Talking Shop

Who wants to play?

Rachael Simpson-Jones spoke to indie retailers who specialise in Games & Puzzles to find out what’s hot in the category this year and how they stimulate sales in store.

Colin Wilcock and Christopher Millward - Co-owners, Mind Games Southport

We’re trading very well so far this year, and we’ve gained a pleasing number of new customers. We’re also seeing familiar faces returning again and again, so we’re obviously doing something right. Mind Games prides itself on stocking an impressive range of puzzles. Our 1,000-piece puzzles are proving to be extremely popular, particularly those from Gibson Games, Ravensburger and Falcon. As always, the Wasgij puzzles from Jumbo remain in high demand. In terms of trending themes, we’re finding that puzzles showing space and/or the planets are very popular. So are traditional scenes of shops, as well as more modern 3D puzzles.

Most of our suppliers provide what are called half cuts - certain puzzle titles already completed - which allows us to display the finished scene, so customers can see before they buy what the finished puzzle looks like. This is a huge help to both our customers and ourselves. Gibsons Games also offers a Loyalty Scheme which only independent shops can join: as a result, our customers get a free jigsaw puzzle after they have bought six. Gibsons has also started offering indie exclusives for the first three months following a new release, which really helps drive traffic to us. All our suppliers also provide us with a database of images which we can use on our website and social media platforms to raise awareness of the latest and upcoming launches.

We like to think that our shop is part of the community. There are Mind Games customers who pop into the store to say hello just because they are in town that day. We sometimes have a jigsaw on the go instore too, which customers are welcome to help with when they are visiting. We believe a smile and laughter are important, and this simple activity really helps promote that and gives shoppers something extra to look forward to when they stop by. This year we’ve won two awards: Best Hobby Store 2022 from the Prestige Awards and Best Independent Jigsaw Puzzle Retailer in the North West from the Ambassador Awards. We’re proud of these accolades and feel they reflect our approach to business and customer happiness.

Puzzles are becoming very popular again: each Christmas we see more and more people buying a jigsaw for the whole family to do together during the festive break. The category has benefitted from the introduction of jigsaw puzzle advent calendars and baubles, and every year there are also a number of limited-edition puzzles brought out by the top suppliers. These are always snapped up very quickly.

In this day and age, it’s important to be where your customers are. We can therefore be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, and we also post nationally from our website (www. mindgamessouthport.co.uk).

Mike Berry - Leisure Games, London

If you’d have asked me a few weeks ago what business has been like I’d have told you it was slow (and been a little worried) but surprisingly, it’s now really started picking up. I’m not sure why: I would have put the weeks of lower sales down toconsumers simply cutting back on spending – we’re all worried about bills going up, aren’t we? Still, it’s no bad thing that sales have suddenly shot up and I’m certainly not complaining.

Our consumers tend to be hobby gamers and they’re always on the lookout for either classic titles or brandnew releases. We’re noticing that smaller, cheaper games are selling really well. Consumers like to feel they’re spending their money wisely, and of course at this time of year travel-friendly games – anything compact and easy to take with you – are really popular. In terms of trends, escape room games remain a bestseller following lockdown, when they enjoyed excellent sales and plenty of demand, as well as two-player games such as Duel, Splendor, Codenames, Carcassone and Pass the Pigs.

Puzzles also continue to hold their own; in fact, we’re seeing higher sales of these than we were pre- Covid. Our two biggest suppliers are Ravensburger and Coiledspring Games. We stock a healthy variety of Schmidt Spiele puzzles from Coiledspring. and place frequent orders across the range, which is very high quality and attractively priced. The same is true of Ravensburger puzzles. We find that our customers prefer traditional scenes over contemporary ones.

Modern artwork and contemporary scenes do sell, but not in the same volume. We’ve always done much better with stereotypical, traditional designs.

We’ve brought back in-store events during the past few months, though we’re limiting numbers to 12 customers because of the amount of space (or lack of) at the shop. We’ve been playing Magic the Gathering, but there’s also a two-player card game from the same studio as Magic that’s made a big comeback recently: Netrunner, and our customers have been enjoying that too. This reinforces what I said earlier about the current demand for two-player games.

It's hard to know what Christmas will look like this year as there’s so much uncertainty, but it can’t be denied that a board game or puzzle is often a much cheaper entertainment option than a trip to the cinema or a day out at an attraction, especially for families. I think consumers know this, and that game and puzzle sales will once again be strong this festive season as a result.

Lisa Dyson - Owner, Games Crusade

We’ve had some of our best months to date recently, with a steady stream of new releases, loyal customers and strong sales combining to create very favourable trading conditions for us.

We offer games and puzzles for all ages and skill levels, across a wide range of genres and themes. One of our personal favourites this year is the Smart Games range. This games assortment covers most age ranges and there’s plenty of development built into each puzzle so players can increase the complexity of each challenge as their proficiency improves. I’ve also enjoyed playing Sobek from Hachette this year. This relatively short 2-player game packs lots of fun into a conveniently quick play-period. Hachette is a relatively new supplier for us, but the support has been great, providing demo copies and an easy-to-use website. Asmodee often provides us with great POS too.

Travel games proved reliably popular during the holiday season – titles from Smart Toys & Games tend to be perfect for travel - while the run up to Christmas provides us with the opportunity to sell more familyorientated board games. These are a great way to get families interacting with each other and away from screens. Although budgets are becoming tighter, families still want to buy games - but they’re likely to be considering their purchases more than they were before. It’s important that we know our products inside and out, as being able to demonstrate our games and puzzles helps consumers make their purchasing choice with more confidence.

We run events in-store, but they’re quite casual and focus on a particular game or theme. We don't have the facilities to offer a sit-down experience, so we usually do a demonstration followed by a discount on that particular product on the day. These sessions always go down well: people really appreciate seeing how to play a game before they take it home and have to work out the rules for themselves.

Emily Hoyle - Co-owner, Hoyles of Oxford

Business at Hoyles this year can be summed up in one word – astonishing. We've been really fortunate. We're up 50% YTD for context, and last year was the best year we ever had too. We’re putting this down to a few things: we’ve been growing our online presence and bolstering that with great in-house photography, while also placing a much bigger emphasis on sustainability, setting us apart from more anonymous online retailers and eCommerce sites like Amazon. We’re also improving our long-tail and vintage offering, as well as our board game range. On top of all this, we have absolutely brilliant staff. They know so much about our range and are simply fantastic ambassadors for the business.

We stock a good range of modern and classic board games, from Monopoly and Scrabble to Catan, Azul and Ticket to Ride. Big Potato is also a super friendly and helpful supplier – although to be honest, we don't really work with any suppliers who aren't.

This year, we’re noticing that people are moving more towards our sustainable, wooden, plastic-free options. We love it: this gives us the confidence that all the other steps we’re taking to become a more sustainable business – ditching plastic bags, reusing supplier boxes as packing for online orders, using a bike courier for local deliveries – are not only right for us and the planet, but it’s what our customers want too.

We don't run in-store events as we only have a small shop with limited space. If we had more room, then we absolutely would. In fact, we are looking into collaborating with local bars and cafes to trial events off-site - watch this space. We’re excited for the run-up to Christmas – we’re expecting the Games & Puzzles category to perform really well this year. People are still looking to get away from their screens and come together as a family over something that harks back to simpler times. Most of our games also use minimal (if any plastic) which we also think makes a difference to the high levels of demand we see for them. However, it’s a shame there’s no Queen's Gambit or similar to drive a particular subcategory this year.

In additional to all our sustainability efforts, we're also proud to be an Oxford Living Wage employer. No ifs, no buts - it's the right thing to do. Great staff create great retail experiences for consumers, and they deserve fair pay.