So strolling thru Oak Park,IL today to catch a matinee of the new Riddick movie, I walked by the old stomping grounds of Games Workshop, Oak Park, and noticed the big sign in the window they are closing on 9.22.13 . A textbook lesson on how to "Kamikazee a great retail location with constant foot traffic and a huge public High School and Library within walking distance. "GWOP" as we used to call it went from gaming mecha and after hours club hangout with never less than a dozen people in the store and three employees at all times...to one man store run by super fan and awesome guy, who was really reaching out to the kids. to generic one man red shirt, tumble weeds and crickets chirping. Maybe my pal Jeff who used to run it will muse how he made that place a kick ass gaming store from 2007 to 2009. Anyway the writings been on wall for sometime well see what happens to GW overall, I read they want to sell it off . Games Workshop , Oak Park 2007-2013..I'd say I'd miss you but I think I have been in there 2 times in the last 3 years, maybe something useful will take over that location.
6 comments:
Bummer, sounds like it was long in coming. No chance it being resurrected I suppose.
Oh dear. In the UK they have moved to empty one-man stores in many locations.
Hmmm. Makes you wonder if they are aiming to reduce the whole thing to an online store only? That would certainly cut costs...
Never really understood the one man store concept. I understand that it each employee represents a lot of cost for the store but one guy cannot really do what a GW store is supposed to do for introducing new players. Who mans the till why you give demo games or talk about different armies and games.
Our local store went through exactly that same process of decline into vacancy. The one-man staff guy I actually liked quite a bit, but it was rumored that he was a "Commissar" whose mission it was to execute the store after a certain amount of time.
I hypothesized a while ago that GW might become an IP-only company, farming out every aspect of their business to other companies for fulfillment, but I have a hard time seeing them do that with the miniatures side of things. If they were empowering local retailers I'd say they were aiming to close all their company owned stores. If they were opening more company stores I'd say they were out to take control of their retail presence. Currently, I'm perplexed. Maybe they just make a lot of trial and error mistakes. It certainly would not be unprecedented in the corporate world.
Ah John I remember the good old days, they were fun. This closing however has been written the books since day one, the lease was non renewable, we tried to get the lease for ten years at the time, but the landlord has other plans for the property. I believe that whole site is the focus of a possible hotel in oak park, I know the landlord wants to tear down and rebuild regardless.
Post a Comment