> Small stores carry the same shit as big chain stores.
Not always. Go to a dedicated board game store and you'll see such a wider variety than the branded Monopoly sets on sale at big box stores. Plus they usually have an area dedicated to actually playing games, something you'll never find at a chain. This community charm is paid for by the small store tax, but the benefits far outweigh the cost.
And those stores have a very hard time competing with online sales. Not only is their stock much, much more limited they are often significantly more expensive because the stores have to mark them up. There is so much variety in board games these days those stores have no hope of competing outside of Magic The Gathering events. I suspect those are moving more toward online play as well because honestly those events aren’t very pleasant to attend in person. We’ve lost roughly half of our board game stores in a city of around 120k people. The only ones that are left are 90% TCG stock with a small selection of modern board games. Honestly the stock at Target and Barnes and Nobel especially are just as good these days.
> Go to a dedicated board game store and you'll see such a wider variety than the branded Monopoly sets on sale at big box stores.
Stores like Target carry far more board games than just branded copies of Monopoly. Shit they sell Cards Against Humanity at Target. Barnes & Noble carries and even wider selection of board games and pen and paper role playing games. So big chains are definitely not limited to Monopoly.
While small game stores can carry a wider selection than big chains, most make their nut selling the bigger brand games or toys. There might be Black Swan stores able to specialize in Ticket to Ride or Carcasone expansions but that's not the common case.
I know the owners of quite a few small game stores. They are to a store struggling to keep the lights on because their costs are butting right up against their revenue. Charm is great and all but it doesn't pay the bills.
Again I'm not arguing against small shops but there's not much they offer above and beyond what can be found in big chains or online. The things they can offer, like a game play space, aren't easy or even possible to monetize.
Not always. Go to a dedicated board game store and you'll see such a wider variety than the branded Monopoly sets on sale at big box stores. Plus they usually have an area dedicated to actually playing games, something you'll never find at a chain. This community charm is paid for by the small store tax, but the benefits far outweigh the cost.