I'm opening up a brick and mortar this year and want some advice!! 7 7

[Westy Steve]

15 minutes ago, ChiSoxFan said:

A great point. When I owned my store, we set up a deal with Coca-Cola -- they brought a huge cooler (not a machine) and we were able to order plastic bottled drinks through them to stock it up regularly, and we would go to Sam's to buy snack items (chips and candy).  We sold a ton of both over the years. especially to the gaming crowd (which the OP will have in his store).  It was easy profit with pretty much no downside to it.

The thing is, I like to snack when I game.  Not only that, but one of my local comic book stores will order a bunch of pizzas on their gaming nights and sell two slices and a coke for $5.  Even if I ate before the game, I somehow ended up buying that pizza!  And yes, I'd have paid more for the privilege...$7 or $8 wouldn't have been out of line.

I have a friend who runs another store that sells cappuccinos in the mornings.

Edited August 25, 2017 by Westy Steve

[ADAMANTIUM]

I go to the LCS but don't game and I'm still a little jealous haha

[shadroch]

Just look into the local regulations about selling food.  When I lived in Mineola, a guy applied for a permit to open a .99 cent store. It was granted and a few weeks later one of the local gadflys pointed out that he was selling food without a permit.  Town shuttered him until it was straightened out.

[Genesis Comics]

Grand Opening less than 12 hours away!!!

[Genesis Comics]

[Genesis Comics]

[Genesis Comics]

[thehumantorch]

Looking very good.  You transitioned the hardwood to carpet?  Pics of your pole?  that didn't sound right.

[Mapleleafvann]

Now THAT.....looks sharp!  Well done.....very well done sir!  

Wish I was in the area for your opening.  My sincere wishes for a "grand" breakout!

[Genesis Comics]

his will probably be my last update for the next week or so.

It's a good thing I built in the extra few days for the "slow open"  As you all mentioned, I didn't leave myself much time to get as much stuff done as I wanted...the beginning of the week was terrible...hot humid with no AC...I found myself leaving to go home for a while to "refresh"...temp in the store hovered between 87-89 plus the humidity was out of control...couple that with the long days and not as much sleep as I'm used to getting and it wasn't fun...I received the ComicSuite POS system and over the last 2 days spent 8 hours on the phone with the support team, training me how to use the system...a LOT more complicated than I thought, but I have the basics down.  It has a ton of great features that will help me with my ordering...

Good news is that the landlord got me a brand new AC unit 2 days ago...what a difference!!!  

I went from a tuxedo shop to a  90-95 percent ready comic/gaming shop!!

In a few weeks, I'll put together a list of where I went wrong with the budgeting...ended up being a little under 7K away from where I wanted to be...I still have a cushion but not as much as I had wanted...rent is already paid for Sept and Oct so that's good.  There were lot's of things I didn't anticipate, some were out of my control...others were just bad planning on my part.

I had a few people come in tonight as I was finishing cleaning up and sold a few things...still have 1 or 2 things to do in the AM but I'll have myself plus at least 4 people helping all day.  If any boardies are planning on coming down, introduce yourself!!

I have some great sales this weekend..

All new comics over the last 4 weeks are 25% off cover

All back issues in bins are 50% off

All wall books 15% off

Discounts on Pokemon, POP's and Plush

I have about 15 boxes of $1.00 comics as well

It has been physically and mentally exhausting!  Friends and family played a pivotal role in getting everything set up so quickly...looking forward to this weekend...we will be posting on facebook and possibly even live streaming...

Sign was put up today...VERY VERY bright!!

Gotta go and get some sleep...thanks everyone for all your advice, comments, and suggestions!  The knowledge and willingness to share that knowledge is invaluable!  I truly thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for everything!!

I'll continue to update the thread with info about the grand opening as well as how things are going!

 

[Genesis Comics]

34 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

Looking very good.  You transitioned the hardwood to carpet?  Pics of your pole?  that didn't sound right.

I didn't actually finish the pole...my brother is stopping by tomorrow AM to finish it up...

It's by the gaming area and I'm not running any events this weekend, so it's really just there...hopefully people will be paying more attention to the products I have for sale instead of looking at my pole!!

[Genesis Comics]

36 minutes ago, Mapleleafvann said:

Now THAT.....looks sharp!  Well done.....very well done sir!  

Wish I was in the area for your opening.  My sincere wishes for a "grand" breakout!

Thanks so much!!  I was happy with the way it came out...I like the "dark" wood up against the colors.

[Genesis Comics]

8 hours ago, Westy Steve said:

The thing is, I like to snack when I game.  Not only that, but one of my local comic book stores will order a bunch of pizzas on their gaming nights and sell two slices and a coke for $5.  Even if I ate before the game, I somehow ended up buying that pizza!  And yes, I'd have paid more for the privilege...$7 or $8 wouldn't have been out of line.

I have a friend who runs another store that sells cappuccinos in the mornings.

There is a chinese food place to one side and a pizza parlor on the other side.  I have a Pepsi cooler coming in the next week or 2...I had it on my list, but it wasn't one of the big priorities...I will also have snacks as someone suggested...candy/chips etc.

[Genesis Comics]

13 hours ago, revat said:

Actually, regardless of what the real answer is, he should say, "I got a state of the art system, with multiple cameras and motion sensors, I had my cousin install it yesterday.  He was a Navy Seal who does private security now, so he got me a really good deal.  I also lucked out because he lives less than a mile from the store."

This!

[Genesis Comics]

43 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

Looking very good.  You transitioned the hardwood to carpet?  Pics of your pole?  that didn't sound right.

As far as the floor, I did go with carpet....they don't make that type of floor board any more, plus, there was a lot of damge underneath the rug he had in the back...it would have cost more than I wanted to spend to repair the floor and put the laminate down, it was easier to just put a thick padding and some carpet over it, plus it was more than 1/2 the price less!

[Genesis Comics]

7 hours ago, shadroch said:

Just look into the local regulations about selling food.  When I lived in Mineola, a guy applied for a permit to open a .99 cent store. It was granted and a few weeks later one of the local gadflys pointed out that he was selling food without a permit.  Town shuttered him until it was straightened out.

I will definitely look into that...I don't think there will be an issue as it's all sealed, but you never know!

[Genesis Comics]

On 8/24/2017 at 9:23 PM, youmechooz said:

this is troubling.

I hear you...not happy where I ended up, but I'm not in dire straits...I should be OK...hopefully sales will be good for the first few weeks/months and I can build back up to where I want to be...

[badback83]

Congrats on the store and I hope you do well.  The store looks great! 

[01TheDude]

10 hours ago, Genesis Comics said:

As far as the floor, I did go with carpet....they don't make that type of floor board any more, plus, there was a lot of damge underneath the rug he had in the back...it would have cost more than I wanted to spend to repair the floor and put the laminate down, it was easier to just put a thick padding and some carpet over it, plus it was more than 1/2 the price less!

The store looks great! So clean and professional.

I think you will appreciate the carpet in the long run as it will help reduce the noise in the store versus hardwood/tile-- which will be very nice when you are hosting game tournaments. Not sure how well that will work once the weather starts getting sloppy (snow etc) but that is a ways off too.

One suggestion: while you are waiting for the Pepsi machine to be delivered, it might be a good idea to have an iced up cooler of drinks available. And if you have a costco or sams club membership-- get the candy and other stuff in bulk to save on costs (probably already thought of that but just in case). Better to get the gamers into the idea of buying from you instead of your neighbors. Also-- see if that pizza place would be interested in offering specials to your gamer group on game nights.

Edited August 26, 2017 by 01TheDude

[Antpark]

 Congratulations! The store looks fantastic! 

I've really enjoyed reading your journey from idea all the way through to realization. 

I wish you nothing but success and hope it becomes everything you thought it'd be and more.