Advice for your consignment, resale or thrift shop is as close as your computer: Just Ask Auntie Kate!
In the tradition of Dear Abby and Ask Ann Landers, we present Ask Auntie Kate. Well, actually, it’s Ask Auntie Kate and her resale industry buddies, because I expect you… yes you, Dear Reader… to chime in with your thoughts, experiences and perspectives. Don’t be shy. People ask questions because they want answers. (Even if they don’t LIKE the answers, they want ‘em!)
To keep questions and responses together, you need to be sure to hit “reply” when you’re reading the post that you want to, well, reply to. Otherwise everything gets all mish mashy and tops hang off their hangers and placemats are stuck in with the pillow cases and tags get lost and it looks like a mess.
Yes, Auntie Kate will reply to your most vexing problems, most heart-felt concerns, your secret shames and undiscovered desires. After she gives her friends a chance to put in their to-cents’-worth. So ask, answer, or opinionate away.
Kate and Melissa, thank you both so much for the info-friendly helpful support-who could ask for more? Have a great week, both of you.
Have I missed reading somewhere in my collection from tgtbt, fixture layouts for specific spaces-in my case, two rooms,one 23×12′, back room 15×12. There are so many styles of racks it is mind-boggling! Thanks for any possible input.
Sandra
Hi Sandra, There’s the S-P-A-N and a few “typical” shop layouts in the Manual (pgs 97 to 103, if you have the current edition of Too Good to be Threw), of course, but that’s just a starting point. Map out your space, including doors and windows, and figure out an optimal customer flow pattern for whatever merchandise you’ll be selling. Then you can see what type of fixtures would go best where (and don’t forget flexibility!) The style of fixtures would be you LAST decision, after you concentrate on utility.
Hi Sandra,
Since I already had most of my racks from a store going out of business I didn’t have to question exactly what style of racks I needed. You might want to spend some time with a store supply catalog or on their website (nahanco is one, there are tons of others) to visualize all the different options.
I also found it really useful to draw out my design – and I too have two rooms. I stumbled upon http://www.floorplanner.com. It allows you to create a free floor plan/layout/design. You can create everything from basics like walls, windows, and doorways, to putting in furniture icons to represent different furniture pieces, artwork, etc. I even found clothing icons and you can layer them to represent two racks of clothing on the walls. They didn’t have rounders for instance, but since that was what I’d already bought from a store going out of business, I created round glass table icons to represent those. You can then see your creation as a 2D or 3D image.
Having two rooms, you’ll have the same consideration I did about where to put the checkout area (where you’ll likely spend most of your time) so that you can best keep your eye on both rooms. I also have a front and a back entrance, so I put bells on the doors so that I always know when someone comes in the back, and I can come out from behind the checkout area to greet them.
I had intended to show more of my floor design images on my (personal) blog, but this is the only image I ever posted: http://9adventures.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/short-and-sweet/ I’m happy to report that for the first two months the store looked very nearly exactly like the image – and I was very glad I had planned it out in advance. I’ve since added more wall racks since you can fit more in two layers (three in the kids section) of wall racks than on a single rounder.
Good luck!
Thanks, Melissa… I couldn’t sort thru all my bookmarks this morning to give Sandra that web site… glad you had it handy!
I was informded about a convention held in Vagas this year for consinment shops with updated consinment softwear and tips for running a sucessful consingment shop. Does anyone know about this, and if so when and where excatley does this take place.
Las Vegas? I haven’t heard anything. There’s NARTS Conference, of course, but this year it is in San Diego.
Hi Jackie and Megan, if you aren’t already members of the Resale Connect page on Facebook. I believe Kate may have mentioned this but without the link it’s hard to find. It’s a closed group so you have to email one of the admins with info about yourself to join https://www.facebook.com/groups/197118813684022/?ref=br_tf. On there you can ask questions and find lots of specific responses from other storeowners. There’s also a “Consignment and Resale Group” on LinkedIN you might try. Good luck!
I’m thinking of starting a consignment store in Chicago. I’m trying to find out an estimate of projected income, but I cannot find this info anywhere. I’ve tried calling various chambers of commerce, city offices, small business resource offices, and other consignment stores, to no avail. My space will be about 1300sq ft and is located at a busy pedestrian and traffic location, with free street parking and a small parking lot. Any advice on either where I can find this number, or what said number might be?
Hi Jackie, Projected income is always a guess, because the range of answers in surveys like that of NARTS and the Resalers’ Financial Survey in my manual vary so widely… and of course, surveys can only tally what those who chose to be in the survey reported… There is, in other words, no number to find. It’s like asking what an artist makes… some make a lot, some make a living, and some never sell a painting
Same with consignment shops.
I have noticed that no one wants to give any definite information when it comes to this, thus leaving anyone who asks with no answers to this impending question. Here are my thoughts. How much do you HAVE to make to stay afloat? What is the amount you have to bring in each day to break even? Calculating every single cost including your pay will get you this number. Then you go from there and adjust accordingly to how much over that you would like to make. I have recently realized that this extremely important figure just gets pushed to the side every time someone asks another experienced person in the field and I’m sick of it. I hope my info helped at least a little. I too seek this specific information and have not found it in the varoius handbooks i purchased thinking they would include this information. Sadly I am left with a bunch of common sense information and more questions than when I started. Feel free to contact me if you want to talk.
Megan, I am sure that Jackie appreciates your reply, but that wasn’t her question. You have suggested that she tally her overhead including an amount for herself and then “adjust accordingly to how much over that you would like to make”… which has nothing to do with “projected income.”
It’s not that “no one wants to give any definite information”… it’s that there IS no answer to “projected income”.It’s like asking how long “a piece of string” is. I made $X, the shop down the road made $Y, and a shop across town made $Z. So is “projected income” the average of X+Y+Z… or something else entirely?
To a large extent, how much someone can make in this industry depends on factors specific to the location, business model, and even the shopkeeper’s involvement and personality, don’t you agree? Or is that chip on your shoulder impeding your vision?
Megan’s comment was actually very helpful. The process she described is exactly what I did end up doing to get at least SOME kind of number of what I’d need to make, since no one and no agency and no website will tell me what I might make. I also really appreciated the commiseration, since I’m practically tearing my hair out about this.
Auntie Kate, an average of X+Y+Z is exactly what I’m looking for….just something, ANYTHING, that will give me an idea of what I might be able to bring in. I definitely understand the variability and the factors you describe. I already plan on doing better than most of the other shops I’ve seen because their store designs are all so blah. I also have some pretty unique business model ideas that I think will help me get ahead. But I can’t get anywhere until I can prove to the building manager that I’m worth the risk for the lease, which requires SOME idea of how much I can make.
The building manager doesn’t care what YOU can make; he or she cares if you are able to pay the rent throughout your lease. So put down a “projected income” which is 10 times your occupancy cost. That “makes” your occupancy cost” 10% of gross, which is reasonable. I mean, it’s not like (s)he is going to be standing over you with a whip, huh? (Unless of course, you’re renting a space which involves a percentage of your income which is another whole ball game.)
I repeat, “no one and no agency and no website will tell me what I might make” is a nonsensical statement. There are shopkeepers who make millions and those who go bankrupt leaving a trail of debts in their wake. And anyone who professes to foresee your financial future over the Internet is, to put it kindly, nutso. All you can do is study the available surveys and go from there.
Thanks for the quick replies! In this case, the building manager does care. The retail space is in the same building as, and is owned by, my church. The building manager is a friend and fellow church member. I will be given the space if I can show him, and my fellow church goers, that I can pay the bills. If I can’t do that, he will be forced to pay a service to find a tenant, and no one wants that.
Whether I can figure out what I hope to make, by any means (either the way Megan described or the way you did), is really not the information I’m looking for. Yes, that is what I will end up using for my business plan, I suppose. But really, I just want to know what someone else is making, whether it is an accurate predictor of what I will make or not. I would love to study the available surveys. Where might I find such a thing, without having to shell out $$ to do so? I’m only going to proceed with this business if I am given this space, so until I know whether I’m getting the space, I can’t afford to spend what tiny bit of capital I have on gathering information. And I won’t be given the space until I can assure him that I can make rent, which I can’t do unless I’m able to find some numbers. Isn’t there some kind soul who will tell me what her city consignment shop makes in a month on average?
Hi Auntie Kate,
I have been reading your book, but it will take me some time. I have it next to my bed and read it any chance I get. Do you think it is a realistic goal for monthly revenue to be 10 times rent??? Hummm, this is a scarey figure. I was just projecting to make my break even point at first prior to opening my doors. It seems impossible to know how much revenue I can make monthly until I open my doors and give it a go. Every situation is unique. Of course we all hope to make profit and make money. Thank you for your feedback.
Seva
Yes, Seva, it’s impossible to foretell the future
… I gave our other commenter that figure because she seemed laser-focused on having a number to give to her building manager,. Eventually, yes, occupancy costs should be at about 10% of gross revenues, but that doesn’t happen overnight!
As to realistic goals: Breaking even is, of course, the bare minimum, and what is “realistic” to one person, is not to another, based on level of involvement, commitment, and one’s business model aspirations. My goal, when I first opened, was to earn enough to replace my cranky old sedan with a Mercedes SL. I worked hard enough, and learned enough, and paid enough attention, to retire 20 years later, at age 48.
Great Jackie! Good luck! Just to clarify, I knew exactly what you were asking for. ;o)
Megan, I’d love to talk! How can we make that happen without posting personal info on this page??
Cool! I’m not sure how to either! Maybe find me on facebook and we can go from there?. Megan Scoggin