Opening a retail location

[Robert Tepper]

After the past 17 years of working out of industrial parks and sub leasing space in a warehouse, I have made the plunge and leased a retail location on a major street with great store front exposure here in Los Angeles.

I will be offering rubber stamps and engraving services.

A big move for me. This July makes 38 years in this industry, dealing with the public should be interesting!

Robert

[Mike Null]

Robert

I wish you all success. I have to admit that doing retail engraving is not something that you'll find on my bucket list.

[Scott Shepherd]

Congratulations Robert, if anyone can make it work, you can! Will you be installing a new laser in the new store ;) ??????

[Art Mann]

Best wishes! Please keep us posted on how things are going. I really like hearing small business success stories. A picture of your store front would be nice too.

[Bert Kemp]

Awesome Robert hope it works out great for you. Keep us up dated .

[Robert Tepper]

Thank you everyone for the kind words. Right now the landlord is installing 200 amps of power, removing a few walls and making a few changes. The shop even has a shower in it! For the first two months I am going to stay below the radar and will not put out a sign. We have a good work load and am just not ready to take on walking business. I will post some pictures as things evolve. I get the keys April 1 st. Hopefully by June I will hang the sign. Just one laser for now but my eye is on that Speedy 400.


Robert

[Jeffrey Dewing]

Best wishes, Sounds like a great new location!

[Mike Lysov]

I am bit skeptical on this.

How are you going to deal with customers who come with $5-10 job and stay in your shop for hours discussing their order?
With online business and communication over email only you can either reply when you can and have nothing else to do or just drop it when you see somebody just wasting your time. I guess it is impossible when you have a retail store and this type of customer is just right in front of you.

[Keith Outten]

The first sign I would make for the counter is "Minimum order is $50.00".

This would eliminate most of the jobs you couldn't possibly make any money.
.

[Mike Lysov]

Yes, setting a minimum order requirement should fix this problem.

[Bob A Miller]

Good luck Robert... All the best with the new store front.

[Bill George]

Retail outlets are opening Online sites to cut down on overhead. How can you run a business or a machine and be talking with walk in customers who just want to look or ask prices?

I had an email yesterday, guy wants 3 Initials engraved on a keepsake project board. Two minutes of setup time and two more to do, total time on the project 10 minutes = $20. Worked out to about $2 a minute and no material cost!

How do I know the $20 customer does not have a business or a friend who has a need for a major job?

[Henri Sallinen]

A minimum order sign is something you need definetly. Something around $25-$40 depending on what you do.

[Mike Null]

How do I know the $20 customer does not have a business or a friend who has a need for a major job?

After nearly 20 years (18+) I can say very few. I can't really recall one.

I have a $25 minimum and am considering increasing it. Even though I am home based the telephone and email time on small stuff is a nuisance so if i lose out on a large order because of not spending time with the nuisance stuff so be it.

[Scott Shepherd]

I have to agree with Mike, I've always worked off of the "You never know who you are talking to, or who they know or are related to". That's helped me exactly zero times :)

Having said that, Robert isn't a newbie with a dream, he's a seasoned veteran in this business and he knows his market very well. I seriously doubt he's jumping into this without having thought about all those things.

My guess is Robert will do very well with it.

[Bill George]

After nearly 20 years (18+) I can say very few. I can't really recall one.

I have a $25 minimum and am considering increasing it. Even though I am home based the telephone and email time on small stuff is a nuisance so if i lose out on a large order because of not spending time with the nuisance stuff so be it.

Well the good part about email and $20 is you don't Have to answer or do both right away. The $20 job can wait until your $300 jobs are done, and you work it in one of your slack times. If you have every minute of machine time booked solid for the next two weeks, if so don't take it on. Walk in customers want someone right now. I think there is a place for both Retail and Online.

[Ross Moshinsky]

Well the good part about email and $20 is you don't Have to answer or do both right away. The $20 job can wait until your $300 jobs are done, and you work it in one of your slack times. If you have every minute of machine time booked solid for the next two weeks, if so don't take it on. Walk in customers want someone right now. I think there is a place for both Retail and Online.

Unlike many in here, we run and operate a retail store and those who expect something right now more often than not walk out looking for another engraver. Even Things to Remember doesn't do it right that moment, especially if it's an item you bring in. In a retail setting, standard practice still a 2-5 day production time.

As for retail business, it has its pros and cons. Typically our best customers are the ones who are more like online/wholesale customers.

[Mike Null]

Lest I give the wrong impression let me clarify. Even though many calls are what I deem to be of a nuisance type, last year I caught myself being short with a caller and decided right then and there to brush up on my manners and telephone technique. Interestingly, I seem to remember that lesson with each call now.

[Bill George]

And Let me clarify mine, when I said Retail walk in's want someone right now. That means they do not expect to be left standing around waiting for someone to find out what they want. Which means you need to either leave a paying job to answer questions and do pricing or you need to hire someone. I would also assume you would job scheduling and not drop everything to do the walk in.

Word of mouth advertising can be a powerful marketing tool, either good or bad.

[Ross Moshinsky]

And Let me clarify mine, when I said Retail walk in's want someone right now. That means they do not expect to be left standing around waiting for someone to find out what they want. Which means you need to either leave a paying job to answer questions and do pricing or you need to hire someone. I would also assume you would job scheduling and not drop everything to do the walk in.

Word of mouth advertising can be a powerful marketing tool, either good or bad.

When you walk into a retail engraving store there is an expectation of being helped in a reasonable amount of time. There is typically no expectation to walk out with finished goods at that moment. I'd say 1 out of 25 customers that walk into our store expect to walk out with a finished product. I'd say 1 in 20 expect same day service. This is in rush rush rush NJ.

This industry has a standard production time of between 2-5 days. That's the expectation on a "normal" order.

[Kathy Madan]

Unlike many in here, we run and operate a retail store and those who expect something right now more often than not walk out looking for another engraver. Even Things to Remember doesn't do it right that moment, especially if it's an item you bring in. In a retail setting, standard practice still a 2-5 day production time.

As for retail business, it has its pros and cons. Typically our best customers are the ones who are more like online/wholesale customers.

We are like Ross. Our store bears some similarity to Things Remembered and we rarely engrave items 'right now'. But I've been at it for 28 years now, so it does work for some of us. I like that I get to do something different every day. On the few long production runs we have had, I get bored, even though it can be good money. There's good and bad with every choice.

[Alex Boon]

Good luck :)

[Robert Tepper]

I want to thank everyone for the idea of a minimum time charge, excellent idea and the friendly exchange of thought about my new venture. This move is because I have outgrown the factory space that I am subleasing.

Engraving is one of five business directions that I am involved in. I do understand that people will come in and tie up my time, I have worked from a retail location before.

However, I deal with aerospace, electronic manufacturing and generator companies frequently. At the location I am departing from, my office was behind gates with serpentine wire on a very noisy and dusty street. This will be a professional location where I can meet with my established customers in a professional atmosphere. I am not involved in trophies and awards but have friends in the industry that I can refer people to. I am sure that there will be people that I can not help.

I appreciate all the positive and negative comments, I am looking forward to this move, I have been planning it for two years and just by chance I drove by this location the day that the landlord put the for lease sign out.

Robert

[Robert Tepper]

I want to thank everyone for the idea of a minimum time charge, excellent idea and the friendly exchange of thought about my new venture. This move is because I have outgrown the factory space that I am subleasing.

Engraving is one of five business directions that I am involved in. I do understand that people will come in and tie up my time, I have worked from a retail location before.

However, I deal with aerospace, electronic manufacturing and generator companies frequently. At the location I am departing from, my office was behind gates with serpentine wire on a very noisy and dusty street. This will be a professional location where I can meet with my established customers in a professional atmosphere. I am not involved in trophies and awards but have friends in the industry that I can refer people to. I am sure that there will be people that I can not help.

I appreciate all the positive and negative comments, I am looking forward to this move, I have been planning it for two years and just by chance I drove by this location the day that the landlord put the for lease sign out.

Robert

[Matt McCoy]

I've had a busy retail location for the past three years and recently moved to a larger space in an arts district here in Dallas. I'm not a job shop, but more of a brand that sells both retail and wholesale. A storefront makes sense for me since I need space to make my products anyway, and it is a location that sustains itself.