Thinking of opening my own store

[norwinmom]

Not sure if this is the place to post, but here goes. The area in which I live does not have a local craft store. I can drive about 20 minutes to get to a joanns or 30 minutes to go to Michaels but they are for all crafts and honestly I feel the yarn selection has been lacking something to be desired. I know there are knitters in my area, they meet at the local library. No meetings for crocheters . I am always on the lookout for fellow crocheters. I would love to be able to meet up with other crocheters too. But the thought of opening a specialty store in this day and age scares me. What if I fail at it? But I feel that I have to give it a go. I know yarn is a big seller at Joanns and Michaels but will it be a good seller for me in my own store?

[annmcc1976]

I think it would depend on price. and selection. will you offer a good selection of what you can not find in stores but for a price that makes someone want to return.

and will you offer other things like hooks, markers ect? there would be alot to think about. and location,

[magiccrochetfan]

As far as meeting with other crocheters, have you tried posting online? There may be others here on Crochetville that live in your area and would like to meet. I started a local group about 2 years ago and we include all fiber arts which is so much fun! I posted here but didn't get much response, then i posted on Ravelry and a couple of people responded, so we started meeting. We've gradually grown to about 8-10 "regulars". Once we got started, we put info in other places, so now most people found out about us otherwise than online.

 

As far as opening a store, i have no idea. Amy is doing an online class about crochet businesses, not sure if that started already, but maybe you could look into that...

[norwinmom]

and will you offer other things like hooks, markers ect? there would be alot to think about. and location,

Yeah, I would definatly be selling different hooks, yarn needles, stitch markers, and pattern books. My concern is price though. Do not know I I would be able to keep prices low enough to keep people coming back.

[Amy]

Our online class "Do I Want to Start a Crochet Business?" started today, but registration will be open through noon central time on Sunday.

 

If you're seriously considering opening a store, this class would be very good for you. It takes a LOT of money to operate a store, and there are many things to consider, from the types of yarns you want to carry (craft-store vs. LYS brands and how that choice will impact profitability), time investment, monetary investment (it's much more expensive than most might think), and so on.

 

For more in-depth help relating to opening a business, please register for the class.