And, in stranger news, Christian Petersen buys back the FFG Games Center

Which will now be known as The Gamezenter (Game - zen - ter): gamezenter.com/

He set up a venture capital firm and now this business (Gamezenter, Inc.) I guess Asmodee's owners are now in the process of cutting away everything that isn't eminently profitable before they auction off the corpse?

I am not surprised. His venture capital firm has been curiously inactive so far, aside from hiring quite a few former FFG employees that were laid off by Asmodee in recent years. I would not be shocked if Christian eventually buys back FFG from Asmodee.

Shellhead wrote: I would not be shocked if Christian eventually buys back FFG from Asmodee.

I thought that too.
Which would make a nice redemption-story arc:
CP Begins FFG in the 90's.
FFG gains popularity, people dig their games, and CP becomes well-known.
FFG starts flogging the boardgame expansion horse, as they (and he) slowly become the villains of their own success.
FFG sells out to Asmodee in 2014.
CP disappears into the hinterlands with his Asmodee payoff.
Asmodee establish themselves as even bigger villains than FFG/CP in their heyday.
CP rides in on his wild pegasus to buy back FFG from the eeeeevil clutches of the corporate Asmodee, and sets about returning FFG to its former glory.

I'm not sure if I am rooting for or against Asmodee selling FFG back to CP but hanging on to all the rights to Terrinoth. Do I want more Runewars?? I can only imagine what kind of bloated kickstarter madness a Descent 4th edition or whatever might be.

The original FFG event center was relatively small, though it had a nice cliffside view due to a quirk of local geography. Seating was comparable to that of a large gaming store with open gaming space. The retail area was comparable to that of an average gaming store. No food or beverages available on site, but people were welcome to bring their own or get food delivered.

The current FFG event center is large. Not large like a full convention center, but certainly big enough to host a few hundred gamers. The site has a kitchen that offers a small but decent menu of appetizers and meals, and they have a liquor license so they can serve beer and wine. No outside food or beverages allowed, and the site seems to support itself profits from the food and beverages and games in the retail area, plus admission fees for tournaments and special events. On any given night pre-pandemic, the parking lot was packed and the primary gaming space was full. The secondary gaming area used for special events was also usually open to normal gaming, but typically only 10% of that space was used. People tended to play miniatures games and small board games in the main room, while role-playing and larger board games were more common in the second gaming area.

As a local who often plays at the FFG Event Center, my main concern about Christian buying back the event center is the possibility of an admission charge. His original game plan for the event center was to make gamers either pay a small admission fee or get an annual membership. Within a couple of months of opening, he changed it to free admission except for special events and tournaments. Depending on whether or not he got a good deal, he may or may not bring back the admission fee.

Assuming that things get back to normal by fall, I expect that Asmodee will periodically rent out the event center for organized play events. And maybe there will be a discount for food and beverages for Asmodee employees at the event center, since Asmodee's North American headquarters is still right across the parking lot from the event center.

Don't know how it works in the US but clubs/groups in the UK have to pay a fee for using a premises (or play for free at pubs with smaller tables and expectation to buy a drink and/or food) so I can't see anything wrong with him charging people to play - a monthly or annual fee sounds pretty good.

I always thought that if I became wealthy enough to be able to afford to lose money, I would take my friend up on his offer to buy his flgs from him so he could retire. Then I would switch locations and make it more of a club environment.

I know you have Real Live ex-game-shop owners here on TWBG to bless us with firsthand knowledge. But one game shop owner I know was running two game shops plus an internet cafe, and was making enough profit to rent an apartment and own a cat.

It seems like Peterson likes gaming and being around gaming, and this gets him back in it without having to start from scratch.

One challenge for an admission fee would be the free competition from local game shops. None of them are even remotely close to the FFG Event Center in terms of capacity, but there are several that have space for at least a couple dozen gamers or more. One of the biggest is just a couple of miles away from the event center. On the other hand, the event center had clean, well-lit bathrooms, which is probably why a disproportionate number of female gamers go to the event center. Your average comic/game store tends to have a single unisex bathroom, and the cleanliness is about on par with a nasty truck stop bathroom.

Shellhead wrote: Your average comic/game store tends to have a single unisex bathroom, and the cleanliness is about on par with a nasty truck stop bathroom.

This.

When we used to travel for Vs. tourneys that were not being held in a convention center, my job was to google maps the closest usable bathrooms in a 2 block radius.

My owner acquaintance made it a point of making sure the facilities were clean. The play areas were clean and well-lit, as were the bathrooms. It was as family-friendly as it could get.

Yeah, at one of the local places there are signs all over the one bathroom, telling people things like: "Don't be a child. Clean up after yourself." It seems like something that would normally be ignored, but it's pretty effective, since I don't recall ever having walked in there to a mess and the store usually has a decent population of gamers of all genders.

Caveat - I've never been to the FFG event center. But from what I've read, it sounds like something that paying a nominal fee for would be worth it. Problem with a lot of game stores that have event spaces is that those spaces are heavily dedicated to OP in Magic and other CCGs. So any Friday night that space is packed ( in non pandemic times of course ) . We used to have a long weekend of gaming at at a friends store a few times a year and basically had to find other spaces on Friday . Sure those store may not charge for the space per se, but the OP participants are buying boosters, etc. People may balk at paying for event space but get real - that space ain't free to the owner. "But I buy a candy bar and a liter of Mtn Dew every once in awhile ! ". That ain't gonna cut it. Monetizing event space is def one of the more challenging aspects of the new game store model .

Many bonus points if the space and bathrooms are clean an uncluttered.

I've always heard that women's bathrooms were the nastiest places on earth, is that not true?

The one summer I had to work fast food bore that out. Though the race, if there was one, was close.

Msample wrote: Problem with a lot of game stores that have event spaces is that those spaces are heavily dedicated to OP in Magic and other CCGs. So any Friday night that space is packed ( in non pandemic times of course ) . We used to have a long weekend of gaming at at a friends store a few times a year and basically had to find other spaces on Friday .

Yep. The store I'm referring to (Fun4All Games) is similar in that respect. They have a dedicated MTG crowd and it's pointless to go there on Fridays (Friday Night Magic) and the weekends are usually given over to tournaments of some kind. They had a dedicated night on Wednesdays for RPGs and board games, which is when I was going. Other nights were usually open space for whomever showed up.