Welp MagazineOpening a trendy thrift store is an exciting and rewarding venture. That said, establishing any business doesn’t come without its challenges. And if you hope to reach the top pillars of success, it helps to understand some fundamental tips for opening a resale shop that can help you get there.
Have a Comprehensive Game Plan
Like any other business, the most valuable strategy for success is having a comprehensive game plan for your establishment long before the doors open. This plan should include everything from your creative vision for the company to your overall budget. It’s also wise to include the finer details of your project, such as:
- Long- and short-term goals
- What kind of items you’ll sell
- Marketing strategies
- A list of potential locations
Using these elements to build a blueprint for your thrift store ahead of time will help you stay organized when it’s time to start putting these things into play.
Be Particular About What You Accept
You’re opening a resale shop. For this reason, being successful requires you to be particular about what items you accept. Perhaps you want to sell upscale vintage clothing exclusively. If so, you need to ensure that the items purchased from third parties reflect what appeals to your customers. In other words, maybe grannie’s sequin shoulder pads wouldn’t be the best fit for your rack.
This rule is just as applicable to modern clothing selections, vinyl records, and even collectible novelties, like books and toys. The point is that you need to be selective about the items you’ll sell in your store. Doing so will ensure that your customers access top-quality finds every time they shop with you. For this reason, it should come as no surprise that being careful about your items selections made this list of tips for opening a resale shop.
Keep All Your Items Organized
Perhaps just as imperative as the items you sell is how well you organize them. Of course, having a vast array of products to choose from is an excellent strategy for expanding your business and keeping customers on their toes. That said, if no one knows where to find what they’re looking for, it will be challenging to navigate your shop. As a result, people may shy away from doing business with you. That’s why it’s important to ensure that you organize all your items into appropriate sections.
Put all the upscale vintage finds in one corner of the shop and place clearance outfits in another. Then, you can have separate sections for jewelry pieces, shoes, and other accessories. Follow that up with a few overhead labels for each section, and you’ve got yourself an intuitive layout that makes finding things simpler. Regardless of what you offer, it’s wise to organize them in a way that makes things easy to find.
