I am considering opening up a Card Shop in Melbourne. Partly because I love the hobby, partly because I hate having a boss and partly because I love the idea of running a card shop, a dream I've had since I was collecting Pokemon cards 10 years ago and there was a card store I used to go to to get my booster packs.
So I was just wondering if any Melburnians would be keen on a store/hang out like this, hopefully similar to Terry's A1 Cards & Gaming. And if anyone had any ideas as to whereabouts in Melbourne would be an ideal location, keeping in mind I am based in the South East Suburbs.
Mate I think it's a fantastic idea! South east suburbs are a good place. Dandenong is very central to all public transport and easy to get to! I need a place to escape the wofe and spend all my money!
nice work mate if u do it! I reckon give the other shops like Terry & Dave a pm and find out more info, that would be a dream to own my own card store! good luck!
Good stuff, if you have the capital and can dedicate the time definitely go for it. I will definitely come in even if prices are not 100% the cheapest because you would know it would be good for trade days etc. That is what we miss more than anything in Melbourne. There are places to buy boxes, but not many places to buy packs or have trade days, or have much of a community.
If you do give it a shot, good luck and keep us posted.
Awesome Idea Matt and something I am sure that most collectors will support.
My knowledge is pretty limited as far as running a business but I am happy to pass on what I have learnt so far
You can count me in as a visitor when I head to Melbourne for my next holiday away
SE i'd say Dandy as well. Pretty close to everywhere now with EastLink...lots of pub transport. Rent would be relatively cheap, in comparison to places closer to the CBD....multicultural, so plenty of options to expand out from standard sports/cards.
Awesome Idea Matt and something I am sure that most collectors will support.
My knowledge is pretty limited as far as running a business but I am happy to pass on what I have learnt so far
You can count me in as a visitor when I head to Melbourne for my next holiday away
Matt go check out the cardboard connection podcast. They recently started a segment with card shop owners giving tips and advice on running a shop. There are some really good ideas.
Good luck with it. Takes some onions to give up a job to work for yourself. Go for it!
I'd think hard about your location. I live in Melbourne but can I really be bothered driving out to Dandenong? What about people who are visiting Melbourne from Interstate would they go out there? I've never been out to Dandenong markets, even though everyone says the guy is great, and i've only been to carribean gardens a couple of times.
What do people think of somewhere like Richmond or Camberwell? Big train stations that are easy to get to for eveyone?
I'd even consider trying to link in with one fo the basketball stadiums, see if they have space you could set up, even if only for friday nights and Saturdays for the time being. Knox stadium already has a little store at the front of it, 6 basketball courts - so Friday nights there's likely to 300+ kids coming through and assuming they run their domestic competition there as well on a Saturday could see anywhere in the 1000s going through the stadium.
Alright are kids really the target market? Yeah probably not a large proportion but the idea is the basketball community is your target market and the perfect location to capture them.