Starting up a shop from scratch

As we have decided to quit our little retail unit inside a shopping centre in Peterborough - we are looking into opening a shop instead. A proper bricks & mortar job.

Its an ex Julian Graves unit so is just about the right size for us.

What next? Anyone have any experience? We will be fairly green to it all and very likely to fail miserably I'm sure, but...

I have no experience in retail, but when my LBS set up shop, he bought all his fixtures, fittings display cabinets and even his till s/h, as there are places that specialise in selling this kind of thing.

The unit we are looking at still has all the original display units.

We will be selling gifts, shabby chic (not too much of that!) kids gifts, wedding planning gifts, seasonal. I can wangle a few bike related bits too such as refurbed ladies bikes and such like.

Look for grants, I'm pretty sure there are a few for new start ups. Get a trade mag to see business's closing and get as much as cheaply as poss and advertise. Get some cheap flyers then be one of those annoying people who hand out/ put flyers on windscreens in diy car parks.... No good being open if no one knows you are

legrandefromage":2kc7kyci said:

We will be selling gifts, shabby chic (not too much of that!) kids gifts, wedding planning gifts, seasonal. I can wangle a few bike related bits too such as refurbed ladies bikes and such like.

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All the best luck but I think you are doomed. What is the reason for moving out of the rented unit - if is due to expansion i.e. you are selling more than you can keep in stock or display, then you may have a fighting chance.

The high street has been decimated - if you can buy the same stuff on the internet, then there is no hope for any shop. The only shops that seem to be thriving are cafes, restaurants and hair dressers since you cannot buy those on the internet.

You need to decide in advance when to pull the plug i.e. after you have lost £ X thousands or not made money for Y months and stick to that.

We have what is called an 'RMU' - retail display unit. Basically a market stall inside another shop. Their rent is quite expensive - we could rent a fair size shop for what they charge.

True, we'd have rates and utilities too but we'd also quadruple the retail space for about the same as what we are paying.

The footfall isnt bad where we're looking as its right in the centre.

True, high streets are struggling but the stuff we sell isnt on the internet unless you count my missus' website: http://www.estrellableu.com

What we have now:

... all I am saying is sit down and do the sums and be realistic. If it were that easy, then there would not be a shop for you to rent and Julian Greaves would still be trading there.

Nevetheless, it is still better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all (unless of course the cost of trying was losing your home!!).

02gf74":3h2t0mn3 said:

... all I am saying is sit down and do the sums and be realistic. If it were that easy, then there would not be a shop for you to rent and Julian Greaves would still be trading there.

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Logic fail -- the whole Julian Graves chain went into administration, it doesn't tell you anything very much about that particular retail location. And even if it did, they sold different stuff to that which LGF's talking about, which sounds like exactly the sort of stuff that people like to actually look at in person before buying.

MikeD":1c9e26cl said:

02gf74":1c9e26cl said:

... all I am saying is sit down and do the sums and be realistic. If it were that easy, then there would not be a shop for you to rent and Julian Greaves would still be trading there.

Click to expand...

Logic fail -- the whole Julian Graves chain went into administration, it doesn't tell you anything very much about that particular retail location. And even if it did, they sold different stuff to that which LGF's talking about, which sounds like exactly the sort of stuff that people like to actually look at in person before buying.

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Really? I'll wager 5p that that particular location is not too dissimailr to any other Julian Grave locations. (and I reserve to define by is meant by dissimilar )

You miss my point. What does the failure of a chain of health food shops have to do with the chances of success of an independent gift shop? I'd never heard of JG until this thread, but apparently they sold mostly fruit and nuts, which seems like what people go to supermarkets for.