WPN Premium Upgrade Project Proposal

How in the heck did we come up with Free Range Pumpkins?

You know when you and your spouse get into one of those silly moods when every thought gets sillier and sillier? Well, we were talking one day and said that people would probably purchase a pumpkin for $30 if we told them it was “Free Range.” We then came up with a story about “Farmer Fran” and her little pumpkin patch… where all her pumpkins roam free, off the vine! We were giggling and having a great time with the thought of a Free Range Pumpkin. Fast forward several years to the opening of our store. We needed a name for it and we both smiled and said, “FREE RANGE PUMPKINS.” As they say…the rest is history!!

Store Philosophy

Our players range in age from 13 to 65. Most of our players are casual in nature. We have formed a welcoming, open and friendly community of players who all love to play Magic the Gathering. Our players encourage and help each other with deck building as well as playing the game. Several of our players are studying to become a level 2 judge. We support all of our players, new and old, by taking the time to answer questions, show examples, introduce new concepts or even just make new friends.

We love our casual players, but we would like to engage with the more competitive player too. We feel that adding competitive players to our community will help to strengthen it as they have different knowledge to share with the group. Becoming a WPN Premium store will enable us to reach out to those competitive players and show them that we aren’t just a “mom and pop” store… we will finally gain the competitive edge we need to move forward and excel.

We feel we are a good fit for the program because:

We have friendly, knowledgeable staff who love what they do & where they do it
We have an excellent, somewhat eclectic game selection (over 1100 titles) of both new and used games.
Our play area isn’t just a place to play your favorite game. It is a hub for our community; a safe space for nerds of all kinds to come together and talk about things they are passionate about; a place to play games, and to share ideas.
We offer several Organized Play events for many different games.
We don’t just have a few demo copies of current games for people to play, we have a demo game wall that includes new and old games that our customers love to play!
We offer a variety of snacks and beverages for our customers.
We carry toys, clothing and collectible items to complement the games we provide.

Current Location

We are currently in a 1600 square foot warehouse in Arlington Texas.

We have outgrown our store and it is now time to move and expand. This is an exciting time for Free Range Pumpkins and our community. We are all looking forward to the new location and the opportunities it will bring us.

With this move, becoming a WPN Premium Store is no longer a pipedream, it can become a reality! Everything you will see in our video walkthrough will change once we move.

Update: Due to the Covid-19 breakout we had to stay in our current location for another 2 years. However, we upgraded some of our fixtures and other items in preparation for our move to a larger location with better visibility and foot traffic.

How We Survived the Covid-19 Shutdown

Many LGS locations suffered greatly during the shutdown and then suffered in the re-opening process. We were able to excel due to several processes that were put into place long before the pandemic hit our area.

We have been doing on-line play by accessing our on-line community using our discord channel and zoom since 2019.
We have been selling on-line (www.freerangepumpkins.com) since 2015
Besides our own website, we also sell on the following Platforms:

Amazon
eBay
Facebook
Google
TCG Player
WalMart

Besides on-line sales, we also offer curbside pick-up and delivery service
We offer event registration online.

How We Re-Opened During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Fortunately, Herb worked for a Restoration company that also does disinfecting for Covid-19. Due to this, these are the steps we have been following since the very beginning of the pandemic in Texas.

Utilize Benefect Disinfectant. This product is registered with the EPA for killing the Covid-19 virus/germ
Fog our store one time per week
Apply solution/wipe down to all areas 4-6x per day depending on traffic
Allow solution to stand on all areas for 5-10 minutes
Wipe down tables, chairs, handles and bathrooms multiple times per day
Maintain social distancing within the store by marking the floor in 6 ft increments for people to stand
Have signage entering the store stating that facemasks must be worn prior to entering. In addition, we also inform individuals who are not wearing masks to put them on. If they have forgotten their masks, we have some available for their personal use. If they do not comply, they are instructed to leave the premises immediately.

Project Summary

Objectives

Our current location looks more like a warehouse than a store. It is often confusing to new customers, as they do not know that they can come in and play games with us. To remedy this, we need to do the following:

Make better use of our current space.
Enlarge our play space area
Organize our inventory in a more aesthetic way
Carry new lines and expand our current ones
Attract new customers

Scope

We know a project like this takes time and cannot be done all at once, so we have broken it down into phases.

Phase 1 – Rearrange our current location
Phase 2 – Purchase new fixtures
Phase 3 – New location (lease signed July 2021)
Phase 4 – Build out and purchase of necessary fixtures
Phase 5 – Move in and RE-OPEN

This proposal will cover all 5 phases. They are all included for informational purposes to demonstrate that we have an end goal in mind and the project is not finished.

Project Activities and Timeline

This is an exciting project for Free Range Pumpkins. It gives us the chance to show everyone that we made it through the shutdown and are here to stay. We have included a mock-up floorplan for phase one in the appendices.

Phase 1 (New Layout) – COMPLETE

We drastically changed our layout. This change significantly improved sightlines, improved customer comfort and created a more enjoyable play space. We have had numerous compliments on the new layout, and everyone loves the way the store looks. Since this layout has been implemented sales have increased significantly.

Phase 2 (Purchase new fixtures) – COMPLETE

We have made several puchases and had custom items built to improve our customers’ in-store experience. These items are outlined in the attached spreadsheet.

Phase 3 (Identify new facility)– COMPLETE

After an exhaustive search we have found a 4,000/sq ft space in a strip shopping center within one (1) mile on our exiting location. This will assure us that we will not lose any of our customer base while more than doubling our floor space. The location is completely empty so we can create the floor layout to our vision. The contract was finalized and signed on July 30^th. (Photos Included)

Phase 4a (Buildout) – In Process

The build out will be done by fully licensed contractors. The build out will include two ADA compliant bathrooms, new sheetrock throughout the facility, new electrical fixtures, new ceiling tiles, new flooring, an Employee Lounge, Manager’s Offices, and warehouse space.

Phase 4b (Fixtures) – In Process

Since this is a much larger space, we will need additional fixtures to better show-off the Magic product line. Once the buildout is completed, we will begin purchasing and moving in new fixtures. This will include gondolas, slatwalls, specialty displays, front counters, glass enclosed display cases, signage on the front of the façade and in the monument, etc.

Phase 5a (Move-In) – January 2022 (estimated)

We anticipate moving into our new and improved home in January 2022. Due to the size and weight of our displays and overall inventory, we will require professional movers.

Phase 5b (Re-Open)

We will celebrate our “Grand Opening” by having a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce and notify the public by sending out press releases to several communication outlets throughout the DFW area.

Project Phase	Project Activity	Start Date	Completion Date
Phase 1	Rearrange our current location	March 22, 2020	May 16, 2020
Phase 2	Purchase new fixtures	March 23, 2020	September 15, 2020
Phase 3	Identify New Location	January 2021	July 2021
Phase 4	Build Out	August 2021	TBD
Phase 5	Move in and Re-Open	January 2022	TBD

Roles and Responsibilities

They say it takes a village to raise a child… well, it takes a community to build a game store. Our customers love our store, and all want to be a part of the renovations and move. Amy didn’t just open a game store she started a community, a family.

Name	Project Role	Responsibilities
Amy Kaplan	Visionary
Herb Kaplan	Project Manager	Keep Amy on track
Free Rangers	Volunteer
Durham Contractors	General Contractor	Bringing the FRP vision to reality
Wizards of the Coast & Sitelines	Retail Improvement Grant	Award us a grant to achieve our goals.

Project Budget

$98,000

Each phase of the project has a different budget. We have included a spreadsheet in the appendices that outlines our various expenses.

Conclusion

We want to offer our customers a world-class retail experience. To do this we must “up our game.”

To move forward with phase four of our project we need the help of Wizards of the Coast and their partner, Sitelines, in the form of a Retail Improvement Grant. While we did survive the Covid-19 shutdown, we do not have bottomless pockets and cannot afford all of the improvements and the new facility our customers deserve. We have begun to purchase some of the much-needed upgrades (and our customers love them). With a Retail Improvement Grant, we will be able to complete phase four and, hopefully, achieve Premium Status with Wizards of the Coast.

Ways to follow our progress:
http://www.freerangepumpkins.com

http://www.facebook.com/freerangepumpkins

http://www.twitter.com/frpumpkins

http://www.instagram.com/frpumpkins

http://www.pinterest.com/frpumpkins

https://discord.gg/RsNsB3p

https://www.twitch.tv/frpumpkins

https://tockify.com/frpumpkins/pinboard