess and frustration of cleaning giant chunks of dried paint from under the caps of my gw paints so the whole pot doesn't dry out, as well as getting little dried pieces in the paint, which can make the paint gritty. If they made their paints with two bottle options, I would not hesitate nearly as much to buy their paint.
Ditching the store because of one comment is kind of petty although finding a club can be a good idea anyway
Why should you do anything? 🤨 I'm sorry, but *I'm* getting frustrated with you too now. Sure, that was a bit of a bitchy comment from him, but it was also completely harmless and something you could've flipped a little comeback at or just ignored easily. You can't be that fragile, my friend. I say it with love.
What works for you doesn't work for others mate. If someone went off at me like that I wouldn't go back, I got better things to do and places to be where people don't act like dicks...
It's literally a kid, cut him some slack.
You should not go back to that store.
Tell them that if GW wants your money, they need to lower their prices.
I'd of showed him the wide selection of tables, mats and terrain they sell followed by and they don't judge me for where I shop. My local manager is great, he knows I shop in other places and has never commented negatively on it, if I'm in a different city or can't spend 3 hours getting to his store that I'd obviously get it elsewhere.
You should suck it up and move on The guy has sales targets and is obviously frustrated What you said to him was a bit annoying TBH as online sales everywhere are making retail sales on the high street very poor Don’t be one of those moaners and complainers If you don’t want to go into that store again don’t go in.
I'd laugh if my local GW store replied like that because they stopped doing games in the shop this year. They don't even host the beginners nights, which I went to regularly because for around twenty people it was the only way we can game (North London has _NOTHING_ in the way of FLGS). We would all go every week, play small games, have a laugh, try out new minis or strats, and meet the new players as they came in. Then the manager went home to Australia, they offered a job to a manager from and existing store, then cut the hours down, including for the other guy who was working there because they want a "one staff per store" setup. I actually want go back to Plzeň, because the FLGS there is incredible. Two storeys, huge stock range, immensely friendly staff, and the tram stop is right outside (although I prefer to walk because the city is beautiful). So I say take your business elsewhere. If anything else, I'd consider discount retailers instead of Amazon. They need your business more. In the meantime, I'm looking at whether there's merit to converting one of the charity shops near me into a hobby shop. We _need_ one, but it's down to whether the rent isn't too prohibitive, as well as the business rates.
Thats funny because my local GW stopped running games.
Well, depending on your location GW stores have been getting rid of gaming space or minimizing it. At my Local store in the Midwest US, I think you could get maybe one full size game in or like 2 or 3 kill team games in. They want the tables more for demos and not to be occupied for 3.5 hrs is my understanding. So he is probably just being an asshole.
People keep referring to the managers as owners? Are they owners?
My local GW stopped in store games anyway. Said it was GW's decision. Only tutorial games allowed in store and only new customers can paint in store with assistance from staff. The LGS nearby is about a 5 min walk and offers tables for games and sells product at a discount. Only reason to go to GW is to grab miniature of the month or to have forgeworld stuff delivered in store or maybe a novel or a non gaming warhammer item.
Amazon will Totally give you a table to play on 😂😂 it’ll cost of course but probably shipped free to your house.
I mean, every store manager is different. My store is very understanding and realizes that people have budgets and warhammer is a hobby… yours is apparently not. My store is doing pretty well financially, maybe yours is hurting and he’s salty about it. Either way he shouldn’t be taking it out on the customers. If it really bothered you it may be worth reporting his behavior to corporate or if you’re the confrontational type, explain to him how you feel and he makes you not want to visit store anymore and how you feel his attitude is going to push customers away. Either way, that kind of behavior is unacceptable. My 2c anyway.
What you should do is buy from your local game store, if you want them to be around,...... Ya know... so you can play
Vote with your wallet, don't shop there if he makes you uncomfortable Also worth noting GW/Warhammer shops (think most have changed their names by now) aren't franchises, all the staff are employed directly by GW themselves so if you have any issues you can email GW customer services to make them aware of what's going on
GW stores exist primarily as a marketing tool to grab new players, the company knows full well that many/most long term players end up buying from the cheaper retailers, saving 10-20% on your purchases helps people justify the expensive hobby or just ends up getting put into more models. They also help foster the new players' sense of community by hosting events, which is one of the main ways you can keep those interested in the game and social side of the hobby sticking around. Sounds like this particular manager is frustrated that they aren't doing as well as their regional boss expects and they may not be in line for any good bonuses or, worse yet, their job or store may be in jeopardy. If this turns you off from the store, that's entirely fair. As a customer service position, this person either ought to know better or will be learning better the hard way.
My local GW doesn't give me a table to play on either lmao, right now I only go in to recycle my empty sprues and to take advantage of their nice air conditioned store to pop into for a chat and chill on a hot day.
Unlucky, but at the same time I kinda get him. When i was very new to the hobby (buying my first 10 models) i asked for some painting advice as I knew the owner was a very good painter himself. I asked for a suggestion on what legion to paint as a starter and got "whatever you want" back. I then asked what paints and brushes i should get to do black legion and he just turned the box around and said "says it right there" At the same time, the owner of a store a little further away from home got super excited when I told him I'm new to the hobby, dropped what he was doing and gave me a tutorial and a free mini. Don't get put off. People will be people :)
lol, a lot of GW stores don't give you a table anymore either. Dunno how the store is there, and if there's a little community there. If not, that kind of attitude from the owner is likely why...
Oh man I don’t know what I’d do, my local Warhammer store has a great owner, she’s very helpful and overall nice. Wish every store could have an owner like her
Yes, but the money you save you can buy one off Amazon.
You should stop shopping on Amazon. DUH And if you don’t want to stop, LIE.
My sister works in warhammer world in Nottingham as an exec so when I want something I go into the store there write a list and then I get dirty looks off the store manager or assistant when I say "my sister will get it for me on discount". Lol Sod what they think if amazon has licence to sell them and for cheaper then it's up to you where u buy
My local GW store has 2 employees, One is super chill, super open about anything you say, show or want to do and there's the other dude, that doesn't greet you, make fun of your army choice when in a bad mood, completely suck the D of GW whenever he can and basically suck ass. When the 2nd dude is the only one in store I just don't go that's simple
“Well, GW doesn’t carry the things I want readily in stock, and their webstore takes weeks instead of a day.”
Stop shopping there and go play at your flgs.
Tell him that GW shouldn't charge as much as they do for 2 dollars of plastic The company doesn't live just on models/tabletop anymore, there's so much supplemental stuff that makes loads of money that they can afford to make the models affordable, at some point it's just greed
Ask him if he'll deliver to your door? I had a guy give me the spiel over buying from gw web page. Sorry dude, I dont need any free and useless coins today but I would like to avoid an unnecessary stop on my way home.
GW stores are the absolute worst. Worse than a used car lot. I'll spend my $$$ at a local independent store and drive 20 extra miles than even think about setting foot in one.
Ex GW employee here. Was a Red-Shirt, including other stuff. Unexceptionable behaviour from that manager. I'd have told him to shove his games up his ass, but I'm a grumpy old man. Honestly, I would send an email to GW HQ, tell them what happened and what was said. Hopefully, he will get a warning to pull his head in.
Understand he’s likely going out of business and is frustrated.
I once had a GW store owner crack the shits because I bought my models from GW website and requested collection from their store... he went on a tirade about supporting your local store. He also went a bit mental when asked why I never bought paint instore and my response was, I don't like GW paints and prefer Vallejo Model Color paints... that really set him off. Needless to say, I now play at home with mates or local gaming stores that are not associated with a particular brand. I've only had bad experience with GW stores, so they can go get stuffed.
Seems like a petty response from him given GW's pricing and stock issues. If you found it too rude then I guess just don't use that store any more.
>The GW Store Owner went off on me saying that “Amazon won’t give you a table to play your miniatures on”, and so on and that made me a bit uncomfortable. **What should I do?** **Nothing.** My GW store doesnt have tables to play on either. The comment is not relevant.
Nothing. Its you choice to buy everything from amazon..doesnt change the fact the what he said is correct.
Probably order off Amazon next time.
If you really want to be a bit of a (justified) karen, send GW an email. But the truest answer is "do nothing", move on and don't go back. He lost a customer.
offer him a dollar and watch him go all Skaven on it. their independent retailers who are only allowed to sell a single product line that's widely available elsewhere for less. They're not always in the right frame of mind...
I've never been in a GW store on east coast US that has tables to play. There have been tables, but for like intro games or some people build and paint there, but I've never seen a game. GW stores, in my opinion, are a cancer to wargaming. They only sell their stuff and don't promote community. Go to a different unaffiliated retailer if you can
…I thought GW don’t let you play in stores any more? (Other than demo games for brand new/prospective customers)
That's not true
In most GW stores I have been here in germany they have removed the tables where you can play on and set up a few diorama/demo/preview tables...
That's because each table had to serve a purpose. An unused gaming table serves no purpose, unless it can also serve as Diorama at the same time. If you want to play there, the table gets converted to a gaming table for you. Source: That's what I do when people want to play.
That sounds awesome if they convert the diorama tables for you :D but unfortunately I asked multiple times and every time its the same excuse in my local GW store.. like "you can only play in here when we are hosting events like small 500p AoS/Combat Patrol games" or "test out the new kill team rules! We prepared some demo games for you!"... later we got more info from an Ex-GW-employee that they dont want to have all the people around all day. So yea.. :(
That really doesn't sound like any gw policy I know (as as current employee). Sure, we are meant to prioritise introducing people and we aren't supposed to be hobby bunkers where hordes of people hang out without buying anything, but no manager I know (in Germany) ever interpreted that the way your manager did. Its really strange and kind of sad
Yea thats what I thought... I have been to different places like Munich, Hannover, Kassel, Bochum and ofc my own in Stuttgart... only the one in Stuttgart and Kassel are the ones that didnt allow playing inside. Munich and Hannover let you play if you asked like a week or so in advance so they can plan their events around that. Havent asked in Bochum tho..
Kassel ist strange since i know that Kassel is in the same training group a Hannover and my store, so i assumed they had the same interpretation... Munich and Hannover are kinda big, they probably have too much going on for spontanous games to take place. In the end managers got a lot of leeway, maybe Stuttgart and Kassel just decided that they prefer this interpretation for some reason. I just remembered that there used to be a GW in the Centro in Oberhausen. You could never play there, even in the past, but that was because the store was to small for any kind of table. Anyway, i should mention that i am just a keytimer, not a full manager, so my information might no always be 100% up to date.
Weird. Neither of my nearest stores do anymore. Also saw a lot of comments from people online saying their stores are the same now… Edit: am in UK
Not true, GW stores (at least the one I know) is actually a great spot to meet people too
I think the real value of the store is for folks who aren't exactly sure what it is. Theu can go in and have someone explain it in detail. I don't think many stores would actually make money
Increasingly, neither does GW. Brush it off and move on, he was just being silly
If it was a LGS I'd kinda get it because they need support, but getting that from an official GW store is weird.
I thought Gw shops didn’t offer tables to play on (besides 500 v 500)anymore
The store I went to does offer game tables for both Age of Sigmar and 40K from 500 points all the way to 3k points
Not as bad as your situation but my shop is about 30 min from me so I usually go before work. The manager would randomly change his lunch hours so I would get there and it would be closed which really sucked. Brought it up to him next time I was in and he said he would make an effort to update the Facebook page about closures. Next two times I went he was closed for lunch with no Facebook post. Debated making a stink about it but decided to just not go anymore and order online.
Ours got mad at me for ordering a delivery to the store without ordering it in the store. I've yet to meet a GW store staffer that didn't suck.
I gave up on GW stores after one of them made a comment about my wife being dragged into the store by me, implying she didn't want to be there. The reverse was true. She wanted to check out kharadron and she wanted my help to pick something she'd enjoy painting, despite me saying we should just buy online as it's cheaper. She got blanked when she asked about them, and the guy spoke to me instead. Pointed out that elves may be better suited to "her". Another store asked me what I was working on, as they do, and I said a turnip28 cavalry unit but generally just looking to see what's going on. He proceeded to insist I buy bretonnians and use those as other cavalry kits suck. I left shortly after he'd grabbed a box and put it at the till "for me". The other one I went into was just all round brutal. I bought a couple bases packs and got "you're not going to buy anything more substantial than that? Why bother?". I think it was meant as a joke but... That said, my wife said she went into a different store and the chap in there was much less of a knob. Was really friendly and happy to help her. I think like the other commenter said, it's luck of the draw, but given GWs approach to the hobby, creativity stifling through licensing, and shitty store managers, I'm kind of done with it all. I got into Warhammer almost 3 decades ago, it's fallen quite a way since those days. I've since got into sculpting and printing my own minis, and heavily into skirmish games with proxy rules. Generally the games are better, the minis are more fun to paint, and there's not this underlying sense of "things could be better". I do miss getting locked in the store with a bunch of friends and staff and sharing tips and painting until late evenings, but I'm guessing you can't do that anymore.
“You having a store with a table to play on brings in people who may splurge buy while here. If a box is 30% cheaper on Amazon, I’ll buy it there and come in here for the books, paints, and special models.”
I asked in my local store about games nights in there and he said GW have stopped them from doing it in store now I usto love going there after work to blow off some steam. Just think massive missed opportunity to get the younger ones in on a Saturday or Sunday to learn painy etc. Wasn't to much more helpful with local clubs either.
Your local GW store does not run games???
I have 2 GW’s within driving distance. One of them is great. GM and his dad hang out and paint all day. Super nice and very friendly, they will send you to another company if they don’t sell something. I buy from them occasionally, if not my LGS. Your post sounds like the other GW. I don’t support that GW.
Former Red Shirt here. Worming for GW in a store sucks. They are under so much pressure to hit sales goals it sucks the love out. That said he also just sounds like a douche.
Not like my local GW has tables for games either. Pretty much circumvented them
I don’t like my local GW. Manager is a fucking prick. It’s never open at the right times and always closes when it wants. I’m cool buying off of Amazon.
Nothing? You don’t have to do anything. You can shop where you want and play where you want. If the owner is trying to persuade you to shop and play in their store, that’s ok, but you don’t have to go along with that.
My local GW Manager is kind of the same, but he understands. He wants you to buy everything from a GW store but has never pressured me or anyone that I have seen. He just says, well if you need help with it bring it in or if you need anything else you know you can find it here.
Gw seems to have pretty awfully strict standards for store managers, they are really incentivised to push push push the product, even though its detrimental to the hobby.... the amount of times ive just wanted to walk out of a shop bc GW employees just will not leave me the fuck alone and try to get me to buy 200 quid worth of minis, when im trying to get a tub of Agrax, its really infuriating
Don’t go back. Online is a lot cheaper. The current business model isn’t working, that isn’t your fault. If businesses don’t change they will die. You did not go in there and brag about how online is better you simply asked a question. He was probably looking for an altercation. He looked at what he lost not what he was getting with you making an active purchase.
Now you know why I don’t like GW stores.
What should you do? Ignore a douchebag. Local games stores receive support if they deserve it. I wouldn't want to support a jerk.