I wonder if the on-line supplier/store proprietor model could work for game stores as well? The best of both worlds as it were.
BillN
Actually there's an online board game site that also has a retail space in my town (
www.boardgamerevolution.com
). I discovered them last summer because they were setting up tents along the side of the road on Saturdays and selling stuff at online prices. They usually had tons of Settlers, Ticket to Ride and Killer Bunnies they would sell. Then in the fall they set up a retail space. Well it's in the basement in one of those office building developments. So it's not like they have a store in a strip mall or anything. But they still sell games at internet prices. They're pretty friendly and enthusiastic about gaming. They're starting to recognize me in there and they'll order anything for you that you want. They also have a game library you can rent from and they've started a game night in their store. So it's been pretty great to be able to buy games at discount prices and not have to worry about paying shipping. I haven't checked any games out of the game library, but if you do it's like 10% of the cost and if you decide you want to buy it they'll put how much you rented the game for towards your purchase.
I really like how they operate and hope they stay in business.