How would you run your own RL dollhouse shop?

[havanaholly]

Never mind, brain f**t; I was thinking of Traci/ new day; although you also have access to more than one mini source near Atlanta.

[New Day]

Never mind, brain f**t; I was thinking of Traci/ new day; although you also have access to more than one mini source near Atlanta.

We are down to 2 in Richmond now and I only like/shop at one of them. That said, I know how lucky I am to have any brick and mortar dollhouse shops nearby.

[mesp2k]

If I had a real life mini shop I would have to be working on something all the time because I can not sit still at a desk or counter. :insane: I'd live above the shop, if not in it. I'd have a large warehouse behind the shop to store bulk/wholesale orders of wood, other materials & supplies. Everything would be built on sight at the shop. Yay USA! No coupons, discounts or sales - but I would keep the prices as low as possible. 100% guaranteed, no questions asked on returns...

Any investors?

[morgansmith]

Think green Have a focus to some extent on making something out of nothing projects and classes. I am fascinated with the level of artistry in such things as matboard furniture and egg carton stone. Maybe have a little section in the class schedule for this like the first Tuesday of every month is something for nothing class and it is FREE.......IF you bring donations for the stores something for nothing section. And the stores website keeps a list of items wanted. Egg cartons!

[WyckedWood]

Cool ideas. I wonder what it is that makes those certain shops like Earth and Tree, Rons, and Shellie's on the west coast, the kind of shops that become such well known names in the industry. Is it the size of the store or its length of time in operation..wonder what makes the difference between them and the average dollhouse shop that you don't hear about unless you live in that town or see an ad in a magazine. It's something more than just ad placement.

[Blondie]

I don't know, but I wanna go to all of the shops!!

I think you should seriously consider this. Just sayin'. :thumb:

[havanaholly]

Between Ron's, Nancy's (in Naples, FL) and Miniature Memories (Charleston, SC) Ron carries kits and supplies, much more than the other two; and the back room always has projects going. I can't speak to the sales service; I tried & tried to find things to buy at the latter two shops, but I tend to focus on suppies to make my own stuff.

[Ravenswing]

I would incorporate all of the above in one large store. The only problem I can see is that afterwards I'd lock the door and I would be the only customer! :woohoo:

[CheckMouse]

S'funny you should bring up this topic. There is a little building in our downtown area (I use the term "downtown" loosely; we are a microscopic town) that is either brick or cinderblock, kind of square and squatty, and it has fascinated me since we first moved here 13 years ago. I see a van in front of it once in awhile, so maybe someone sometimes hangs out there. Seems abandoned though. But I keep driving by that building and envisioning it as a mini-store. First I would have the carpenters/architects make it look like a dollhouse on the outside - then I would stock it with everything mentioned above! Might even be able to put our town on the map!

[Selkie]

Having run a business with my hubs for almost 40 years and having been brought up in a family business before that, I can honestly say, I have absolutely no desire to go into business for anything just because I know all the behind the scenes work and headaches and it's no fun at all. The fun front side of the business compared with the behind the scenes side like doing the books and repairing all the problems and dealing with insulting and sometimes wretched and unreasonable customers are world's apart.

That said, I'd LOVE to come to yours. It sounds fabulous and I'll be a happy customer for sure. Are you going to franchise so those of us that don't live near you can have a branch near us too? It only seems fair for all us country - out in the sticks/boonies kind of folks to get a piece of the pie too. ( giggling and giggling - just kidding ya)

Sure sounds like utopia to me. If you incorporate all the ideas folks have mentioned, you'll be one busy shop owner. I say go for it and we can all come for our vacations to the best mini shop in the USA.

[havanaholly]

Selkie, don't forget having to deal with the occasional bad employee, too. I would also most definitely come visit & shop, though!

[Selkie]

Selkie, don't forget having to deal with the occasional bad employee, too. I would also most definitely come visit & shop, though!

Oh yeah ... that too. Ugh !!! We've had our share of bad apples but for the most part we've had pretty good ones.

[havanaholly]

We only had one, whom we inherited when we bought the store; she didn't last through the weekend.

[Blondie]

Eh, this is a fantasy shop, so there are no evil customers. Only perfect angel ones. :wub:

[havanaholly]

I won't go into the "bad customer" story; actually, there are no "bad" customers; customers are the people who buy things and keep you in business; this was one of the "people in the store who made trouble"; the employee was worse, though, since there's no telling how many customers she ran off before we showed her the door.

[WyckedWood]

Eh, this is a fantasy shop, so there are no evil customers. Only perfect angel ones. :wub:

That's right lol :-)

Im sure youre right Selkie about it not being all champagne and roses. I would imagine that your own personal projects would have to take a far back seat for a few years. I think it would take a team effort where one partner was the "artsy type" and one was the "business type". Too much or not enough of one or the other is probably why so many of them cant make it.

Renting out table space would be nice too,but would require lottsa room.

I was shopping one day and overheard two ladies who own our towns little quilt shop...one was saying to the other that they couldn't afford to buy any more new fabric, and the other made the argument that they couldn't afford not to, because if they stopped bringing in new,fresh merchandise they would lose their customers. I think the second lady had it right. Especially when ppl nowadays have so many options of where they can buy what they need/want.

[queenannediva]

Cool ideas. I wonder what it is that makes those certain shops like Earth and Tree, Rons, and Shellie's on the west coast, the kind of shops that become such well known names in the industry. Is it the size of the store or its length of time in operation..wonder what makes the difference between them and the average dollhouse shop that you don't hear about unless you live in that town or see an ad in a magazine. It's something more than just ad placement.

To me it is not the size of the shop but what they carry. Ron's is a very small shop (not including the museum), compared to Earth and Tree, Miniature Designs and Larriannes, but jammed, and I mean jammed with merchandise.

As far as what to include in a shop, I always enjoyed stopping in at Rosebud's (now closed) while in Chicago for the Bishop show. The owner's of Rosebud's rented out work space in the basement. It was fun taking a walk through to see what everyone was working on. The basement was always full so it was obvious that they had a great idea renting out the space. I always thought it would be nice if more shops offered something similar.

Valerie

[Selkie]

.

I was shopping one day and overheard two ladies who own our towns little quilt shop...one was saying to the other that they couldn't afford to buy any more new fabric, and the other made the argument that they couldn't afford not to, because if they stopped bringing in new, fresh merchandise they would lose their customers.

That is exactly the fact! The second lady has the business sense. You have to spend money to make money. It's a tough concept and in this day and age, often puts people out of business right from the get-go. The overhead to get started with can be astronomical but if you don't put it in, you won't draw anyone in.

The next stage of the "keeping" the customers is often more important. If you don't keep up with the times in your offerings, décor, times that you are open, even parking availability, etc. you won't keep the customers. Repeat customers and satisfied customers are your bread and butter.

Word of mouth advertising is your best (and cheapest) way to promote your business and that only comes from happy, excited and freshly stimulated customers. Innovation and enthusiasm on the owners part is a large part of the success model.

It's easy to become complacent and routine and that will never set you apart from the crowd. It is what has probably made or broken many of the dh shops along the way - that and the Internet.

I think it would be a blast to come to your shop based on your ideas. Having the types of things you are considering are the just the things that would draw me in.

[grazhina]

You have to spend money to make money

Yeah, ouch, tell me about it. Sometimes it feels like buying for New England Miniatures just never stops. :lamo: <------ I am shopping, I look at the cost total----boing----oh well. :waycon: . Gotta spend money to make money.

Sometimes I don't look at the total. DH always used to ask me how much I'd spent. I 'd sometimes say, I don't know, we were out of it. I needed to buy more, and I needed to add more new stuff. He doesn't ask anymore. He just says, here, sign this check.

[Dalesq]

Retail is a tough business! And brick/mortar stores are probably the toughest. You'd need to be close or in an urban center to be successful and everything Selkie said is true for any commercial venture, but especially retail.

What I'm finding interesting about this thread is the interest in a place to go to be able to do projects, take classes, etc. like the basement workshop spaces. You could even do something like this without taking on the overhead of a permanent location. Kind of the direct marketing model.

The people I got the GGV from had lost their lease for their commercial location and had temporarily moved it into their home. They were doing weekend open house events.

[MellyGabs]

Karin I love this topic!! I to hate it when I am followed around in a shop by the owner or staff, one things I did in my shop to reduce theft was use alot mirrors and I mean alot (lol) I have mirrors everywhere they do a few things make my store look much bigger then it really is, gives it that magical feeling the lights I use flicker and bounce to mirror to mirror and of course helps reduce theft. Although my main problem is dust especially on finished dollhouses that are to big to go into glass cabinets so we use sheets of plastic mylar this seems to work so at night we just fold them down like a blind from shelf to shelf.One of the best features of my shop is that room is built off our house and we left the original farmhouse windows that look from that room to the house so I took advantage of this by making the windows glass cabinets which because there inside main house we keep the precious items in there. The whole shop has a french country feeling to it!

[CheckMouse]

Karin I love this topic!! I to hate it when I am followed around in a shop by the owner or staff, one things I did in my shop to reduce theft was use alot mirrors and I mean alot (lol) I have mirrors everywhere ...

My mother and I were shopping in an antique store once, and were the only customers at the time. The owner sat at this desk at the entrance the whole time we were browsing. I commented to Mother that he sure was a trusting soul, as there were many tiny things a shoplifter could pick up. Of course, we don't steal, so we just kept wandering through admiring everything, and picked up a couple items we wanted. When we returned to the counter he was still sitting there - watching his closed-circuit TV! He must have had a view of the whole store and he just followed us around on the viewer! Good thing we were honest!

[Debora59]

I too am more of a dreamer than a business person but everything starts with a thought and I have thought about mine. It will be more of a Gallery with scenic mural backdrops fitting for each house, these will be roped off, there will be a at least one grand chandelier and real fireplace with easy chairs for guys to relax and watch large video picture frame to show how some of my houses were built.

Library of books for inspiration and knowledge. Postcards and prints, Kits and supplies, toys and candy for little ones. And one play house sized house for hands on for children to explore.

I want to create a sense of wonder, and be able to see tjat on peoples faces I want to creat ''something new under the sun.''

[clynn]

I have one local dollhouse store that I'd desperately love to give my business to, becauseI love to support local businesses. But almost everything in the store is covered in dust and there is very little of anything in stock. The owner was very sweet, but as she plainly told me, she doesn't have "that internet" so it was very difficult to talk to her about things I have seen or what I was looking to build.

I'd love a place that had a good selection of DIY materials, as well as classes with projects on a regular basis. I love the idea about making a kit 3 different ways to show what could be done with it. That would give beginners like me a great visual as to what and how to do it.

[lauker]

Here are just some of my thoughts (apologies if I repeat any made above!):

1) Classes! - I would definitely provide well-publicized classes for the community. While classes on building dollhouses and miniature scenes would be obvious offerings, I think our hobby really needs to be put "out there" for it to spark the imaginations of the younger generation. Therefore, I would use dollhouse scenes, building styles, etc. to teach younger children (and everyone, really) about different periods in history, architecture, etc. In other words, I think one part of my shop would be set up like a museum.

Furthermore, I would love to teach a class on trash-to-treasure. Dollhouse furniture doesn't need to be expensive and so I would show visitors and customers how to transfer things they'd normally throw away into miniature creations.

2) Dollhouse kits. I have been to a number of shops who only sell one specific brand of kit. (The exception being Earth and Tree, since their kits are their own design and creation). I would showcase at least Greenleaf, one RGT, and maybe a couple of others. These demos would highlight the benefits of each style (playability vs. architectural accuracy, for example).

3) Unique touches. My favorite shops have unique items. For example, Volant Miniatures in Volant, PA had sports-related miniatures specific to the Steelers that I had never seen anywhere else. Lynlott Miniatures in Aspinwall, PA had some very unique minis (e.g. an engine block being repaired on a table complete with oily rags and brick holding up one table leg) as well. These are just a few examples.

4) Clearance and second-hand items. While new stuff is awesome, my favorite shops have a rather large clearance section. For example, Chautauqua Miniatures in New York has two floors in their shop (though they also have two shops in one). Their clearance section takes up a good amount of space and includes everything from slightly damaged furniture to unique miniature items that are a bit out of date. It may also be fun to run a little mini "pawn" shop where one can sell their old minis back for store credit!

5) Space. I hate walking around mini stores where I feel like I am going to take down half the display by walking past it in a narrow aisle. I would hope I'd have lots of room with plenty of glass display cases for more expensive items.

6) Friendly staff with knowledge of online resources. Knowledge of what's available to miniaturists and what needs should be filled in the community should be on the minds of miniaturist shopkeepers. If nothing else, hire a PR-savvy staffmember who can make the store's online presence known as well!

7) Green items. I am really interested in using recycled and environmentally friendly items in my craft projects and would love to offer such alternatives in a dollhouse shop! Reclaimed/sustainable wood sources, fair trade for craftsmanship, green glues and paints, etc. would fill most of my shelves.

Okay, these are just a few of my ideas. Not like I've thought about this in great detail or anything. ;)