Anyone here own a vintage store?

[NicolettaRose]

I would just like to ask advice of any ladies who own vintage/consignment stores on this fourm. Me and my friend are thinking about opening up one together. It would be new consignment, and consignment vintage, and also maybe vintage aquired by us. If anyone does something simular to this, I could use your advice

Thanks in advance.

 

[pigeon toe]

I started a thread kind of about this in the Observation Bar. I need to dig it up because I lost track of it during midterms and didn't get around to readidng all the responses.

I think opening up any kind of store is much harder work and much more financially risky than people realize. If you are going to do it with another person you really need to have a solid business plan and probably something such as a legal contract ensuring what will happen to the business and finances if someone backs out. My mom had her own fashion design business in the 80's and was very successful, but towards the end of it her patterner/friend/business partner started to go a little wacky on her and really screwed up the business. I don't know what happened exactly, but I know they don't speak anymore and my mom stopped designing shortly thereafter.

 

[Shearer]

I started a thread kind of about this in the Observation Bar. I need to dig it up because I lost track of it during midterms and didn't get around to readidng all the responses.

I think opening up any kind of store is much harder work and much more financially risky than people realize. If you are going to do it with another person you really need to have a solid business plan and probably something such as a legal contract ensuring what will happen to the business and finances if someone backs out. My mom had her own fashion design business in the 80's and was very successful, but towards the end of it her patterner/friend/business partner started to go a little wacky on her and really screwed up the business. I don't know what happened exactly, but I know they don't speak anymore and my mom stopped designing shortly thereafter.

I'll second pigeon toe. I don't know how many times I've seen real estate schemes fall through with my family because someone flaked out and didn't want to pay or decided they didn't want a house in Hawaii, the East Coast, etc. Doing business with friends is always sketchy.

Also, watch out for the rent costs. I've seen two consignment stores on the same street forced out because the street became a popular place and the rent was raised. They started doing art walks and food and wine exhibitions in spring and summer. The thought was that things like this would help all the businesses along the street, but in actuality it was the surf shops and boutiques that profited. Sad.

BUT, having said that, if you've got a head for business (I don't. Mine's in the clouds ) and you feel passionately about it, I think you should at least seriously look into it. After all, that's what life's for and you only live (as far as we know) once. Good luck!

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

I started a thread kind of about this in the Observation Bar. I need to dig it up because I lost track of it during midterms and didn't get around to readidng all the responses.

I think opening up any kind of store is much harder work and much more financially risky than people realize. If you are going to do it with another person you really need to have a solid business plan and probably something such as a legal contract ensuring what will happen to the business and finances if someone backs out. My mom had her own fashion design business in the 80's and was very successful, but towards the end of it her patterner/friend/business partner started to go a little wacky on her and really screwed up the business. I don't know what happened exactly, but I know they don't speak anymore and my mom stopped designing shortly thereafter.

Well said Opening a business is a lot trickier than a lot of people ever imagine. Going into business with family/friends makes it even more complicated. It's not as simple as getting a location and filling it with wonderful things, it's mounds and mounds of work. If you're gonna do this you have to make sure that legal documents follow you every step of the way.
My family has been in the restaurant business for over half a century. Even now that we have locations up and down the eastern seaboard, and there is a large wonderful staff running most of the operation, the base of the company that holds up the business is all family. It's this part of the business that is the most stressful, but it's also the pride of the company. It started as a family business and will stay that way, no matter what problems have occurred (and believe me, there have been some really BIG problems). But, just like the beginning, there is always a lot of hard work to be done. Whether you're a small business or a large corporation, the people at the top rarely sleep. Owning your own business is a 24 hour job. Of course the benefits are wonderful, but there is always some sort of nonsense that needs immediate attention. So if this is something you really want and care about the first thing you need to do is throw yourself into it head first, and don't expect too much sleep or many stress free nights. You also can't expect immediate gratification or success. It can take years for a small business to see a profit return. I know the restaurant business is different than other businesses, but the idea is still the same, no matter what kind of business you want to go into. And remember, it's not always nice being the boss

 

[roots66]

Recommended reading

Alligators, Old Mink and New Money by Alison Houtte

Not a how-to book, but a delightful narrative of the ins and outs of running a vintage shop.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

But, just like the beginning, there is always a lot of hard work to be done. Whether you're a small business or a large corporation, the people at the top rarely sleep. Owning your own business is a 24 hour job. Of course the benefits are wonderful, but there is always some sort of nonsense that needs immediate attention. So if this is something you really want and care about the first thing you need to do is throw yourself into it head first, and don't expect too much sleep or many stress free nights. You also can't expect immediate gratification or success. It can take years for a small business to see a profit return. I know the restaurant business is different than other businesses, but the idea is still the same, no matter what kind of business you want to go into. And remember, it's not always nice being the boss

I don't have a brick and mortar business, but can say, virtually, this is all true.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I would just like to ask advice of any ladies who own vintage/consignment stores on this fourm. Me and my friend are thinking about opening up one together. It would be new consignment, and consignment vintage, and also maybe vintage aquired by us. If anyone does something simular to this, I could use your advice

Thanks in advance.

Have you considered starting out online first if you haven't already? I don't mean ebay, but starting your own web site from which you can sell your clothing? You can gain an understanding of creating a space with your friend with a lot less risk than renting retail space together. You will get a feel for the cost and time involved with marketing. Until you own a business, you never really understand just how much goes into it. Unless you are independently wealthy you will need to find a way to support yourself until the business is profitable. Another thing is that you must have a thick skin. (warbird, hush ). You will have to do a lot of cold calling, sometimes deal with rude customers and be both the cleaning lady and CFO.

Bottom line is that you need a clear plan with measurable outcomes to know if you are meeting your goals, however you also need to be adjusting that plan as you learn more about what is and isn't working.

Hope this helps.

 

[Lady Day]

I recommend you searching for Pigeon Toe's thread in the Observation Bar. It had a lot of people's great info.

LD

 

[NicolettaRose]

Thanks for the great advice, everyone. I owned my own business for about 3 years online, now I work as an independent contractor working for antique dealers selling thier very high end antiques online, but I have always wanted to open my own consignment/vintage store. The thing with me and my friend is that we are both good at different things. She is good at retail and selling, I've got a head for business, promoting and buying. I also have a lot of retail experiance but had to quit my retail job due to fibromyaligia.I think working with a partner, it will actually be less stressful because we can cut the responsibilities in half, with my fibro, I think it is the best way to go.

 

[NicolettaRose]

Speaking of books on wear vintage clothing, is there any very good books that anyone could recommend?

 

[RetroModelSari]

I really liked this one http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/028-6621839-7466160?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books-de-intl-us&field-author=Christa%20Weil cause it has many tipps on how to recognize high class clothing and some good tipps what to avoid. It also has a very big link-list to online-stores and adresses (unfortunetly those are mostly in the UK)