Games Workshop has just announced their plans to close the Los Angeles Battle Bunker and turn it into one of their one-man stores.
This is an absolute shame, not only because it is my home base and I run the Apocalypse games out of there, but because it leaves a whole for all the gamers playing on their 22+ tables on a regular basis.
The obligatory big Space Marine statue. Love that it is Dark Angels!
The Battle Bunker was close to profitable according to GW, but the store doesn't fit the one man store model that GW is rolling out all over the nation. Basically GW wants to sell models and the support of that hobby by providing places to play is not a priority. Frankly, I find this attitude incredibly short sighted. With no gaming available, the Bunker will become just another store, and frankly in a BAD location. The only reason people went to Westminster is because of the Bunker. It is not the ideal location for a game store.
This photo shows the shop portion in the background from the front of the gaming room
The game room
And of course the question is will another game store pop up that replaces the bunker in that area. There is no reason to go to the bunker to pay full price if there is no support. Like many of us, we paid full price at the bunker, rather than go to Brookhurst Hobbies to get 20% off, because the Bunker was where we played. And they supported the game like no other store in L.A. Chris Cailor the bunker manager when I moved to L.A. was a great guy and became a good friend of mine and co-founder of SoCal Apocalypse and the first Big Game. James Bell, the bunker manager after Chris was the reason I went to the Bunker 3x a week, until James moved to Memphis and took over the GW Bunker there. However, without the gaming area, I probably won't even go to the bunker, and certainly I won't be buying there. Now my buddy Drew took over the GW store in Tustin, and I will probably go there to buy things I need from GW because I like him. But online discounters are going to see most of my money with no place to play big games.
So I wonder how you all feel about GW bunkers, one man stores and the role of your FLGS.
Loken