Entirely changing the store layout wasn't something I decided to do lightly, but the time had come. With the hobby market now making up 50% of our business, it had long since gone past the stage of being a nice little bolt on and turned into something significant.
And so now we have a dedicated gaming area and we've cramped up the toys a little. What difference will it make? Of course the gaming fans are delighted that they now get to play in more comfort. Will that lead to more revenue? Not sure, but we'll find out over time - I hope so and I think it will. How will the toy customers react? That's a bit more difficult to judge.
On the one hand, when we're running in store gaming, we'll now be able to keep the players out the way of other customers (previously on big Sunday tournaments, there was no way for anyone else to get inside the place). On the other, will they see it as geeky? Will they think there's less toy choice because it takes up a slightly smaller space? Hmm. We'll find out. Initial reaction seems OK, but time will tell.
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