How to start a clothing retail store?
April 4th, 2010
| Tags: Brand Name, Nike Adidas, Retail Store, Sunglasses, Watches, Wholesale
I have done research so much, I already have all the resources. I’m in contact with wholesale Sunglasses sellers that sell brand name attire. This includes T-shirts, jeans, shoes, sweaters, hoodies, sunglasses, hats, watches, accessories, etc. The brands include Ed Hardy, Nike, Adidas, Gucci, Lacoste, A&F, Bape, and so on. I will be starting small, so on eBay. What do I need to know? How can I start it successfuly and continue it?
wholesale Sunglasses
Hi -
If you don’t already have some, start by getting as much retail experience as you can. Whether it’s merchandising classes, a previous retail store job, volunteer activities or assisting others in the retail field – the more experience you have when opening your own retail store, the better.
Specialize in a niche. Don’t try to please everyone. Focus on a specific market and offer products exclusively for those customers Ideally, you want to represent a niche in your local are that is not yet represented. Also offer a unique advantage that you can offer your customers that other stores don’t offer. This will attract more customers to your store.
You can go to Business.gov to get information on business licenses and permits that you may need for your city/state.
Figure out your start-up costs. Start-up costs vary widely, depending on your store location, size, types of products, etc. I think a great way to see what your potential start-up costs would be is to look at what other retail business owners have spent. How do you find this out? You can view several business plans online for free, and often they have a financials section, including start-up costs and income projections.
Decide on a location. Look at several location and local zoning and other regulations that may apply. Will the location bring in enough foot traffic to cover the rent – and does the area offer future growth potential? Is there enough floor space and storage for your products and customers and parking space for shoppers?
Advertising. While keeping your ads simple, you want them to grab your customers’ attention and provide quality information about your merchandise or store events. Focus on what makes you different from other stores and give people a reason to come see (and buy from) you.
wholesale Sunglasses
You may want to strengthen your inventory by searching online for wholesale items. There are quite a few options out there but I suggest vertical search engines that are designed specifically for wholesale. For example TopTenWholesale.com or OffPriceNetworking.com to start.
If you choose to sell online, please learn the basics of search engine optimization. My own business is online and very niche, so getting a presence on the web is extremely important.
Really watch your expenses. google “liquidation” type of auctions…you can get pallets of stuff at a fraction of the wholesale costs. Consider getting cheap clothing, and doing cheap easy embellishing…just watch those expenses!
Woven Tags and Woven Labels
Best advice I can give you is to learn the in and out of the business and your product before you invest a bunch of time and money. You will need to know your product well, you can’t very well sell a product people will ask questions about and not know the answer. If you were to try and sell the liberty bell, you would need to know it’s age, material it was made from, where it was made, how it was made, there’s a crack in it, why and what words does it split up? The more details you know about your product the better.
Not sure how ebay is on that as I haven’t done it, would figure there are good and bad deals like anything else. Try flea markets.
This is a toss up, you may or may not get good product or information. Just look at feedback scores, if you do purchase something expensive or in bulk like that go with someone with more feedback and a higher percentage rating.
It’s mostly due to the brand name on products. Look at some of the other high dollar name brand products. I have seen $700 wallets, and unless it’s made from gold I do not see how material to make and produce a wallet can be that expensive. It’s all about who’s logo is on it.