Games Workshop’s sales are about to get hit by a Mack Truck, with a UPS strike looming in the States and their own delays in the UK.
Sure, it’s not just GW because if the strike goes through, this could affect nearly 20 million packages a day. However, with UPS being the source for GW’s distribution in the States, this could be a huge blow to their US sales.
Plus, Games Workshop announced on July 21st additional warehouse delays in the UK as well.
This could also be why we saw almost no releases for them the past week. Their strategy to deal with these issues seems to be simply not releasing as much for the next two weeks.
Either way, with constant allocations for the past five months, this would be another massive blow to GW sales in its two biggest markets…
Games Workshop Sales: New Delays & Changes
If you haven’t heard much about the UPS strike, it comes down to a few sticking points, supposedly. Mainly, new hires are making more than veteran drivers, whose salaries haven’t kept up with the new wages during the shortage.
Negotiations are picking back up after a 2.5-week break, and the Teamsters have said the strike is still possible but not entirely probable. However, if everything goes through, and the strike goes for even ten days, it would be one of the costliest in history, with some think tanks estimating the economic damage at $7 billion.
So, this makes a little more sense why GW pre-orders slowed down so much to a single miniature with Minka Lesk (on a two-week pre-order period), as this single release could potentially carry them through the whole strike.
However, with a new edition starting, people are buying more than usual; if GW can’t get anything out the door, their sales will take a giant hit.
Other Games & Distributors Seem Better Prepared
Asmodee, on the other hand, has contacted accounts this week about getting in their orders shipping for August already. That way, there would be no delays in August, as they will already have products even if the strike goes through.
We are only allowing ONE ORDER at this time to accommodate for the slow shipping in the month of August. With that being said, you will still be able to order in August, but as a precautionary measure we wanted to give you the opportunity to ensure you have your releases on time throughout the month.
If you do reach a certain weight on this one-time order, we can send it via freight. But if it is under that weight, it will be sent out on regular shipping.
With that being said, I do recommend getting your orders together sooner rather than later and ship these out at the latest by next week, Wednesday the 26th. Especially if you don’t think your order will be large enough to hit freight.
This is a fluid situation and things are subject to change.
Magic the Gathering distributors are shipping out stock to arrive ahead of the August 4th release date for the Commander Masters set, as that would also be a blow to Magic card sales for a highly anticipated set.
Games Workshop UK Warehouse Delays
The following statement popped up on their UK webstore on July 21st, 2023, as Games Workshop may be moving products or equipment around or upgrading their Willow Road warehouse(s).
Here’s a look at their newest facility that the longer arrow points to in the image above.
Note GW headquarters in the back left, with the previous Forge World factory behind that.
You can see more of thier Nottingham Campus in this article which shows products rotting on pallets exposed to the weather in the summer of 2022.
Games Workshop’s Solution?
GW’s solution thus far seems to be a two-week pre-order for a character figure, Necromunda reprints, and prayer? They are already significantly understocked due to 10th Edition 40k release, and now these and any new release may be impacted by needing a new carrier while/if UPS strikes Aug 1.
Regardless as of this writing, there has been no communication from the GW trade sales to stores, which seems about par for the course. We’ll see what happens, but with such low stock to start with, and no way to get out product potentially, GW and game stores could start to suffer in August (along with the rest of the economy.)
What are your thoughts on how a potential UPS strike will affect Games Stores and GW?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
