"Opened a Store before" post your stories

[jacks2start-migration]

What did it take "money wise to open". Where did you get your books? Post the not so talked about things needed to open a store in your town.

[Flaming_Telepath]

You should have done it 20 years ago.

 

And no time in the last 15.

 

(thumbs u

[aardvark88]

Go rent a table where the customers are to sell or buy collections. e.g. busy local indoor Sunday flea markets, all the regional comicons, else sell on eBay, cLink, cConnect, etc.

 

Why spend all your time (7 days a week) and $$$ on a brick n mortar store fighting to draw foot traffic into your shop?

[MrBedrock]

Why spend all your time (7 days a week) and $$$ on a brick n mortar store fighting to draw foot traffic into your shop?

 

Well...one reason would be that if you can get good steady foot traffic you can make a wonderful living doing something you really enjoy.

If you can then do the same with multiple locations....BANK!

[shadroch]

What did it take "money wise to open". Where did you get your books? Post the not so talked about things needed to open a store in your town.

 

Opened my first store in 1983 with about $5,000.

My rent was $300.First and last plus the real estate fee ate up $900 of it.

Telephone and Electric deposits were another $300.My first months comics(paid two months in advance) were just over $1100.I bought $750 worth of 10-25 cent back issues from Bud Plant(got killed on shipping),2,000 bags and 25 boxes. from someone in CBG,two greeting card displays for my new books cost me $50,a ping pong table and 8 milkcrates cost me less than $20 and became my backissue section..Bought a fifth-hand six foot glass showcase,a $79 TV and $50 stereo for the shop,bought in most of my own collection, paid about $50 in business licenses and was in business.

Used a Dom Perigon case as a cashregistar,and sat in a chair I found on the curb.Had no sign,no advertising,just a hand made poster saying Comic Shop opening soon in the window.

Won't recommend trying that today.

[moonlite]

I am on my second store, could relate many things to you. Only place to get new comics is Diamond comics. No big secret there. How much you need depends on your plan and what you want to do and where you are going to open at. Not sure where in NC you are but I know of quite a few stores there. If you intend to make a living at it then you better have a lot of money to start out. If you wish to do it as a hobby, then you can do whatever you want.

[the blob]

well, it does seem like NC has gotten a lot of new money and transpalnt in the last 5-10 years, so, to the extent those shops already existed and new ones haven't opened up in the ebay/internet era, there might be nooks and crannies that allow money to be made. I wondered the same thing about the areas below albany in the hudson valley/columbia county that got fashionable in the last 5-8 years with a lot of people moving up there that were basically dead and seeing population losses 10-20 years ago.

 

assuming you have some start-up money, rent seems to be the killer for long-term profitability. if there's a way to not pay rent, it seems like it could be "profitable". for example, owning the building and renting out enough of the rest of it to pay the mortgage/taxes. of course, it might only be "profitable" to the extent you aren't factoring in potential lost rental income.

 

honestly, i don't know how one of my local shop manages. it seems like they've been making a lot of ordering mistakes lately and getting stuck with a bunch of overstock they have trouble moving for even $1 a pop. and they have a bunch of employees. and the rent can't be that cheap. they do a lot of volume (always busy), which i guess makes up for things, but when I see 1,000 or so recent backissues in long boxes, that's like a $1500-$2000 mistake, even at wholesale prices, particularly if it doesn't get recouped through $1 sales.

[the blob]

oh, yeah, you weren't asking for my opinion, you just got my 2 cents for free. when i was contemplating becoming a country bumpkin and giving up on big city law practice and hanging a shingle in the boonies, i thought it might be fun to have a comic/memorabilia shop next door to my law office. purely hypothetical. at this point, i'm not going anywhere. my 25 X 25 backyard is as close to 'country" as I'm going to get.

 

my main experience is watching one of my close friends close up his shop and helping him deal with that (he was getting sued too), so i've seen the pitfalls. because of rent and other overhead, even when he was grossing $6000-$9000 a month he couldn't afford to stay in business.

[aardvark88]

Post the not so talked about things needed to open a store in your town.

 

Hire your buddy as an employee and pay him in store credit. Else hire a family member part-time and pay them real money. This should cause a net self-employment loss for at least the 1st 2 years, unless you find a great location with cheap rent and decent foot traffic (in your dreams ...). You can claim poverty on your tax return and get state discounts.

[aardvark88]

Post the not so talked about things needed to open a store in your town.

 

Choose a location with:

 

1. discretionary income

2. foot traffic

3. colleges, universities (Students like to read.)

4. magnet businesses

e.g. fast food outlets, theaters, toy shops, dvd rental shop, library, tattoo parlors (I'm serious.)

 

5. easy access via freeway or street parking

6. competition. Might work like the Book World concept of jamming 3 or more collectible pop culture shops onto 1 street for cross-promotion.

 

7. reasonable rent or lease rates (6% of your projected gross sales).

 

[Moondog]

 

1978. Rent was $120 per month. Had about $10,000 in back issues.

 

Built it into a 6-store chain. Sold in 1994 to a public company.

 

One of those Horatio Alger stories I have no problem telling over and over.

 

Luckiest comics retailer I know - because I cashed out.

 

 

[piper]

Post the not so talked about things needed to open a store in your town.

 

 

6. competition. Might work like the Book World concept of jamming 3 or more collectible pop culture shops onto 1 street for cross-promotion.

 

This works effectively in Victoria, BC.

[shadroch]

 

1978. Rent was $120 per month. Had about $10,000 in back issues.

 

Built it into a 6-store chain. Sold in 1994 to a public company.

 

One of those Horatio Alger stories I have no problem telling over and over.

 

Luckiest comics retailer I know - because I cashed out.

 

 

 

Hope you got cash, not stock options like some folks we know.

[Moondog]

No options, but stock that I ultimately sold at 10 cents on the dollar.

 

Thankfully the cash was enough to do the deal even if the stock turned out to be worthless.