What Does FLGS Stand For?

Gaming communities love acronyms, and one of the most common you’ll find mentioned both in-person and online is FLGS. This stands for one of the most important things to many gamers: Friendly Local Game Store. For most, it is particularly important that the “F” is emphasized– a store that is known for being friendly is infinitely more likely to see repeat business than just any local shop. There are many ways to become known as a friendly local game store, though it helps to look at known successes such as Gamer’s Lair to see what it takes to earn that friendly tag.

Building Friendly Services

Upgrading from an LGS to an FLGS in the eyes of the community can be as easy as tailoring your services to meet specific customer needs. The most notable among these is, unsurprisingly, stocking the right products. It can be a struggle trying to determine exactly what new games your store should stock, but getting consistent customer feedback can help you identify the demands of your community and do all you can to meet them. Customers are often quite receptive, so if you go the extra mile it will rarely go unnoticed.

Community-Focused Events

Another large part of becoming an FLGS is running events that your community can take advantage of. While picking and choosing the right events to run can be surprisingly complex, the simple fact that you are running events can make all the difference when it comes to earning the “friendly” moniker. Visibly making the effort to build and serve your community can make all the difference when it comes to the impression that you make on players in your area, and this form of visibility is a powerful form of advertising in its own right.

A Friendly Locale

Becoming a FLGS is all about defining what it means to be friendly. Picking out the right games and running key events may be the biggest way to build up your local cred, but there are innumerable small ways that you can design the customer experience so it comes off as all positivity. While it should go without saying, genuinely nothing beats providing top-notch customer service. Making sure that your employees are giving all that they an to ensure that customers are coming away with the best possible experience is the greatest thing you can be doing– the very definition of friendly.