Just curious, but has anyone ever seen or heard of a FLGS where the focus on gaming at the store is emphasized to the degree where they even have like a pizzaria or something at the store?
Nope, but such a thing would be awesome!
There's one in Rio Rancho (just outside Albuquerque, NM) that has a coffee shop.
There's one in Rio Rancho (just outside Albuquerque, NM) that has a coffee shop.
Ah, The Inquisitive. Looked up their website, they don't say much about themselves.
The problem with such a concept is that pizza is a greasy food, and collectors like to touch things. Keeping everything clean would be a real chore and you would have to mandate a rigorous hand-washing rule. All in all, I like the concept of bridging restaurants/Coffeeshops and Gaming stores.
The problem with such a concept is that pizza is a greasy food, and collectors like to touch things. Keeping everything clean would be a real chore and you would have to mandate a rigorous hand-washing rule. All in all, I like the concept of bridging restaurants/Coffeeshops and Gaming stores.
Have a Code Geass poster in the bathrooms that say:
"I Lelouche vi Britania command you to...wash your hands!"
That'll make any geek worth his dice wash his hands.
... I guess I'm not "worth my dice".
I mean, I wash my hands anyway, but a poster like that would make me tempted not to wash them.
*shrug*
But yeah, I can see the downside to serving "real" food with books and stuff that people obsess over. I mean, for every Cheetos person, you've got the white-glove one.
I still think it'd be cool. Though a cafe/coffee shop would probably work better - less overhead, too.
The problem with such a concept is that pizza is a greasy food, and collectors like to touch things. Keeping everything clean would be a real chore and you would have to mandate a rigorous hand-washing rule. All in all, I like the concept of bridging restaurants/Coffeeshops and Gaming stores.
Have a Code Geass poster in the bathrooms that say:"I Lelouche vi Britania command you to...wash your hands!"
That'll make any geek worth his dice wash his hands.
I hate that show...
But that would probably work. Personally, I would not serve pizza.
I'll play the part of the nitpicky Italian and remark that it's PIzzEria and not PizzAria 
but yeah, it's pronounced like "pizzariah"
The problem with such a concept is that pizza is a greasy food, and collectors like to touch things. Keeping everything clean would be a real chore and you would have to mandate a rigorous hand-washing rule. All in all, I like the concept of bridging restaurants/Coffeeshops and Gaming stores.
Have a Code Geass poster in the bathrooms that say:"I Lelouche vi Britania command you to...wash your hands!"
That'll make any geek worth his dice wash his hands.
I hate that show...But that would probably work. Personally, I would not serve pizza.
I wouldn't serve finger food.
Well, at the game store that I play at, I frequently see people, and myself, ordering Pizza or other finger foods. (In fact, a local pizzaria, when told to deliver to Third Planet Games, knows exactly where to go). It hasn't caused any issues thus far.
True you could have a coffee shop, but when you think of your average gamer, what do you think they are going to want to eat and drink during D&D (or other game; Warhammer, MTG, etc.)?
This is good to know, at any rate, for business plans I may or may not have.
Regarding soda: Not sure if it's normal, but the gaming store I most often frequent up in Albuquerque (in that I go there about four or five times a year) also sells bottled drinks. It's one of those fridges with a sliding door you often see near the checkout lanes of a grocery store or Wal-Mart. So while they don't sell real food, they do have soda. I was in the middle of placing a huge order one time (I was the treasurer for the campus gaming club so I was buying $500 worth of board games and game books) and I guess they had a tournament of some kind in the back going (war gaming or card gaming, didn't really pay attention) and there must have been someone coming up to grab a soda once every couple of minutes.
As for coffee... well, the library I work at has a coffee shop. Now, ours is free at the moment (they did the math. It was cheaper to give away the coffee then pay someone to sell it), but even back when we had illusions of being a coffee shop and library I was seeing lots of people who normally wouldn't be coffee drinkers grabbing a cup o' joe, just cause it's what was availible.
So yeah. Coffee shop + place where people are spending a lot of time (if you're running tournaments, or have game nights, or whatever) means that you sell coffee. Sure, they might prefer if you had something else, but if that means they have to leave or order out, then you're likely to sell some instead.
Or at least, that's my observations.
I think the idea has merit actually. Especially if you have a Gaming Day.
The pizza store used to have a somewhat antagonistic relationship with the FLGS. The employes would use the rear FLGS exit, go down the back stairs, and enter the pizza shop through the rear. (The pizza shop would leave the back door open to allow the heat to escape.) You can see where some folks mith take umbrage with this situation.
A few years ago, however, both shops got new managers, and are more friendly towards one another. The pizza shop now looks forward to the monthly game days. Most of the visitors to these events, like the fact, they can walk down a set of stairs, and easily acquire food & drink. The manager of my FLGS has only one rule regarding this: Clean up after yourself. Not an unreasonable request, and they keep an extra large trash can in the shop for this.