At one point I felt like I had the Midas touch. That has all gone away. Yes my store is freestanding. It is off the main Hwy by 1 block and 1/2. It was an old strip center at one time that I had turned into a castle. I bought the property next door which was a convenince store originally and had them joined together. My store has grown through the 16 years and now has stagnated with the economy and 100's of big named retailers that moved in on the opposite side of town. We had a bad city planner to allow this to happen.
Dothan, AL is a town with less than 100,000 people and 2 Wal-marts, 2 K-marts, Target,Kohl's, Burlington Coat Factory,Bed Bath & Beyond, 3 major Book Stores,plus 100's of other retail stores. We have more restaurants per capita than any other town in the USA.
I don't attend gift shows...I get the catalog of the gift shows and call those that look like they have merchandise I would be interested in. I get invites to every gift show, Halloween show and Toy fair. But I just can't see spending money to get in the door of a place I will be spending more money at and the vendors are always willing to give me show specials anyway.
I need excitement of some kind brought back to the store. In this economy I have noticed people spend on things that entertain them around here. The neccesities and entertainment.
The neccesities are available at every turn...so my focus lies on trying to come up with something entertaining and exciting. My website is www.outonawhim.com if you want to take a look at some of the merchandise I offer. I have a picture of the store on the first page once you enter the store part.