I have decades of experience at multiple tiers in the tabletop gaming industry. My first income in the industry came writing for Dragon Magazine (with my very first submission) in the early 1990s. I soon discovered that one magazine couldn’t keep up with my productivity and began writing for everybody else, too. I eventually sold to nearly every market in the industry. By then, a new opportunity arose.
I bought War Dogs Game Center–my first retail store–in 1999, paying less than an existing offer the seller had already on the table. I paid down my acquisition debt ahead of schedule and improved the store by every metric. Eventually I exited retail to return to writing full time.
In 2007, I began writing The Business of Gaming Retail, a regular column on RPG.net. I had noticed that in that page’s industry forum, the question of how to open a game store reappeared regularly. Bad information from outsiders followed, then as the discussion rotated off the front page, somebody asked the same question. I began writing a comprehensive, thorough discussion on game retail. My first article after an introduction–How Much Do I Need–soon became one of the most-read articles on the site.
After several award-winning gaming books, I launched another game store in 2013. At the six-month mark, sales at Friendly Local Game Store were within 1% of the pre-launch sales projection, demonstrating my ability to predict sales trends. In 20 months, the store doubled in size. It became the largest store in Florida. Within 10 years, Lloyd had increased revenues at his new company by over 2,500%, partially by acquiring two additional locations.
Also in 2013, Skirmish Publishing published the Game Retailer’s Guide, my book on starting and operating a retail game store. That book became a Platinum Best-seller on DriveThruRPG, the leading site for tabletop gaming content. It has outsold 99% of the titles on that platform and has provided thousands of retailers with a model to follow when starting their own stores. I have recognized that the book is losing relevance as the industry changes over time. I am drafting a new book for gaming retailers that updates and expands on the GRG. Opening a Tabletop Game Store should hit the market in 2026, hopefully with a companion book, Buying a Tabletop Game Store.
This extensive and varied experience in the tabletop game industry has provided me with deep and broad experience about how game stores work and how they fit within the larger industry. One of the hardest parts of drafting your own business plans is projecting what your store will see in revenues. I can do that. If you’re opening, buying, or growing a game store, let’s talk.