Re: Hobby/card shop - Should I chase my dream ! Or am I just dreaming ?
First of all good luck. A big gamble, but if you have the business model, the passion, the dream and the drive...anything is possible.
To the poster about setting up in Parramatta, NSW...that would be a god-send. Sadly, I have seen my 3 dealers on the Central Coast close (1 is close to closing) and can't find anything in Sydney any more (maybe someone can enlighten me).
Finding this community certainly has helped me out. I am lucky I found a new dealer on here for my NRL fixes.
One thing I would add is a website (sorry if already mentioned) even if its just a front page with contact details. Nothing worse than sending emails and not getting an answer.
Again, good luck. Online is cheap obviously, but I like going in, browsing, picking up something and having a chat with like minded people.
Also, maybe some NRL cards.
I have looked at this idea for longer than I have been online buying/trading and selling NBA. I don't plan on sitting in the shop and seeing how it goes, I will be doing some good advertising in a number of well known publications to go along with a website just to name a couple of things. I have had to consider a worst case scenario but hopefully that wont happen at least for the short term and having a short term lease (rare) made it worth the punt. I will also be looking at getting RC accessories which is not catered for in the area I have chosen. 
Packs and singles will be great for kids to start out collecting. And for the pool tables/ps3's etc, I say that's another awesome idea! I know I would be in a hobby shop, where I can play pool and 2K11 with mates!! And also, we MUST get other products in a part from cards. Believe me, you won't be doing any good with a lot of kids by just selling cards. Heaps of kids just don't and won't like cards, so the stuff above is very important!!
