I'm going to open a record shop

[McQ]

Pricing is definitely the key thing, isn't it? Piccadilly Records is five minutes from where I work, and they charge less for new vinyl than you pay online, and as a result I have spent LITERALLY MORE THAN A THOUSAND POUNDS (I imagine) in there over the last year or so. They let you order online and pick up in store, also. Which is a boon!

I have to say, this is all tremendously exciting. Merchandise is a nice idea, but don't make it exclusively related to your own brand/be overly worried about SYNERGY or anything. I bought some beautiful hand drawn/screen printed Nick Drake and David Bowie T-shirts from Plugd Records when I was in Cork recently (they also had Moondog and Hall & Oats, but I had to drawn a line, financially). They were just designed by a local artist, and when I took them up to pay, the guy running the show gave me loads of biographical information, because they were friends. Apparently she is getting married soon! So yeah, either do some stuff like that, or partner up with local artists. (I will make you some artisanal fridge magnets to sell, if you wish!)

Make sure you offer a good selection of vegan cakes and snacks. My bobe Helen will literally never turn down a nice vegan cake, because they're quite a rare treat. Hmm, that's all I can think of right now. Maybe have a music quiz with records or bric-à-brac as a prize? You might be able to draw people in for a look around, and offload some stuff that isn't selling!

Anyway, I'm onboard! There's nothing nicer than a well-run record shop, and a hanging out space to boot? Ideal. I endorse Mono in Glasgow as a template, as some others on this thread have done. Went up to see Tenniscoats a few weeks ago, and spent ages browsing the record shop (although the records were a bit pricey, if I recall), looking at all the fanzines and that, and had a delicious vegan meal into the bargain. It was dream! Really took my mind off... uh, let's say... the credit crunch.

Oh, and put a load of crazy crap all over the walls. Make it nice and colourful. A bit like the WFMU studios, maybe. Can't wait to visit!

[Neville Chamberlain]

If I'd known you and/or your girlfriend were vegan, I would have added many recommendations for vegan food in that Berlin thread...

[syntaxerror]

Can I have a job?

[McQ]

If I'd known you and/or your girlfriend were vegan, I would have added many recommendations for vegan food in that Berlin thread...

Aw, shame I didn't think to say so. We did pretty well, anyway, though. Lots of choice!

[lazyhour]

I will make you some artisanal fridge magnets to sell, if you wish!

Sold. Also, I'm a simply amazing artist, so I will try my hand at making some amazing totes along musical lines - thanks for the excellent idea.

Look how amazing I am:






I literally can't lose!

[McQ]

Very nice!

Here is Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Mega Man, and Stephen Colbert:



I'm working on Prince, Van Dyke Parks, and Bun E. Carlos from Cheap Trick next!

Anyway, sorry to derail your thread with craft. Let's get back on topic. Uh... RECORD SHOPS!

EDIT: Keen Bonnie "Prince" Billy fans might have noticed that he has a clown in his eyeline. You know? Like how he says on Summer In The Southeast; "I've got a clown in my eyes. It makes me laugh!" I have recreated the scene, using fridge magnets. The fridge is my canvas.

[thraxx]

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I WISH there was a record shop like what is being suggested in this thread round where I live.  I'm lucky in that there are about 5 record shops where I live but they are all afflicted by at least 2 of the wanker owner/ridiculous pricing/mercurial opening hours/impossible to browse issues.

I assure you that that when and if I find myself on the south coast I will pay you a visit and be your customer, if you're on the net I promise to check in on you first.  Best of luck - I'd love to have the balls and occasion to do what you're planning to do - I've always thought that it's a surefire winner.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Good luck with this lazyhour, and if I'm ever in the area I'll definitely pop in.

An enormous amount of fantastic advice has already been given, but I'm shocked and appalled that no one has given you the most glaringly obvious piece of info, in that your staff should all look like this:



And yes, even the men, before anyone accuses me of being a monstrous sexist!

[Nobody Soup]

I endorse Mono in Glasgow as a template,

thirded, surely a tie in with a cafe or something is surely the way to go. there might not be lots of money in the selling records business but there's loads in putting on gigs. I'm pretty sure with the right effort you could make any size work. dunno if anyone's been to bein inn, it's basically in the perth area in the backend of nowhere but put on regular gigs through the excellent goldrush records and they were generally well attended. unfortunately goldrush is now gone though so this maybe doesn't bode that well, but I don't really think you can avoid missing out on the gig market, even if it's just local bands and what not. doesn't have to be a license, another place in glasgow that does quite well without selling any sort of booze is this tea house called tchai ovna round the back of some flats, it's generally packed despite only selling various teas and vegetarian platters.

[Sam]

Act as a ticket agent for local gigs and events.  This can be quite lucrative as your commission can be about 5 - 10 % of ticket sales. People doing gigs want to be able to sell tickets quickly and efficiently. They'll be using you as a place that has premises, a phone line, tills and a PDQ machine. People can buy tickets over the phone and then collect then from the concert (organiser comes in and picks up the tickets on the last day) or they can be posted (for a small charge) or collected from the shop.
The more ticket stuff you do, the more your name will get around for people in the area and your shop will be a place people know they can get tickets from. Keep a space in the shop for displaying posters and flyers for these and people will come in on the off chance. People buying records might buy tickets for stuff and vice versa so the two arms of the business feed off each other.

Think about the layout of the shop. Don't organise everything boringly or like everyone else. People like to stumble on things, so over/categorising works against this. Have areas where things are laid out flat to take advantage of beautiful looking artwork. Have a 'staff picks' section and also a bestsellers section. These can be put on your website and your email newsletter. Use mailchimp or similar to send one out.

Use Facebook and especially Twitter for you shop. Tweet pictures of displays or posters or albums featured prominently in your shop. Sometimes these things get picked up on by the label and/or artist, get retweeted and suddenly thousands of people get exposed to you.

Offer a mail order sevice, immediately expanding your customer base. Use Royal Mail smart stamp software to print your own stamps. With Microsoft Outlook, a Dymo label printer and a set of scales you won't need to go to the post office. Keep a record of all orders sent in case customers chase things up.

Talk to labels and distributors about getting discounts on your promotions. If you are publicising something by featuring it in your newsletter or in a prominent shop display then you are doing promotional work for the companies and they sometimes give discounts.

Unusual items should be on sale or return basis. Keep a record of what you sell on the masterbag or whatever, so that you don't reorder something unnecessarily. Every now and then check your shop for variety. Ask yourself hypothetical questions from the point of view of the customer. ''If someone came in right now and wanted x thing or type of thing, would I have it?''.

If customers order something in the shop, get a deposit or the amount paid in full of possible. Most people don't mind doing this as it's how it works in other shops. Otherwise you'll end up with a load of uncollected orders that might not sell if you put them into stock.

Have some stock by the counter. People might pick up something on a whim when they're paying for what they've already got. Have areas of the shop that change regularly (new releases section, sale, counter, staff picks, local bands etc) so regular visitors have one thing to come in for.

Don't price yourself too low. People won't mind paying a bit more than Amazon if you have a nice atmosphere and you give expect advice. Make your shop the opposite of HMV, there's tons of people out there who would much rather be in an independent but go to the soulless places out of lack of choice.

But apart from more specific things your mantras should be:

BE FRIENDLY! KNOW YOUR STOCK!

[the psyche intangible]

[Johnny Townmouse]

Oh yeah, and watch Good Vibrations.

[McQ]

Here's a radical idea: NO GENRE DIVISIONS.

Or at least very few. Maybe Classical, Soundtracks, and then Everything Else. If I'm looking for something in particular I often get discouraged trying to second guess where them daft musos might have filed it.

[Dusty Substance]

Hopefully. Probably. On the South Coast.

Ideally, where on the South Coast? Brighton's already got a fuck load of long established record shops. Further East or West of Brighton?

[The Region Legion]

Ideally, where on the South Coast? Brighton's already got a fuck load of long established record shops. Further East or West of Brighton?

Much better to open one where there's already a scene for them than some butt fuck nowhere place where I'd have to come specifically for your shop. If I don't find anything at your place, I don't come back for at least a year, and even then only if it was convenient for me. If I'm in Brighton to visit "the record shops" then I'm much more likely to return even if I find nothing the first couple of times I come in.

There's definitely room in Brighton for a new, good, record shop but you'll be paying the premium to rent shop space here. As long as you're in the Lanes and not hidden above another shop, you're likely to do OK. Even slightly out of the Lanes seems to be OK.

Definitely a rich man's game though, so I hope you have money.

[lazyhour]

I shouldn't risk someone leaping in and stealing my idea, but it's a town which is lovely and full of nice people with an appetite for trendy culture, but is surprisingly still a bit of a secret. I want to get this right, and hope that it'd be a place where people would travel to have a nice seaside visit and take a trip to the shop. Making an inviting atmosphere with coffee, cakes and events is crucial. I had an idea that Sunday could be a bit of a 'chill-out' day, with perhaps a special offer on coffee and cake, and guest DJs playing appropriate downtempo music, 'album listening' parties (where one classic/surprising album is picked a month, and everyone hangs out to give it a proper listen and maybe chat about it afterwards), stuff like that.

I really want it to be worth repeat visits. Atmosphere + the best pricing on the South Coast and I reckon people will travel. I think if I can make a shop that I (slight skinflint who's only ever really hunting for the bargains) would want to return to, I'm on to a winner!

[monkfromhavana]

Alternatively 'The Spin Inn' was the name of the fictional record shop I owned with my erm.. fictional twin brother when I was a nipper[nb]not HMV[/nb].

Spin Inn was also the name of a happy hardcore / hard house record shop in Manchester.

[Kane Jones]

happy hardcore / hard house

Is that where they speed up previously released songs and put a bass drum and a saw synth line on it? If so, that's the worst music I've ever heard.

[dark now my pies]

I want to open a record store in my local village now that some shop space has become available. The area is about 20 sq ft but I hope to fit in a sofa so you can lie down and listen plus some space for live performance and I have a couple of grand start up money. Please tell me that this is a great idea.

[monkfromhavana]

Is that where they speed up previously released songs and put a bass drum and a saw synth line on it? If so, that's the worst music I've ever heard.

Hard house was a hard thing to describe. In the mid 90s it was almost a bit like trance, then it became slowed down happy hardcore...then fuck knows, but it's still hanging around.

[The Region Legion]

(slight skinflint who's only ever really hunting for the bargains) would want to return to, I'm on to a winner!

Bargains don't pay rent.

[Kane Jones]

Hard house was a hard thing to describe. In the mid 90s it was almost a bit like trance, then it became slowed down happy hardcore...then fuck knows, but it's still hanging around.

I really like some trance stuff.  Thoroughly enjoying the Anjunadeep mix albums at the moment; I listen to them while I'm cooking.  What's that awful stuff I described above, then?  Judging by the adverts for it on telly and the cars I hear it pumping out of, it's music for quite unintelligent people.

[lazyhour]

Bargains don't pay rent.

Very true. They do, however, get people through the door. And I'd have lots of sought-after non-bargains as well!

Also, Someone who buys a handful of bargain records and gets a coffee and maybe a trendy birthday card for someone has just spent £15.

[Neville Chamberlain]

Here's a radical idea: NO GENRE DIVISIONS.

Or at least very few. Maybe Classical, Soundtracks, and then Everything Else. If I'm looking for something in particular I often get discouraged trying to second guess where them daft musos might have filed it.

This. I prefer everything bunched together in a massive A-Z filing system. I hate trying to second guess whether they've put The Fall in 'Rock' or 'Punk', or Mr. Bungle in 'Rock' or 'Hard 'n' Heavy'.

This is going back a bit, back to when Cardiacs records were actually sold in shops in fact, but there was a Cardiacs fan working at HMV on Oxford Street and, in the Cardiacs section, he added an extra division called "If you like Cardiacs, you might like..." for Cardiacs-related bands. A nice touch, I thought. Long gone, though :-(

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I firmly believe that this is because They Are Arrogantly Doing It Wrong.

Never assume this isn't actually They Do Not Have The Time, Means or Money To Do It Any Better.

[lazyhour]

To put thought and care into their own business, their livelihood, the thing that they probably spend most waking hours doing? You really think so?

[Hank Venture]

My useless tips from never having run a business whatsoever:

- get your paperwork sorted professionally. You might know someone who knows something about laws, taxes, etc. This is the boring part of the job, sure, but it's important. Know your rights, know your obligations.

- Limit start up costs, or "Sunk Costs" as they're known in microeconomics. This is basically investment money, not "keeping it running" money. Before you've built a reputation, or a customer base, do you really need the most hip and fashionable sofa? I mean, it can pay off, but if you're not getting the income straight away, that extra money you spent can make or break you. I'd imagine you don't need the collectors stuff straight away, best to hold off until you've got somewhat of a solid foundation. Presumbly you have access to some of your own records, you put all those on sale first.

- Don't be a prick

- From my point of view as a customer: Be in control of your stock. If I come in and ask for something specific, I want a yes/no answer, not a vague idea the record maybe being in the 4ft high pile behind the plants over in the corner.

- Know what your selling points are, and what you have that a) other record shops don't, and b) what the internet doesn't.

Iunno. Might be total shit, but that's what I thought.

[McQ]

This week's Seven Second Delay with Ken and Andy is worth a listen for record collectors. They ring up a bunch of exhibitors for the upcoming WFMU record fair to discuss record collecting/selling. Andy suggests selling hand sanitiser at ten dollars a go!

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

To put thought and care into their own business, their livelihood, the thing that they probably spend most waking hours doing? You really think so?

There are bad businesses, for sure, run by people they couldn't give a fuck. But I'd never underestimate a)how hard it must be to even do a mediocre job b)how many hours it takes out of your life just to keep your head above water, let alone fulfil all the various plans and pipe dreams to make your business the 0.1% of extra special ones.

[23 Daves]

They're bloody expensive, but if you're selling second hand records I'd imagine a vinyl cleaning machine would be a sound investment.  Certainly I've seen them take records from slightly crackly VG condition to EXCELLENT condition (and enable sellers to add a few more quid to the price of the record).  You can also rent your service out to customers as a professional record cleaner.

Oh, and I'm sure everyone's already thought of this, but get in with record collector's forums.  I name-dropped a tiny local record store on 45cat a few months back, and when I went back there the following week it was as if the locusts had visited (I also logged on to the forum and they were bragging about the spoils from their visit).  Collectors are always on the look-out for a new or unfamiliar store to visit, so join all those forums and keep chatting to them. 

I'm sure it's probably not a very profitable market, but there are still a lot of retro DJs and collectors who love buying singles more than albums.  This can be witnessed in the sheer volume of soul/ psych/ mod/ rock and roll repro bootleg 7" singles doing the rounds on ebay.  So don't be afraid to donate some space to singles.  A lot of record stores hide them behind the counter or high above head level or beneath the racks, and I personally find this offputting and irritating.  Even worse is when a store owner has such disdain for singles that he squeezes them all into old plastic bread crates, rips the outer sleeves and scratches some quite rare records to fuck for no good reason at all.  This happens surprisingly often, sometimes in places with a pretty strong reputation otherwise.