SOME OF MY FAVORITE RESALE SHOP SITES
I packed up my stall last July, stored it in my garage, bought a new puppy and spent the summer traveling and spending time with my boys. Tennis became a 4 day a week event for me, which was amazing because in southern Florida to have so many full-time residents and teammates available to play was not a happening for the last 10 years.
But now Fall is creeping up and November is upon us and I still find my loss of 'junking' making me crazy. I write on my blog to get my fix and finally work on a few projects that are left in the house. Wait.... a few? No, there are MANY that need to be addressed..... eventually.
OPENING YOUR OWN STORE!
I SO want to open a shop of my own - with all the Pinterest blog information available - it's creating a boatload of visions spinning in my head. But, I'm suppose to be retired and enjoying unbelievable adventures with my new found time by traveling with my husband.
There is a small space available in a great location and close to home, but the large problem with this type of business is the time it takes to go 'junking'. It's not like you spend a weekend at a Merchandise Mart - do a 3 months purchase and head back to the store. You have to shop weekly and often. Then head back to the workshop - for me it's the garage - to finish off many of these items and get them ready for resale. Because of this you have huge chunk of expense for additional employees to cover for you. Before you make a profit you have to cover the cost of rent, taxes, salaries, advertising and other expenditures. For me that would be about $70,000++! With hopefully a good markup I'd have to break even at $100,000 - $110,000. If the spot is only 1200 sq ft - that's $91.60 a sq ft. in sales.
AVERAGE COST OF GOODS SOLD
Now! the next thing to determine is the average cost of goods sold. Since my last little stall was so small that's hard to determine for a larger space. I had asked the owner of the mall what those figures were - and he NEVER would supply them. Maybe he didn't know and didn't know enough to care. But that's a huge red flag. My averages were as low as $38 and higher during season at $120, but the overall was about $70. Which means most of my business was smaller items. In a larger space you need furniture!
HOW MUCH INVENTORY for the BREAK EVEN
Let's use that figure of $110,000 to break even. If the average is $70 each, then to break even you have to sell 1571 pieces for the year. Divide that by the 12 months in a year (for an average) = 130 pieces each month = $9100 sales per month. Now how many days a week are you open? In this area, only 6, so that reads 24 days a month. My sales would have to be $380 a day just to break even, or 5.5 pieces. If you are open for 7 hours a day = that's not quite 1 piece per hour.
JUST TO BREAK EVEN!
NO WONDER PEOPLE TAKE ON CONSIGNMENT GOODS!
I just shopped the last 2 weeks and only came up with about 20 pieces. It was easy to fill my 110 sq ft stall, but it will be much harder to fill a store. Another alternative is too share the space. But you have to have someone who has the same vision.
SO HERE'S THE REASON FOR MY BLOG
Sweet Salvage is a 4-day shopping event. We are an occasional sales marketplace. We open on the 3rd Thursday through Sunday each month. Unique vintage and collectible items for everyone
This is the description by another blogger
Sweet Salvage is held once a month at 4648 N 7th Ave., Phoenix AZ 85013. This is a compilation of stuff accumulated by the owners of this event and is always themed. This one coming up in September is call "Wicked Faire" so it will be Halloween junk. Their displays are amazing. It is worth a visit just to see how they put things together, they are a very talented group.
Sweet Salvage also draws a big crowd. The lines go around the building. I usually do not go when it is crazy because I don’t want to park two blocks away and stand in line with the throngs of shoppers.
The owner is KIM
Kim – Owner / Designer
Junking philosophy: Vintage items carry with them a natural beauty and important stories. Each piece I find, either for my home or for “Sweet”, can encourage or inspire a room or be just the right item to make it sing! With a theme, I begin with a vision in my mind and the wonderful pieces find me or are created. It’s not what it is. It’s what it can be.
Design point of view: I am drawn to farmhouse styling, a cottage point of view that is comfortable for the entire family. Muted tones of grays and linen mixed with graphics and architectural elements are my go to. Collections are the focal point. Rooms should reflect who live there. I am a proponent of mixing new classic furnishings with fabulous vintage finds.
The first thing I notice is the amount of inventory they have and the amount of layering is created in each vignette. The eye is carried upward as well - by using every inch of space that is 'theme' driven.
This is no small feat to accomplish alone - so there are at least 10 designers on staff and there is an extensive on-line application searching for more.
ANOTHER GREAT SITE
I am ready to travel to Portland OR
Besides having 100 dealers, they offer Consignment Services and a showroom full of quality furniture. They have a Salvage Garden showroom full of yard, patio and garden furniture, iron, wicker, gazebos, arbors and much much more! They host three shows a year in our Garden Showroom featuring guest exhibitors displaying their vintage treasures.
They also have their our own Monti's Cafe! Featuring fresh baked goodies, coffee, wine, beer, and lunch specials. Combined with our cafe is a library full of books and Magazines. These books can also be purchased.
They're open everyday! Mon-Sat 10-6 & Sunday 10-5.
What I notice from their photos is:
1. How tall the ceilings are....
2. How large some of the stalls are..... so that they can make an impact on display and make some money. (Too small a stall is only a hobby. )
3. Great displays and vignettes - layer layer layer.
Personalized for Halloween - too many stores don't play up the holiday. Get in the mood - have some fun and make the customer smile.
The key is LAYER LAYER LAYER!
Interestingly enough, I've also heard - more than 3 items on a piece of furniture slows the sale of the larger piece because it becomes hidden. If you don't have enough space - you don't have an alternative, but if you have decent traffic - you can show less and sell more with the amount of inventory you are turning.
Don't have a showcase a customer can't get into. If it's too expensive to display - you probably shouldn't have it anyway - it can become a museum piece and retail is all about turning merchandise.
Most items in a showcase are Jewelry
Jewelry usually has a very good mark up - so don't worry about theft. It will happen. But hopefully, your mark up will cover the small amount of loss.
Jewelry usually has a very good mark up - so don't worry about theft. It will happen. But hopefully, your mark up will cover the small amount of loss.
Creative displaying.
More display ideas on my Pinterest page:
SO THIS GOT ME THINKING!
I use to have my own costume jewelry business with 22 consignment stores. Because the square feet given to us was small we used slat walls. The key was we color coordinated everything and changed the color groupings monthly. It was not theme driven or category - it was color - and because of this we were successful. In our best store we sold $140,000 in 400 sq ft a year.
So why not do the vintage store the same way - do it 'theme' driven. MULTI THEME DRIVEN!
FOR EXAMPLE:
British Colonial
Palm Beach Casual
Shabby Chic White
Blue and White
French Country
Farmhouse Industrial.
How do you achieve this?
Most malls rent to multiple dealers and have the floor space divided by dealer. It's a fact that not all dealers make a profit or even rent. If you're an owner of the mall, you want them to make money! Therefore, You make money! And you keep a happy vendor.
What if each vendor picks for each story line vs their own booth!
Because 'Vintage junking' is so difficult - especially since there are so many involved now a days - inventory get's more difficult to find close to home. Each vendor can still keep their own name and identity by using their tags with a logo.
The benefits of this way of doing a space is:
1. Less inventory may be needed because the strength of the presentation.
2. THE STRENGTH OF THE PRESENTATION!
3. Customers get wrapped up in the entire concept by the WOW factor and not the tired and unprofessional displays that may be put together. Not everyone knows how to 'vignette' successfully on their own.
4. There's no guess work for the picker - they have direction - does it and will it fit?
5. By working together there should also be monthly meetings. Discuss the needs for each presentation and what numbers are needed to hit the projected sales figures. You're getting everyone involved with a positive goal and understanding of the business. Who doesn't want to be involved in a successful business?
6. You can increase your prices because the merchandise shows better.
7. Immediately you can see what sells the best - one of the story-lines will start to deplete faster.
8. Vendors will learn from each other how to finish off the goods - they can bounce ideas off each other. They are working together and not against each other.
9. You can still accept consignments - but my suggestion is to give a percentage to the vendors - so as a principle you are not competing with them. You can be more selective on the consignment you accept because you will have limited space.
VENDORS USUALLY PAY RENT
By the vendors paying rent - the rental overhead is covered for the business owner. Then there is usually a percentage of the sales paid at the end of the month - plus the percentage pay out for credit cards used. This should cover salaries, advertising and other expenses.
With this lack of stall space - how do you structure the business to cover the overhead?
What if you charged a larger commission - say 20%. You can't go too high, then the merchandise will get either too expensive or the vendor makes too little.
Here's a figure I read - in most malls only 20% of the vendors are making money. The owner is covered because he's covering rent. What's disappointing is - the 20% - the successful vendor - is covering the other overhead for everyone. How can you feel happy about that as a vendor. A vendor should be booking 3-5 times their rent - and they have to hold enough inventory to make that figure.
In this format each vendor needs to be given an inventory @ retail $$$ goal to supply weekly/monthly so your sales are maintained and don't drop. I know most vendors at malls don't even keep books or inventory evaluations. That's why they don't make sales. This also means someone needs to keep the inventory for the entire store! Hopefully, there is a computer program for that to make it easier. Each vendor supplies their info and someone logs it in daily. There are plenty of times behind the counter that you're twiddling thumbs and need something constructive to do. Maybe some vendors can supply more than others..... this will eventually weed out the vendors that are not producing. Also, require each vendor to contribute to the social network advertising and/or work in the store one day a week.
If you want the rental covered - divide your square footage up by the number of vendors - and they are charged equally. Then take a smaller percentage. But you still need to have them responsible for the amount of inventory they are required to contribute.
You need to do the math!!
As you become successful - other vendors will seek you out. The slower producing vendors - can be given a trial period to perform or they will be replaced.
Why am I giving out all this information?
I'm retired! I'm financially secure and can afford to open a business, but I've been there, done that, and don't want to be the principle in charge. The commitment is too large and too time consuming. I would however, love to find a place that has they're creative juices flowing for all the right reasons. A place that's ground breaking for our community, that's colorful, imaginative, and profitable.
It would be wonderful to support a fun place to work - and maybe even make some cash.
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