Wargames West CEO Wayne Godfrey announced that the company would be shutting down after more than twenty years of serving retailers with a full line of strategy, role-playing, and collectible card games.  The company stopped placing orders on Dec. 11, and will cease receiving merchandise after Dec. 21.  Regular sales operations and 800 lines will end operations after Dec. 28.  Godfrey announced to vendors that all debts 'will be reconciled and paid with return merchandise as we can mutually agree.'

 

For retailers, Wargames West intends to offer additional discounts for bill payment and closing orders.  The Wargames West sales staff will be contacting retailers to assist in closing out the accounts.  Wargames West has arranged with ACD Distribution for a seamless transfer of retailer accounts that should be accomplished with a minimum of hassles.  Wargames West will provide ACD with access to credit records 'as law permits,' and will refer its customers to other gaming distributors if requested.  ACD is also currently negotiating with some of the estimated 29 employees who worked for Wargames West. 

 

Since opening its distribution facility in Memphis, Tennessee Wargames West, which began as a regional game distributor in the southwest, was well-positioned to ship to stores nationwide.  That facility will close as part of the shut-down, as will Wargames West's facility in New Mexico.  According to ACD CEO Rich Kummer, ACD will service all of its customers (including those formerly serviced by Wargames West) from Madison, Wisconsin. 

 

2001 has been a year of serious consolidation among game distributors.  Just last month Zocchi distribution closed up shop (see 'Zocchi Distribution Closing Its Doors'). Earlier this year Alliance, the country's largest game distributor (owned by Steve Geppi, who also owns Diamond Comic Distributors), acquired Berkeley Top Line and Barchetta, two West coast game distributors (see 'Alliance Acquires Berkeley Top Line & Barchetta'). 

 

ACD was able to hire and relocate Bill Joffe Jr. of Zocchi as of the end of November (after hiring two other Zocchi employees--Dan Sord and Jarred Saxman--over the past 1.5 years).  This gives ACD at least some continuity with two of the departed distributors in the current consolidation, while Alliance has connections with more, reflecting its greater size.      

 

While the inconvenience that retailers experience when a distributor goes down can be considerable, so can the disruption created in the lives of employees when a company with over twenty years of operations shuts down.  ICv2 certainly hopes that the Wargames West employees will find new employment in the industry if they so desire, and we urge any company looking for employees with experience in the games category to contact Wargames West as soon as possible.