Help your store!

Steve Cole Writes: Are you having problems with your store's wholesaler?

At least once a month, I get an Email or BBS/Forum post from somebody whose Favorite Local Game Store is having trouble getting one of our products through their wholesaler. Once I get the complete story, I can usually fix it the same day. In the case of Alliance, I don't even have to fix it myself.

Alliance Games Distribution is the largest wholesaler in the US, being about 40% of the total US market, and twice the size of their nearest competitor. Just about every retail game store buys from Alliance, either as their primary or secondary supplier. Because Alliance is so big with so many clients, it has the largest number of errors, problems, complaints, gripes, and so forth. Not because they aren't good at their jobs, but because they are, well, just big. When the problem is with Alliance, I just send it to Mike Webb, Alliance's Vice President of Making Unhappy Customers Happy. And, every single time, Mike Webb fixes the problem, usually in under an hour. Just today, a store that had been unable to get a particular product for three weeks, was sent that product from one of Alliance's other warehouses, by the personal order of Mike Webb, who also authorized free shipping so the retail store did not have to pay extra because one of Alliance's four warehouses was out of one of the 70,000 products they stock. In another case a year or two ago, an Alliance salesman who was telling retailers that certain ADB products were out of print (so he didn't lose the sales commission when the store went to another wholesaler) was personally told by Mike Webb to stop fibbing to the stores or find another job.

If your store has a problem with any wholesaler, please contact me (design@starfleetgames.com) and I'll talk to the wholesaler and get it fixed. (I can't fix one problem, a wholesaler who won't sell on credit to a store that won't pay their bills.) To solve problems, however, I need the complete store info (name of store, complete address, Email address, phone number, and the name of the manager or whoever I need to talk to). If the problem is with Alliance, I'll just call Mike Webb. If the problem is with one of the other wholesalers, I'll call them and fix it myself.

And, if your store is one of the good ones that stocks our products on the shelves, and isn't having any problems at all, go ahead and Email me and Vanessa (marketing@starfleetgames.com) with their complete info (name, address, phone number, store hours, manager's name, store Email address) and we'll add them to our retailer locator and Vanessa will send them some signs and stuff. Try to get the store signed up for our Organized Play League. Run demos of our products in your store. Heck, while your hanging around the store waiting for a game, ask the manager if you can straighten shelves, empty the trash, or just pick up the clutter around the place. A good local store deserves your support.