I just thought of board games and little pizza-greased hands and shuddered... :)
I think there is a happy medium for this problem. In my plan, I wanted to offer different time periods by age. During the "adult" periods, kids would need to be accompanied by an adult. For other periods, adults would have to be accompanied by a kid.
Family Game Night is for everyone to come, sit down, enjoy some punch and pie, and try out a game. I could also see large group games (like Trivial Pursuit team nights) being popular.
This may sound cynical, but getting kids in the door with their allowance and getting them excited about games even if their parents aren't is important. Kids love the CCGs, so have a "Buy 3 - Get 1" sale running all the time and let kids pick their own packs out of the box. The store location should be near a major traffic artery but still accessible safely by bicycle. (Bike racks are a must - none of our new local shopping centers have them...) Plus, they will get their parents to come to events which gives you a chance to get them interested.
In a nutshell, though, it's all about reaching out to the community and getting them excited about games. Running "life sized" board games at local fairs (giant Icehouse or Life-Sized Kill Doctor Lucky would be good choices), sponsoring game days in schools, running "Design Your Own Game" workshops [You Bring The Smarts, We'll Bring The Parts {tm pending}] to teach game theory, gaming marathons to benefit local charities, and so on, and so on. Anything to (a) introduce modern gaming to a new audience and (b) connect with those in your local area.
*sigh* I really want to open a game store. (Not that I've given it much thought...)
Chris
On 8/7/07, David Artman <
david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:Bah, I say. Open a Table-top Game Chucky Cheese (
i.e. remove all of the
quarter-eating stimulators THEY call "games") and see how well and long
it flies.