New card store in Melbourne.

Billyhoyle said:

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.

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Dandy also has a stadium with massive amounts of traffic coming through, plus dandy market where lots of our members go to grab boxes etc. To be honest I couldn't be bothered getting to Richmond or Camberwell, too far. I guess you would have to look at where the majority of members are willing to go.

ozballer23 said:

Dandy also has a stadium with massive amounts of traffic coming through, plus dandy market where lots of our members go to grab boxes etc. To be honest I couldn't be bothered getting to Richmond or Camberwell, too far. I guess you would have to look at where the majority of members are willing to go.

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True you could apply my comments about Knox to Dandy stadium or any number of other stadiums. I mentioned knox as I know they have a store already there seling bball clothes and other bits and pieces.

My mention of camberwell/richmond was simply because of their train stations, that have many many arrivals from all over the place.

I guess the other will be where Matt lives, obviously needs to be somewhere reasonable to his location

Billyhoyle said:

True you could apply my comments about Knox to Dandy stadium or any number of other stadiums. I mentioned knox as I know they have a store already there seling bball clothes and other bits and pieces.

My mention of camberwell/richmond was simply because of their train stations, that have many many arrivals from all over the place.

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That's why I chose Dandy as an ideal location, same thing. Heaps of public transport, including vline arrivals from country vic. I think you would have to see where the majority of memebers (just to start with as they will be your opening clients) are from and willing to go to.

If you build it ... they will come

I remember as a kid the way I got packs of basketball cards was from a vending machine most Saturdays at the front of the stadium. If I could buy packs from a stadium now going to basketball I'd be even more broke.

Billyhoyle said:

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.

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Agreed^^^^^ for me going to dandy is about 140km round trip, only time I would call in would be if working in area, thing is you are never going to satisfy everyone with location so research is vital for survival. I would call in when in the area though.

Rob

I am sure many people here can write a huge report about the locations and closures of past card shops around Melbourne. The collectables selling area of Melbourne has been around Camberwell, Malvern. Caulfied has two train lines that meet there and isn't far from the city centre. Dandenong is too far for most, and is somewhere that is avoided by many people. There were card stores in Frankston and Ringwood, for a short time, but like Dandenong those places are at the end of the train line and out of the way.

For south east suburbs, that could mean a stall at Bentleigh Sunday Market to a store in Chadstone or Southland. Somewhere in between would be better, I am guessing, a little shop near a train station and a major road with plenty of foot traffic, including children for the Pokemon. Whatever is close to where you live could make the most sense.

Best, best of luck Matty! If there is anything I can help with (ideas, business plan help, etc etc) don't hesitate to ask.

The first thing you need to think about imo is that if you want to make some $$ from something like this, you need to think outside the square!

For example, I noticed you posted this in the Basketball section (not sure if you posted elsewhere as well??) but that alone is limiting your audience!

Brett Szabo said:

I am sure many people here can write a huge report about the locations and closures of past card shops around Melbourne. The collectables selling area of Melbourne has been around Camberwell, Malvern. Caulfied has two train lines that meet there and isn't far from the city centre. Dandenong is too far for most, and is somewhere that is avoided by many people. There were card stores in Frankston and Ringwood, for a short time, but like Dandenong those places are at the end of the train line and out of the way.

For south east suburbs, that could mean a stall at Bentleigh Sunday Market to a store in Chadstone or Southland. Somewhere in between would be better, I am guessing, a little shop near a train station and a major road with plenty of foot traffic, including children for the Pokemon. Whatever is close to where you live could make the most sense.

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good points....when you look at the train line map, probably caulfield or richmond are best....a lot of lines goes through those to stations.

It's all good to suggest Caufield, Richmond, all close by to the city, but do you guys realise what rent would cost even for a small store in those areas? Being a hobby shop, the turnaround can't be that much, and I doubt any new shop could afford it!

ozballer23 said:

It's all good to suggest Caufield, Richmond, all close by to the city, but do you guys realise what rent would cost even for a small store in those areas? Being a hobby shop, the turnaround can't be that much, and I doubt any new shop could afford it!

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That's where hooking in to a stadium could work, as I said Knox already has a bball store, why not piggy back with them

Billyhoyle said:

That's where hooking in to a stadium could work, as I said Knox already has a bball store, why not piggy back with them

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yep, but i doubt that you would find one in richmond or caufield...

This is so good.... I really appreciate everyone's input!!

drob50 said:

Best, best of luck Matty! If there is anything I can help with (ideas, business plan help, etc etc) don't hesitate to ask.

The first thing you need to think about imo is that if you want to make some $$ from something like this, you need to think outside the square!

For example, I noticed you posted this in the Basketball section (not sure if you posted elsewhere as well??) but that alone is limiting your audience!

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Cheers Adam and I might take you up on that offer when it comes to putting all of that stuff together.

If you have the money, go for it. I'll defs drop by whenever I can. I don't live near the SE area, I'm out near Melbourne Airport, so it'll be a bit of a drive for me but I'll defs drop by whenever I can. You can't please everyone with location, so I'd go wherever you feel is best.

Love it! For me it's the simple question of do I want it to be convenient for myself or my customers? Without customers who are you going to sell your product to? Look at all the local Card shows that are held in Melbourne like Sandown, Malvern, Frankston etc. Base your location around these. These are the shows that bring in the huge amounts of people, These are your consumers. They would kill for a card shop!

Personally i'd love you to set up on the other side of Melbourne like Footscray, Williamstown or Altona. It's a lot smaller out here and you wouldn't have any trouble with rent etc. Would be very good for me and I know there are a lot of collectors on this side of town judging from the turnouts at the Willamstown shows. But seeing as your in the the South East it doesn't look likely Good luck with what ever you decide to do. I'll be visiting where ever you set up!

DW8 said:

If you have the money, go for it. I'll defs drop by whenever I can. I don't live near the SE area, I'm out near Melbourne Airport, so it'll be a bit of a drive for me but I'll defs drop by whenever I can. You can't please everyone with location, so I'd go wherever you feel is best.

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Agreed, and as you are SE Melb prob your best bet.

kingjack said:

Love it! For me it's the simple question of do I want it to be convenient for myself or my customers? Without customers who are you going to sell your product to? Look at all the local Card shows that are held in Melbourne like Sandown, Malvern, Frankston etc. Base your location around these. These are the shows that bring in the huge amounts of people, These are your consumers. They would kill for a card shop!

Personally i'd love you to set up on the other side of Melbourne like Footscray, Williamstown or Altona. It's a lot smaller out here and you wouldn't have any trouble with rent etc. Would be very good for me and I know there are a lot of collectors on this side of town judging from the turnouts at the Willamstown shows. But seeing as your in the the South East it doesn't look likely Good luck with what ever you decide to do. I'll be visiting where ever you set up!

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man sounds AWSOME and i hope your prices will beat cardzones lol. location??? 20 aberdeen ave... so next door to me would be really handy. all for it mate! hope it turns out well for you! AFL/NRL, BOXING and NBA and im there!

bomber5 said:

man sounds AWSOME and i hope your prices will beat cardzones lol. location??? 20 aberdeen ave... so next door to me would be really handy. all for it mate! hope it turns out well for you! AFL/NRL, BOXING and NBA and im there!

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Lol I live like 3 minutes from you lol.

I pledged my allegience to this new card store in Melbourne regardless on where it is located.

Some random thoughts -

The suburb itself is likely to be less important than what's in the immediate vicinity. The shop needs to have parking, be near to public transport, and even better, be near to schools/tafe etc. For those of you who remember, the location of Rookie and Legends in Box Hill was pretty ideal I think, but it must have cost a fortune in rent. As I'm sure did Card Heaven in Hawthorn.

I'm not sure I'd be too concerned with what everyone on here says about where they would or wouldn't travel to. No offense to all on here, but we're not likely to be the day to day customers of the shop anyway. We're buying boxes direct from D&A and getting singles from ebay. Sure we might visit the store once in a while (back in the heyday I used to get over to R & L and Cardheaven maybe once a month from where I am over in Mel's north) but we're not the day to day income for the shop. That's the bunch of kids walking there from school each night or the local regulars that are there every Saturday.

Make sure your shop is going to be big enough ! If you're going to make a go of it, you'll need to build a following amongst your customers. So this means you'll need to have in store events on a regular basis. Give customers a reason to come to the store, then keep them in your store for a while and they'll spend money. Make the place a collectors retreat and you'll go far. Everyone likes to spend a couple of hours in a card shop chewing the fat. Used to be great times in the old days. Whether it be auction days, regular gaming sessions with chairs and tables all that sort of stuff, just keep the need for those areas in mind when looking for the premises. If it's just a single shop front with a counter, I don't think it'd work too well.

What are you going to sell that is actually going to make you money ? Can you make enough money out of selling cards alone to support yourself and who ever depends on you ? It's so easy to buy boxes cheap off the web with the current dollar being so high, so why are people going to buy a box from your store at the price point you'll need to sell them to make a profit ? You'll likely be paying duties and GST either indirectly through a local distributor or directly if you import yourself, which makes it hard to be viable against the collector buying his own stuff below the $1000 GST import threshold. And with the monster that is Ebay, it's probably hard to sell singles and still make a profit. So do you need something else to sell as well ??

Be sure to carry a big range of collecting supplies. Everyone needs them and they can be expensive to ship anywhere because of their weight or size, so buying them locally appeals greatly to collectors (at least to me anyway!)

Make sure you understand the lay of the land when it comes to the local distributors etc. I know that back in the day, stores were forced to buy card boxes through local authorised distributors, even though they could buy at a cheaper price by going direct overseas themselves. If they brought in their own stuff, it caused all sorts of problems. So make sure you read the fine print when you open any accounts!

Use everything at your disposal - the store itself isn't all you can do. Use Ebay to move slow moving singles or boxes. Utilise Facebook and Twitter to connect with customers. Youtube for boxbreaks etc. But you'll need to understand that this stuff takes a lot of time to manage if you're going to do it right and the payoff is hard to measure, especially in the early days.

So that leads into the hours you'll open. 5 days ? 7 Days ? 10 -6pm ? You likely have to be open every Saturday. Sunday might be a possibility also, but you may need it to attend shows etc. So do you close Mondays/Tuesday to give you a day or two off ?. You'd need to be open to 6pm each night I'd think (maybe even later on Fridays) as from 3pm onwards would be your busy time. So you can open later, but you'd also have to allocate enough time to do your ebay and social media stuff as well as do the books, keep the display stock fresh, ship parcels, all that sort of stuff. So what effect does this have on your personal lifestyle and that of your family ? Have you got some help for when you're sick, or go on holidays ? Do you need to hire some one to help and then have all the things that brings along with it...payroll, workcover etc ???

Anyway, enough of my rambling, but it has been fun ;-) Hope there are some things amongst it to get you thinking. The idea of a running card shop always appealed to me, but I was always too chickensh!t to do it. I wish you all the luck!