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| brianzig |
 Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 11:50 am |
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Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Posts: 342
Location: South Carolina
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pinche wrote: Quote: 5. RENT .... this is what killed me. I was paying $2100 a month.
Anyone ever though of building a steel building in a less than ideal location and housing a mini ramp, manual box an a slide rail next to your shop? steel construction is alot cheaper than most houses (6000 sq ft for less than 30k. If you assemble it yourself) much cheaper monthly expense than paying premium rental fees. section off a part for your sales floor and only heat/air condition your small space.
you end up with an asset to sell once you want to move on, you draw people to you site by being one of the few places to skate when its too hot/cold/wet outside, and you make $$$ on concessions with an easy markup from sams club. maybe even host all ages punk shows on the weekends.
just a thought.
Yep. My thoughts exactly. It really does seem like a good idea and cheaper than the alternatives (mall or strip mall leases are way too high for my peace of mind). I'm already looking into an upgrade since we have outgrown our current location. We don't want a full skatepark since we already have a county run outdoor park and an indoor pay park in our town. But, that being said, it would be really nice to have somewhere to put up a nice mini, a few odds and ends, and host a few shows while still focusing on what we do best...retailing.
Anyone with any experience with this type of setup (either running or visiting) please chime in. I'd love to hear the negs and pluses. |
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| notus |
| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 6:27 pm |
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Joined: 19 Feb 2007
Posts: 90
Location: North Augusta South Carolina
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We will have our first year behind us soon and the best investment I ever made was Shop T-Shirts. I gave them away with completes and handed them out to the loyal customers and some people even buy them. T-Shirts from Eastbilt are very reasonable for the single color graphic on any color shirt. One day my Son came home and told me there were 4 kids in the lunchroom wearing our shirts and my Daughter thinks we have one of the more popular shirts at the highschool. They cost me around 5.00 each shipped. It's a great investment and it is advertising just be careful with the sizes (get them all) I made that mistake twice I ordered too big the first time and not enough small the next time but I got rid of them all and have more on the way.
Good luck |
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| brianzig |
| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:55 pm |
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Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Posts: 342
Location: South Carolina
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Hey notus, if you don't mind me asking, where are you in SC? You can pm if you like. Just curious if I know you.
And yeah, the shop t's are a must have. We use Contagious Graphics out of Charlotte NC. Great guys and great work. If you don't mind a mix of colors you can get the garage sale t's for $4.00. We use those for give aways and sell them as well. |
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| notus |
| Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 3:06 pm |
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Joined: 19 Feb 2007
Posts: 90
Location: North Augusta South Carolina
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Brian I'm on the river in North Augusta just across from Augusta Ga we don't have a giant peach here  but we try. |
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| theloniousmonk |
| Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 10:36 am |
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Joined: 19 Dec 2007
Posts: 50
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brianzig wrote: pinche wrote: Quote: 5. RENT .... this is what killed me. I was paying $2100 a month.
Anyone ever though of building a steel building in a less than ideal location and housing a mini ramp, manual box an a slide rail next to your shop? steel construction is alot cheaper than most houses (6000 sq ft for less than 30k. If you assemble it yourself) much cheaper monthly expense than paying premium rental fees. section off a part for your sales floor and only heat/air condition your small space.
you end up with an asset to sell once you want to move on, you draw people to you site by being one of the few places to skate when its too hot/cold/wet outside, and you make $$$ on concessions with an easy markup from sams club. maybe even host all ages punk shows on the weekends.
just a thought.
Yep. My thoughts exactly. It really does seem like a good idea and cheaper than the alternatives (mall or strip mall leases are way too high for my peace of mind). I'm already looking into an upgrade since we have outgrown our current location. We don't want a full skatepark since we already have a county run outdoor park and an indoor pay park in our town. But, that being said, it would be really nice to have somewhere to put up a nice mini, a few odds and ends, and host a few shows while still focusing on what we do best...retailing.
Anyone with any experience with this type of setup (either running or visiting) please chime in. I'd love to hear the negs and pluses.
I opened my shop in 2003 in the basement of a store on main street. Everyone hung out there and life was good. Then in 2006 I moved right next door to the outdoor local skatepark and built a whole indoor "mini" park that had a sick 16' wide mini ramp. First off, having your own indoor spot is sick. You can skate it whenever you want, and I was throwing contests there and everyone was having a good time.
Fast forward a year and a half. Nobody want's to pay to skate. I knew this, and didn't really care all the time, hey if you're broke, you can skate the ramp, just buy your next deck here and we're straight. I never should have done that, because it made me lack consistency. Then the guys I would let in for free would come back and be pissed if I wouldn't let them for free that day. There were 2 of them that I kicked out for smokin herb out back (I try to keep it cool for the younger kids and mom's) and they came back a couple weeks later, broke into the back door and robbed me of all my good inventory. It was in august, right when I had ordered a bunch of clothes/shoes for back to school with all the money I had from building up the business all year. I was broke.
Well, after that, everyone knew I got robbed, and it seems like they all just stopped coming down. Like maybe they felt bad about it, and I had little to no inventory left, ( I got robbed over 30 pro decks, Every set of trucks and wheels, 25 pairs of shoes - a total over $5,000.)
My shop that was once a hangout for everyone involved with the local scene is closing down in a week (Jan 1'st 2008) I plan on re-opening a new shop (right next to the dreamland park they build in the next town over) but I will not include an indoor skate park.
If you do include an indoor park be ready for everyone wanting to skate there for free, which is understandable, just be consistant. Maybe have a free day on tuesdays or something.
Insurance for my small indoor park was $1500 a year through city securities. They were great to work with and provided a waiver for the kids to sign too.
This is just my situation, My town is 10,000 people. |
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