February 1, 2009
crullers and psychiatric advice, $50
2/1/09
Adjacent to our farm upstate is an old country store, now abandoned, that was built in 1812 as a set of stables. For a while, you used to be able to get sandwiches and Lotto tickets there, but the whole enterprise gave up the ghost at some point in 2003. Now it resides in the periphery of your vision, in the way that your mind automatically erases telephone poles and power lines, something so obvious and invisible that I can only glimpse it the corner of one picture:
I bring it up because we've entertained - for about five seconds a year - the thought of buying that property and opening some store that sold unfathomably expensive coffee, histrionically-overpriced muffins, and those little toe warmers that make skiing bearable in the Appalachians. Even mentioning this desire is a cliché (see Michael Idov's article in Slate about his own failed venture on the Lower East Side).
Inevitably, there is never enough foot traffic to generate sufficient revenue, the kerosene heater from 1923 explodes, and the local town council becomes your mortal enemy. After four months, the leak on your bank account begins to sound like the telltale nail embedded in your emotional tire, and by six months, you hate the entire world and yourself. When you lock the doors for the last time, you must convince yourself not to scrawl "GO FUCK YOURSELVES" on the glass with a permanent marker.
But I'm not entirely convinced these little dream projects always have to go sour. First off, coffee is not a bad product: it's a legalized drug, and the markups can be insane. People are willing to pay for the placebo effect of what they believe to be a fantastic coffee bean - yes, I know Starbucks just closed a shitload of stores, but that was only after their oversaturation devalued the brand.
What you want - nay, what you need - is your other ace in the hole. There must be something else your store provides that negates the other worry, something big that absolutely guarantees income. Muffins aren't the answer, nor is wireless internet - those are loss leaders that simply bring people in.
It could be something subscription-based; i.e., customers pay a monthly premium for a seat upstairs with a view of the Berkshires and a crackling fire, giving them a sense of ownership and a place to call theirs. Yes, that's a terrible idea, but the structure of constant revenue isn't.
The other idea could be something utterly bizarre that mixes with your coffee shop. Deep-tissue massage therapy? A batting cage? 15-minute complete fluid and oil change? A sensory deprivation tank? This particular property shown above has a bizarrely-long structure (a holdover from the stables) that no owner has ever used wisely. Could you put in two old-fashioned bowling lanes with manual pin-setters and charge $25 for the experience?
Any of you have a dream store/job/shop/café you've ever wanted to run? And what would your ace in the hole be?
Posted by Ian Williams at February 1, 2009 11:50 PMEver since I have become a corporate drone, I have dreamed of opening and running a doggy day care. I never really pursued it because I am kind of lazy and the logistics of opening such a place seemed overwhelming. It is always easier to be an employee somewhere and just show up and get paid and be able to take regular vacations. You know?
Anyway, yesterday, I watched Animal Planet's "Puppy Bowl" for hours on end and thought about how much happier I would be if my working hours were spent taking care of dogs. . .
My dream store would be a combination of antiques home decor. My ace in the hole -- my sister, who has a fantastic eye for decor. She'll see something that most people would toss and have it painted or refinished and suddenly it's to die for.
About 10 years ago I dreamed of opening a small independent bookstore with a country-store feel... Wood stove, coffee & pastries, play area for the kids, etc.
Internet book sales quickly dissolved *that* fantasy!
Anne,
Interesting article from the San Francisco Chronicle
Bay Area indie bookstores beat the odds
It seems like Bic Macs and guns are quite the ace-in-the-hole at this point...
Oh, you also need to sell that NY bourbon they're making now, the one with the unfortunate moniker, Baby Bourbon-
My store is a bookstore. I did entertain this idea for about 5 seconds last year when our local bookstore was closing down. My store will be in downtown Washington, NC. I will sell books and coffee. My ace in the hole will be the activities - children's story hour, Harry Potter parties, Twilight parties, readings by local authors or maybe even some more widely known authors and maybe even a guest appearance from Ian Williams who could read some old Wednesday's Child articles or best of the blog and maybe, grumphreys could join him and play acoustic guitar after the readings.
Now if I could just come up with the perfect name!
My store just closed for business last week.
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/joemiller/venerable-spin-cycle-to-close
I have an idea for something else, but I need a bit of a break.
Recurring income streams need to be well thought out. Today's sale is not enough... try to get revenue even when people are not buying from you.
Emma, would love to visit a cool store in little Washington!!
Kevin - Washington is hosting Cycle NC for a couple of nights in April. We have a neat, small cycle/kayak shop here. When I was training for the MS 150 last fall (in Greenville SC), I did some training rides with the owner of our Inner Banks Outfitters shop. So sorry about your business. It is apparent from the article that the Triangle will miss your good store.
We do have some cool stores here, but not a single bookstore!!
My dream project 9 years ago or so was a North Carolina Music Museum, featuring everything from spirituals, native american music and imported Scoth-Irish ballardry through bluegrass, jazz (Coltrane and Monk!) and country, and then ending up with soul, hip-hop and indie rock. There would be a big library of old recordings, but everything would be digitized and streamable on headphones as you wandered around the museum looking at exhibits. And there would be a couple of performance spaces, the big one set up for a subscription based roots music series, and a couple of smaller ones for local bands and acts. We would also have a big oral history project, where we would try to get people from all over the state to come in and record stuff, stories or songs, that they may have inherited from their elders. We would advocate for music education, and have lots of hands-on learning things, where we get kids from poor areas and give them a chance to play a simple melody on a couple of different instruments. Stuff like that.
The bright idea that popped into my head this weekend was to buy one of those kiddie ice cream trucks that still keep coming to my neighborhood and start to drive coffee around town in the mornings. I bet that creepy music they play would sound less annoying if I knew caffeine was inside. Better yet, I could play cool music, but either way I'd wake some people up. To be more efficient, at 5pm or so I'd come back around with wine, beer, and cocktails. Looks great on paper, but I'll stick to my day (or night)job!
Another bookshop over here, only I dream of one that focuses entirely on children and children's books. Remember Meg Ryan's sweet little shop in You've Got Mail? That's exactly my dream.
Creaky old wood floors, lots of little nooks with chairs/benches for tucking away into a book, and an inviting circle area for story time. Also a staff that knows the inventory and can enthusiastically guide kids to exactly the right books. Absolutely no tacky character books (Spongebob and Dora, no - Curious George and Babar, yes). Lots of books that will especially appeal to little boys (As a mom of boys, I think it's incredibly important to find the kinds of books that will help hook them into a lifetime love affair with reading.) Oh, and readings with authors and fun themed events, etc.
I think the ace in the hole is creating a sense of ownership. As a great example, I'm a regular at a bagel & deli shop here in Charlotte (shout out to Owen's B &D!). The staff not only knows my name, they know exactly what I'm going to order and how I like it. They ask about my kids - or if the kids are with me, they talk to them. I meet up there weekly with friends or my mommy group - it's a great place to hang out and catch up. They have wifi, of course, and on Sundays you see people lingering over the paper. I NEVER go in without running into at least one person I know because it's such a neighborhood joint. They sponsor various events in the neighborhood, so they return the support their customers give them. And the Owens are one of the finest families you'll ever meet!
There are a zillion other joints in the neighborhood where I could get a good sandwich, including a Bruegger's I can walk to, and coffee shops like Caribou and Starbucks (also walkable), but Owen's is My Place and Iike their other customers, I'm fiercely loyal to it.
That's the trick as far as I'm concerned.
Emma, if you ever find yourself near Charlotte, there is a neat children's bookstore called Author Squad you should check out for "research." It is locally owned by (gasp) a Dook grad. There is a great selection and scheduled story time, but her ace in the hole is kids can be "members" and make their own books with their drawings, text, whatever. There are writing clinics based on age. And they have birthday parties with whatever theme. Each attendee makes a page, then they bind the book for the guest of honor to take home. That is a way for extra revenue. I guess it is like a bookstore version of Gymboree/Little Gym.
my dream is to open a late-night diner on franklin street. i know, i know, it's a wee bit clicheed, and businesses don't tend to last on franklin street THAT long, but! we'd serve locally grown food and locally roasted coffee -- go counter culture! -- and let people sit at the counter and read the damned paper in peace. and the biscuits. oh, the biscuits. (and vegetable plate. and monday night beans and rice. and tuesday night roast chicken with figs. i could go on forever.)
the reasons this is important to me are a: students need a good place to get a cup of coffee and a smile during the wee sma's of exam time (time out does not count unless you are drunk), and b: food just tastes better when the cooks and waitresses and owners are as hospitable as they can possibly be. i think jje has it on the nose: a friendly place, where people inquire after your mother and have your coffee waiting for you in the morning, is more sought after than people think, especially in a town like chapel hill. and dip's has it right as well; i'd like to have a little of the sense of gastronomical history that defines her cooking so well. that's why the aforementioned vegetable plate is so important. because sometimes, people, you just want some black-eyed peas and cornbread.
A bar that doesn't suck. You don't have to wait in line to come in, the music is good, the people are cool, you have a place to sit, you don't have to dress up and there isn't barf in the bathroom.
Although, happily, there is one of these down the block from me. But there aren't enough of these places!!
what an awesome post, ian! just discussing this with friends yesterday...and exploring the idea of "recession proof" businesses or, at least, getting more fulfillment out of whatever you're struggling for...
http://www.sangregoriostore.com/
this place is an absolute fave of mine, just like you describe your location - it's kind of in the boonies south of san fran, west of palo alto, but a couple of stanford grads bought it, fixed it up into the rad-est general store, and there's music and good coffee and booze on the weekends. i say AMEN for more of that in our lives.
scruggs, the number of mobile food trucks of high quality is increasing, and the idea of not having to pay so much overhead for rent and such is great. a friend started a sno cone truck of all organic flavors in kansas city which created quite a fuss in the summer:
http://www.fresherthanfreshsnowcones.blogspot.com/
and there are places like the cupcake airstream in austin. go for it!
on this end, i'm not sure. but great third wave coffee, books, comfy places to hang out, and amazing food would work for me....
You should buy the property just to dig around and see what kind of cool old things you can find!
LFMD, I enjoyed the "Puppy Bowl" too. Yes, I'd love to take care of people's pups all day.
Kevin, sorry to hear it.
I think today's entry could be taken as a metaphor for newspapers as well.
Wow, these are all amazing ideas.
Kevin - I'm so, so sorry! I'll be in touch...
CM - The newspaper's ace in the hole were the classifieds now usurped by craigslist.
Ehren, I'd also put in a little booth where you read a paragraph of words into a microphone and say where you're from. Then it can become an Accent Archive, which will be awesome as all local accents start to disappear...
I wouldn't get all romantic until you have pre-qualified some viable options. Then, if there is one left to get romantic about, F$#@$%@ do it!
Maybe, in a market as small as small as Hillsdale, you should do this backwards. What types of employees are available in Hillsdale? If it were a college town, you would have a lot more options. I would also be asking myself, what idea is the least likely to suck you into the day to day operations. This is a fun way to cash-flow a strategic piece of land, not your new job, right?I don't think there is enough space, but a coffee shop, remembering that Starbuck's doesn't get their $20 check average from coffee alone, and satellite "stalls" leased by the more unique retail businesses from Great Barrington. They lease a 6x6 foot stall for $100.00 a month, and purchases are handled by your cashier for a 10% commission. That Art store with all the cool kids stuff, jeez, the Jartacular alone would cashflow their summer in one week-end. You would have to stay away from the colored modeling clay. Remember, "Don't get high on your own supply".You could do what old country stores did and take UPS deliveries or other service hub to cover labor during slow times. Something has to generate everyday traffic, to keep you in the mind of locals and travelers. Lease a space to a Great Barrington Bank for a cash machine, learn how to tattoo, $35 Brazilian wax, Video Poker, Flo's Kwik Kuts, Salem's Chicken Coop (Southern Fried Chicken). Oh, forget food, alcohol, books or magazines. The first two are a high maintenance liability and the second two do not involve profit. I would also be thinking about a concept or a business that leased the down stairs, that would have both a Town and Gown appeal. There needs to be some reason for the ladies at the diner to mention you. Oops, long comment. Again.
Five words. World's Largest Ball of String.
Repurpose the elongate stable wing to self-storage rentals for steady income, and sell grilled pimento cheese sandwiches and sweet iced tea out front.
there was a period, about ten years ago, when i fantasized about opening a store called "Pitchers and Pictures." And I would sell only pitchers (the ones you put liquid in, not the Roger Clemens kind) and pictures. Obviously, this store would have had a short life...
Mine would be a shoe store.
Not your typical Footlocker or Champs, though...
I would scour ebay/mom & pop stores for rare vintage finds that only a true sneakerhead would appreciate. Plus, since I'm an architect, I could design the shop exactly as I wanted.
My wife dreamed of opening a pie shop with a coffee bar. She was pissed for days when the show "Pushing Daisies" came out because "they stole her shop's name" and will still mumble under her breath and give you a dirty look if you bring it up. Her ace in the hole was just going to be awesome, fresh ingredients and a homey feel.
I'm talking with a couple people here in Chattanooga about starting a membership driven co-working space for creatives and entrepreneurs, kind of like Citizen Space or Indy Hall. I hope it will materialize one of these days.