schr0d1nger

I had a particular experience from a new place that opened that rubbed me the wrong way. Before my friends and I started meeting up to play our game I specifically asked what days were busy. The owner said that obviously Thursday through Saturday they got the most business. Though if we came on a Tuesday or Wednesday that it would be ok. After a couple trips to do a bit of scouting as well as read up on the store's events for any given week it appeared that it was true about Tuesday and Wednesday were great days for our group to meet and play. So I informed the owner of what my plans were and he made it clear to me then that he was cool with it. The day came that I hosted my event. I made an effort to purchase food and drinks for everyone in my party as a way of thanking the store for having us. There was a casual event going on simultaneously, but its numbers were small too, so there was more than enough tables for all of us to share without interfering the other. After my event ended and we were cleaning up I made it a point to thank the owner. It's what he responded with that struck me odd. He said, "I'm glad your group came, but I was this close to asking you to leave because my customers were complaining about parking. I wish you had came on a less busy day because I have to prioritize my regulars." Why that bothered me was for a couple reasons. First I asked ahead of time if it was ok and he said it was. Second I made a point to buy stuff from them so my group WERE CUSTOMERS OURSELVES and felt put out that we were seen as loitering. Lastly I heard no complaints from the other group. Plus that group had several "customers" not participating in the event merely hanging around loitering. I wish that perhaps the owner could have phrased their sentiment differently as it came across as though I wasn't a valuable customer with business of my own that was directly contributing to their company.

This thread is in regards to my personal experience with a number of tabletop specific stores that are locally owned in the area I live, but could be applied to numerous other types of businesses too! My personal issue is that at several of them they make a sales pitch of being for anyone looking for help expanding their personal interest in a space dedicated to building a common goal amongst local residents. That mentioned I instead have repeatedly, either over the phone or in person, have felt placed coldly in a position where the store's owner or staff felt my hobby wasn't something worth exploring or aiding to promote. Even when I have gone out of the way to bring directly to their store friends or coworkers that indeed share this interest. At a number of these Mom and Pop shops have I spent literally hundreds of dollars in various accessories or novelty products and am still met with apathy helping to expand upon our group's activities being told it would not generate a profit for that company so why should they bother! My point being what's the purpose in saying, "We want to help bring small communities together to explore their passion," when it's clear all of them are copying the exact same formula of selling to ONE or maybe THREE already popular hobbies that require little to no promotion? Should it not be the store's best interest to take risks promoting a variety of unique specialties and more importantly recognizing when there is indeed a crowd of shoppers spending money at their stores showing a serious passion for their specific hobby? I just don't care to be snubbed because I didn't choose to hop on the bandwagon for something that's already successful ya know!