Iris Solia Aurora
I'm opening a hobby shop in the next year or two hopefully.
I have found only one place that sells furnishings. I have found a few wholesale websites. I also have chosen dimensions (30x45) which include the show room (20x30), game room (25x20), storage room (15x10), and 2 bathrooms (5x10 each).
I will deal with trading card games (MTG, PKMN, YGO, and Novel ones), RPGs (D&D, Pathfinder), Strategy TTGs (Warhammer & 40K, Catan), Video Games (Old consoles and games, figures), Anime & Manga (Mostly popular stuff), and general novel things.
I have a few problems.
Iris Solia Aurora
The first is I do not know if the dimensions are good for the show.
My local card shop is about a 20x30 for his main part. He does plenty of business. Its all a matter of how you organize the area. Having a part that can be used also for open tables in always a good boon for a card shop.
Iris Solia Aurora
The second is which wholesale would be the best to use.
Truth is both. You need to be able to have 'enough' product to sustain your area.
Iris Solia Aurora
A third is I cannot find many reputable furnishing dealers.
No Idea.
Iris Solia Aurora
Would it be better to rent out a store front or to build my own with whatever specifications I choose?
Building a store front will set you back a great deal. Both in terms of money and time.
Iris Solia Aurora
What are the prices of each type of licensing I need to get (Tax ID, Business Zoning, Business Licensing, any commercial fair usage rights I need to purchase, etc)?
What would the total start-up price be (I think $20,000-$25,000 for complete furnishing of the store dimension I want--but if that's a huge dimension then probably less. Then I guess it would cost a total of $50,000 to $100,000 to start everything up completely and have a healthy--but not overstock--stock of supplies and product)?
No Idea.
Iris Solia Aurora
What kind of residential area should I build my shop in? (I'm in Kingsville, TX. There are two hobby shops here so this is not a good place. If I move back to Lake George, NY then there might be an opening there. If I move to Bishop, TX then maybe an opening there too? Even though Kingsville and Bishop are close to each other and that could leak business away from me)
Best place I can think of to establish a shop is a residential area with lots of schools and very few churches. Target customer base for you will be 10-20 yrs with plenty of cash. Also christians tend to be very good at scare tactics.
I hear there's like one shop on Long Island but like 5 or so in NYC. However where you have your shop, you need to be competitive with any other store. Whether that's in terms of prices or events. A good distance away between two shops is about 5 miles.
Iris Solia Aurora
Are there any other questions I should be asking?
What are some other games I should be holding? What parts of the shop should I sacrifice for other parts?
Oh and also I need more than just me. I am pretty good at using my resources, gathering intel, using intel, managing, and those sorts of things. I do not know the games well so I need someone who has played most of the stuff. Then someone who is good with anime/manga. I'm good with video games and also card games. The others are where I lack talent.
I don't know.
Depends on what kind of people begin showing up.
I'm sorry but I don't plan to move nor do I plan to support any more shops in my local area.