Been a rough couple of months, but the current trend of Hobby Stores all either falling prey to Card Crack, or "We can Order That For You! (If they can tear themselves away from the Card Game and or WoW Raid they are working on to say that....), is getting to me. Someone find me a FLGS within reasonable driving distance of the armpit ofthe midwest here, and I shall buy you a beer of high quality come GC III time..... Heh....never thought it would be hard to give money to someone for putting a book on their shelf.....but *shrug*.... Would be nice if it's not much more then an Hour or so one way though. Folks keep telling me FLGS's still exist, but not feeling the love anymore... ~Rex....Luddite in good standing.
Hi Rex, I know 'Rockheads' used to be in Kenosha, just not sure if it's still there. Try to Goggle it & let me know what you come up with. For me it Nobleknight, in Janesville. It's only about a 35 minute drive, & being from this neck of the woods, I'm used to driving that far anyways. I also know of a War Hammer store about 1 mile east of I-94, just off of Hwy. 50, near the medical complex. & Kenosha's not the armpit of the world; it just smells that way. :lol:
http://www.games-plus.com/ Plug this into google maps and see how long it would take. It might be on the distant side of choices but it's an excellent store.
That's so sad, but true. In my area (Virginia Beach) there WAS a game store where the husband and wife played Evercrack all the time while open. It got to a point you felt by walking into the store you were interrupting them. No surprise they went out of business. Also, it's hard to compete against Amazon when they give you a 30% discount. I've talked to several shops over the years and stated that they didn't have to match Amazon- just give at least a 10% discount off of retail. That way people would be more inclined to buy from the local store (while getting a small discount). Sadly, the majority of owners I have spoken with just don't understand the power of the Internet- and business. And most, if not all, are no longer in business.
HA..I'll have to give the Janesville store a Shot......Rockheads is still in Kenosha, but since Brian sold it off, it's worthless as a gaming store unless you are looking specifically for some older left overs. It's pretty much a card player hangout and comic shop now. The rest, is "We can Order that...." Which of course I can always do myself.... My last trip down to Games Plus though, is what prompted the post. Suffice to say it was one of those retail experiences that leaves you standing there with money in your hand, scratching your head and going....."But I want to Spend Money...and you're giving me the brush off?" Though again, for left overs, Games Plus is a treasure Trove and has the best game auction in a three state area.... NobleKnight in Janesville doesn't sound like a bad trip though. Next batch of money I'll haul out there and see what there is to be seen. I don't expect stores not to try and make a profit, they don't have to give me Amazon Pricing at all, just take that extra step good Hobby Stores Owners used to do back in the day. Read the reviews, check the forums, get a grip on the trends, and put the book on the shelf so I can swing in every couple of weeks, flip through the stuff, grab a few hundred worth and then take them home to add them to the horde (And seriously, want to make a bunch of players mad, switch your Dragon's Horde over to a Book collection....and not even Magic books, heh...). Nowadays it's like the Hobby Stores are more of an obstacle, then a supply route. I miss the days even when I used to be able to get a game or a module at the old Stars and Stripes Bookstore at the PX, back in the heyday you know, much less being able to walk into a shop and have the owner or the minion go, Hey, how are you? What can I find for you.....or better yet, Oh you're a HERO games players (Or insert system of choice...) here fill this out and we'll see about stocking some stuff for you iof you want to be a regular.....that sort of thing. It doesn't take much really....but I digress. NobleKnight in Janesville.....if it pans out, certainly worth a spotted cow or three. ~Rex
Never been to this one, but heard about it from others. Looks promising: http://www.uniquegg.com/ Unique Gifts and Games Grayslake about 45 min south of you
As one of the owners of Games Plus, I am sorry you had a bad experience here. Would you care to fill me in on what happened?
Have you really exhausted all the Milwaukee options? I see a number of Google hits there that look like solid possibilities: http://www.game-universe.com/ http://boardgamebarrister.com/ http://napoleons.bizhosting.com/index.html etc
Hmm...It's hard to put into words.....and certainly was a combo of a bunch of little things.....I guess a way to put it is we were looking for a few things, but all we got in return was a helping of disinterested arrogance.....best way I can describe it. There's certain folks there that I always have a good experience with, and a couple of others that well, have almost pushed the envelope to a "Sons of Anarchy" response..... Normally that's something I'd shrug off, but it's not the first time and it seems to be progressive....*shrug* Could have been a bad Hair Day and we all have those, but it's a haul to get down there, and ending that with what amounted to a brush off handwave.....was annoying, and with today's economy, looking for something not annoying. Still. Great selection of paint and more so I'll get back down there eventually most likely but for now, unhappy with the place when I combine all the factors so looking for alternatives. I'll still point my Illinois Peeps that way though. I tend to pick up my board games from Board Game Barrister anyway......Game's Universe, has pretty much tanked out, shame, used to be the best place for HERO products and Odd stuff like HEX etc....Now, it's " Order that for you...", if you can get a word in across the card games......Napoleans though, been done a long time, since '05, mostly thanks to Games Workshop....Sites still up though for some reason. Some good suggestions though......keep 'em coming I'm making a map. ~Rex
Yeah greatest loss to FLGS's everywhere even more so then APG imploding into a bunch of little Order it For you stores...... Napoleans was top notch....miss the place and it was always a hoppin store to. ~Rex.....Really likes the sound of this Janesville place though......starts setting up the road trip.
Will do......will probably do my first recon mission out that way this week.....got some free time and a leisurly drive sounds like a good idea.....If they got the stuff, I'll round up a few other people and swing back with the cash, heh. ~Rex
If you go to their website you can pretty much see everything they have. You can also put it on a wishlist. Just so you know they open at 11:am on saturdays & are closed sundays. Here's their website.......................... http://www.nobleknight.com/ Happy hunting!
Finally got out that way. Great Shop, definitly going back to pick up a few things. Thanks for the heads up. ~Rex
Actually took the time to drag a few more folks up to this shop as well. Lot of hooked fish, and empty checkbooks, heh. Hell of a drive out that way but it's pleasent enough and a lot quicker to get to then a few other places I've been heading off to. My only real gripe, is that there is a fudruckers right there I have to drive past in order to get to the turn off for Noble Knight. Such temptation should not be concentrated within one little Wisconsin backwater town, heh. ~Rex
One thing Janesville has is a lotta good places to eat :!: My brother stopped by a place called The Texas Roadhouse. He said it was awesome! Just a wee bit down from Fudruckers, on the north side of Hwy. 14.
