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Sooooooo, im gonna be opening a record store..


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I worked at a record store for a year. Not an expert but here are some things:

Organize your records. You don't have to resort everything, everyday, but have your stuff clearly marked. It's annoying to show customers where something is five times a day because there aren't clear signs indicating genres, new/used, etc. I personally prefer having mixed new/used records in genres but that's your call.

Track your inventory. Just because 45's and 7"s are cheap doesn't mean you don't need to keep up with them. The place I worked doesn't even inventory 45's so they can't know how things are selling.

Keep used CD's (if you're going that route) behind the counter. Too easy to steal. Keep them in little paper sleeves, assign #'s to them and keep inventory.

If you sell online too, pull the records that are listed on ebay/amazon/discogs aside/keep in the back. Too many times you sell something that's on the shelves and then if the record hasn't been sold in the store, you can't find the fucking thing when looking for it because people move shit around.


In-stores, even terrible bands, are good ways to get people in the building.

Once you build up some loyal customers, let the good ones know it by knocking a few bucks off if it they're spending a good amount of money.

 

Make sure if you're pricing some things higher because it's local and rare that you know you'll get it what you're asking. I don't think it's wise to put a 30-40% markup on it to just keep it in the store, especially if a kid can get it cheaper and it's readily available online. You want to help people get in the mode of buying from a mom/pop shop.

I'm sure there's more things, other dudes can elaborate. These were just things that stood out to me.

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i've honestly been considering this myself, now that i'm on my own and forced to do the whole 'get a job, raise your family' thing.

 

i hear there's a lot of capital in small business loans right now, so there's a chance i could get one and start doing this.

 

if you don't mind sharing, how did you score the capital for this endeavor?

 

considering the location you've chosen, it couldn't be cheap.

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i've honestly been considering this myself, now that i'm on my own and forced to do the whole 'get a job, raise your family' thing.

i hear there's a lot of capital in small business loans right now, so there's a chance i could get one and start doing this.

if you don't mind sharing, how did you score the capital for this endeavor?

considering the location you've chosen, it couldn't be cheap.

My dad got approved for a line of credit through some military loan thing, and we have a cabin up north a little that he might take a mortgage out on as well if needed

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That is so awesome man! I'm sure it will do great!

 

From my record store here area  few things that keep me going back

+employees, the friendlier/more helpful the better. I could email the store anytime I wanted to see if they had stuff or just when stuff would come in and they would love to help.

+have local bands come play. Look for a place where you can easily move your stock around and set up a place for small concerts/acoustic shows. Maybe even open mic night or something of the sorts.

+The interior design. Do something creative. dont just paint the while white and put up posters. Maybe think of some theme that makes people walk in and just go WOW.

+no idea if this would work in a record stuff for cleanliness reason. but a local bar always has a popcorn machine for free and i always go there because of the free popcorn!

+create in incentive program. like get a stamp for every 10$ you spend then when you spend 100$ get 5$ off. etc.

 

thats the stuff off the top of my head and some have already been mentioned. But good luck and post pics when its open!

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my opinion of the guy aside, i don't know if you knew but mike (rinkrat) at lgk used to own a record store until the early days of lgk.  you could probably try to pick his brain on running a shop as well.  his was in long beach.  here's an article about his its closing:


http://www.ocweekly.com/2000-07-06/music/zed-records-rip/full/

 

i'd never been to it.  just bionics, which was closer to me in OC, so i can't really say how the shop was or anything.

best of luck.  like i said on FB, if i'm in the area, at tsc or visiting my husband's old haunts in hermosa and torrance, i'll stop in!

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my opinion of the guy aside, i don't know if you knew but mike (rinkrat) at lgk used to own a record store until the early days of lgk. you could probably try to pick his brain on running a shop as well. his was in long beach. here's an article about his its closing:

http://www.ocweekly.com/2000-07-06/music/zed-records-rip/full/

i'd never been to it. just bionics, which was closer to me in OC, so i can't really say how the shop was or anything.

best of luck. like i said on FB, if i'm in the area, at tsc or visiting my husband's old haunts in hermosa and torrance, i'll stop in!

wow I had no clue mike had one, gonna def hit him up
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I'm so jealous. I used to work in that area and always wished there was a record store around. I will definitely make it a priority to make it to your area and drop in to spend some money!

Aside from the good suggestions already posted, I would ask that you please not put price stickers directly on the jacket. Or find ones that come off somewhat easily. It drives me nuts when a store just ruins a perfectly good cover by putting a crazy fuckin price sticker on it. Even if it's a .99 record, I don't want it ruined like that.

Good luck and all the best!

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