This was re-tweeted by someone I follow today. It's very sage advice:
Never fall in love with an idea until you've crunched the numbers.
One of the biggest failings of retailers in the industry, in my opinion, is that too many of them made the decision to open a scrapbook store without ever thinking for 5 seconds about whether or not it made any financial sense. I have been begging people for years to think on the profitability of a store rather than the "fun" of owning one. You can't pay the bills with "fun" and when the bills pile up, the fun is over!
There is a really nice European shopping street-type area near me surrounded by upscale neighborhoods. The area opened about 5 years ago and many of the leases are coming due this Spring. Guess what's happening? Many of the businesses are closing leaving lots of empty space. It's still a very nice area, though, and it makes me a little sad to see so many shops and restaurants close.
I would love to see a little upscale paper craft store go in like a Paper Source store but with more scrapbook products. But, then, when I crunch the numbers in my head and realize that 10 scrapbook stores have come and gone in my area in the last 8 years, I know in my heart that it wouldn't make any sense.
But, a girl can still dream, can't she? The problem is that many dream without thinking it through and would do it anyway.
One of the biggest failings of retailers in the industry, in my opinion, is that too many of them made the decision to open a scrapbook store without ever thinking for 5 seconds about whether or not it made any financial sense. I have been begging people for years to think on the profitability of a store rather than the "fun" of owning one. You can't pay the bills with "fun" and when the bills pile up, the fun is over!
There is a really nice European shopping street-type area near me surrounded by upscale neighborhoods. The area opened about 5 years ago and many of the leases are coming due this Spring. Guess what's happening? Many of the businesses are closing leaving lots of empty space. It's still a very nice area, though, and it makes me a little sad to see so many shops and restaurants close.
I would love to see a little upscale paper craft store go in like a Paper Source store but with more scrapbook products. But, then, when I crunch the numbers in my head and realize that 10 scrapbook stores have come and gone in my area in the last 8 years, I know in my heart that it wouldn't make any sense.
But, a girl can still dream, can't she? The problem is that many dream without thinking it through and would do it anyway.
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