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Weekly Store Update: 10 February
Had several good discussions last week on the broad concept of strategy games vs. thematic games. They both have their pros and cons. Do you have a favorite type? Generally, I enjoy thematic when I'm tired and strategy when feeling sharp. Anyway, around the shop we announce our current sale, it's the release of the latest MTG set, and we get covered in paint. Why not pop in and check us out?
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!
THE 'NEW GAMES' SALE
Have you had your eye on one of those fabulous new releases, but the price point wasn't 'quite' there? This week we're going to give you an additional 10% off several hot new games. It's super easy, all you have to do is drop the select game(s) shown in the grid right below this segment into your cart and the NEWGAME coupon(s) will kick in automatically, adding that 10% coupon directly to the current sale price. Mix and match with anything else in the store!
The official pitch goes like this: For our 'New Games' Sale, save an additional 10% on select games thru Valentine's Day, 2/14/23. No limit on usage (other than the title(s) going out of stock), and this offer can be used in conjunction with other coupons, so use your Stones or review coupons to really reap the benefit!
We will only be advertising this on our site and in this newsletter, once again demonstrating a fantastic benefit for our subscribers!
The 'New Game' Sale Items!
MARCH MADNESS
The first half of March is going to be crazy around here! First, from March 3 - 11 the storefront and webstore will be closed. It's funny, but in all the years we've been running, we've never closed the webstore - so that will be a first for us. We'll be on business travel, and unlike how we operated in the past, we're going to start closing everything down to make our home/away transition easier. While I had really enjoyed catching up on all those orders when we got back, I think I'll enjoy 'not' having to do that almost as much.
Then, from March 12 - 15, which is during spring break for many people, we will be kicking off our Spring into Fun Sale. We don't have all the details worked out yet, but if history is any indication, you can look forward to steep savings across multiple categories throughout the store.
Also, just like our last big sale at the end of 2022, we're going to host a local giveaway to folks who order curbside pickup to keep the foot traffic down while we scramble to fulfill orders. That was monumentally successful, so we'll keep it going.
We'll provide more updates and details in the coming newsletters, and I have to tell you we are really excited about the sale. I anticipate an epic one!
COVERED IN PAINT
As you can tell once you take a look at the new store items below, our initial paint influx is just about complete. We have a nice little starting range of painting products and accessories now, at least enough to get started.
To find the new paint and painting supplies in our webstore, check out the photo below. Just select 'Gaming Supplies' under 'Supplies & Toys' and there are now two new options available on the grid filter. First is Paint and Brushes which contains our...paint and brushes. Then, there's Paint Accessory and Tools which houses hobby knives, tweezers, glue, and items like that.
Again, this is just our initial offerings. We do plan on expanding our paints and accessories over time. We're also considering adding specific models and miniatures to our lineup which gives folks something to paint. Now THAT is a rabbit hole, let me tell you!
I am going to adjust future paint products based on customer demand. After all, just like board games, paint is a very personal choice. As for individual paints, we have finalized our decision to go with Duncan Rhodes' Two Thin Coats Paints. There's more background on this choice in a recent newsletter. We should have the first 60 colors in store before June this year.
The second line of paints beyond the first 60 colors is already in the works, and they'll be here 'hopefully' before the end of the year. As someone who's just getting back into painting minis myself, I really like the 'three tier' concept of this paint line to get the colors just right with as little fuss as possible.
GOOGLE ME THIS
I won't feel bad at all if you skip this story. It has to do with website development and some lessons learned. If that's not your thing, go check out our new games!
If you're still here I will attempt to keep it brief. Google is simply amazing. Yes, the upfront work involved in meeting all of their criteria is exhausting, but once 'in the club' you'll have a significant bump in all your website metrics.
By comparison, working with Facebook feels like going from the Ferrari 296 GTB that is Google to a...'72 Pinto. And not the 'cool' Medium Coral colored one, the Medium Bright Yellow version... Anyway, we do as little with Facebook as we possibly can, and I feel it's still too much. If we're going to have a negative customer interface or experience from our digital platform, 100% of the time it was due to something on Facebook.
However, it's not all burning rubber and hyper cars. Google uses bots to do most of its dirty work, and those bots can make mistakes. When they do, it takes quite a bit of effort to convince the fleshy, non-bots in customer service that the bots got it wrong. However, like most things, if you can present your case clearly, use sufficient evidence to prove your point, and have the patience to burrow thorough a few layers of folks, it can get fixed.
Also, it's vital that you have some kind of development team who can provide second opinions to your argument. Before we had that, we couldn't get anywhere. Now, we present our case to the developers, and they double check the work, add their own analysis, and package the solution together. Even though I don't use our development team very often, they are worth their monthly cost in situations where I need someone at a moment's notice.
In any case, I'm happy I'm learning so much about website development and remote shopping. I'm not happy that it's at the expense of learning some of these hot new games!!!
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!
New Items
Restocks
Preorders
No preorders added last week.