Many choices I make are easy- as Kellvyn pointed out, putting more butts in seats on Friday for Friday Night Magic is a no-brainer. It's stupid NOT to do so. More people practically throwing money at me for the privilege of sitting in my store? Yes, please.
The risk comes in deciding whether to have open play space, and if so when? How many new product lines can I support, and do I have the customers to buy the new products?
There's a beautiful new display available from a certain model company that changes my stock requirements for their product line- it lessens it overall. The display is GORGEOUS; just drool worthy. However, it requires product from two lines that I don't carry. I don't carry them because I don't see any players for the lines; and I don't want to carry something I can't sell. However, lowering my overall stock requirements and gives me more space on my walls for other products is a big, juicy carrot. In deciding whether to buy the display, it's a huge balancing act. Do I value display over revenue? Can I generate sales for these lines despite not having a history of customers inquiring on the products? Does the lowered stock requirement beat out the investment? (You better believe I have to pay for this display, and it is NOT cheap. But MAN, it is beautiful!)
It's sort of like deciding whether to put this in the middle of my store. It's nice to look at, but will I SELL anything because of it? What if my customers like redheads instead of brunettes?
For us, our risks are more concentrated in the community area than anywhere else. While new product lines, more events and more tournaments are certainly things we want to add, our biggest concern is building all of this while keeping our sense of community. We value ALL of our customers equally; and despite many players feeling that the MtG crowd gets treated "better", we do our best to offer an environment where everyone feels welcome and appreciated by offering discrete days or slots for different types of gaming, as well as demos and giveaways for most kinds of games.
More space CAN mean more players for many things- but sometimes that might not be wise. Throwing in a roleplaying table on the side while FNM goes on is probably just going to make everyone involved frustrated. (Our FNM crowd is rowdy and has a lot of fun. They are certainly loud enough to annoy even a lighthearted RPG group.) However, offering tables for the Star Wars miniatures game on the same night as Malifaux is probably a safe bet (except many of our players enjoy both games and don't want to have to pick!). Creating an environment where the community can flourish and enjoy gaming is not just about putting butts in seats, it's about managing how people interact with each other.
While this issue has been shorter than I like, it's a prelude to an article I hope to write very soon about how to grow and keep a community, and what that means to us vs what it might mean to another store. I don't know if I will be back next week as we open at the new store on Monday and then I go out of town Wednesday (yes, I am crazy!) but I'll have something very good for you when I return.
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