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| scuzzo84 |
 Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 12:59 pm |
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Joined: 10 Nov 2005
Posts: 76
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Ok here is the setting:
State: NM
Area: small town area in NM
Population: 15,000
Skateparks: 1
Key points
1. The town really cares about school. There are many schools for such a small town.
2. There are no youth places to hang out and there are no stores or malls. They have basic stores such as Radio Shack, Grocery stores, but no mall. The walmart is the hangout there and that is the mall for them. Again like I said, there are no shops for kids, no video game stores, no ...cant think of anything else. Youth and many adults there drink and do drugs or go fishing/hunting.
3. There is a skateboard presence in the town. The town had no skatepark. Kids started a petition for the town to build one and they did.
4. There is no skateboard stores in the area. The next one is about 1 hour away and nobody really leaves town to the next big city unless its important.
5. The town isnt rich
6. There was a skateboard store in the town before but it closed for 2 main reasons. First, kids were skating in front of the store on the street and old people who run the management for that street were fed up with it. Second, the store had a deli inside the shop and that caused some problems where it wasnt making money.
7. The shop that was there before was doing well selling skateboard products. They were selling completes with generic trucks and wheels for $130 (everything else "name brand")
8. I have no money to rent out an office. My aunt does own a building though but its currently rented out. Its a 1 floor building. Its currently rented out as a thrift store. There is a lot of space in there. My aunt said that I can use some space for my main business which is a computer shop which only needs 3 desks.
With that said, I was wondering if I could section off a 3 part of the building to have a glass case for holding wheels, trucks, etc and then a rack on the wall to hold decks.
If I was able to have a small section of the building for skate products do you think anyone would come into the building and be like "dang this is ghetto"? If I had to guess, I would say no, the average kid or adult there would not care based off these points.
- They absolutely have NO cool shops.... If I had only walmart in my town and then a tiny shop opened I would be happy as heck. I dont care!
-Keep in mind this is a old style western town. Everyone drives pickups, they got adobe houses, and old fashioned building all over and open land...Basically its not a high class area and people arent into BMWS or cool clothes...its a pretty laid back place. Its hard at the moment for my to explain it...
9. The shop will NOT be big. I will not have a large selection. I will have about 10-15 of the most basic things. 10 decks, 10 sets of wheels, 10 bearings sets, 10 etc etc etc.
I am wondering if this is a bad thing. I am guessing no. I mean either go to walmart or order online and have to pay a lot more.
10. I will charge a lot less than the previous skate shop. From my planning it seems I can sell a complete for about $110 while the last shop was selling a lot of complete with generic parts for $130. I think I can pull off shop deck completes for $85
11. I will not have to pay rent. My only expense would be utilities.
12. I was told by a local skate that the scene is picking up and hes even seeing girls skateboarding which he didnt see before in town.
13. I will be involved with the locals. I will hold cookouts, contests, and even setup a projector at the skatepark every friday and play some skateboard movies.
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I tried to mention every detail that I can think. With all that said, is this a good idea to try out?
Also as I said above, I would have to section off a 3rd spot in the building for the small skateshop. I would basically have the rack and glass case. This is pretty much how the shop would look like on the wall and without the bikes.
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Last edited by scuzzo84 on Mon Jun 11, 2007 10:13 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| DILLINGERxCAPE |
| Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:13 pm |
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give it a shot bro.
otherwise you will never know.
your guess is as good as mine.
all i can say for certain is the economy is slooow as fuck right now. |
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| DILLINGERxCAPE |
| Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:20 pm |
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I'm also guessing the last skate shop ALSO closed because selling skate stuff wasnt paying the bills.
Deli or not when business is good shops stay open.
I would be willing to be they opened the deli after the fact to try to increase traffic and income to an otherwise hurting venture.
I would get a couple sweet coin-up arcade games...
like a neo geo something? 720? i dunno?
maybe you could give this shop a fresh new approach.
Give some of the kids a place to hang.
Couch, music, games.. fucking Guitar hero contests !!!
and push skate stuff as well??
i dunno. just a thought, probably not a good one but If i was a kid again thats where i would be hanging and spending my allowance.  |
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| scuzzo84 |
| Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:29 pm |
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Joined: 10 Nov 2005
Posts: 76
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| Oh its definitely going to have a chill area. I have a ton of games and movies. |
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| Herosk8 |
| Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 2:20 pm |
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Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 147
Location: Springfield, MO
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are there enough kids who skate in the town to keep it going? but it sounds like you have it figures out pretty good.... go for it you never know, your aunt maybe kicking the thrift store out in 6 months for a skate shop. heck give it a try.
josh |
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| auragreg |
| Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 2:34 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 2382
Location: Highland, Michigan, USA, Earth
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Go for it man ... even if you fail, at least you tried.
One thing you have going for you, is no rent. That's a HUGE plus.
Be prepared to "prove" yourself to the locals. Unless you are already in good with them. We went thru a pretty rough hazing from the locals who already support another shop.
Get shoes. DEFINATELY get shoes. Prepare to spend $2500 per shoe brand. Unless you get with a distributor that has shoes. They are out there, but not very many. I can give you a list of distros that I used and can recommend.
Having a place to hang-out may not work if it's in an established business ... you may have to worry about stuff walking off. I never had a problem with it tho. The regulars were my eyes and ears.
It's OK to start small ... but you'll just have to know what brands sell. And know it WELL. Shop decks did really well for me. Custom drawn blanks did even better.
Hold a couple contests to get the buzz going and get a team together. Sponsor some guys who will represent your shop in a good light. Make shop shirts and stickers. |
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Support skateboard art/artists: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BurbSkateboards |
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| strohsbro2 |
| Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 6:53 pm |
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Joined: 06 Jan 2003
Posts: 15037
Location: Indiana
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| Talk to local skaters. Ask them what products they like and dislike. |
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All your Tony Hawk boards belong to me! |
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| auragreg |
| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:10 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 2382
Location: Highland, Michigan, USA, Earth
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strohsbro2 wrote: Talk to local skaters. Ask them what products they like and dislike.
The only bad thing with that is getting bad information.
When I first opened, I had kids that were loyal to another shop come in and ask for certian brands. Figuring they were what was big around here I got them in.
Those kids never had any intention of coming in my store and those items sat for months.
So, be careful who you ask. You may not have that experience, but just be careful not to get too much of one thing. Get a variety, the trends change very fast. |
_________________
I was born to love you. I was born to lick your face. I was born to rub you. But you were born to rub me first.
Support skateboard art/artists: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BurbSkateboards |
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| brianzig |
| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:20 am |
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Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Posts: 342
Location: South Carolina
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^^^^all good points^^^^. The best advice being to just go for it. It takes guts to lay out your cash on something you believe in and the only real way to know if it will work is to just do it. Simple as that.
It seems the only real risk you will have is the outlay for inventory. No rent is a plus, but...you really need to make sure it is going to gel with the others in the building. If I am correct, it will be the thrift store, your computer shop/area, and also the skate shop in the same building? While I am as big of a proponent for cheap rent as Auragreg (especially for startups) you do have to consider the "hassles" that it could bring the other tenants. Make sure the hang out atmosphere will be OK. It will become a hangout and skaters are notorious for being a little rambunctious. You just wouldn't want to have bad vibes between you and the thrift store. But hey, your aunt is the landlord, that's got to be a plus. But, not paying rent or utilities is a major advantage, do what it takes to make it work.
As far as inventory, I'll PM you some vendor information for you to look at. Starting small is not a problem, but I'll echo the concerns of the other posters that it is very important to get a feel for what is popular in your scene. It's different everywhere, the only way to know is to talk to them. Hang out at the park, see what they are riding, ask them what they would like to see in a shop. You will get valuable hands on info, plus build a relationship with them at the same time (if you don't already skate with them).
If you don't skate...well that's a whole other thing, but you can still participate in the scene even if you don't skate. Be the videographer/photographer. Get a grill and have some cookouts, go to the park and pass out free water/gatorade. Basically, be involved, whether its skating or supporting skating. Ideally it's both.
Definitely get a myspace page for the shop. Do it now, or as soon as you figure out a name for your shop. It's a cheap and easy way to get your info on the web. Can't stress it enough how important it is. Especially if you don't want to fool with a full-blown website. You can shoot pics at the park and then let them know to go to your myspace to see them, at the same time they will be reading pertinent info on the shop that you will be posting.
Get a PO Box at your post office. You don't want your mail getting mixed in with the other tenants. It also gives you a permanent address for when (think positive) you outgrow your space and move on to something bigger.
Which leads to the other must haves. Go to Wal-mart and get the do-it-yourself business cards. Print up your shop information, even if the only thing you have set in stone is a name and a myspace address so far. You can start passing them out, letting them know a shop is on the way. Modify them as info changes (you get a phone number, ect). Later on you can get official ones, but for now just consider these cheap info cards to get the word out.
Be sure to get some shop t-shirts and stickers. I use contagious graphics and are quite satisfied with them, but there are some other recommendations on these forums if you want some other opinions.
As far as shoes, I don't think you will be able to get any with the setup you are planning on starting with. At least not easily. Most shoe companies are going to want to see you in an established retail location, not a corner of an existing business. As auraugreg has said, if you do get someone to give you the time of day, you will still have the huge startup expenses involved with shoes. Based on the information you've given, I don't think it would be feasible. You can get some through the larger distributors, but not being an store unto yourself, you may run into the same problem getting setup with some of the larger distributors. It will definitely be a hurdle. You'll just have to apply and see what's up. I would consider what you are trying to accomplish as more of a Pro Shop and stick with hardgoods, accessories, hats and T's. The basics. Worry about shoes when you can afford them later on.
Oh, and don't forget. You will need a Federal I.D., State Retail License, and and any required local licenses and permits. Federal and State numbers will be required on any dealer application. Stay legit and you'll stay out of trouble. 
That's all I can think of at the moment. I just got home from an all night lock-in and I'm a little fuzzy. Time for a shower, shave, and a Red Bull and then off to check on my shop. It's never ending but well worth it. I love having my shop so I can't recommend enough that you just give it a go. I'll PM you some more info.
Later - Zig |
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| scuzzo84 |
| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 8:15 pm |
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Joined: 10 Nov 2005
Posts: 76
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| dang thanks everyone on the advice, great ideas, I will keep you guys updated |
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