Wargames Shops do they still exist?

[syrinx0]

Scale Creep is more of an internet store but he does host games on some Saturday's.  He has a good historical selection and great customer service.  The true game shop in the Chicago area is Games Plus. Big store, well stocked with quite a few gaming groups meeting there.  I get there every now and then for special events as its a bit of a drive.

[Conquistador]

In the United States, not really.  Haven't seen one in ages.  Now the hobby shops are 95% collectible card games and premium board games (Fantasy Flight etc.) with a small 40K/Warmahordes section and that's about it.  They're friendly to gaming but the closest you'll see to "wargaming" is Flames of War.  All of these shops will gladly order damn near anything yo want ---- but I haven't seen a historical/combat/wargames based store in a decade or more.

Here in Saint Louis "Game Nite" has a decent section for miniatures war game figures but slanted towards "popular" SF, Fantasy, and Steam Punk stuff but Historicals also.

[MartinR]

As noted above,  Wargames Emporium in Sheffield is very good.  I go there a lot.  There are also several  model shops in the city,  which is handy.

[3 fingers]

With the one I linked ,talking to the owner he sells a lot of small stuff to kids with pocket money/paper round money ,cards etc
He gets another guy who doesn't live locally but infrequently visits and has a big order,
He does get busy Saturday and evenings with school kids ,I think he has 3-4 tables in there ,I can't remember.
He was/is doing some tournament type games.

[jambo1]

One in Inverness or sort off!! mainly MTG and other card games but they do stock Warlord stuff and other bits and bobs.

[Hummster]

Dark Sphere in Waterloo is worth a vist

Though they have moved closer to Lambeth North tube now, again they are a big stockist of the GW, Mantic, etc games rather than historicals.

[eilif]

Scale Creep is more of an internet store but he does host games on some Saturday's.  He has a good historical selection and great customer service.  The true game shop in the Chicago area is Games Plus. Big store, well stocked with quite a few gaming groups meeting there.  I get there every now and then for special events as its a bit of a drive.

I think you can still drop in to scale creep miniatures if you call ahead.
http://www.scalecreep.com/catalog/storedetails.php
I've been by and stuff is on shelves and accessible so you can shop like a traditional store.  If you're in Chicago and into historical stuff, it's defintitely worth stopping in.

Games Plus is of course the true Chicagoland full-bore wargame store. They also have lots of board games and some CCG's, but it's a Wargame store at heart.  As well as GW, PP and the other biggies, they have the full range of  Reaper (It's a very long aisle) and lots of other manufacturers.  They even have a decent selection of historical stuff and a ton of small-shop stuff that I've only seen online or at conventions.  A must-visit if you're in the Chicago area.

The old "Rummage" wargaming and military model shop in the suburbs was "Proseks" but they stopped bringing in new stock over a decade ago when the owner passed and I think the last of the stock was sold off a few years back.  It was next to my hometown and I have alot of fond memories about that place from when I was a kid. 

[Connectamabob]

I quite like brick-and mortar shops for a number of reasons. They're great for consumables: when you need some Evergreen stock for some project, and the best way to figure out the right size is to bring the part you're working on to the shop and compare it with the stuff on the rack. Or when you're looking for paints, and you want to make sure you're getting the right colors/shade, IMO being able to look through the paint display in person is the best. When it comes to blister pack figures, it's nice to be able to pick through the rack and find the ones with the best molding.

Having an employee you can ask about stuff in a simple 1 minute conversation instead of a 1 week (or longer) email chain is super underrated these days, IMO. Seriously, email is great for a lot of things, but customer service ain't one of them.

Problem is the closest such shops to where I live are an hour and half round trip and half a tank of gas away. It's like I live in the one exact spot in the county that has the greatest equidistance from all non-RC-dedicated hobby shops. Way back in the day when gas was cheaper and I had more time, that wasn't a big deal, but these days I can only visit these places as a once-a-year (if that) opportunistic side-bar to some other grand expedition. Thus the scarcity of shops is at least partly a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[Jabba]

The Games Room in Norwich (29A Elm Hill, Norwich NR3 1HG, 01603 628140) has a good mix of stuff. Oh and a great second hand book store next door.

https://www.facebook.com/TheGamesRoom

Tony

[Hammers]

There are a couple of rather big ones i Stockholm.  SF Bokhandeln, Dragons Lair, for example. There even is one in my little town. The recent Rise of the Boardgames seems to be holding the the old miniature games under their arms. Also you have to be careful not to knock all the GoT bobble heads and Pokemon Go fluffy toys off the shelves.

[jp1885]

The model shop in Hereford has a good selection of Bolt Action and Perry stuff, as well as paints and such.

[Malamute]

The Games Room in Norwich (29A Elm Hill, Norwich NR3 1HG, 01603 628140) has a good mix of stuff. Oh and a great second hand book store next door.

https://www.facebook.com/TheGamesRoom

Tony

Yep, been going to that shop since the late 1970s when I first saw the advert in Military Modelling. I am amazed it is still going.

[sukhe_bator]

Like Malamute I'm amazed The Games Room in good old Naarch is still going strong - way to go! Glad to hear from Humakt that Rochester is still thriving...

[3 fingers]

The model shop in Hereford has a good selection of Bolt Action and Perry stuff, as well as paints and such.

And a really impressive amount of model kits for alternative vehicles, sadly I haven't had the urge to visit Hereford,as sunshine radios always telling me how bad the traffic is there.

[armchairgeneral]

Another vote for the Wargames Store in Brimstage on the Wirral. They provide wargames tables for hire as well.

http://www.brimstageforge.co.uk/gaming-centre.html