Hi all,
I would really appreciate people's opinions even though some of you will not need to purchase these products.
I have been thinking of starting a retail business for a while now, although premises are hard to get. My intial idea was to set up a gift shop which also focused on online sales as well as Wivenhoe customers. Lots of alternative gifts compared to flowers. Anyway, I have now left this idea for Wivenhoe. My new idea and I have spent the last 6 weeks researching, reading other people's questions on the internet about this type of business and what people's opinions are and also the logistics of operation.
The idea is a pre-loved resale shop (secondhand) and some new stuff aimed at children. Baiscally the shop will sell anything to do with children whether it be a board game, young childrens toys, bikes, prams, books etc. I will not sell furniture as the business unit will be too small. I do not plan to sell clothes or if I do it will only be a couple of racks of pre loved clothes of certain brands. I know the business unit does not have walk by trade just like the high street is very quiet during the day so foot fall is an issue. My main cost will be advertising and hopefully people will remember the shop and if they want something in specific, they can check if I have it or they may just pop in to get some cheap toys etc on the off chance. The unit is not the greatest amount of space but starting off small is a start otherwise I would be looking to do it outside Wivenhoe. I would also set up a wich list for customers. So Joe could come in and say I am looking for a stroller, ds game or bike. I would then add him to the wish list so when this item comes in I would contact him to see if he still needs it.
1 Customers can bring them items in to me to sell and I take a percentage which helps cover labour, shop costs etc. Just say I will display the item for 1 month and if there is no sale the person collects it or if they don't want to collect it is donated to a local charity shop. (very American - consignment style) I would most probably sell second hand bits I buy myself if stock was low but this is a back up. I don't want to buy items from people as I could get stuck with them and space is limited.
2 (maybe) I will have 2 clothes rails and people can come in and rent these for a week for just say £20. They would need a reasonable number of clothes. They would leave the clothes and they would be labelled so when items sell I put their money in to the kitty and the money is all theirs as they paid the weekly fee which covers space in the shop & my time when people buy.
3 Advertising - I will leaflet, car logo and larger items outside the unit for people who drive by. I will also plan to ask schools to advertise sometimes as they send out emails to all parents. Part of the incentive for them is that an option when people bring things in to sell they can choose to donate their percentage of the sale to their local school and this can be an ongoing fundraiser for their PTA. Just say at the moment I have a little trikes ride on. A shop could sell it for about £5 but personally I would not worry about getting money from this and happily donate it to my child's school as every little helps.
Anyway,
1 As a parent, grandparent do you think you would use a shop like this in Wivenhoe if it meant saving some money on items that kids normally grow out of (baby bouncer etc) or get bored of (a toy, a console). I buy most things new myself I must confess. However, I have bought used toys on the odd occassion and my child's last two bikes have been brought secondhand as I know the new and expensive stuff will come when he is about 10.
I would appreciate your honesty if you would use a shop like this or any others ideas that you think could make it work in terms of fitting it in with what people want.
Thank you