Getting my first real storefront. Any tips or tricks on setting it up?!

[agfracing]

I've been running a sign shop/screen printing shop out of my home for a few years. Recently I found exactly what I am looking for in a store front. Prime location, spacious and affordable. It was actually a sign shop for the past eight years and the guy stopped Latin his rent and got kicked out. I'm lookin. To remodel the space and give it a new look. Does anyone have any ideas or tips on what to do for certain things? For my table, in getting a piece of glass to go over top. Then I can place posters, photos or whatever else under the table. I'm going to design my own sort of home made rack for my vinyl with padded stops so it doesn't damage the ends of the rolls. Does anybody else have any ideas for fun stuff? Looking to keep the customers occupied while I make whatever they want. Lots to look at. Hopefully this post and what I am asking makes sense to everyone.
Thanks!

 

[TXFB.INS]

a digraph of the building interior, showing what is available what you intended

there are several prime threads that have great ideas / images on how to do store fronts.


to keep customers occupied a flat screen looping images of all your products / services offered.
a couple kid games, so they are kept busy and not wondering around the shop

 

[Gino]

Big congrats on getting your new place.

First thing I'd do would be to get your insurance company in there and make sure you are properly insured for anything that might come down the pike. Tell them EVERYTHING you plan on doing and what kind of chemicals you'll have on the premises.
Next, make sure you have all the necessary whatever permits you need to be legal and be sure to tell them also what all your plans are and what you will have on the premises.

As for the toys and whatnot.... a plan with measurements would be good to know for starters.

You really will have cusonters waiting for jobs in your showroom ??

 

[Pat Whatley]

Hope you're not going storefront with the "make whatever you want while you wait" business model you imply.

The first thing I'd do (and will do as soon as I get the time) is to build a divider between customer showroom area and the the work area. Work areas get cluttered and trashed at various points....customers don't like to see that. Build a showroom area and keep it spotless.

Make sure you have a computer at your counter area because customers come in with jump drives and disks all the time. Wi-fi access is almost a must have.

Make 12" x 18" samples of all your substrates, keep them at the counter. Letter each one with recommended uses for that materail.

Buy quality furniture for your waiting area. It can be stools, chairs, sofas, it doesn't matter just don't drag some mismatched leftover yard sale stuff in there and call it done.


Spend an ungodly amount of time making kick *** display pieces. Don't display your low end materials or designs or that's what people will gravitate to.

Go ahead and put 1000 ballpoint pens at the counter. They disappear quickly.

Come up with a brand look before you do anything. Build everything around that brand.

Make sure whatever you do to the front of the building is completely different from the previous sign shop. You don't want to leave any doubt that you're not the same business that was in there before.

You're a brand new storefront business....you've got to know peoples socks off the moment they walk in. If they walk in and it looks half assed it will show.

 

[agfracing]

Excellent responses everyone. Ill add a few things.

The store front is right in the heart of downtown where I live. There's a theater in the same building. Next door. And a fancy diner next door on the other side. I am leading my space from the theater and they have wifi which will be opened up to me once I'm in. I've worked in retail and was a mechanic at a bike shop. This tought me to keep the customers separated. I'm going to be building a half wall/counter top between the work area and the "lounge". Since it is in the heart of downtown I am positive I will have people coming in looking for decals for their cars, kids, etc. while they wait. Obviously anything bigger I will give them a time frame for. After work I will go measure the rooms out and create a rough layout of the space.

 

[Pat Whatley]

Full wall. They don't need to see back there. Full wall with a window perf window if you need to see out. Full wall with a window and blinds with you want to do it cheap.


Don't start cutting "stickers". Don't even start. Just say no. Somebody is gonna pipe in and tell you they cut a "sticker" for some guy while he waited and two weeks later he came back and ordered $15,000 worth of van wraps. Truth is you'll waste more time dealing with "sticker" people than you'll ever justify with later work for them.

 

[ddarlak]

so your renting a space that used to belong to a deadbeat sign man.....



may be a fresh start for you , but i bet a ton of old unhappy customers will remember the place as the old dudes.....

either way, here's my advice, make lots of money

 

[petesign]

Full wall. They don't need to see back there. Full wall with a window perf window if you need to see out. Full wall with a window and blinds with you want to do it cheap.


Don't start cutting "stickers". Don't even start. Just say no. Somebody is gonna pipe in and tell you they cut a "sticker" for some guy while he waited and two weeks later he came back and ordered $15,000 worth of van wraps. Truth is you'll waste more time dealing with "sticker" people than you'll ever justify with later work for them.

^^^^ What he said x1000! Every single word is true.

 

[CanuckSigns]

Full wall. They don't need to see back there. Full wall with a window perf window if you need to see out. Full wall with a window and blinds with you want to do it cheap.


Don't start cutting "stickers". Don't even start. Just say no. Somebody is gonna pipe in and tell you they cut a "sticker" for some guy while he waited and two weeks later he came back and ordered $15,000 worth of van wraps. Truth is you'll waste more time dealing with "sticker" people than you'll ever justify with later work for them.

Very True!!! We have people call every few weeks asking if we will do something while they wait, I always tell them to bring a sleeping bag, I've got about a week worth of work to do before I can get to it.

How you set up your shop will depend on what type of customers you are looking for, some of our customers walk in, but most of my best customers have never been to my shop, they email in orders and we ship them out. We do have a showroom with samples, but It's not strictly necessary.

Most importantly, set yourself a shop minimum and stick to it!

 

[Sign Up Graphics]

Sign Up Graphics

Congrats on getting your new place.

 

[agfracing]

I took measurements of the main two areas yesterday. Ill get on my computer and design a floor plan of the building when I get home tonight. I plan to so while you wait stuff on the plotter as I'm sure I will get tons of kids coming in and wanting certain logos and brand decals made. Also I plan to do heat transfer and sublimation tee shirts while they wait of they have a design and want a single or double of that design made.

 

[what the]

Storefront

That is killer-congratulations... You should have a designated wall for a rad, tasteful printed wall paper wall. Do some mixed media-maybe tack on a dimional piece that matched part the design on the wall? It could be super coo if done right!
Amber

 

[printpros_au]

Full wall. They don't need to see back there. Full wall with a window perf window if you need to see out. Full wall with a window and blinds with you want to do it cheap.


Don't start cutting "stickers". Don't even start. Just say no. Somebody is gonna pipe in and tell you they cut a "sticker" for some guy while he waited and two weeks later he came back and ordered $15,000 worth of van wraps. Truth is you'll waste more time dealing with "sticker" people than you'll ever justify with later work for them.

Well said! There are two little things to keep in the back of your mind in order to stay on track.... 1) I'll believe it when the money's in the bank 2) So long as the outcome is income. I wish you all the best in your new shop

 

[HulkSmash]

Congrats! we're in the process of moving away from our store front. We're getting too many people coming in asking for magnets, and 500 business cards.. and slowing down the production on our lucrative jobs.
So we're moving more to an industrial area, where we can focus on business to business instead of the soccer moms looking for 11 stickers

good luck

 

[kanini]

If I would have a walk-in storefront I'd probably try to upsell everyone that comes in with some cheap bulk product that you could have in a basket or shelf near the counter, sort of easy to look at and "Hey, there's that keychain/squeegee/Surface cleaner spray/measure tape/masking tape/sticky notepad/business card holder or whatever I'll need when I'm going to put my newly cut decal on my car, just 4,99, I'll grab two..." You don't need to do any work with it to produce, an easy product that will add up a few bucks for every customers sales... Just my .02 Good luck with your new location!

 

[WCSign]

I set up a retail rack in my place with calvin pissing on every copywritten business logo on it I could imagine.. sales have skyrocketed

j/k obviousy.. but yea I have some retail POP stuff that sells decently

If I would have a walk-in storefront I'd probably try to upsell everyone that comes in with some cheap bulk product that you could have in a basket or shelf near the counter, sort of easy to look at and "Hey, there's that keychain/squeegee/Surface cleaner spray/measure tape/masking tape/sticky notepad/business card holder or whatever I'll need when I'm going to put my newly cut decal on my car, just 4,99, I'll grab two..." You don't need to do any work with it to produce, an easy product that will add up a few bucks for every customers sales... Just my .02 Good luck with your new location!

 

[JMPrinting]

Hope you're not going storefront with the "make whatever you want while you wait" business model you imply.

The first thing I'd do (and will do as soon as I get the time) is to build a divider between customer showroom area and the the work area. Work areas get cluttered and trashed at various points....customers don't like to see that. Build a showroom area and keep it spotless.

Make sure you have a computer at your counter area because customers come in with jump drives and disks all the time. Wi-fi access is almost a must have.

Make 12" x 18" samples of all your substrates, keep them at the counter. Letter each one with recommended uses for that materail.

Buy quality furniture for your waiting area. It can be stools, chairs, sofas, it doesn't matter just don't drag some mismatched leftover yard sale stuff in there and call it done.


Spend an ungodly amount of time making kick *** display pieces. Don't display your low end materials or designs or that's what people will gravitate to.

Go ahead and put 1000 ballpoint pens at the counter. They disappear quickly.

Come up with a brand look before you do anything. Build everything around that brand.

Make sure whatever you do to the front of the building is completely different from the previous sign shop. You don't want to leave any doubt that you're not the same business that was in there before.

You're a brand new storefront business....you've got to know peoples socks off the moment they walk in. If they walk in and it looks half assed it will show.

Everything Pat just said. I did all of the above. Doing a quick remodel and paint, will post pics when I'm done. He is on point, when I started I had a display of small window decals, that's junk now. Display your money making services, I have a nice leather couch and all in one touch screen for customers and wifi service.

 

[JMPrinting]

Full wall. They don't need to see back there. Full wall with a window perf window if you need to see out. Full wall with a window and blinds with you want to do it cheap.


Don't start cutting "stickers". Don't even start. Just say no. Somebody is gonna pipe in and tell you they cut a "sticker" for some guy while he waited and two weeks later he came back and ordered $15,000 worth of van wraps. Truth is you'll waste more time dealing with "sticker" people than you'll ever justify with later work for them.

This is as well, DO NOT DO NOT do it while they wait. They will get used to it, spread the word and people will come back wanting more and on the spot. Yea when u open it's a little extra cash but gets annoying. Again, once I get my store remodel finished I'll post pics

 

[CanuckSigns]

Everything Pat just said. I did all of the above. Doing a quick remodel and paint, will post pics when I'm done. He is on point, when I started I had a display of small window decals, that's junk now. Display your money making services, I have a nice leather couch and all in one touch screen for customers and wifi service.

A leather couch? I guess we have different clientele, but if I had a leather couch I would have an endless supply of old guys coming in to shoot the ****, I would never get any work done! Please don't tell me you have a coffee machine in the waiting room as well!:ROFLMAO:

 

[Techman]

never, ever let a client watch you produce products. Never..