Re: [GZG] Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi!

John, they have done similar things here in the US. I am/was friends
with
several store owners in the are, when we still had stores in the area. A
couple smaller shops, who did a fair percentage of their business in GW
but
who were too small to justify ordering massive amounts received nasty
letters telling them that unless they were willing to increase their
support
of GW products they would receive little or no support from local GW
distribution. The letter even included several comments/statements
suggesting that perhaps the shop might want to consider focusing its
stock
on GW products more so that it would qualify for whatever support stores
were getting at the time.

This was a slap in the face for these stores who had loyally stocked GW
products but who also wanted to support the hobby as a whole - RPGs,
other
minis, hobby supplies, even toys and board games. Many of the stores
locally
had a hard time moving GW stuff after its initial release, falling
victim to
the flavor of the month syndrome on several occasions. Now, this is true
of
any game, to be honest, but when the outlay on GW is so much higher than
other games, this sticks the shops with a disproportionate amount of
money
sunk into GW products that won't move.

"I suspect that different business laws in the US made this tactic a 
bit harder for them to implement over there, which may explain why 
the attitude of many US gamers is less vehemently anti-GW than is 
often the case over here - but this happened a lot in the UK, and 
those who were in the hobby at the time have long memories.

All personal opinion of course, and YMMV as usual.....	;-)

Jon (GZG)"

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