posted on July 2, 2004 03:48:16 PM new
I know a few of you here have a real storefront. Hubby wants to supply golf clubs "in a bad way", but major manufacturers have said that a website doesn't count - they won't deal with you unless you have a B&M. There are a couple of storefronts for rent within a few block radius of us (I haven't looked into the price yet). We needed storage space anyway, so my thought was that we would rent one, and put a sign in the window "by appointment only". The one nearest to us used to be an antique shop, and they had a sign in the window that they were open by appointment only. Basically it's just a front for a store, and we would probably open it only when people want to pick up items locally (which happens a few times a week), and to receive shipments (Ideally I thought we could put a sign by the delivery area to call if a shipment arrived and we could go and meet them there in a matter of minutes). Does this make sense or is this going to be a big "pain".
As an aside - we have thought of this in the past, but I received a packet of information from my employer today that states they "upped" the retirement age to 67 before you can collect full pension. I was not happy and am ready to take this selling to the next level so I can retire at hopefully a decent age.
posted on July 2, 2004 04:35:03 PM new
I've actually given a LOT of thought to running a B&M store - I think for what I do, it would be a great opportunity to buy things more than sell. I would think most of my selling would be online, just a new way to get merchandise. Of course, there are many reasons not to, and one is the flexibility of working out of a home office allows. I am in the middle of a 3 week trip, mostly vacation. That would be impossible to do if I was tied down to a store. For what I would do, a business that is only open some of the time would not work. If you can find someone to lease to you that would allow that, sounds like a good way to go about it if that is what you are looking for.
Friends don't let Friends say stupid things like Friends don't let friends vote Republican!
posted on July 2, 2004 05:07:34 PM new
there are some overhead expenses and liability in having a store,check with the city and other shopowners,make sure you tally up all the expenses and get no surprises.
i know an icecream parlor in a strip mall and the parkinglot needs work and he was assessed.
what about insurance ?? and utilities.
I know there are antique malls which will rent you a booth,say if it is 200-800,and there will always be guards on duty who will offer a 10% discount and take the order for you .
i know in some area an existing business will rent you part of their space,i have seen that with a print shop/ups drop off,they carve off a room for the photographer to have a photo studio for wedding and passport photos.
no matter how you slice it,it will be more expensive than running a business from home.
(yeah,you need a phone)
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on July 2, 2004 05:19:14 PM new
Be sure and figure out ALL your expenses and try to think about everything that could happen. How long would you have to sign a lease for? Would you be able to get out of the lease if it didn't work out? What would be your breakeven? Make sure the numbers work out before you sign that dotted line.
posted on July 2, 2004 05:20:25 PM new
Hi, I own a Brick and Mortor store and have for 10 years now. Since I've been selling heavy on ebay for the past year the store has been an added advantage. People like it when you have a business that they can come to. The disadvantage of having a real store is that you do need to be open, most especially for sales reps to take it seriously. (the importer that I deal with would never have stopped at my house) Also you have more than just rent to consider. Utilities come to mind. I had to close my shop this winter because it was only bringing in half of what the utilities were. Easier to close it and turn off the heat than try to keep it open and freeze. Well, there you go. Lots of info that will help you not one bit. Kevin
posted on July 3, 2004 04:18:46 AM new
Hi...good thread...we have a b&m store, and several within our families here in nyc.
Even though your golf supplier will not deal with you until you have a physical store, the real question is ...what type of product discount are you going to get?
Enough to compete with Dicks, or others?
While people still like to walk about, touch, smell before buying, the question we often get is 'Well, on eBay'...and since we deal in antiques...for awhile it was a challenge.
We own our buildings, but others have brought up up the minor details such as rent, utilities, insurance, parking, display furniture, etc.
From my small world, I believe the buying market is shifting...ie look at our addresses, email, ebay, palm, cell, land, cards, etc.
And to repeat the supplier...that is the key to your success...what type of discount is being given to compete?
Make a business plan...if necessary, google business plans...in my simple view, without a plan on paper - with definite goals, costs...its just a pipe dream - and most of those go up in smoke.
posted on July 3, 2004 04:59:46 AM new
i doubt if the supplier is going to give a better discount to someone just because he has a store,unless he is Walmart??
rent,utilities,insurance,tax are not minor details,they make or break the store.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on July 3, 2004 05:08:04 AM new
The question isn't if he's going to give us a bigger discount - he just won't deal with us without a B&M. We didn't want to actually open the store for business - ebay and the website are doing well for us. We wanted to use the storefront basically for storage since we were looking into a storage space anyway, and this way the address would be zoned storefront in case anyone had to "check up on us". If a distributer wanted to come and visit we could fix it up a little to look "storefrontish".
