[...]... long as the prices are also geared to the demographics of such a population You can read more about creating mini-boutiques in Chapter 4 * * * Underlying all your planning is The Golden Rule: The Right Item, at the Right Time, in the Right Place, at the Right Price The Golden Rule is the first rule, the cardinal rule the foundation, in fact, of good retailing The right item, of course, will be the one... advice and ideas from successful specialty- shop owners around the world Thirty existing shops are fea- 3 THE SPECIALTY SHOP tured, and 32 specialty shop owners were interviewed for the book I studied and analyzed many niche shops, but I chose the shops included here based on my own criteria of excellence They are the best examples in Los Angeles, California; West Hartford, Connecticut; Paris, France;... shoes the trade shows for buyers are broken down by regions and, in turn, the cities that best represent those regions Although there are other shows in smaller cities, I’ve chosen to list only the major markets in appendix A because the greatest number of manufacturers show their merchandise in those cities The value of the apparel trade shows lies in the fact that they can provide you with all the. .. around the world—real shop owners with expert experience to share with you Their sensitive and thoughtful advice will fire up 1 THE SPECIALTY SHOP your imagination and humanize the process of starting a business by balancing the business side with your creative side As you will see, ideas that work for one shop owner don’t necessarily work for another, and you will understand why as you read the descriptions... resource to another in which you’re interested, ask the sales representative (or ‘‘rep,’’ as they’re known) for brochures, lists, and videos of everything they have You may think you’ll remember everything, but take it from one who learned the hard way By the time you arrive home, you’ll remember almost nothing; your mind 13 THE SPECIALTY SHOP will be overloaded So pick their brains Ask them every question... how eager they are to inform you of their products and how helpful they’ll be when they know you’re planning to open a shop In fact, some reps will be overeager, sometimes to the point of being pushy They try to get their products into your store once they’ve determined that you are right for their resource (read ‘‘right’’ as financially solvent), so let that be a word of caution! As for the apparel... merchandise in the other boutiques 5 THE SPECIALTY SHOP With more and more chain stores and shops carrying the same stock, it is imperative in today’s market for your retail enterprise to be unique! Finding Your Niche Once you’ve decided to become a retailer, the next step is to decide what categories you might like to carry Many of the shop owners you will read about chose categories that they personally... Success Stories The Tea House is an exquisite niche shop in London, England, one of the world’s great shopping meccas Competition is fierce The owner of The Tea House, Christina Smith, emphasized to me that her shop is a niche business because she is a ‘‘specialist in fine teas, infusions, and teaphernalia,’’ which also happens to be the motto of the shop ‘‘Teaphernalia’’ is an outgrowth of the tea import... intriguing than the ambience of The Tea Shop, which fairly shouts, ‘‘We sell only tea—smell it!’’ It’s marvelously exotic yet quintessentially British the kind of shop where just as many men shop as women and everybody wants to buy something, including me * * * 19 THE SPECIALTY SHOP Every Little Thing, in Carmel, California, is not only a gift shop, it’s a collectors’ paradise In a 625-square-foot shop, owner... fads) that other local shops don’t carry and that you think customers are looking for An entire shop can be a niche business, just as one item—in various forms— can be a niche item when it is set apart from the rest of the shop In fact, in this book you will find several examples of shops that have created as many as 12 mini-boutiques within their shops, all of which are niche boutiques because the merchandise . successful specialty- shop owners around the world. Thirty existing shops are fea- 16244$ INTR 01-08-07 15:24:53 PS PAGE 4 4 THE SPECIALTY SHOP tured, and 32 specialty. Australia, among them Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra. I carefully inspected these shops, interviewed their owners, and further analyzed how other shopkeepers—collectively