Thinking about opening a gift shop, with emphasis on garden decor. I would like to hear from other gift shop owners as to how they decided to open their shop and how they learned all they needed to know before opening their shop--did they work in another shop and decided they could open their own, did they talk to other shop owners (outside the town they're thinking about opening in) for ideas and advice, did they attend trade shows to get suppliers line up before opening their doors, how long it took them to get everything in place to open, etc.? I've been laid off from my FT job going on two years. I've always wanted to run my own card/gift store so I'm thinking why not now. I know this isn't the best time to be thinking about opening a business selling items that people don't necessarily need, with their limited disposable income these days, but I have some money saved so I'm thinking about giving it a go. I had a home-based gift basket business in the past, on the side while working FT (didn't do a lot with it) but I have some experience in finding suppliers, etc. Would appreciate hearing from fellow gift shop owners about all the "research" they did before deciding to take the entrepreneurial plunge. Thanks to all who's willing to mentor a newbie. Feel free to post here or email me privately.

Kaisermust, Upstate NY

I think BizResearcher made some great points and his/her advice can get you headed down the right path.
I don't own a gift shop, but many of the things that I went through in opening my own retail shop will probably translate over to ours.
If you have your heart set on a physical retail location, the location is essential for starting out. That was one of the best things I did in opening my store. I opened in a strip plaza, right next to a new restaurant so people wanted to try this new restaurant out and low and behold, there is my new little store right beside it. I would have people come in, look around and ask me what I do then they would go over to the restaurant and eat. After you get established and have a loyal clientle, then location probably doesn't matter as much.
Don't go into this business expecting to cover you living expenses for awhile. Some people say that you won't make any money until 2 to 5 years, which I think is wrong, but the money you put into the business and the money it makes needs to stay in the business, it is the only way to grow the business. Many, many, many businesses fail because lack of cashflow either within the business or your personal finances.
My business has been profitable since the first month I opened, but I've only take maybe $2000 out of it in almost 2 years.
Another thing that I would suggest is talk to other retail store owners, ones in your trade would help, but you'll probably find many are relectant to talk to you because they will think of you as competition, which you probably will be. A better approach might be to find some businesses that will be similar to yours but not direct competitors, and you might be able to place some of your product or flyers in their stores and cross promote each other.
And lastly, have you considered starting this venture as an online business first, maybe test the waters and see if people are buying this stuff. Yes you will have to spend some marketing dollars, but it would be better to spend some and see if it might work or not, than spend everything and hope and pray.
One more thing I thought of, talk to your friends, family, facebook friends, strangers in line at Walmart(there's always weird people that want to talk in Walmart checkout line) and everyone you run into. Pitch your idea, ask them if the things you are thinking of offers are things that they would buy, don't ask them if the business is a good idea or not, most people will be negative and say this is the worst time to start a business.
If you want to talk more, send me a PM. WOW, that was long.

I currently own a gift shop and hope that you will indeed take a lot of time to consider what you are getting into. Both previous responses have a lot of excellent information with regard to starting up a retail operation, so please pay attention to them.

As someone who has owned a shop for the past few years, I can also add that you must be very sure of your market and your location. Foot traffic is AMAZINGLY important. If your location is in the middle of nowhere, where will your customers come from? Consider that especially right now, gifts are luxuries and people are less inclined to purchase these extras, so you may need to be a bit more diverse than just offering gifts. Getting set up as close to a larger anchor (especially a popular local grocer or restaurant) is key to your success.

Another note: Landlords of commercial locations are losing tenants quickly. Be sure to be very aware of what is going on around the location-Is some other place becoming more popular? What is it going to be like in 1 year, 3 years, 5 years or more? If the location you are considering is not holding any long-term tenants, you won't get much following there. Go somewhere where the majority of small businesses have been there for more than 3 years, where the turnover is minimum and where the landlord is willing and able to work with you to make sure your business succeeds. Sometimes that means that you negotiate a few months of free rent; maybe you get them to put in new carpet and paint and do the build-out (adding walls, storage rooms and what have you) on their dime. Also, look at the community you are considering. Who lives there? Young families? Blue collar workers? Mature, fixed incomes? Yuppies? Where is their money going right now?

Be prepared to figure out ways to purchase product at LESS than wholesale. It's really not enough in this current environment to pay even 50% at cost-we must be very active and vocal with our vendors that their minimums are too high and their MSRP's are out of line with what the market will bear today.

Consider that the products you carry today will be products you may be stuck with tomorrow, and you will have to sell them at, or even below, your cost. Be sure to BUDGET STRINGENTLY, and stay within that budget. Be sure to account for shipping costs when you are figuring your gross profit margins and determining if products are worth continuing.

Be sure to ask your vendors about their returns policy! If product comes to you and it's broken or won't sell through, are they going to accept the return, give you credit for new merchandise or what? They NEED your business too because we retailers are becoming aggressively frugal. If our customers at the retail level aren't purchasing, we don't have a profit. If we don't have profit, we don't pay ourselves or our bills.

I'm sure there is more that I've missed, but I wish you good luck.

Connie and David Spicer, Artists/Entrepreneurs