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First this month, I would like to say that I was greatly saddened to read Bekah Hinds-Brofft's gaming article in last month's issue and find that Changeling is being cancelled. What? How can this be? It really is a shame. I've only started playing Changeling within the past year - well, honestly, I've never PLAYED it, Chris said that if I ever wanted to play it, I'd have to GM it, so I did! - but in that short time I've grown to love it. I'm always on the look out for Changeling books to add to my little collection. Now I see that my search is going to be even harder.
There's another reason why it will be harder for me to find Changeling books. You see, our local gaming shop, a very fine establishment called Things for Thinkers, closed without warning earlier in February. It was open on Thursday, and then closed on Friday. This came as a shock to many people, including the stores employees and the people who played their games there. My brother rode the bus there on Saturday, expecting to fulfill his Mage Knight warlord duties, only to find the place locked up!
Things for Thinkers was a wonderful store. They had a great selection of gaming books, ranging from the latest D&D supplements to core rule books for games from small companies. In addition, they had all the CCG and miniature games, a lot of pewter miniatures, puzzles, board games, dice, comics, etc. Really a "full-service" game shop. The employees were great, too. They knew their games, were always friendly and quick with a joke, and never too busy to help you find your favorite game after one of their frequent remodelings.
Understandably, I was wondering why a long-established (20+ years, I believe) store like that would suddenly close, not even leaving a note for their customers. Surely if a family or medical emergency had come up forcing the owner to close, they would have explained. I thought it was a great mystery, and then I found out the truth.
Things for Thinkers was located in a shopping center on a busy street in Tucson. I don't know how long they've been at that location, but at least as long as I've lived in Tucson (that's 10 years next month). It was a big store, right on the corner of the center. The storefront next to them went through several changes of business. Most recently a local business known as East Coast Super Subs decided to expand into that spot. This was within the past 6 months, by my estimate. They'd definitely been there next to a year.
As you can imagine, Things for Thinkers' employees and customers appreciated having a sub shop right next door and gave it a goodly amount of business. If the guys I play with are a good example, gamers have bottomless pits for stomachs. The relationship between the two businesses seemed good; leaving Things for Thinkers you would see an add for East Coast right by the door.
Well, some people get a good relationship going and they just have to take advantage of it.
Being on the outside, I don't know all of the details, but East Coast Super Subs was doing mighty good business, and the owner started thinking that he ought to expand... expand right into the corner shop that Things for Thinkers had occupied for at least 10 years. Business was so good in fact, that he was able to approach the owner of T4T (as we affectionately, lazily call it) and purchase the business.
We can all see where this is going, right? Yep. The new owner bought T4T specifically to close it down so he could have their storefront! Okay, I know that that's just business. It's cut-throat, no doubt about it. However, more than the fact that he bought a store which the local Tucson geek community relied on solely to close it, the thing that really annoys me is how he did it.
He didn't warn the employees. He didn't warn the customers. He didn't warn the game masters, war lords, referees, whatever, who ran their games in the back of the store. He didn't have a going out of business sale so we could all snatch up some discounted books. He didn't leave a note saying "Store permanently closed because I'm a greedy SOB, f- you, geeks!". He just closed it, simple as that.
Many people were left floundering in the wake of T4T's closing. I'm sure its employees were left searching for jobs. I know for certain though that people whose games were held in the back room were up the creek without a paddle. I know this because, as I mentioned before, my brother is the local Mage Knight warlord.
When T4T closed, my brother was left looking for someplace else to hold his Mage Knight matches. WizKids, the company which produces the Mage Knight line, only allows official games to be held at certified locations. As luck would have it, there is another such venue in town, a store called Hardcastle (also long-established) which specializes in Warhammer games. Of course, Hardcastle isn't a very large store, and the owner was scrambling to accommodate all of these homeless games.
Now, on a side note, the guy at Hardcastle has really been bending over backwards trying to help out. He's expanding his store and even renting an extra space that will be open for gaming 24/7, so long as a trusted key-holder is there to supervise things. He's also done his best to help reschedule all of the March events that were supposed to be held at T4T.
However, he can only do so much. WizKids has been difficult throughout this whole ordeal, on the other hand. They refused to allow my brother to change the venue for his March tournament, even though Hardcastle is also certified. Apparently they're also being troublesome over April, and aren't sending him the Limited Edition figures that he's supposed to receive for doing his job as a warlord. It doesn't help that T4T's new "owner" hasn't been picking up the mail that WizKids has been sending.
Of course, we every day gamers are left in the lurch, too. No other store in town has nearly the gaming book selection. There are a handful of other game shops in town, but every single one specializes in some CCG or Miniatures Game. It's really depressing to realize that you have an equal chance of finding the source book you need at Borders or the local gaming shop. We're left wondering what to do... do we start begging the smaller game shops to make room for tons of gaming books? Do we shop at Borders? Do we forget about the local economy and do all of our book shopping on-line, also removing the fun of instant gratification?
I wouldn't be so hurt if T4T had closed because the economy simply couldn't support the store anymore. But I really feel as if something precious to me, a store which I felt I could rely on whenever I needed a new book or some Cheapass games, has been ripped away from me because of one company's petty greed.
I for one will be boycotting East Coast Super Subs (not that I ever ate there in the past, mind you) and telling my entire gaming group about what happened. I'm also recommending that any of our readers in Tucson (or just passing through) do the same. Any business that grows by backstabbing its neighbors and customers doesn't need my support.
Tune in next month when I might get back on subject!
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