Retail owners.

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Sean Buckley

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Hey guys,

I have owned my own retail business for the past 3.5 years. So far things are going great. I have noticed my best form of advertising is word of mouth, by far! I have spent only about $3,000-$4,000 on other forms of advertising, and all in the past year but doesn't seem to be worth it. I'm sure if I spent a lot more on advertising it would be a bigger ROI but don't really see the need at this point. The hardest part of running retail at this point, for m, is keeping enough inventory in stock (which is a pretty good problem to have) which obviously effects sales a bit.

Just wondering if anyone else on here owns a retail store and what some challenges you have had are and share any secrets of the trade. For me one secret of the trade I ave found very profitable is simply be a shameless self promoter everywhere you go and always have cards/flyers on you.
 
What do you sell? I worked retail throughout college and of course have some horror stories
 
It's a porn shop, isn't it?


Do you guys still have to unpackage and fire up the dildos right there in front of the customer when they buy one, so they know it works and forgo their right to return it?
 
jackietreehorn8 said:
It's a porn shop, isn't it?


Do you guys still have to unpackage and fire up the dildos right there in front of the customer when they buy one, so they know it works and forgo their right to return it?
Click to expand...

This is a poignant question. I am interested to hear his response.

lol
 
jackietreehorn8 said:
It's a porn shop, isn't it?


Do you guys still have to unpackage and fire up the dildos right there in front of the customer when they buy one, so they know it works and forgo their right to return it?
Click to expand...

Sounds like Jackie has some experience in the toy buying department.
 
Sean Buckley said:
Hey guys,

I have owned my own retail business for the past 3.5 years. So far things are going great. I have noticed my best form of advertising is word of mouth, by far! I have spent only about $3,000-$4,000 on other forms of advertising, and all in the past year but doesn't seem to be worth it. I'm sure if I spent a lot more on advertising it would be a bigger ROI but don't really see the need at this point. The hardest part of running retail at this point, for m, is keeping enough inventory in stock (which is a pretty good problem to have) which obviously effects sales a bit.

Just wondering if anyone else on here owns a retail store and what some challenges you have had are and share any secrets of the trade. For me one secret of the trade I ave found very profitable is simply be a shameless self promoter everywhere you go and always have cards/flyers on you.
Click to expand...

My brother and I have a shirt line. No retail store. We've only been doing it for 6 months so you have much more experience that we do but here's my 2 cents:

It depends what you want: If you want to grow even more, take a bigger risk and restock as much as possible. People will come back even more because they know they won't be disappointed.

If you're happy with current state, selling out is a good issue to have.
 
Don't have any personal experience but a friend of mine opened a store with his wife a few years back. She works there while he has another job. They sell the casual lines from outdoor clothing companies. So basically clothes that you can hike in and still look good.

The only thing I really know is that their first year went better than expected and then......Walmart opened down the road. They definitely noticed a drop after that. But they are 4 years in and still going.
 
If you gonna open retail, you need to sell a product that Walmart, Target, BJ wholesale will not touch.
 
If you tell us what you're selling then we can offer better help and advice.
 
jackietreehorn8 said:
It's a porn shop, isn't it?


Do you guys still have to unpackage and fire up the dildos right there in front of the customer when they buy one, so they know it works and forgo their right to return it?
Click to expand...

Hahaha, nope not a porn shop. I sell knives,Tactical gear,swords,survival gear and medieval, western and aboriginal home decor as well. I also sell skulls and fur products.
 
highkicknomore said:
My brother and I have a shirt line. No retail store. We've only been doing it for 6 months so you have much more experience that we do but here's my 2 cents:

It depends what you want: If you want to grow even more, take a bigger risk and restock as much as possible. People will come back even more because they know they won't be disappointed.

If you're happy with current state, selling out is a good issue to have.
Click to expand...

The plan is to either open a second store or one really big location within 24 months. One place I have been lacking, because of lack of time, is the website sales. I have not spent much time at all on the website and that should be my best source of revenue once I get on top of that, but for now I am way too busy with the retail location. What type of shirts do you sell?
 
odog said:
Don't have any personal experience but a friend of mine opened a store with his wife a few years back. She works there while he has another job. They sell the casual lines from outdoor clothing companies. So basically clothes that you can hike in and still look good.

The only thing I really know is that their first year went better than expected and then......Walmart opened down the road. They definitely noticed a drop after that. But they are 4 years in and still going.
Click to expand...

Ya, one of the biggest reasons (other than I have a lot of knowledge of it) I decided to start selling Knives,tactical gear,swords and survival gear is that there are not a lot of retail locations that have a large selection of it, so I don;t have to compete with too many people.
 
Sean Buckley said:
Hahaha, nope not a porn shop. I sell knives,Tactical gear,swords,survival gear and medieval, western and aboriginal home decor as well. I also sell skulls and fur products.
Click to expand...

Cool...with a niche market like that I would think you could get good bang for your advertising dollar. Very targeted online marketing - you know the kind that you see on your facebook feed if you've been searching for things like "medieval swords."

Is this online retail, or an actual storefront?
 
Sean Buckley said:
I sell knives,Tactical gear,swords,survival gear and medieval, western and aboriginal home decor as well. I also sell skulls and fur products.
Click to expand...

Word of mouth is the best. Advertising in popular material that is read by your aimed for customer base will only be effective.

Your first goal should be to make the store the 'go to' location for the town and surrounding towns the store is located in. Then slowly branch out into web retail for additional revenue.
 
jackietreehorn8 said:
Cool...with a niche market like that I would think you could get good bang for your advertising dollar. Very targeted online marketing - you know the kind that you see on your facebook feed if you've been searching for things like "medieval swords."

Is this online retail, or an actual storefront?
Click to expand...

I sell both online and in a storefront. The online is where I am lacking right now due to lack of time. Seems the storefront takes up all of my time right now so my website is a bit outdated. Next step is to get the online market up and running. And Yes I have found it's something that a lot of people in the community have been wanting and thay are happy it's finally here and doing well.
 
KaNesDeath said:
Word of mouth is the best. Advertising in popular material that is read by your aimed for customer base will only be effective.

Your first goal should be to make the store the 'go to' location for the town and surrounding towns the store is located in. Then slowly branch out into web retail for additional revenue.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. That was my plan to begin with. With the storefront going good right now I need to find some time to get the online stuff up and running, it's there but my site is outdated. I might contract that work out because of my lack of time but it's a big upfront cost.

Also plan to get a wholesale program going within the next year, but one thing at a time...
 
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