Are there any markets left untapped? Where demand for "Huf" type store exist.

[Nomadic]

I am wanting to move my skateboard shop and open more of a skateboard boutique style store somewhere else where there is a market for it. It would be similar to Huf, Commonwealth, Brooklyn Projects, etc. Except I would like to stock a sizeable increase in inventory but with the boutique vibe. I want to targer an older demographic (16+). I am wondering if there are any areas left out there that have a demand for this type store without a store already open. I thought you guys might have some ideas on the matter.

Thanks in advance!

:: Damon ::

[Proletariat]

what about the midwest? Omaha, NE...Lawerence, KS, St. Louis, MO...WIth the internet I don't think you need to be in a huge city. And the rents are way cheaper outside of the city anyways. KIds know the good shit...the problem will be the same wherever you go...getting the right supply.

http://www.arevolt.com

[TragicBliss]

16+ is an older demographic to you? honestly 16-20 is one and then 20-25, 25-30, etc, seem like older demo's to me. Where's your shop located right now?

http://www.tragicbliss.com

[Nomadic]

I am located in Little Rock, AR right now.. absolutely no market for anything of that sort here. My demographic is 7-17. So anything older than 16 is a huge plus for me at this point. I am looking mostly at the midwest being that its rather close to me already. But I just dont know which areas currently have any type of demand for a boutique style skate shop. I think of larger cities like St. Louis, Kansas City, Austin, Houston, Dallas, but dont know if the market exist there.

:: Damon ::

[Proletariat]

I wouldn't fuck with Austin. They have an ill sneaker shop and Factory People. Sure that leaves a lot of holes, but that city is still way into vintage/rock and roll. I haven't lived in Dallas or Houston in a while but last I checked those cities are still way up the ass of major chain stores. Urban, Abercrombie, Gadzooks, Hot Topic. You might have a niche, but I wouldn't call Dallas or Houston trendy. Plus they are so spread out that it might be hard to find that perfect spot. Find yourself a college, make sure kids skate in that location, and go from there. Start running through your myspace connects and ask them.

Honestly, I don't know how you cater to kids 7-17. I would probably kill myself. They don't have credit cards and you are constatly having to deal with demanding parents. Plus for every dollar they spend they will hang out in your store for a half an hour. Why don't you go up to wherever the Wal-Mart headquarters are and milk some of those bastards for their cash?

http://www.arevolt.com

[stamped]

i just replied to this topic, and have noooo idea where it went to. somewhere on superfuture is a completely random response.

cheers

[Nomadic]

I have been killing myspace lately networking.. seriously that is one of the best places to do that. The problem is finding a college that has trendy kids.. or i maybe i am targeting the wrong colleges.. but i have been looking in the midwest..

Trust me, I am so sick of dealing with lil kids. I mean its not their fault, and their money (parents money) spends just the same as any other money but its seriously draining all my love for skateboarding.. I have to sell lame brands because Core/older kids dont exist in my area.

I am actually going up to NW Arkansas (Walmart country) Saturday to check out the scene/market there. Thanks everyone for your replies.. Any ideas of trendy college towns?

:: Damon ::

[Nomadic]

i sent you a private message..

:: Damon ::

[Carl]

Louisville, Ky.

Get a spot on Bardstown road.

Home Skateshop is pretty awesome but a boutique would draw in alot of the older skate crowd there.

[Nomadic]

wow, i really looked hard at louisville.. i was scared "Home" pretty much had it locked down.. what are the not doing right? what about that other shop there, axis....

do you happen to have any photos of the home skateshop?

is there a good older crowd? how many people there skate over say 18 yrs old?

:: Damon ::

[SENDkylHISPASSWORD]

Toronto is full of older skaters and has the streetwear boutiques (Ransom/Goodfoot, Capsule) and the skateshops (Adrift, So Hip etc.) but nothing that bridges the gap. Even so the gap may not need to be bridge and the market is pretty saturated. It's also pretty far from where you are but I'm just putting it out there.

my favourite things

http://mfthings.blogspot.com/

[kiya]

Quote:

I wouldn't fuck with Austin. They have an ill sneaker shop and Factory People. Sure that leaves a lot of holes, but that city is still way into vintage/rock and roll. I haven't lived in Dallas or Houston in a while but last I checked those cities are still way up the ass of major chain stores. Urban, Abercrombie, Gadzooks, Hot Topic. You might have a niche, but I wouldn't call Dallas or Houston trendy. Plus they are so spread out that it might be hard to find that perfect spot. Find yourself a college, make sure kids skate in that location, and go from there. Start running through your myspace connects and ask them.

Honestly, I don't know how you cater to kids 7-17. I would probably kill myself. They don't have credit cards and you are constatly having to deal with demanding parents. Plus for every dollar they spend they will hang out in your store for a half an hour. Why don't you go up to wherever the Wal-Mart headquarters are and milk some of those bastards for their cash?

--- Original message by Proletariat on Apr 6, 2006 01:53 PM

wait.

did you just say "they don't have credit cards"??

i own a shoe store and i LOVE when kids come in and spend cash in the store because you're not paying a percentage of the sale to your merchant services company that your credit card terminal is leased from.

bring on the cash, leave the plastic at home.

-k

[youwish]

Detroit and Chicago.

Detroit is without any good skateshop that carrys both sb's and good clothing.

Chicago's best stores carry the ill shit but only the one far south which is a train and 3 bus rides carries sb's. If you bust in here in an area where the hipsters live I think you might have a chance.

But then again sb's are lame and St. Alfreds will blow anything out of the water.

[derek]

San Jose seems to be a market that's open. I know a lot of people commute from there to hit up huf and the other sf spots.

[azad]

if you want to hit up the east coast, check the jersey shore a la atlantic city. there is a sizeable skater population there, plus you'll be a few hours from New York and Philly. just a thought.

toma açaí

[Proletariat]

Quote:

Quote:

I wouldn't fuck with Austin. They have an ill sneaker shop and Factory People. Sure that leaves a lot of holes, but that city is still way into vintage/rock and roll. I haven't lived in Dallas or Houston in a while but last I checked those cities are still way up the ass of major chain stores. Urban, Abercrombie, Gadzooks, Hot Topic. You might have a niche, but I wouldn't call Dallas or Houston trendy. Plus they are so spread out that it might be hard to find that perfect spot. Find yourself a college, make sure kids skate in that location, and go from there. Start running through your myspace connects and ask them.

Honestly, I don't know how you cater to kids 7-17. I would probably kill myself. They don't have credit cards and you are constatly having to deal with demanding parents. Plus for every dollar they spend they will hang out in your store for a half an hour. Why don't you go up to wherever the Wal-Mart headquarters are and milk some of those bastards for their cash?

--- Original message by Proletariat on Apr 6, 2006 01:53 PM

wait.

did you just say "they don't have credit cards"??

i own a shoe store and i LOVE when kids come in and spend cash in the store because you're not paying a percentage of the sale to your merchant services company that your credit card terminal is leased from.

bring on the cash, leave the plastic at home.

-k

--- Original message by kiya on Apr 6, 2006 04:28 PM

What I was insinuating was kids don't have any real money. They have what their parent's give them which usually is closely monitored unless you are in a well to do area, and then kids don't normally frequent local biz, unless your shop is mad nice in a nice area near really nice shops. Credit cards while you do pay $1-2 per $100 are excellent because most kids who can't afford to pay cash for their bus, subway, next meal or rent, still have no problem paying 24% interest to get a pair of kicks or a nice skate deck. Also, if you are leasing a terminal you are a fucking retard*. What are you paying $45 a month on a 4 year lease? Way to go, you just paid over $2k for something you could buy on ebay for $200.

*word of advice for anyone starting a shop. Take credit cards by buying a terminal outright o ebay, and having your local bank do the processing. I lost $15k one year going through a middleman on the processing and I paid $2k for one terminal lease and $1k for another.

http://www.arevolt.com

[SENDkylHISPASSWORD]

Quote:

Detroit and Chicago.

Detroit is without any good skateshop that carrys both sb's and good clothing.

Chicago's best stores carry the ill shit but only the one far south which is a train and 3 bus rides carries sb's. If you bust in here in an area where the hipsters live I think you might have a chance.

But then again sb's are lame and St. Alfreds will blow anything out of the water.

--- Original message by youwish on Apr 6, 2006 04:35 PM

Thats because Detroit is disgusting... The suburbs are nice though, maybe a bunch of middle class kids there who are into the sb craze.

my favourite things

http://mfthings.blogspot.com/

[Nomadic]

I am not sure on Detroit. I cant say their economy is on the up and up there... Chicago sounds interesting.. Any insight on where a good location would be? What are the hot shopping districts there?

and just to be known.. I bought my cc machine off of ebay for $180.. =) no worries here.

:: Damon ::

[RedBouncyThing]

I would skip Kansas City. We have been in biz for 5 years and hold or are "in line" for pretty well every key account as far as that goes like Feit, Creative Rec, Reebok, Vans Vault, DC Special Projects, Etnies +, and we get a little closer to our Nike indie account every day. There is also a skate/sneaker boutique in Overland Park which is Kansas City which holds the areas only SB account plus general release product from most of the skate brands, and they even sell some Bape stuff. There is a higher end denim boutique in Leewood. You have Halls which is owned by Hallmark and carries some very cool things. Also, after speaking with my Reebok rep the other day, you should skip all of Oklahoma and Tennessee as well. There are a couple of bigger indies that have all ready staked claim to those areas as well. Now, I am not saying you couldn't move somewhere and stake a claim, but most of the type accounts your probably have are hard to transfer.

[Nomadic]

Just out of curiosity what is going on in TN? What areas? I had pretty much ruled out KC and OK.. What type shop do you have?

:: Damon ::

[azad]

if you set up shop in nashville you'll get the atl crowd, and if you are special enough, the tri-cities of NC

toma açaí

[RedBouncyThing]

We have a denim, sneaker, and streetwear boutqiue. It's about 2,000 sq. ft. packed full of a ton of stuff. As far as Tennessee goes, and this is just speculation, a group that owns several Urban market stores is putting a few sneaker boutiques in. I know Memphis was mentioned, but I am not sure whee else. That came from a couple of different reps too.

[dilemma]

Houston needs something.....

[My Pal the Crook]

For it's size Chicago doesn't seem to have very many stores comapred to say NY, and LA... but what do i know? i've never been there.

[armory]

boston kidddd

if your looking for me i'll be on the block

[DooDooBus]

Atlanta but you are not going to get camp out sb hype. Little 5 points would be your best bet. It is dead on week days but weekends are pack full of kids for the north side with money. There is a "core" skate shop w/ an sb account in L5P but I dont really think 5 decks and 2 sets of trucks is a shop, there is a streetwear shop also but they are always a year late on getting shit but they say when they reopen they are going to have w)taps,nhood,etc but going on what they have in stock now I dont see it. Other then that, a few resale shops w/ $500 tiff dunks around town (not in l5p)

[Nomadic]

I know I am not going to march into a new market and pick up nike sb, but i can hope to pick it up later. I was wanting to carry more core skate gear, cut and sew's of brands such as krew, matix, and other brand's nicer merch instead of the typical skate shop that ends up looking like a t-shirt shop with hard goods. I planned on carrying Emerica, Fallen, and Lakai relatively deep being that those are good non box store (pacsun, journeys) brands amongst the other typical hot skate brands. I'd also like to carry some of the street wear brands such as Stussy, DC's Connoisseur line, hundreds, freshjive, mighty healthy, 10 deep, etc.. gearing more toward smaller independents.. Then carry all major skate brand hard goods, aproximately $15K (retail amount) in hard good inventory. I figured 25 styles of shoes would give me a decent start..

I wanted to say thanks again for all the comments and suggestions.

Edited by Nomadic on Apr 6, 2006 at 11:44 PM

[Nomadic]

Quote:

I would skip Kansas City. We have been in biz for 5 years and hold or are "in line" for pretty well every key account as far as that goes like Feit, Creative Rec, Reebok, Vans Vault, DC Special Projects, Etnies +, and we get a little closer to our Nike indie account every day. There is also a skate/sneaker boutique in Overland Park which is Kansas City which holds the areas only SB account plus general release product from most of the skate brands, and they even sell some Bape stuff. There is a higher end denim boutique in Leewood. You have Halls which is owned by Hallmark and carries some very cool things. Also, after speaking with my Reebok rep the other day, you should skip all of Oklahoma and Tennessee as well. There are a couple of bigger indies that have all ready staked claim to those areas as well. Now, I am not saying you couldn't move somewhere and stake a claim, but most of the type accounts your probably have are hard to transfer.

--- Original message by RedBouncyThing on Apr 6, 2006 05:53 PM

I would be really interested in what someone is going to try in memphis.. its so "dirty south" oriented there i would be impressed if something boutique scale worked.. any word on their possible location?

:: Damon ::

[Nomadic]

Quote:

if you set up shop in nashville you'll get the atl crowd, and if you are special enough, the tri-cities of NC

--- Original message by azad on Apr 6, 2006 06:33 PM

youre saying if i had a shop in Nashville I would get customers from Atlanta and NC? That seems a bit far to travel no?

And I thought Atlanta had some pretty nice shops there already.. ?? Are there no good shops in NC?

:: Damon ::

[Nomadic]

Quote:

boston kidddd

--- Original message by armory on Apr 6, 2006 10:47 PM

I thought a new shop just opened in boston that was really nice?

:: Damon ::