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Weekly Store Update: 1 September
It's hard to believe September is upon us. We'll blink twice and it'll be October, and they are already putting Christmas stuff out at the big box stores. ::sigh:: Anyway, nothing like a board game to make everything better - and those we have! We have a few things to discuss and new items to share too, so jump on in!
INTRO
Welcome to our weekly newsletter! For our new readers I'm Eric, and Wendy and I run Stone Valley Games. This newsletter is our way to share both local and world-wide gaming news of interest that popped up last week. It also provides our subscribers, both local and remote, some information on the going's on around here so everyone feels like part of the action. At the bottom of this newsletter we show you the restocks, new items, and preorders added to the store last week. It's not too difficult to navigate, so let's get to it!
BATTLE OF THE CARDBOARD MOVERS
We wrote a few weeks ago about the latest shipping method from the post office. What they did was build a more inexpensive tier that moves a bit slower than their Priority Mail - called USPS Ground Advantage. We've been running with it for a few weeks and there haven't been any issues, so far.
Well, ever since the change a considerable amount of what would normally be UPS orders have shifted to the Ground Advantage option based on customer usage. We must not be the only ones, because UPS just announced the UPS Ground Saver option.
What it will provide is a "non-urgent, low value residential shipment that needs reliable delivery." It will have tracking, insurance, and door-to-door service for packages up to 70 pounds. It will also work for Post Office boxes and military overseas addresses - things UPS Ground cannot do. It cannot be used for commercial delivery, and the insurance is waved if it's handed off to USPS for the final part of the journey, but overall will most likely be a considerable savings over regular UPS Ground.
Seems like an appropriate response from UPS based on what USPS did, but that's just a guess from yours truly. I'm just seeing more cost-conscious shipping options, and I know that's high on everyone's wish list. In any case, we're keeping an eye on when it'll be applied through the UPS network backbone so we can apply it to our order system. It'll probably be a quiet application and just appear as a shipping option once it's available.
OUT OF OFFICE
We'll have everything shut down, from storefront and webstore to TGC player and curbside pickup, from 6 - 17 September while we're on business travel. I will most likely have to skip the newsletters during that time period too - but may try to provide a little update as appropriate.
Even though everything will be shut down, we'll still have a few folks back here who will be tasked with kicking out the preorders while we're gone. At least, that's the plan. Anything could happen while I'm out, but we hadn't had any issues in this area while I was gone before, so I don't anticipate any this time either.
As for the trip purpose, I will only say it's especially difficult keeping everything running in this fiscal environment. We are doing everything we can to limit overhead and secure lower prices for business necessities. Hopefully this trip goes a long way in helping us in both of those areas.
STAR WARS: UNLIMITED
There's another collectible card game on the horizon, and it's Star Wars themed. Unlike the Star Wars LCG that came out earlier this year, Star Wars: Unlimited is a collectible card game and stands on the shoulders of a few similar attempts in the past. Check out the teaser video below:
Considering we will most likely not jump on the Lorcana bandwagon, this is probably our next CCC venture. There's a whole "thing" involved with that Lorcana decision, but it's a very similar situation to why we ultimately went away from Flesh and Blood as well. It's probably just an "us" thing. Anyway, everything we're hearing from Fantasy Flight Games is encouraging, especially their concern for putting some legs on this game for the future and properly engaging in the right areas this time around. We're most likely going to give them the benefit of the doubt and see how it goes. We haven't completely pulled the trigger, but we're close.
THE WRAP UP
Okay, enough news for this week! Below are the Restocks, New Items, and Preorders added to the shop last week. You can click on the item to learn more, and many of the products have review and gameplay videos so you can see the game in action. If you're visiting our page and you'd like to keep up with our giveaways, sales, new products, and articles like this one just create an account here. Once created you will be subscribed to our newsletter and become enrolled in our loyalty system, instantly earning 50 Stones that you can use on your very first order. A Stone? One Stone is equivalent to One Cent. That doesn't sound like much, but you earn 2 Stones for every dollar spent and 5 for each product review, so though it may seem small, those savings add up fast! Redeem your Stones upon checkout, and they can save you up to 10% off your cart total. Loyalty Matters!
