Retro Toy Store, Can it be possible? Help me brainstorm!

[ukaking]

Ok, so thinking low overhead at first and see if we can catch the vein of the niche market.
-Using a local flea market storefront for low monthly rent.
-Filling the store with items that do not put you in competition with Wal-Mart, or pretty much any store in the region for that matter. (Mego, BBP and other specialty lines)
-The small things matter, retro candy up by the register, retro cartoons and toy commercials playing on a flatscreen, etc.
-Bring on a strong sense of nostalgia for the adults to bring the kids in and show them what a "Toy store was like when I was a kid."
-Focus on making it a family experience.
-Utilize the local cosplayers to do the whole, "BRING YOUR KID TO MEET CAPTAIN AMERICA!" aspect.
-Obviously on a smaller level, but how cool would it be to send out actual WISHBOOKS to fans of the store near the holidays!
-The personalized ability to order things for someone on the spot via the internet and my business relationship with wholesale distributors from my online markets.
-Using the action figures in pictures to make big colorful banners to get people in from the highway.
-Of course work hard to have a strong presence on social media.

What other things would you suggest or do you think Im dreaming?

I want a store that my fellow mego lovers will come to see when they come to the state of Virginia and take pictures like... "I WAS THERE!" type of excitement.

Would a kickstarter program be out of the question?

[mikeMc6]

Love the idea and the ambition behind it.
Museum/vintage toy store sounds intriguing.
For a brick and mortar store to survive involves good location, good product and out of the box marketing with such a fickle customer base.
I say dream on and have fun trying to figure out how to make it work!

[TomStrong]

I hope you could make it work, I miss going to a toy store really badly. There are none left in Florence, Al. Where I'm closest to. Just big box stores.

[MegoSteve]

I wish something like this could work, but Walmart and the other big corporations have such a stranglehold on the toy market and the most profitable properties that it would be very difficult unless you can keep your costs way down. I think the big problems to overcome would be price resistance and product recognition.

As a small store owner, you will likely be paying much, much more for similar items that are available at Walmart, so even if you do have different action figures than Walmart does, in general, they will cost more, and you will look expensive by comparison. Just as an example, someone walks in, sees a $20-25 Bif Bang Pow action figure, and thinks "I can buy an action figure at Toys R Us or Walmart for $10-15..." Though it isn't an equal comparison, in the eyes of an average price-conscious consumer, you are charging too much.

By carrying things that Walmart doesn't have, you might do okay, but bear this in mind: The Walmarts of the world have identified products that people want to buy and the work hard to make sure they can dominate those markets. The products that are left are niche products that some people might want, but they don't have broad appeal. This is a generalization, but, thanks to relentless marketing, little girls want Disney Princess toys, and you probably won't be able to get them without paying significantly higher wholesale prices. Niche products like those by BBP and other Re-Mego companies just don't have the same marketing budgets, so there isn't the same demand.

Ultimately, I think you'd be fighting an uphill battle. However, I would love to see something like this succeed and if you do try it, I wish you the best.

[ukaking]

The reason I posted about it was to get you guys' input on how it could possibly sustain itself and become something we could all enjoy.

[MIB41]

Love your idea and would be first in line to walk through that door, but I'll be honest with you, it would be tons of work to just keep your head above water. We have a guy here in Louisville, who basically does that, minus the commercials or personal appearances by your favorite heroes. Hell, he's got all the 8 inch Remco monsters and castle on display in a case. (Not for sale though). But in addition to running his shop (which is a hole in the wall type set up), he's constantly having to attend flea markets and even showed up at the Wonderfest convention this year. From what he told me, he didn't do too well and that was in a focused environment where people had the cash to spend and could appreciate his theme. He brought good stuff too. It's just very hard to take small market appeal and turn it gold based on a business model 40 years old. I immensely respect your desire, but I think the overhead associated with running a walk-in store would undermine your dreams. If this is really something you would like to do, why not create a website and make a virtual toy store from the 70's where people can shop 'virtual shelves' for the stuff you have? You could touch allot of customers the world over like that and not have to worry about the same costs like a walk-in store. That would be my two cents.

[megocrazy]

I've owned 3 different brick and mortar "toy" stores in the last 25 years. The first 2 were R/C based, which was a huge following for a long time, but saw a huge decline in the past 10 years. Fortunately I was foresighted enough to see the future and get out before the tough times started.

My last store was a retro toy and collectibles store. 6 days a week, about 800 sq ft retail. Lots of work, 60+ hours a week, between the 2 of us, and many with no dollars to show for it. If it weren't for ebay, and the fact I was still working full time, I probably wouldn't have made it. Got out after 2 years.

I'm approaching 2 years in at my current endeavor which just expanded to 625 sq ft, at a local flea market. Most expensive flea market space in New England. More monthly than my last store, but only 1 day a week and numbers have been solid, but man is it a lot of work. I do at least 5 collection calls a week. Sometimes as far as an hour away. I run a fairly usual routine that brings me to most of the thrift and collectible stores in about a 100 mile radius. I've built a fairly good network with a number of people that do storage auctions and estate cleanouts, that have resulted in being able to keep up with stocking demands. Saturdays are restricted to yard sales during the warm months. I do way more hours now but it is doable. Just plan on a lot of hours and hustling around a lot. It's definitely a snooze ya lose market.

[SentientApe]

There was recently a store -- not unlike the one you describe -- near us. It was the one place I always visited whenever we went to that town. GREAT location with lots of foot traffic. Old-fashioned candy, old board games and other toys (action figures, etc.).

The formula, however, seemed odd -- the kids loved the candy, the parents brought their kids in to introduce them to "this is the candy I used to eat," and some brands were so popular they had a hard time keeping it in stock. The retro and old toys, however, were a very niche market. They probably could have done better if there was a larger percentage of toy collectors amongst the regular population, but perhaps only one person in a thousand wants an original boxed "Concentration," complete set of "Beatles" collector's cards, or pedal car. Browse? Yes. Purchase? No.

What's worse, most people looking for those exact things are savvy enough to know how to find them without the necessary overhead mark-up. Aside from the candy, there was never a single item sold in that store that I could not find by myself just by perusing flea markets, antique stores or auctions. I want to support the Small Business Owner, but my money is my money, and I need a valid excuse to pay $30 for something that I know full well that I can purchase for $10.

Sadly, and not entirely unexpectedly, they went bottom-up.

[Confessional]

As mentioned, there are places like this across the country and many of them fail. Like others here, I have some experience on the topic.

A few thoughts:

1. Location… you can't rely on the niche patron, but rather need foot/casual traffic. An area where people naturally congregate with other niche shops, food, entertainment, etc. would be preferential.

2. Ownership… in this day and age it's entirely difficult to operate (in many municipalities) as a tenant with so many (possible) business models. Consider the property as the investment security and collateral in the business. Live in it, work in it, run another business in it, sub-lease, etc... whatever you need to do to make the bills balance.

3. Placemaking… the store has to be an activity zone instead of static, although compelling, nostalgia. The appearances are a good idea, but you'll need on-going attention events to maintain and build patronage. That type of loyalty and intrigue must be earned and can not be expected early on. Find a city with reasonable permitting processes.

4. Diversify… sell candy, sell ice cream, sell anything yummy or otherwise universally loved that drives patrons into the store for reasons beyond said toy intrigue. You're not selling toys, you're selling lifestyle. Lack of cross-over audience development is one reason so many small businesses are unsustainable.

Here's a good example of one that hasn't failed: http://bigfunbigfun.com/

[Bronxboykev]

I hope you can make a run at this and figure a way to make it work... I have been banging my head 500 different ways to think of how something similar could work and just can't especially in NYC... What you would need IMO is something successful spearheading this shop so if the retro aspect of it isn't a hit you won't get banged on the front end... Now I am assuming that you are trying to jump on the bandwagon from the DC FTC Figures and the soon to be released Marvel packs from Doc and Mattel and the Big bang theory stuff from BBP ETC... The problem there is the amounts that you would need to order from them in order to turn a profit would kill you in inventory stock and if the lines weren't hits or die unexpectedly you take a loss on the secondary market trying to move the stuff example $6 Shazams and Martian Manhunters all over e bay... and no one is buying up the $80 Wonder Womans OR $40 Green Lanterns and Supermans for that matter either.
You would need a stronghold in a Comic shop or a Hobby store to attempt this and by stronghold I mean you would need to be the owner and not rent space.

I may be way off here and you would be best served to get advice from guys like Doc and David Lee and Craig from Zica, they would be able to steer you in a direction if it is doable.

[SentientApe]

...If this is really something you would like to do, why not create a website and make a virtual toy store from the 70's where people can shop 'virtual shelves' for the stuff you have? You could touch allot of customers the world over like that and not have to worry about the same costs like a walk-in store.

Actually, this gives me a specific vision, not unlike the appearance and format of a "first-person shooter" type of video game. Permit me to elaborate, although this may just be crazy talk...

Create an interactive 3-D model of the exterior/interior of a shop (plenty of programs and computer-savvy programmers are available to accomplish this -- my son, for one). Click on the doors to enter. The windows outside will be plastered with frequent "NEW" and "SPECIAL SALE" banners. In the lobby is the cashier's window (**), as well as an easy-to-read directory ("Store Map"?) for the various themed toy rooms. Clicking on the name of the room [Insert your own example here], the screen would pan to the right/left, truck forward down the aisle past stacks and rows of boxed models and board games and Easter Eggs (you must have an item or two fall off the overfilled shelves as the user passes by), possibly down another aisle, and up to a door clearly marked "MEGO TOY ROOM" [or whatever]. The door opens, and...

...you are transported into a custom room, where photos of actual products, each with a brief label, are lined up on virtual shelves. There would be a number of ways to set this up, but one might be to have an inventory quantity on each product indicating how many remain in the store ("10+", "5", "2", "LAST ONE"). Cursor and/or directional arrows/keys allow the user to pan across the items stocked on the shelves (suggestion is three shelves high, width limited only by amount of stock). Clicking on the photo zooms in to a page with specifics on that particular item.

When an item is moved "To My Cart" (user is returned to shelf view and an animated box falls from the shelf into the cart), the number resets on the item for subsequent viewers; there would need to be a reasonable hold time that items can remain in someone's cart before the cart is emptied and the shelves restocked. In case of LAST ONE sold, product image is replaced with unclickable grey-scale image, spider-webbed empty space or Post-It Note saying "Check Back Soon!" -- or something else, depending on what is easiest to accomplish -- or different effect in each room? Consider offering an alternate format for listing inventory (list by name instead of analog display) for people who prefer a more traditional online shopping experience.

It would be advantageous to have a pull-down menu or continuous sidebar to expedite certain shopper needs (such as going directly to store map, which would have sub-index of various rooms, etc.). Clearly, some items could be listed in multiple rooms if it made sense to do so -- there should be a "Bargain Basement" for anything with marked-down prices (yes: animation would take user down a dank candle-lit staircase with hewn stone walls and cobwebs hanging from the support timbers).

You always have a button (menu or elsewhere) to "Prepare to Check Out", which takes you back down aisles (etc.) to the cashier for an animated interactive experience in paying for your items (he rings up the order and bags random items while you type in your Payment Method, etc.).

Realistically, there would probably need to be a time-limit in which an unpurchased item is allowed to remain in a cart, especially if it is the Last One in stock or other unique items. But this needs to be considered if such a project were actually being put on the drawing board -- I am certain there are a number of other potential bugs that would have to be considered/anticipated.


(**) -- when someone creates an account with the store, there are some preferences they can select for subsequent visits. One should be the cashier. The default should be a wizened elderly man with a great grey moustache (think Disney's Gepetto); users can select from a menu of alternate cashiers: a ten-year-old red-haired/freckled lad or an overly buxom young woman (in a skimpy camisole?) or a bearded Action Jackson with T1 wrists or an eye-patched pirate or some sort of freakish sci-fi-alien or a white-aproned old-timey druggist -- maybe splattered with bood?... These should be designed with the intent to entertain repeat transactions -- each one is different and now I want to purchase eight more times just to try them all -- perhaps a dialogue box pops up for the user to type in various answers; each cashier can have a different set of funny/quirky dialogue, of does something humorous at some part of the transaction. Each cashier can be assigned a different cash register (i.e., oversized brass National Register; pencil-and-paper; hand calculator; abacus). Short animation (scratching the head while adding, etc.) can run while the order is being compiled in the adjacent dialogue box.


--- Sorry for rampling. You said "Brainstorm," so this stuff fell out of my cerebellum onto my keypad. Submitted for your approval...

[ukaking]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! All of you for taking the time to give me some input. You may have convinced me to try the big website idea and put the money towards that along with advertising. SentientApe, I'd like to speak with you further on this idea and possibly hire your son to get this job underway. I love it!

[mikeMc6]

Dreaming is fun! And free! So dream big!
A year and a half ago the only collectible toy show imploded in the Portland area and left a lot of bitterness among collectors in its wake.
I dreamed of a vintage only! toy show (which is risky cutting out the new stuff) in sleepy vancouver and the ****er got fully booked and people (including young families!) showed despite the many naysayers (and quite a few yaysayers)

I dreamed I could get my wife in a quasi mego-ish batgirl costume and and photograph her next to a life size mego batgirl box to "promote" the show and she bought it hook line and sinker!

so dream big, my friend, as I will continue to dream big and get my wifey to buy those knee high canary yellow knee high boots for the "toy show costume" to "promote" my September show. You only live once!

I actually forgot what thread I was on for a second...

[ukaking]

Pics or it didnt happen!! LOL! Love it!

[ODBJBG]

Make your toy store a front for illegal money laundering. Then you don't have to worry about turning a profit and we can enjoy it.