Monday, October 3, 2011

White Dwarf Retail at AU airports

Having travelled around Australia for both work, (far too few) vacations, and lived in two state capital cities, one thing I've noticed about airports is the availability of White Dwarf.  I occasionally pick up a copy whilst waiting around for departures.  But some cities are (surprisingly) better stocked than others.

For example, Brisbane tends to have plenty of copies in every book stand / newsagents.  I've often found the Brisbane gaming scene to be very strong and loyal (a high ratio of gaming stores to the number of residents).  On the other hand, Melbourne tends to have absolutely zero copies of White Dwarf in any newsagent throughout the departure lounge.  This surprises me given the population of greater Melbourne and the larger attendance at gaming events in the city compared to Brisbane.  Sydney is more like Brisbane and reasonably well stocked.  Adelaide did not have a newsagent who sold White Dwarf when I visited earlier in the year.  And, with apologies to Perth and Hobart, I've not been there in a while, so don't know the local conditions (and never been to Darwin yet). The last time I was in Canberra, the whole airport seemed to be undergoing reconstruction, so I can't really comment for Canberra either.

So why does Melbourne not retail White Dwarf like Sydney or Brisbane does?  The newsagents are the same company, but somehow decides to not sell the magazine like the others.  I don't have an answer to this, hence my observation is purely empirical ... but interesting ...!

4 comments:

eriochrome said...

White Dwarf has fallen of the map here in the states. I have not seen it any place but a gaming store in years now.

If it a real company that control the news stands than I am sure they have market data about sales rate for different magazines given the costs to stock it. White Dwarfs sales rate probably did not cut it at those other places so it was cut.

oni said...

WOW... This is the first I've ever heard of White Dwarf being sold outside of a GW retail store.

I always wished I could grab a WD on my travels. I guess I'm alone in that sentiment here in the states.

jabberjabber said...

Hi eriochrome and oni,

I can sometimes find WD in certain newsagents here in Australia (particularly the larger stores), and I've had the same experience in the UK as well. From what you say, this is the complete opposite to the US! (and I'll confess its been a few years since I was last stateside). I wonder how this situation arose? very interesting nonetheless!

Dan Eldredge said...

In the US I've never seen WD outside of hobby stores, going all the way back to the late 80s.

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