Hi!
My husband and I have been talking about starting a store for years, right now we are looking at buying an existing one. One thing that is holding us back is kids. I have known people who have kids and essentially raise them in the store, having a play area in the back or in a corner. He says it's impossible. Do any of you own a store and have your kids there with you during the day?

How it would work is that, I would work the store, while he did his regular job. During business hours our kids (one son so far, more to come) would be with me. I figure we could have a kids area in one corner, not just for them but for customers kids, and when we have another baby we could have a bouncy seat behind the counter, and I could also wear the baby in a sling. Am I being unreasonable? Store hours would probably be 10-5 or later. Closed one or two days a week.

Does anyone else do this? Is it particularly hard? Have you tried this and failed?

Also we have a shopping center RIGHT across the street, and hope to have our store there, then in quite a few years when the kids are old enough they could stay home, because it would be less then 5 minutes away. Obviously that would be a long ways away.

Thanks!

You failed to mention what type of store and what age your kids are. Frankly, I don't think it very professional to have your children in a retail situation. A home business would be understandable but not in a retail atmosphere. This a place that the kids attention will be divided between mom and clients and as a customer, I would find it distracting to be checked out by someone with a baby in a sling.
Either you are a business owner who works from home while raising her kids or you have the kids in daycare while you work. While some customer moms may find it endearing, you have to expect that not everyone will be as understanding.
Let me also pass along my latest experience--I, too, have opened a store only to be crushed by the current economy burdened by the gas crisis. Timing is everything and you must have plenty of capital (old fashioned cash!) to weather this one!
Why is the owner selling this business? Have you asked the all important questions and done your due diligence? It would seem that what to do with the kids is far down the list of reasons to buy or to start a business in retail.Get those answers first and then decide if the business model would benefit or be hurt by your decisions about the kids.
Good luck to you--I started my business at home with my one year old, but when business picked up, I had to have someone take care of him while I took care of business. Without my total focus on the business during working hours, I would not have made a living for us both.
Just a last note--I have built several businesses online now so they are actually supporting my retail store( ain't that a kick?) until I finally give it up and close or sell it (one way or the other, it will probably go) and then I can keep my internet profits. Think about doing your online business at home and stay with your kids. Let me know how you are doing
Julia
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Well the store we are thinking of buying is a teacher supply store. The store we want to start ourselves in a natural/attached parenting store.

The kids issue isn't the ONLY issue we are considering, it is just a major factor that comes into the life part of running a store. We are thinking about it in two ways, 1: the business and numbers aspect, can it profit? 2: the life aspect, does it fit our life and plans?

I tend to agree with the other poster. I think for right now, it would be best to do some kind of a home business and preferably something where you could sell products at booths or shows or maybe have a cart inside the mall where you could hire teenagers or other people to help you run it so you are not exclusively responsible.

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For the parenting idea, yes absolutely you can raise your kids in the store. My daughter did it in my store, a children's retail shop. We had a play room for customer's kids and my grandkids. And the office/break room was also set up as kid friendly (for us, not the customers). She had lots of one on one time with her when the store was slow. The customers absolutely loved the little one and were so genuinely disappointed when she wasn't at the store.

The fact that it was a children's shop and kids were there all the time is what made all the difference.

Sylvia
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I have been on both ends of this situation. My mom opened her first store when I was in 3rd grade and continued it (and expanded) until she passed away almost four years ago. My own kids have also spent time in her stores. You can raise kids around a store, but you shouldn't plan to have them there 100% of the time and expect to be able to run a business.

As a child, we would often walk to the store after school instead of taking the bus home. I enjoyed working in the store, but my sister didn't like to be there at all. We spent many hours in the store, but it would not have been reasonable to expect us to be there ALL the time.

When I had my first baby (he just turned 7), I quit my full time job and worked again for my mom. I spent a lot of time in her store together with my son, but if I was scheduled to work alone, I really needed to have somebody watch him. It is really hard to focus on customers, phone calls and other work, and still give your kids the attention they need. There were times when I would get distracted helping a customer, and my son would wonder off somewhere around the store. By this point, we were in a large mall, and I realized how easy it would be for him to wonder off and get lost, or worse, for someone to walk off with him.

After my mom passed away, I had my second son, then closed her stores (in two malls by then). I started over on my own, but began online with the intention of going back to the mall in a year or two. I realized that focusing on my online boutique made a lot more sense for my family. I could work from home and be with my kids. They could come with me to my warehouse, to the post office, to UPS, etc.

My days are completely flexible because I am not tied to retail business hours. My younger son will start preschool this fall, but only for the hours we feel are best for HIM, not because I need him to go somewhere so I can work. My kids are home in the summer, and we can choose the less-crowded morning swim lessons that regular "working parents" can't make it to. My weekends are mostly free to spend with my family. I always answer the phone, and I'll work on the computer sometimes, but I am not tied down. I don't have to be in a store for the busy weekend days, and nobody expects me to ship until Monday.

I strongly agree with those who have suggested starting an online business while your kids are young. Make sure you do your research and learn how to do it right. There may be a bit of a learning curve, but you are not risking nearly as much money either. Retail is a tough way to make a living, and will rarely make you rich. You may be even better off selling what you KNOW rather than merchandise you have to buy. Whatever you choose, you need to really love what you do to do it well. If you do decide to open a retail store, plan to have employees there most of the time. You will still spend plenty of time in the store yourself, and you can often bring your kids with you, but you should be the back-up as far as actually covering shifts, not the primary salesperson. That's a smarter way to run a business anyway - hire & train well, run the back-end, and spend your time marketing.

As for the person who mentioned the kiosk, I would say, ABSOLUTELY NOT! The kiosks in high-profile malls rent at a much higher rate (relative to space) than inline stores, and are even more difficult to make money with. You have to put all your eggs in one basket with a very limited product offering that has to sell like gangbusters. Putting any ol' teenager at your kiosk is not going to accomplish that for you!

Good luck with your plans. I hope that reading about my experiences helps you make the right decision for your family.

- Kristin

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