FTW: For the Win - Trading Card Shop in Florence, AL | KeepUp

Just Leo11/3/2025

FTW is unwelcoming. For those who do visit the locale, you may find this comment strange, because, yes, the few staff behind the counter do say, “Hello,” when you walk in the door. However, that is not the only component of feeling welcome. The staff doesn’t smile. They do not seek out conversation. They just stand there waiting for the customer to initiate but are still clearly listening to what is said. It gives the impression of being anti-social, instead of the positive engagement that is expected from a customer facing role. Those actions impart the feeling of being unwelcome. This is an example of poor customer service. A game store’s key components are hobbies and people. You need both to succeed. The staff behind the counter should foster an environment where customers want to return. Unfortunately, the staff contributes to a negative atmosphere. One of them is also an owner and they contribute to the unwelcome feeling. I have been to this location more than once and the social experience has been consistently poor. For example, this location has product on its counter. Therefore, customers will gather near the counter to look at the product. Despite this clear business choice to flow traffic to the counter, the staff made customers feel like a burden for standing at the counter. You would either be looked at as a burden for standing there waiting for assistance or ignored and treated as a nuisance for looking at the product displayed there. FTW’s shining star has been always been their Magic the Gathering Judge. This person is the friendliest person behind the counter and has a clear understanding of customer service. I have watched people try to talk to just this one knowledgeable individual (i.e. explicitly, Mark is great, the other staff is not). Customers prefer to be helped by this individual, and clearly the owners/staff are aware of this fact. This person’s proper assistance is a stark contrast to the service that is provided by other staff. The other staff, with the lack of engagement through something as a simple as a smile, are more of a deterrent. Why would anyone expect withdrawn, unfriendly staff to ensure that customers return? I have watched the store grow over time, from a small space to a larger location with more square footage. Yet despite its growth in size, its business practices have not “taken off.” It is 2025 and yet this shop does not sell their own product online on a website or have a consistent system to order single items or bulk product. Customers cannot pre-order items, or even do something as simple as make room reservations with ease. All FTW can provide is space and social media presence. In my opinion, the biggest limitation to the continued growth and success of this shop is this very poor social experience. For regular customers, the customer experience is obvious but unspoken. The community tends to ignore it because FTW is simply the only place to go in the area. FTW does not use base means of communication like a written sign of events or display events on a signboard that is centrally located in store. They only disseminate information online through social media. Unless a customer seeks them out online, you would never know about upcoming events. That one capable staff that communicates effectively is their only word of mouth for events. Healthy lines of communication and positive attitude make a difference. The only time I see the other staff smile is in those social media posts. Check for yourself. The owner smiles in every single one of those posts because their face is in every single one of those posts. This implies to me that, perhaps, the owners are more focused on themselves as a success, than working with the customers and community for overall success. When I have expressed concerns face to face, the feedback was ignored, largely because the owner just walked away and simply did not bring it up again. That avoidance is what led me to write this review. There is no way to provide constructive feedback to people who do not want to talk to you.

Brett Cheney

ColdF118

FTW: For the Win

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