[MarzM]

I just thought that i'd post this up as it was in today's paper, and well i actually read something more than just the sports section.

This was in the "Metro" free paper that i get on the way to work.

" Fantasy games retailer Games Workshop is to close 35 stores after issuing its second profits warning of the year. About 280 staff - ten per cent of its work force will lose their jobs. It said a fall in sales was the "hangover" following the boom at the time of The Lord Of the Rings Films."

Again yet another reason to hate Lord of the rings!

I also have it from a good source that this will be news to a lot of the uk managers but some continental managers got told before the more informed of the UK managers. Apparently GW is seeing a decline of sales in both Germany and France so not all the losses will be in the UK.

Well all i can say is "NO SHIT" the sales are falling. The prices are to bloody high! Well we'll see what happens in the coming weeks and months.


MarzM :mrgreen:

I edited this just to add this link for those who are interested;-

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/art...HOL331594_RTRUKOC_0_GAMESWORKSHOP-WARNING.xml

 

[Viscount Vash]

The link to Reuters made for a good read if you like fiscal jargon and rose fertilizer (its a bit like listening to a politician.)

GW spent a lot of dosh sorting themselves out to produce and market LotR so they have made a balls up again on a licenced Products range. ( I think they got a good slapping on the old Judge Dread stuff but the outlay was minor in comparison.)

Gotta feel sorry for the store staff.
Balance will be restored or the spiral will start, it is as granny used to say "wait and see pudding".


That reminds me where are those Mechs.

 

[Jacobite]

Maybe they may get the message that their prices are, in a fair part, causing the sales to drop and go back to the good old days.

Either that or as Vash said they will hyke the prices more and do even worse.

 

[Viscount Vash]

The good ole days are dead and buried, gone is the funny little company that was run by hobbiests, bean counters rule such things now and if GW holds no further interest for such as they then its been shut down.

 

[Jacobite]

Lets just hope that never happens.

 

[nightmarine]

its not too hard to figure out LOWER PRICES!! $30+ (or wutever the UK guys r charged) for about $1 of plastic will not attract people. instead of raising prices, they should lower them and advertise a bit.

 

[Anphicar]

dammit this would suck.

 

[Herbert]

Well in defense of GW I have to note these few points.

In a market where companies have gone to the wall in recent years GW has stayed strong and our core games 40k and Warhammer have not suffered. They licesned lotr at a time when the company could have been looking at being taken over or itself goin bust. Lotr was a financial lifeline for them. They will continue to milk it for all its worth, a lot of us true gw hobbyists have no interest in the lotr and dont buy into it but some people do.

As for the interview with GWs head bean counter Michael Sherwin in the Reuters news article I have to say this. He has held over a dividend for shareholders and continued to invest in the development of the business. This means that the company will continue to develop the 2 core game systems including new moulds. In short he is looking after the games first and the shareholders second to the detriment of the companys standing and reputation in the financial markets. We all have to applaud them for this.

I too sympathise for the staff that will be laid off, with luck they will find new work soon. May their dices all be 6's

 

[Ordo Xeno Commander]

haha thanks for that Herbert, thats a good slice of info. now we just pray that they make it over this hurdle, which from reading the previous post, they should. hopefully

 

[the cabbage]

I feel sorry for the shop staff but never really use the shop's so it won't have any impact on me.

I wonder how much GW rely on the shops to bring in new hobbyists? If they don't then close them all and reduce prices as an internet retailer.

 

[torealis]

$30+ (or wutever the UK guys r charged) for about $1 of plastic will not attract people.

you gotta remember youre not just paying for parts. THe developmental cost of the plastic is absolutely enormous. a new plastic mould costs somewhere in the region of the hundreds of thousands of pounds sterling. Not to mention R&D costs, staff and floor costs.

Also, it should be noted that the misplaced apostrophe in the topic title makes for a very misleading title.

 

[Jezlad]

I actually don't think the prices are that excessive.

A fair sized army costs £250, you name another hobby in which £250 will buy you something that lasts a lifetime?

Footballers need new boots every year, boxers need new gloves. Take a playstation 3 for example. People will spend upwards of £600 on the machine and games. In 5 years it'll be worthless junk - at which point my £250 army will still be tearing up the battlefields.

 

[Skcuzzlebumm]

I think its that over the past few years they have been have bi or nearly even tri yearly price hikes which is getting a bit silly and putting a lot of ppl off.

I myself rarely buy stuff in store now, i tend to plan my armies and then get is off and online retailer at 25% discount. GW gets my paint, WD sub and the odd little model it aint worth buying online.

Sorry getting it 25% cheaper else where means thats where my money goes.

 

[cccp]

considering a lot of their customers are kiddies, eccessve price rises are quite rude. their parents wont continue to pay for hat they see as a little piece of plastic.

 

[Rahb]

Consider if you will that one of my former employers charged clients $0.28 CDN for a CD to be manufactured from liquid plastic resin, to fully metalized, programmed, printed, and packaged product... what do ya think it costs for mini's? to get a run though a moulder?

 

[Sei 'fir]

OK so if on the stock exchange at the moment the stock is being sold at an asking price of at 263 gbp and there are 603 minus people who don't logon say 590
2gbp each would be 1180/263

we could obtain 4 units of stock

no corporate take overs anytime soon :drunk:

 

[Barney the Lurker]

I agree with Jezlad that overall the hobby is still good value for money, especially when compared to other hobbies out there. Factor in to that I can play instore just about every week, and even twice a week recently, I think we do have a good deal.

However, I do think the prices are at a 'breaking point' now and are probably too high so, like Skuzz, I buy my stuff mainly by army and order it at once online and than make any odd purchases, blisters etc, instore.

At the end of the day every company has ups and downs, and I do think GW are at a low now but feel they are going to start improving soon. I honestly don't think that LOTR was a bad thing for them, sure short term they have felt the effects of the bubble bursting, but they did get a lot of money from it which paid for a HQ in the states and let them improve the plastics no end. All this has given them a really good platform to bounce back from.

I've been into GW for over 10yrs now, it is a huge part of my life right now and I do honestly hope things get better.

 

[pathwinder14]

When compared to other hobbies, GW is cheap...yes. When compared to other table top war games it is the most expensive one out there. Warmachine has only just recently (last year or so) become as expensive as GW. Other than that a majority of the games out there are a lot cheaper.

That being said, we need to ralize that GW is top dog in the table top War Games world. You want the best, you're going to pay for it.

The thing that really bothered me was the 300% price hike of the greater daemons when they were resculpted in the late 90's/early 2000's by Trish Morrison. Awesome models, but a 300% price hike?

GW re-did the land raider and it went from a $30 tank to a $50 - $55 tank.

WTF????

 

[nobrot]

You got to think that Gw wants to keep its physical shop presence to keep getting the kids and more importantly there parents, in to get them "hooked" and the money rolling in. A large portion of there income is from there mail order and online but according to there own info the large majority of new customers come in through there doors not online. Its going to be a tough one to manage as there in the same boat as all the other high street stores, the cost to have a physical shop compared to a central store and running the rest online is going o go through the roof in the next few years. With GW wanting to stay where they are they are going to be at a serious disadvantage to the other table top games out there that rely on other stores/online purchases.

The upshot is that sooner or later GW will have to listen to what the players want in the system to keep them buying, might take 300 years but hey

 

[hephesto]

Although I like the lotr minis, I can't help but agree that it is causing a lott of problems for GW and our beloved 40K system. The thing I just can't understand is that they say that lotr is experiencing a decline in sales, yet they keep putting out more models and books. The next one is already on the horizon.

GW's rather 'unique view' of marketing and customer services linked with the general bad rep us 'toysoldier'-collectors get isn't helping the sales either.

Still I think/hope GW will be around for a least another 20-30 years, lets face it we all moan and complain about the suspicious prize rising but we still buy a lott of their stuff. Now if they only stop with the would 'we need more space marines'-vibe and get some stuff for other races such as Orks and Dark Eldar. I'm a chaos fan and I can't wait for the new dex and models, but I'd be very much willing to just wait another year if Orks and Dark Eldar would come first. Both of those armies deserve the update a lott more than chaos.