Need grow store ideas!

[Z71banshee]

So, I didn’t know if I should post here or in the main forum, so hopefully everyone will see this. I am actively researching and looking into opening a grow/hydroponics store. Looking for ideas or recommendations on what you would like to see in a grow store that isn’t usually there. I want to stand out and be unique.....somewhat. What do you purchase the most of? What seems be out of stock more often than not?
I’ve never done anything retail, so any and all ideas or welcome!
As for a store name, I have come up with ‘New Life Hydroponics’ or ‘New Life Grow Company’. I also like ‘Dig It Gardening Center’ but my girlfriend is leaning more towards New Life. Any clever names you all can think of?
Thanks in advance ?? ?

 

[Gentlemancorpse]

I like Dig It Gardening Center myself... a good pun goes a long way for this gentleman...

Biggest thing I can recommend is be or have a knowledgeable, open minded staff. I have a store 5 min from my house but I drive almost 30 min away to a different shop these days just because the guy running it actually listens to my questions instead of trying to upsell me or convince me to do things their way ...

Also make sure you know your target audience ... are you in an area with lots of commercial growers? Carry things in bulk and offer discounts on big orders (like needing 15 QB lamps etc).

Newly legal state with lots of entry level growers? Make sure you have entry level equipment that won't give the shoppers sticker shock.

Retail is tough but being a small business owner is awesome. I don't do retail but if you ever have questions about the nuts and bolts of getting setup (forming an LLC, SCORP, C CORP, insurance, workman's comp etc etc) feel free to PM me.

 

[jaguarlax]

So, I didn’t know if I should post here or in the main forum, so hopefully everyone will see this. I am actively researching and looking into opening a grow/hydroponics store. Looking for ideas or recommendations on what you would like to see in a grow store that isn’t usually there. I want to stand out and be unique.....somewhat. What do you purchase the most of? What seems be out of stock more often than not?
I’ve never done anything retail, so any and all ideas or welcome!
As for a store name, I have come up with ‘New Life Hydroponics’ or ‘New Life Grow Company’. I also like ‘Dig It Gardening Center’ but my girlfriend is leaning more towards New Life. Any clever names you all can think of?
Thanks in advance ?? ?

I really like the idea of offering in-home grow maintenance services... a few years ago back when I was breeding corals, I had a few guys with very large tanks, that I dealt with that paid me top dollar monthly to show up and preform routine maintenance. I would show up once or twice a month and do a water change, do some readings, and all that jazz... It was extremely labor intensive, but also extremely lucrative. I believe this would translate perfectly to cannabis... The truth is, most people just want to reap the rewards of growing, they dont actually care to take the time to learn the plant inside and out the way we do here on pH.... This opens the door to sell seeds as well as all kinds of merchandise through your store. Furthermore, EMERGENCY HOUSE CALLS... I remember getting all sorts of wild and desperate 911 calls from people, who would do stupid shit to their tanks, and call me to bail them out... I used to charge a premium for this. I can see this becoming a very lucrative, and even more importantly a very rewarding business service that would separate you from the rest. I am sure this exists somewhere in some legal market, but I still think if you could figure it out it would be sick...

 

[Capt. C]

@Z71banshee i am in a state that does not allow home growing and i know that makes a big difference. I am personally not in retail but i have a few friends that are and it can be a brutal business. One close friend had a grow store for a few years and wound up going out of business. His biggest complaint was price shopping from customers. Shop in store and then go home and buy it on Amazon. The one exception is heavy bulk items that you can compete with because of shipping costs. I like the direction @jaguarlax is going with the home growing consultant or if not that hold grow classes at the store. I would think the majority of the participants would buy from you instead of a few dollars cheaper on Amazon. Maybe even teach a grow class at a local community college. Going in this direction at least you can justify the higher price and explain that it comes with professional advice with the product. I am guilty of using Amazon on a lot of stuff but i don't have any grow stores within reasonable driving distances either. Good luck and remember it might be scary starting a store but nothing ventured nothing gained.

 

[Amarok]

I’ve never done anything retail, so any and all ideas or welcome!

Way back in the last millennium I went to business school for a few years. One of the most important lessons I learned there is that most businesses that fail are doomed before they ever open their doors, due to a lack of research and planning.

You need so much information on so many topics. What are the demographics of the area you intend to service? What is your competition? What will your overhead costs be? Who is your target market? Are you going for low volume/high markup or high volume/low markup? What are the regulatory and insurance and banking requirements? What is the minimum amount of money you need to stay afloat each month? What kind of sales volume must you achieve to reach that total?

That's just a few broad topics off the top of my head. If you can't address each of those in detail, you still have work to do. If you can answer all those questions, and all the other ones that you'll discover in your research, and the numbers add up, go for it. I look forward to using the pHenohunters Members discount.

 

[Z71banshee]

@Gentlemancorpse, I to like “Dig it” but my girlfriend makes a good point with the name “New Life”. Most anything to do with growing comes from new life and I would be walking away from a 20 year career, in turn, starting a new life. Selling retail might not be less stressful than drywall, but it will be a hell of a lot easier on my body!

@jaguarlax that is one hell of an idea!! I’m not exactly sure that I am the guy for that right now because I just started indoor growing less than a year ago. But if I could figure out how to make a in home maintenance business, that would be a money maker!
@Capt. C i already have visions of various growing classes because I am in a legal state. I took a clone class back in March and came home with three clones for a $10 “donation” per clone! Everyone that took that class also bought at least one item in the store....can’t argue with that!

@Agent Trent Hauser these were all the questions that my girlfriend was overlooking! Lol. I keep stressing to her that we need to know how much inventory we will need and what other expenses will be associated. All of the questions you listed, we have answered or are diligently researching them.
Luckily for me, my girlfriend has a good drive and has always worked with jobs talking on the phone. She’s been doing a lot of leg work and I’m not really that surprised that she may have just gotten us a partner!! The grow store I use, the people are down to earth and super friendly. She started talking with the owner about where we wanted to put one and he suggested helping us out. He is in a town 9 miles north of me, but has competition literally a stones throw away. If you google the area I want to open in, the closest one is at least 30 miles away. He has already given us a lot of insight as to inventory costs, start up costs and the overhead. I’m crossing my fingers that this can pan out.

And yes, there will definitely be a pHenohunter discount because all you guys are amazing with help!!

 

[Amarok]

Another long ago lesson just came back to me while reading your post.

Retailing in an industry you are passionate about brings a special set of issues, to the point it's almost better not to care about your product beyond how well it sells and what the margin is.

To illustrate, I'll use my passion for fishing. If I had a fishing gear store I would want to sell items that I know are good quality and that have worked well for me. Unfortunately, most people want either the cheapest thing, or else they want the one that has been well marketed. I would likely end up in a bankrupt store full of quality fishing gear that not enough people bought.

Another example would be Bob and Jimmy Pesto on Bob's Burgers. Bob cares about the food he makes, pays more for quality ingredients, etc and has a mostly empty restaurant. Jimmy Pesto sells mass-produced, low priced crap and packs his place.

In retail knowing your customer is often more important than knowing your product. Unfortunately, marketers run the world.

 

[Z71banshee]

Another long ago lesson just came back to me while reading your post.

Retailing in an industry you are passionate about brings a special set of issues, to the point it's almost better not to care about your product beyond how well it sells and what the margin is.

To illustrate, I'll use my passion for fishing. If I had a fishing gear store I would want to sell items that I know are good quality and that have worked well for me. Unfortunately, most people want either the cheapest thing, or else they want the one that has been well marketed. I would likely end up in a bankrupt store full of quality fishing gear that not enough people bought.

Another example would be Bob and Jimmy Pesto on Bob's Burgers. Bob cares about the food he makes, pays more for quality ingredients, etc and has a mostly empty restaurant. Jimmy Pesto sells mass-produced, low priced crap and packs his place.

In retail knowing your customer is often more important than knowing your product. Unfortunately, marketers run the world.

I’ve already had this discussion with my girlfriend! Lol. She asked what products I use and focus on that. I had to tell her that every grower has their own system of products they use. I am passionate about it, but I have been self employed for 20 years, so I know it’s all about the customer and not me!

 

[Z71banshee]

Damn, my girlfriend is amazing at research and out reaching! We are going to look at a building for lease that the address is 420! To make it even sweeter, there will be a dispensary in the same building! So, obviously the owner is in contact with recreational and commercial growers.......they are as excited for us to come in as we are to open up!!!! Things are starting to look good.

 

[Couch_Lock]

I'd carry UV-C bulbs or lighting........They aren't real expensive and some growers think their trichome production will double (it won't).......Reptile enthusiasts might also have a need for those. Also 5 gallon or larger fabric grow bags would be a good get. Single cobs for weed, they can be handy for filling in tent corners and stuff. Or just a tad bit more light for the fight (to heavenly bliss)....

Like any new business I'd avoid spendy purchases until it's established you are making money.

Best of luck



*a retired business owner

 

[SecretSquirrel]

What a good read looks like things are really falling into place there. The only thing I would like to see more of in grow stores is compost and worms nobody ever has any maybe some castings but hardly ever Im always on the hunt. I had this thought as well and was going to build a lot of things in house like clone machines, DWC buckets, and small FD tables set em up run veggies in the store show em off.

 

[SecretSquirrel]

Oh and good luck man sounds like a cool store

 

[Gentlemancorpse]

Damn, my girlfriend is amazing at research and out reaching! We are going to look at a building for lease that the address is 420! To make it even sweeter, there will be a dispensary in the same building! So, obviously the owner is in contact with recreational and commercial growers.......they are as excited for us to come in as we are to open up!!!! Things are starting to look good.

Dude, thats so exciting! Good for you guys!

What a good read looks like things are really falling into place there. The only thing I would like to see more of in grow stores is compost and worms nobody ever has any maybe some castings but hardly ever Im always on the hunt. I had this thought as well and was going to build a lot of things in house like clone machines, DWC buckets, and small FD tables set em up run veggies in the store show em off.

My preferred hydro shop does that ... they have a bunch of different hydro setups in the window with various veggies and flowers going in them.

And I agree on the worms thing ... also ladybugs... i just don't want to order them lol. More organic stuff in general would be cool

 

[SecretSquirrel]

Organics is Life push more organics in the grow stores and we will see a big change in the next ten years.

 

[Z71banshee]

@SecretSquirrel we have one grow store in the bigger city close to me that has a few lights on display with various plants under them. This was already one idea that I had to kind of set us apart. I also do plan on trying to push more organic over chemical nutes. The worms are a great idea!!! The shop I go to now, does carry lady bugs and praying mantis, so that is also the ne thing I plan to carry.
@Gentlemancorpse,we went to look at the building located at 420 and unfortunately it really isn’t feasible. It’s an older building that needs quite a bit of renovation and it’s not really a prime location. We found a store front in a strip mall and everyone is on board and excited; realtor, building owner and other shops......except the one corporate business.....Tractor Supply. They say that we will be “competition” for their business. Not sure how since we won’t sell farm equipment, riding mowers, animal feed etc. ??‍♂. So, we are still on the hunt, but we are going to look at two more buildings tonight! ?? We have all the pieces, we just need them all to fit into place.

I will definitely keep everyone updated on progress and thank you to everyone that has commented and offered up some great ideas!!!!

 

[Bruno8437]

Dude, I tried shopping Tractor Supply. They ain't got anything that I would go to a Hydrostore for.
There's no competition there unless you put in a dog wash .