Thinking of opening a shop

[abothebear]

These are helpful comments, y'all. Thank you.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by abothebear

These are helpful comments, y'all. Thank you.

No, they're not helpful. You're getting bad information from people that have no business sense whatsoever. I don't understand why people feel the need to comment in a thread just to give an opinion of something they know nothing about. I'm not trying to sound rude, but how many of these people have actually ever even owned a business...any business? I have.

I know a guy that had a shop in a small town south of Houston (Manvel, Texas) that has a population of 10,179 people. His last year in business there he did $20K in sales. Frustrated, he moved his shop to another town just west of Houston (Katy, TX) that has a population of 20,202 (so right at double where he previously was) and now he does in the mid 6 figure range in sales. He's doing amazing! The name of the shop is 3rd Coast Cards.

The biggest factor to consider is location. He opened his store right across the street from the local high school and he feeds off that traffic (nearly 3000 students)...again, to the tune of the mid 6 figure range.

Don't listen to these people. It can be done...and done quite successfully.

If you want the guys name and number, PM me and I'll provide it to you and you can pick his brain for ideas. I can also give you names of other guys and shops in my area that have had brick in mortar stores for 25+ years - Howard Lau of Houston Sports Connection, Eddie Martinez of the Old Ballpark, etc. and aren't just surviving, they're thriving. If you're really serious about opening a store ask people that have had success doing it. And don't listen to people that once had a store, but no longer do. Let's be honest, unless they retired from the business, they failed. Right? Do you want opinions and ideas from people that failed? If I were going to start a business - any business - I wouldn't ask a public message board. I would find people that have had success doing it and I would mimic them.