Sharpening the Sword is a regular column by retailer John Riley of Grasshopper's Comics, a 1300 square foot comic and games store in Williston Park, New York.  This week, Riley talks about his experiences at the recent GAMA Trade Show.
 

I'm sorry there's been a lapse in articles the past few weeks.  Since this was the first year I was speaking at the GAMA Trade Show I've been swamped the past few weeks with show preparations.  Having just gotten back, I thought I'd spend an article going over my experiences at the show before jumping back into our study of Customer Service.  I'm going to preface this article by saying that I am on the GAMA GRD board and have been for the past six months.  That aside, those who know me know that I disdain politics (which is usually a lot of energy spent to accomplish nothing) and I'm only speaking about my own experiences here.

 

This was only the fourth GTS that I've attended, but once again it was definitely worth the trip for me.  Usually, I spend almost all my time in seminars or following up on seminars with private discussions arranged with the presenter.  For the past few years that has been a tremendous learning experience, and I literally came back from each show with a year's worth of work to improve my store.  But for me this year's trade show was all about communications and the ability to not only discuss business with other retailers, but also to have some very high quality discussions with manufacturers.

 

One of my main goals this year was sitting down with WizKids and getting the complete lowdown on the many changes they're making this year.  While I had initially supported them in their move to exclusive distribution, I was very nervous about their subsequent announcements regarding changes to their Clix lines.  While their dinner presentation was informative, being able to speak at length with Brand Manager Mark Tuttle on the show floor was worth the trip as we were able to discuss our concerns, get the complete details on the changes, and decide if we were going to continue supporting the line.  While I wasn't blown away by their new Star Wars CMG/CCG hybrid, I was very impressed by their plans for the Clix lines, which I think should position the product even stronger in the coming year.

 

Another standout experience this year was sitting down for almost two hours with Scott Dodson, the CEO of Tenacious Games (the publisher of The Spoils CCG) and devising ways in which he as a manufacturer can continue to support the brick and mortar stores and alleviate the pressure of the internet discounters on each expansion's initial release.  What was truly amazing about this was that this was a manufacturer who actually came to us to discuss this issue and was looking for retailer input.  Again, worth the trip by itself. 

 

We had similar experiences with a number of publishers, including the folks over at BattleFront Games (makers of Flames of War), the people at Blue Orange and Privateer Press.  And we were very happy to find the people at Family Games as we've known about their products but have been searching for them for over six months!

 

Unfortunately, not every publisher was there to share information.  Wizards of the Coast's presentation was brief and focused almost entirely on Magic and D&D, giving me the impression that they are retrenching in their core brands and not going to be taking major risks at least until 2008.  This seems like a sound idea considering that there have been very few successful product launches from anyone in the past few years, but I for one always appreciate it when a manufacturer just comes out and tells us these things rather than make us draw our own conclusions by examining what hasn't been said.  We're all partners in this and we should act that way.

 

One issue that seemed to be on the minds of many retailers this year was the policy of assigning pre-releases for major CCG's.  I am not really a CCG retailer (we specialize in miniatures and board games on the gaming end), so I was shocked at the number of retailers who said they were considering withdrawing support for a product or company based on what they view as inequalities in the pre-release tournament structure which drives many of their customers to a regional Tournament Organizer for the initial release, and costs the other retailers sales.  I saw the subject broached with quite a few manufacturers both publicly and privately, and all sidestepped the issue despite the retailers' desire to have some honest communication.  From the outside, this looks like an issue that manufacturers will be forced to address soon as the retailer resentment level seemed high.

 

This year I was very happy with the number of retailers I got to speak to and learn from.  The past few years I've tended to run with a small 'circle of friends' at the show.  But as I've gotten more involved I've seen that circle increase exponentially and this year was amazed at how many retailers were just incredibly willing to work together and share their store info.  I think that's really at the core of GTS, retailers working together to improve our industry, and the main reason I agreed to sit on the board this year.  With that in mind, I'd like to invite retailers to email me with their suggestions for things I can help improve while serving on the board.  Not everything may be within our power to change, but certainly within the realms of retailer education and communications I think we have quite a few opportunities this year. 

 

Retailers in our industry build communities within their stores that are not only absolutely incredible, but almost non-existent in any other form of retail.  I've never seen strangers stand and chat for an hour in the supermarket, yet it happens all the time in my store.  For many of us, our stores become part of our customers' lives.  So isn't it ironic that our retail community is so fractured?  I encourage everyone to become just a little more involved this year, whether it be by joining ComicsPRO or GAMA, the CBIA or the GIN, or contributing your thoughts here on ICv2.  We've got a lot to learn from each other, and the only way we can get our collective voice out there is to participate.

 

OK, I'm down off my soapbox.  Next week back to business again and Customer Service Part 3.

 

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.