A brand new local business, called WarGames, is about
to open on Southport's historic Lord Street, thanks to help from the likes
of
Kickstarter. The clever marketing, from a mock zombie attack, shown on a
video on
YouTube,
to postings on forum websites has shown just how effective the internet can
be. On Kickstarter alone, they have had 95 backers, pledging £5,050 to help
bring this project to life just shows which can be done with good internet
marketing. Other businesses in Southport should take note, as often they see
the web as the kiss of death, but in fact they should be making use of it
more. When we first learned about the project, it seemed a bit out of place,
as Southport has been haemorrhaging jobs and loosing businesses for some
time and has been losing the younger shoppers for years. A massive shop
selling all types of tabletop, CCG and board games online and in store, it
is more a shop that you would expect in a major City, like Liverpool,
Manchester, Birmingham or even in the capital, London! It's hard to see the
scale of this project, until you go to the venue, that is located in what
was an old Pizza Hut. It's like a Tardifs inside, with 3 floors to be opened
to the public, that stretch back and back... The old building is also very
historic and one of the oldest on Lord Street, so when they started work
inside, they found old fireplaces and decorative fittings. Most these
fixtures and fitting that had been uncovered have been restored by the
staff, and will be incorporated into the new look. This will give the shop
very unusual look.
Martin McNeil:- said:- "We have been delayed, thanks
to the state of the building, a long battle with the world's worst
solicitors and other factors, but we see light now at the end of the tunnel.
It's hard for us to think we are about to open WarGames in Southport! It is
really happening! When we first came into the building and it was a dirty
shell.... Most people in Southport thought we had lost the plot! As we
started cleaning it up, we kept finding things that had been hidden behind
cheap panelling. One of our staff joked about ghosts and zombies, it was
that spooky! This shop has so much history hidden, we did not know what to
expect each time we moved something, it would reveal a new surprise! As if I
had opened a YouTube channel, around 18 months ago, and this shell kept
revealing lost history. That was when we had the idea of doing a funny
video. This lead on to our YouTube, Zombie horror movie film, and that
captured even more people's attention! But this hidden side of the building
has also helped in a totally different way as well as inspiring one of our
many internet marketing campaigns. Some of the old decorative features, we
cannot save, but the majority of it we could, so we decided to do our best
to preserve them and build it into our designs. Our aim has always been to
get away from the traditional, rather dingy image of games workshops, and
this was a gift to us! Using fittings like the traditional fireplaces we
hope will win back adults, who do most role play and that strategy game
shops have over looked. At WarGames, we want to make this place open and
inviting to both kids and adults, so like big chain stores, like Debenhams,
we wanted things to look amazing. Finding these fire places and fittings, we
hope will do just that! We have invested over £75,000 in transforming the
shop into our dream and we know that this is just the start. We also know
that sales on high streets are falling and internet sales increasing, so we
will be looking at ways to keep our strong internet presence and hopefully
building it up well. But the shop will not be just a show room or warehouse.
We want it to be far more interactive and offer far more than just a place
for kids to go and play a few rounds of a set game, that that shop is
currently promoting. We will be hosting lots of events over 2016, letting
our customers come in and try out all the games on offer. Plus if you want
any we don't stock, we want to know and we will see if we can get it. We
will also have everything needed to build, paint and play the games that we
sell. If you don't know how to do that, we will be holding workshops to help
you with that endeavour. We even plan to have a chill out zone too, where
you can have a coffee or a soft drink. So if big kid or small kid,
please pop in to WarGames and find out more, very soon!!!"
Just to add.... this amazing place has already attracted some of the biggest franchises in
the world, such as Star Wars, DC and Marvel Comics, so keep an eye online
and offline to see what happens next! We have a few bits to put our
soon so keep an eye on here as well!
We an also confirm that WarGames, Southport, will be officially opening on 12 December 2015 and might be open
sooner, if they can.
Please watch our YouTube video interview with Martin McNeil by clicking play
below.
