joebear
Joined: Jun 16, 2012
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  Posted:
Dec 14, 2012 - 13:37 |
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Hi all,
I've been mulling over a business idea for several years now, and I am finally gathering the courage and momentum to take the first steps to starting my own business.
I am going to start a board gaming cafe. The plan is to have large collection of games in store. People can come in and play as many games as they like as long as they like, and there would be a recommended donation of $3 per player, but I wouldn't actually charge people (of course, people would have to pay for food and drink when they ordered it). For all of you Berliners, it would be a bit like Spielwiese, which is a truly awesome little shop:
http://www.spielwiese-berlin.de/
Unlike Spielwiese, I would place a bit more emphasis on coffee, food, and other refreshments. I do not intend to cater to the miniature crowd, as I want the clintele to be a bit more casual. Certainly no collectible card singles or anything like that. (Though I may carry some Blood Bowl stuff, and run an in-shop league! )
New games would also be available for purchase, though there would probably be many more "rental" games than new ones.
The number one thing to make this work is to find a good location with a strong gaming community that would support this. It's obviously impossible for me to seriously scout out more than 2 or 3 U.S. cities, so I welcome any and all input on good places in the U.S. that I should consider looking at.
I currently live in Boston, so I am scouting out some locations here, but I think there already might be too much competition and the rent is generally extremely high. (Plus the weather stinks.) I really look forward to your input!
~Joe |
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Corvidius
Joined: Feb 15, 2011
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  Posted:
Dec 14, 2012 - 19:42 |
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We have something similar in Edinburgh (Scotland) called Edinburgh Game Hub. It's a good concept when done right and it feels almost like an inclusive mini convention whenever I'm in. Sorry I can't help on location but I wish you every luck in the endeavour. |
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Nekosama
Joined: Apr 29, 2004
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  Posted:
Dec 14, 2012 - 19:49 |
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joebear
Joined: Jun 16, 2012
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  Posted:
Dec 16, 2012 - 03:28 |
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Thanks for the responses! Afk tavern looks like a cool take on this idea. I want more of coffee shop than a tavern, but I totally a want to visit that place now...
Anybody else who can think of good locations? |
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Timlagor
Joined: Feb 13, 2009
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  Posted:
Feb 19, 2013 - 18:49 |
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I'd reckon you're probably looking for either a large student population or somewhere a lot of graduates go (do graduates hang around after graduation?)
That said I'd make a really big effort to have the best coffee in town and make sure you have exciting very-easy-to-learn and quick-to-play games to suck in 'non-gamers'.
Best of luck from the UK! |
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