Could Cape Coral use a Used Furniture Store? (consignment, appliances)

[Skipatrol]

Long story short...We moved to Florida last year, bought a business lost our ass, moved back north. Saved money want to try again.
We're thinking Used furniture, appliances and decoration type things.
Sort of a "nice" thrift store without the garbage.

Curious if the area could use something like that or if there's already 20 of them.

Thank you!
Jeremy

[Billythepokerkid]

Originally Posted by Skipatrol

Long story short...We moved to Florida last year, bought a business lost our ass, moved back north. Saved money want to try again.
We're thinking Used furniture, appliances and decoration type things.
Sort of a "nice" thrift store without the garbage.

Curious if the area could use something like that or if there's already 20 of them.

Thank you!
Jeremy

Don't want to burst you bubble, and be the bearer of bad news, but there are probably at least 50 thrift stores in Cape Coral and another 50 in Ft. Myers, many of which have been here for years. There are also quite a few furniture stores as well. I would personally head back to the drawing board.

[equalrightsforeveryone]

There is so much stuff available here from people moving that you would lose your Donkey again.
If you want to start a business that is recession proof here are three Laundromat, convenience store and liqueur store.

[fritzlouise]

I agree with the other posters -- the area is over saturated with thrift and consignment shops. Many do have excellent deals on furniture and appliances.

If I were twenty years younger I'd consider opening one of the following --

1) A mobile manicure/pedicure business. Minimal start-up costs and with so many retired and elderly people in this area it should go like gang busters. Also, everything is so spread out here just having NOT to drive somewhere for this would be worthwhile. Women are going to have these services in spite of a bad economy.

2) A self-service dog wash.

[rikoshaprl]

There are a lot of thrift stores but I found that the furniture is way overpriced compared to what I had seen up north. So maybe a good thrift store could work.

[Skipatrol]

Yeah thrift stores with the toys, and crap is not what I was thinking.
Used furniture and appliances mostly.
But thanks for the heads up.

Now how about a small engine repair shop, mowers, jet skis, atv's that sort of thing is my profession.

[stahltkd]

Originally Posted by Skipatrol

Yeah thrift stores with the toys, and crap is not what I was thinking.
Used furniture and appliances mostly.
But thanks for the heads up.

Now how about a small engine repair shop, mowers, jet skis, atv's that sort of thing is my profession.

What research have you done on this besides asking us? Part of being a business owner is doing the research demographics for your business. This area is saturated with thrift stores and small engine repair.

With thrift store concept - what is going to seperate you from the others? If you go higher end - you're pricing your items in the same price range as what's already here. If you price lower on your higher end - you're not making money.

In this area you'll need a niche that hardly or nobody has.

[Skipatrol]

None,
Asking the people with their feet on the street was my first step.
I make enough with my online ventures it doesn't matter where I live or what I do.
This store was for my wife to run.
But it sounds like a bad idea, which is fine. I'm glad I asked instead of getting down there and learning this after the fact.
We will consider other areas.

[MikeP]

Don't pack it in that easy, I like the idea. I'm not saying it'll work or not but I'd love to see a "good" thrift or used store. Those that I've been in are mostly junk and smell like moth balls. If you had good merchandise for a good price I'd shop there and I'm sure others would as well. I'd recommend visiting the stores that would be your competition and see if you can find your niche. If there is a good used furniture and appliance (maybe some other good stuff too) store around please enlighten me. I'd like to give them my business.

[Billythepokerkid]

Originally Posted by MikeP

Don't pack it in that easy, I like the idea. I'm not saying it'll work or not but I'd love to see a "good" thrift or used store. Those that I've been in are mostly junk and smell like moth balls. If you had good merchandise for a good price I'd shop there and I'm sure others would as well. I'd recommend visiting the stores that would be your competition and see if you can find your niche. If there is a good used furniture and appliance (maybe some other good stuff too) store around please enlighten me. I'd like to give them my business.

Like I said there are at least 50 thrift stores in Cape Coral, that does not include 100% consignment shops, which there are a lot of too. Some of the stores and shops are kind of crappy. But there are quite a few that actually have fairly new looking, decent stuff. The problem with this idea is this...If you are purely focusing on selling furniture and appliances you need a HUGE amount of floor space to display these things. If you sell a couch or freezer that takes up 12 sq ft of floor space and make $50, you could easily fit 100 smaller items in that same amount of space, and make at least $1 off each. This is the same principle that casinos use, that's why there are so many more slot machines than table games, per square foot no table game in the world can compete with a slot machine, even if it is only used 20% of the time. You also have to compete with all the people trying to get rid of their old furniture and appliances on websites like Craigslist, these websites also have wholesaler selling new furniture for less than you might charge for used.

As for a small engine repair shop. This is a better idea, but again the area is flooded with tons of these shops, it also seems like everyone does it on the side for extra money and will come to your house to fix them. If this is up your alley you might be better off just getting a job at one of the bigger, established shops.