Put the rock in Elrock
Elric that is pretty rockin that you are going to pull the trigger on it. I have been thinking about it quite a bit and here are my thoughts. GW- Free? I'd like to hear why you think you should. I think GW is a necessary evil. Yeah we dont play the games anymore, but they are wildly popular and a cash cow since so many will buy again and again. Besides when we were in HS, we probably would have rarely gone to Paul's had it not been stocked with GW. As it was we still made the 'Pilgrimage' to GW in Santa Monica. What you need to do as a store owner is try and steer the kids to other games gently. Show them new games with exhibition events. For a lot of kids GW is a good start, it isnt too serious, but it is the first miniture game that is pretty easy to learn and very exciting. From there they will refine their tastes as long as someone is there to show them new systems. Speaking of... What type of game mix + other goods are you looking at. Board games, RPG, Minitatures games, Card games, Comix, Action figures. Did you get info from Chris about how much money he makes from the various parts of the business. It seems that it was decided to go to Comix and Action figures out of necessity for keeping the business liquid.
Silly Store Names
Paul Freiler's Hesstorical Models. Chad's Ring. Dicenuts Games. Strategic Simulations. Supar Kraken Games. Old Kentucky Shark Games. Go Paul Games.
Serious Store Names
Left Coast Games. The Goblin's Den. The Dragon's Lair. Ferral Games. The Hive Mind. Tactical Realms. Pandora's Box or Pandora Games. The Mind Flayer. The Gauntlet. Chaucer Games. Lycanthropic Games.
You know I would like to use something Cthulhu-esque, but I dont know what is trademarked and what is not. The Website only lays claim to "Call of Cthulhu, Chaosium, and Miskatonic University" being registered trademarks. Probably wouldn't be prudent to name it after any of the gods/creatures. Bummer...
Also there is a game store up here that you may want to peek at. It is of a similar size to what you are planning on down there. It seems to have a good mix. I am not sure how long it has been around. At least two years.
Bleeorg
PS I almost absent mindedly drank out of the salt shaker on my desk this morning.