# Opening the Battle Pit



## GrimzagGorwazza (Aug 5, 2010)

OKay folks it's been coming for a long time and i think that the moment of truth is upon us.

As some of you may be aware im an employee of Blockbusters UK, specifically i work in a branch of Blockbuster Games after Blockbuster sold Gamestation a few years back.

Now when i first got into the business it was to gain experiance in managing a shop with an eye to open up my own Hobby store in the future. Following a change of managment style within blockbusters and the shocking collapse of Game and Gamestation i've decided that it's time to bite the bullet and jump from the plane screaming. 

With 10 years retail experiance, 18 years wargames experiance and 5 years managment experiance i'm pretty confident that i can run the shop and make it a profitable business, i've decided that there is no time like the present and am aiming to have the store open By mid to late October.. Fingers crossed.

This log is going to therefore be a record of "Battlepit wargames" either rise to glory or its crashing and burning. only time will tell.

In the grim darkness of the retail industry, there is only enthusiasm.

1:Location, Location, Location

So the first thing i've looked into is location, as any of you that have been in the industry before probably know. the position of the store can make or break the business. Too close to competent competition and you will find yourself struggling against their sales technique in the early years, too far away from access routes and you won't generate much footfall but your rent will work out cheaper. Then there is the whole mess of things to consider if you are within a shopping centre. 


First off i knew i wanted to be close to the centre of a town, somewhere where people would walk by and go "hey that looks cool lets take a gander". Living in the south east of England i could immediatly discount most of the closest cities, Guildford, Basingstoke, Reading and Woking all have official Games Workshop stores and i'm pretty sure opening on their doorstep would not lead to a happy place.
As well as this Aldershot has an extremely well established, well stocked and capable hobby store called "The Games Shop", check out their link here. 

Looking at google i decided that there are three towns that i would consider as possible places to open my store, all within easy travel distance from my house.
Camberley, Aldershot and Farnborough. These are smack dab in the middle of those four cities that i already mentioned. Aldershot was immediately off the cards so that i didn't compete with them directly leaving just Farnborough and Camberley. 
Wondering what other competition there was nearby i used the GW store finder to locate all the indi stockists in the area.
The only ones nearby are Darkstar Comics, Hobby Game Store, Fleet Toys and the Game shop. 
View attachment 959934805


The game shop are awesome at what they do as already mentioned and i can see them being my biggest competition. Darkstar are a comic book store, outside of the town centre with only minimalist stock of models, preferring comic or film memorabelia. Hobby Game Store stock a fair few GW products but are more focussed on the toys aspect of the industry as well as collectors card games. Fleet toys are a true toyshop with a scattering of models. 

Still doesn't narrow it down much. 

in the end i've opted for Camberley for a couple of reasons. Firstly Farnborough is only one town across from The Games shop and my core competetors, i'd have hobby game store on one side and the game shop on the other, Opening in Camberley would mean i'm competing harder with hobby game store for the wargames market but they actually do other products that they can fall back on. 

Secondly Camberley is easier to reach from the train station, farnborough has two stations, none of which are actually in the town centre, Camberley's one station is literally on the doorstep as is the main bus depot.

Thirdly Camberley has recently been revovate and has had a new centre added with bowling alley, cinema and a variety of restaurants. If i can find a premises between the old centre and the new i will be laughing. 

Fourthly Farnborough has very few reatil proporties that are close to the main shopping centres which aren't prohibitivly expensive thanks to recent costly rennovations. 

So with the town decided i started looking at proporties for rent that were in the town centre but not in the shopping centres so that i minimise overhead costs. a quick search revealed this little beauty. 









Well i say little...she's 1000square foot including a second floor retail area. She is right next to the old shopping centre on a thoroughfare to the new centre and is about 5 doors down from Hobby Game Store. I'm going to be having a look around on Wednesday to see if this might be my new store. Fingers crossed some more, i'll update this log before then as i am doing more behind the scenes than this but my first post is already pretty long and there's a lot of boring text to come.


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## normtheunsavoury (Mar 20, 2008)

Good luck mate, if I'm ever in the area I'll pop in and say hello!


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## Dicrel Seijin (Apr 2, 2011)

Good luck. I have some idea (second hand) of what it's like to do this.

In the 90s, in the summer before I left for college, I helped a friend start up a comic book store of his own. It was more manual labor than anything else: repainting, building shelves, moving furniture, stocking, etc. And afterward I cashiered for him after a crash course in retail.

I look forward to seeing how this goes for you.


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## obi wan balony (Feb 28, 2011)

*Shop Vist?*

So tell us oh Almighty Grimzag!!!!
How did the shop visit go?


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

Holy shit Grimzag! Good luck!

I've both worked for a GW affiliated retailer in the states, and in a variety of other retail stores. I have something like 15 years in retail with 1 in management of a major chain. I wish you all the best!

And for somebody in retail as long as you check out "Pretending to Care: The Retail Employees Handbook"

For people who haven't worked in retail its just sort of amusing, for those of use who have a long time in, its amazing how much the author got right. But he's also worked and managed in retail for 15+ years too.

I first saw this working at a big box book store, and I bought a copy of it for the staff, to live in the office and the break room.

Once again good luck!

Cheers!


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## GrimzagGorwazza (Aug 5, 2010)

normtheunsavoury said:


> Good luck mate, if I'm ever in the area I'll pop in and say hello!


That'd be cool, i'm certainly going to be posting an anouncment on here when the grand opening comes around, i'll be offering heavy discounts for the first weekend so if anyone is going to want to buy something, save up, give me a list so that i can order the stock in and i'll ensure that it's all kept to one side for you.



Dicrel Seijin said:


> Good luck. I have some idea (second hand) of what it's like to do this.
> 
> In the 90s, in the summer before I left for college, I helped a friend start up a comic book store of his own. It was more manual labor than anything else: repainting, building shelves, moving furniture, stocking, etc. And afterward I cashiered for him after a crash course in retail.
> 
> I look forward to seeing how this goes for you.


Fortunaetly i've worked in a fledgling indi store before and i've done building labour work so i am pretty sure that once i've worked out the layout i can start making things happen. I'm just gonna keep hammering away until i get there. 



obi wan balony said:


> So tell us oh Almighty Grimzag!!!!
> How did the shop visit go?


Ah Mr Balony, welcome to the boards. I know that you and your sons of sanguinus could not resist the pull of heresy forever Mwahahaha. 




Kreuger said:


> Holy shit Grimzag! Good luck!
> 
> I've both worked for a GW affiliated retailer in the states, and in a variety of other retail stores. I have something like 15 years in retail with 1 in management of a major chain. I wish you all the best!
> 
> ...



Thanks Kreuger i'll definately check it out. Thanks for all the luck folks i'll definatly need it in the coming months.

Without fuurther ado...


Location, Location, Location cont..

okay as mentioned i've checked out the appliance centre as i said i would, i also managed to get in to see the disused sony centre across the way a few days later. 

The key thing when looking at these places is to try and see what it can become and what you would need to do to make it happen. It's actually not too hard if you try to picture the place with no furniture and just take the shape and condition of the place into account. 

I took my missus (on this site as themissus) with me and my dad (We'll call him Captain Buildman). the former because she was my ride and wanted to have a look around, the latter because with decades of carpentry and building experiance i trust my dad to pick up on structural problems or expensive remodelling more than anyone. 

First up then

The former Domestic appliance centre.

Space
The D.A.C is big, very big. Because it's been used to display kitchens the whole bottom floor is more or less open plan with a single office and enclosed backstairway/loading area as the only exceptions. More than enough space for multiple wall racks, display cases and a gaming board. The upstairs is more split up, as well as the top of the previously mentioned staircase there are 3 offices and a toilet as well as two large areas that would make good sized rooms for running tournament games or storing stock. 
I'll probably use them for the latter at first and as my stock ranges expland move the gaming tables upstairs. I don't need a whole floor for stock, in fact i could probably use the offices for this, i don't need 4 offices. 

Remodelling work
*the former owners left a lot of stuff in the place, from desks in the offices to kitchen sinks in the showroom area. I found 2 corgi model cars stashed to one side an there are no fewer than 6 vacuum cleaners upstairs. There are also chipboard and mdf structures that were clearly used for displaying hobs and worktops but which are now left as black shells. 
*The ground floor is covered in carpet tiles which each have a different brand name appliance on them. 
*The ceiling on the ground floor is buckled and the metal supports that hold up the poloystyrene tiles are bent out of shape so that some have fallen down. 
*The whole shop is painted bright yellow.....i...don't even...
*The massive front window is not security glass, not double glazed and has no form of security shutter. not a big deal if your selling kitchens (lets face it they're pretty tough to steal) but a massive and costly problem for a store where all the stock is able to be put in a shopping trolly and wheeled away. 

Solutions
*Hire multiple skips to dump the excess junk in, a quick check online has revealed that some of the items may be useful. the chipboard/mdf mounts for example could easily be retasked as shelving for my stock room, the sinks and such can be sold on to a salvage company. To be honest i can probably put filing cabinets and one of the hoovers back to task it's just that there is going to be sooo mach stuff that will still need disposing of.
*After pulling up a couple of tiles we realised that the whole ground floor has parquet flooring beneath the carpet. :yahoo:
*The ceiling shouldn't be too difficult to get repaired and i will need to have most of it taken down at some point to get the security system updated.
*repaint the whole damn shop
*As it's going to be expensive to replace th windows straight away i'm going to aim fo r getting a security shutter, not a verticle powered one, that would still be damned pricey because of the size of the shop front, no instead i'm going to get a horizontal on like you see in airports that pulls across from the side and locks.

Pictures
I apologise for these as i forgot my camera on the day and had to take the shots from outside. The black wall on the right of some of the shots is the MDF/chipboard divider/stand things i mentioned, the shop goes all the way back to the rear wall behind them aside from the space taken up by the stair well. 



















Which brings up neatly onto location 2

The Former Sony Centre

Space
The sony centre is not as big as the DAC but has a more traditional shop shape, it's long and thin with two floors of space. Downstairs is the traditional shop floor and an enclosed space at the back through a security door leads up to a set of iron stairs which take you to the upper floor. Like downstairs upstairs is completely open plan with a massive open area from which a small room seperates a toilet. A staff area has been set up as part of this large space.

Renovations
 
*Again the store has a lot of random junk left behind, wall units designed for holding tv's etc. Some of it is useful like the curved display counter but much of it will need ripping out.
*Upstairs will need splitting into several areas, the ground floor is too narrow to accomidate a gaming area as well as a sales area so the games will need to be played upstairs. If this is going to happen i will need an area to designate as a staff room and an area for stock. All of which will need lockable doors.
*Removal of main security door from shop floor to allow access to gamign room
*Fitting of full shop floor onto the bare breezeblock that sits behind the existing units.
*Painting areas that were untill now a service area.

Solutions
*Hire a skip and throw it all out, apart from the counter unit and some of the upstairs shelving much of what had been left in this unit is completely useless to me. Not only that but it is bulky and looks like it ill be a pain to rip out.
*Splitting the top floor up will require building partician walls in a room that gets very little light. To secure my stock these will need to be completely enclosed so that gamers don't try and climb into my stock room. :shok: Not a fun prospect when the room upstairs is sooo high.
*Possibly the best door in the place and it'll be in the way in its current position..maybe it can be repositioned upstairs for the stock room but it seems to be wired electronically to a panel on the wall.
*buy a full shop's worth fo fittings.
*paint the walls of this massive area

Pictures






















Decisions
After weighing up the pros and cons of both stores i've decided that the DAC is much more along the lines i am wanting to follow, the sony centre is good but will need whole rooms built to be suitable for my purposes whereas the DAC just needs the existing rooms renovated. If this wasn't enough when i was talking to the letting agent he told me that after having spoken to the landlord of the DAC and explaining that this was my first venture the landlord said that he would lower the rental price by 8k pa. That's 8k that will pay for a security shutter, the biggest expense for the DAC. 

So with the location sorted out it's time to move onto stage 2 Budgetting...not a fun part of the job but one which will need working out perfectly if your going to get it right. I'll cover this next time.

Afterword
I've now had 3 people independantly tell me that they think Battlepit wargames is too hostile a name for a shop which will be catering for teenagers, adults and children alike. Captain buildman pointed out that it sounds like some kind of fight club rather than a hobby store. Whilst that's kinda the point in my book i can't ignore that i've had two parents of young children tell me that they would be hesitant to bring their kids into the store. 

In response too this feedback i've decided that the store will be named "Red Giant wargames" and the upstairs gaming room will be the battle pit.


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## notsoevil (Nov 30, 2010)

I like Red Giant Wargames much better as a name.

Good luck with the retail venture. It's a tough world to compete in. I hope you can make it succeed.


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

Very exciting!

I think you made the right space choice.

Not to be negative, but isn't there something incongruous about having a "battle pit" in the upstairs? As opposed to a loft or eyrie or something?

Extra good luck!


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## Turnip86 (Oct 7, 2011)

I think you picked the right place. Just get that security stuff installed as soon as you can 

Looking forward to seeing your progress on this and I really hope you manage to get it off the ground so good luck  I'd offer to help in some way but I'm a bit far away.


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## GrimzagGorwazza (Aug 5, 2010)

It's been an age since i updated this log, or any log for that matter, i've been insanely busy getting "Red Giant" Ready but now she's ready to rock and/or roll.
Here are some vids i made on the run up to opening day.


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Nice to see you got it off the ground. Best of luck with everything, hope it goes well for you.

EDIT: Any discount for Heretics?


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## GrimzagGorwazza (Aug 5, 2010)

Khorne's Fist said:


> Nice to see you got it off the ground. Best of luck with everything, hope it goes well for you.
> 
> EDIT: Any discount for Heretics?


Funny you should ask, i'm actually doing ex vat on all GW stuff atm until Crimbo. 
I am opening two months later than i intended so i needed a way to get word out that i exist.
If you fancy getting your paws on a Helldrake for £37.50 for example, gimme a shout.
[email protected]


Edit: I can only place one GW order a week and i've done my one for this week so if i haven't got stuff in stock it'll take me a while to get ahold of it and send it on to you guys.


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

Hey, how's the business, Grimzag?


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## GrimzagGorwazza (Aug 5, 2010)

Kreuger said:


> Hey, how's the business, Grimzag?


Ah, sad times i'm afraid. The letting agency royally screwed me over. Basically when i was working out all of the figures the letting agency told me to expect to pay 14k in business rates. In fact the business rates turned out to be 37k. It meant that i went from having to find just over a grand for business rates each month to having to find more than 3k. That's in profit not in turnover. 
Sounds difficult but not impossible...the problem is that that still doesn't include VAT, Rent, Wages, credit card fees, paypal fees, online listing fees, utility bills. All told i would have needed to turn over nearly 200k a year..just to break even. Red Giant closed down as a store three weeks after opening.

Fortunately the first business rate bill turned up before i had signed the lease so i was able to bug out and have sold a lot of the stock on. Bits and kits took most of the GW stuff off of me which helped pay the bills.

Red Giant Ltd declared itself insolvent at the beginning of this month. 
I'll probably pick up trading as red giant wargames at a later date but i've still got a lot of digging to do to tunnel out of the mess setting the shop up left me in.


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

That's awful! You have my sympathies. 

Our business vernacular is a little different in the states, so forgive me (and correct me) if I misinterpret something.

How could the landlord have gotten the rental expenses so wrong? Ignorance, incompetence, or intentional misrepresentation?


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## BlackGuard (Sep 10, 2010)

Seems like a pain in the ass to open a business. My condolences and best wishes in the future.


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## GrimzagGorwazza (Aug 5, 2010)

Kreuger said:


> That's awful! You have my sympathies.
> 
> Our business vernacular is a little different in the states, so forgive me (and correct me) if I misinterpret something.
> 
> How could the landlord have gotten the rental expenses so wrong? Ignorance, incompetence, or intentional misrepresentation?


There are basically two costs for maintaining a business premises in the UK, you pay rent to the landlord and you pay business rates which are paid to the local council. Like homeowner tax but for business. In this case the rent was spot on but the "Estimated Council tax rate" was sooo far out of the ball park that there is no way i could achieve it, and because it's a value given by the government it is non negotiable. 
When i brought the fact that it was nearly three times what the letting agent had told me it would be, the letting agent said "that's why it's only an estimate, you should have checked with the local council."

So in this case i believe it was intentional, the letting agent were hoping that i would sign the lease and be locked in for 2 years before i discovered that their "estimate" on the council tax was bull. Fortunately i hadn't signed the lease because there were some structural issues i wanted resolved before i took the place on, no wheelchair access for example.




BlackGuard said:


> Seems like a pain in the ass to open a business. My condolences and best wishes in the future.


Honestly, it is a little bit of a nightmare. My advice to anyone trying to start up is start small, start with a single product and work your way from there. Start online and build the business so that it is self sufficient before you open a shop because business will always be slow when you start out. Make sure you have a fallback plan and don't lock yourself into nything which you can't get out of.

My shop failed this time but i learned a heck of a lot from it. Will i be reopening a store in the next few years? probably not, but i now have a much clearer idea on how i would do it if i did reopen a store.


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

Once again I'm sorry to hear the leading agent was so unscrupulous.

And thanks for the quick description of small business ownership in the UK. It's very similar in the States, but I think the tax and fees structure are different. It sounds like the municipal fees in you're area are pretty out of control.


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