New Shop Venture Continues!!!

'Hard Sixes', the hobby gaming shop I'm opening with my friend Richard, is going full guns. The shop itself has now been secured and I have the keys - the rather simple job of redecorating begins today. The shop is in good condition so I think the painting will only take a day or so. Then it's bringing in the shelves, counter, tables, till and then finally stock.

I want to make sure that the shop itself does not only cater to the existing hobby crowd. It will be primarily for them - they'll be my bread and butter after all - but I need to make sure that I'm bringing new blood into the hobby. Those times I've walked into shops and seen an assistant sitting bored behind the counter... they could be using that time to organise events, get kids interested, think about ways to bring new and old gamers together. Contacting colleges, universities, gaming groups, all kinds of things.

This is going to be a job for me, first and foremost. The contents of the shop will not be my own private collection. It's also not a hangout for my gaming friends. I want them there, that's for sure, but it has to be for the right reasons. The last thing I want is for someone interested in the hobby to walk into the shop and then walk right out again when they see everyone in there staring at them with suspicion, like they just walkd into a private club.

These are my plans, my dreams. I'm going to be there six days a week every week for the foreseeable future. I want to make sure I don't waste any of that time.