What would you do with a shop?

[TheChosenTwo]

This is not viable for me as I have no talent/skill to take on a shop! But I’m curious as to what you would do if someone gave you a shop to make a business out of.
It has been a beauticians and a sandwich shop in recent years but there is very limited parking and limited passing footfall (mainly parents/carers on school drop off). Not much in the way of outside space, 2 small tables were outside the front (main road by traffic lights so not particularly attractive!).
I said to dh it would make a really good breakfast to go/coffee place but I guess there are too many things working against it.
We could do with a proper bakery so that would be nice!
If you had a shop, what would you sell in it or make? Or what skills would you choose to demonstrate?

A bakery with a coffee shop .
I would deliver to locals and offices .

Dh is still mulling over what he would do, dc1 says a cafe and bookshop, dc2 says a bakery and dc3 says a board game cafe. So definitely food orientated!

I wish I was business minded, the idea of being self employed is lovely 😂 dh has had his business for a long time now and he has built it up to a place where he now has so much flexibility with good staff who enjoy their jobs too. They’re very loyal to him because he treats them well. But I have no skills to offer.

Anyway I’m quite happy in my own job, I just see the empty shop space when I’m walking past and wonder what it would take to make it work, it’s sad seeing it empty!

How about a recycling shop.
You could do repair cafes,
Clothes exchanges, clothes repairs etc.

2nd hand kids clothes toys etc. And cheap new bits.

Pizzeria/cafe with nice coffee and a booze licence. Do smaller pizzas and salads/panninis etc at lunch as well.
Bring round samples to local businesses and do a sampling stall in the nearby shopping area?
Ideally I'd like to import Italian produce and sell that too.

It sounds exactly like a shop in the next village to me.

The last two businesses were a beauty salon and artisan bakery and they both failed.

The business would need to be special enough that people would go out of their way to visit, my ridiculous idea is a cheese shop!

I would say something that could offer on the go foods or drinks due to the amount of traffic. Sandwiches already made up fresh, greggs type place with a few cakes, a few pasties, snacks, pop and things to grab and go.

Otherwise if you can drive, round here there's a ice-cream van type lunch truck that goes round all the industrial estates with the unforgettable loud tune playing selling sandwiches and snacks etc, I always think that must make a killing esp pork sandwiches or something a little different on offer every day but on delivery.

A haberdashery for me. It may not make money but it would be very pleasing 😁

Sounds like it has to be a destination as not enough passing by/popping in.

Also with limited parking and you don't mention public transport, probably something that is quality over quantity based.

I'd say tattoo shop, not that I'm a tattoo artist but would attract people specifically to use the service, wouldn't be put off by the parking as usually appointment based and can probably be sustained by serving one customer at a time.

Now of course, if it was just my fantasy shop. Ceramics, my own designs and antiques! Maybe a bit of sip and paint too.

Just pie in the sky, of course, but it would be an antiques/interiors shop for me, with a small cafe if there was space.

book Shop with small side coffee shop.

Definitely an old fashioned bakery....the smell of them is gorgeous!!! Or a book shop oooh the possibility ❤️

You say no/limited parking, what's the surrounding area like?

I'd open a coffee shop that also sold used books and had toys and an area for young children. Someone actually did this in my area and I'm raging as everyone was adamant it would never work!

They have no parking, have two tables and 4 chairs outside (small ones) but are continuously busy because they get all the school run at the beginning and end of the day and the older people inbetween

The the only food they do are toasties as well as muffins and cakes. They have packets of organix snacks, popcorn and pombears too.

They also open one evening a week for the local book club.

Would you be up for a partnership? I'm good with vintage jewellery & old collectables, and I have a barista-trained family member I could rope in... 🙂

Painting pottery workshop/shop

I think if it’s got limited passersby I’d go for something a bit more niche than just a bakery so that people are going there deliberately, either for that niche or for classes or something. So board games cafe, Italian deli and pottery cafe are all good ideas because they’re specific and could hold events. Maybe a wine shop or craft shop would work as well, or music (instruments or records depending on size).

Lovely ideas, a proper haberdashery might be a bit of a squeeze, I’m not sure how much space is inside - I visited when it was a cafe but not when it was the beauticians but there must have been at the very least another treatment room at the back somewhere.

Another idea could be a zero waste shop
but we had about 5 in a 5 mile radius and I think all but 1 has closed down.

in terms of the kind of area, it’s really quite residential and villagey, sandwiched between 2 towns but on the crossroad there is a school, church, pub and then this shop in a small row where there’s a takeaway, a barbers and a convenience store.

I genuinely think the location has been the biggest reason it’s failed, there’s just nowhere to park and it’s not really ‘on the way’ to anywhere so it doesn’t pick up much random footfall, besides people that are going to church (never seen any, not sure if it still runs any services tbh!), people on the school run, people going to the pub and people getting a haircut - all specific reasons for being there and not ‘just passing’.

Tattoo shop could actually fit in well there you know!

I was thinking breakfasts on the go with a small menu might be great, it would mainly be tapping into the school crowd who are there anyway BUT school holidays mean you are really only getting business for 3/4 of the year!

Ooh, definitely!! I love old jewellery too :)

If foot traffic in that area is mainly parents /kids, then definitely something like a fancy stationary with books, unique small toys and gifts. There was smithing similar close to my Dcs old primary and it was always busy , so convenient to have a place close by for emergencies like water bottles, hair ties, Gift wrapping supplies , small things like party bag fillers, beautiful stationary etc.

A yarn shop with space for people to come and knit/crochet while enjoying a cup of tea and a slice of cake. I'd also offer workshops to learn to knit/crochet and I'd sell my handmade project bags.

Pub - Craft beers plus proper home cooked pub food, decor with a medieval vibe and play folk rock music, allow indoor vaping.

I'd have a vegetarian cafe using local produce. In the evening I'd sell booze and have poetry readings, book clubs, music nights and talks.

When I was a school run mum, it was always frustrating that local businesses didn’t open till 10 (probably because they were all doing the school run!) and I was up and dressed and locked and loaded with nothing to do. If I went home, I probably wouldn’t go out again.

there is a great local cake place that is explicitly shut after 2.30 because of the school run. So just when I was out and about again , i
couldn’t access it

so a coffee/ cake / breakfast place that was open explicitly during these times, even if shut in between.

I would also contact local artisans -people who sell jewellery, scarves, kaftans,candles, flavoured cooking oils, etc - and offer them a stall in the shop on a 75% to 25% basis, changing every week. So the school run people would be tempted, win win. In the afternoons I’d offer simple kid teas (also available as takeaways) so that parents who pick up one child at 3 and another at 4.15 after a club could put in some quality time doing homework with child one and feed them, and also cover off tea for the second child as well.

We already have a Starbucks, Costas and an independent coffee shop clustered around the tube station down the road. So I was very disappointed when an empty store there opened up to be yet another coffee shop! It's not even a hugely busy area. So for that reason, new cafes don't excite me.

I'd love a craft shop selling fabrics, yarn, cross stitch kits and various crafting kits. I would definitely visit a store like that and would go out of my way to do so.

The first thing I would do is look at the cost of business rates for the address!