Is there room in Knoxville.... (Maryville, Alcoa: consignment, movie theater, live)

[jimj]

For a scrapbook store? Either in or around Knoxville is what we're thinking. I think there is a store over by Pigeon Forge but have not found one around Maryville area. Does anyone have any ideas if this would be viable? Naturally we don't know if scrapbooking is as popular there as it has been other places we've lived and is here. My wife has always wanted to open one and while a lot of work I think it would be fun.
Thanks.......

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by jimj

For a scrapbook store? Either in or around Knoxville is what we're thinking. I think there is a store over by Pigeon Forge but have not found one around Maryville area. Does anyone have any ideas if this would be viable? Naturally we don't know if scrapbooking is as popular there as it has been other places we've lived and is here. My wife has always wanted to open one and while a lot of work I think it would be fun.
Thanks.......

Go to an online yellow pages to see if there are any in Knoxville/Maryville. If there are, once you get the address you can plug it into Mapquest to see where it's located within the town/city.

[housejunkie]

There is a Scrapbook store in the Cedar Bluff/West Knoxville area.. my wife goes there. I'm not sure about Maryville.

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by housejunkie

There is a Scrapbook store in the Cedar Bluff/West Knoxville area.. my wife goes there. I'm not sure about Maryville.

We have one in the Fowler's Furniture/Movie Theater shopping center in Maryville plus one other I believe. And there is Hobby Lobby and Wal Mart.

[gemkeeper]

There is an A.C. Moore and a Michaels' Arts and Craft store in Knoxville and I know that they dedicate a lot of their space to scrapbooking supplies, books, etc. Plus, Linda's Scrap Booking is at the Foothills Mall.

It is a very popular craft these days. It will be tricky to find an area that doesn't have a store that carries the supplies. Maybe if you and your wife could offer something that the others don't, such as a morning or afternoon scrapbooking bee to work on current projects together, exchange ideas, and share items.

[Catsndogs]

Originally Posted by gemthornton

There is an A.C. Moore and a Michaels' Arts and Craft store in Knoxville and I know that they dedicate a lot of their space to scrapbooking supplies, books, etc. Plus, Linda's Scrap Booking is at the Foothills Mall.

It is a very popular craft these days. It will be tricky to find an area that doesn't have a store that carries the supplies. Maybe if you and your wife could offer something that the others don't, such as a morning or afternoon scrapbooking bee to work on current projects together, exchange ideas, and share items.

There is usually a spot in Tuesday Morning, in Alcoa, next to Maryville, that is dedicated to scrapbooking materials. I bought a carry case with the inserts for a little friend and saved over 50 dollars there. Also, Big Lots, nearby often carries some items. Gee, sorry for the bad news. What else are you thinking you like to do? Or, like Gem said, make it different. Ceramics? A Teddy Bear Shop? A special Toy/doll shop? Trains? We could really use more specialty shops in Maryville. A bakery with a kitchen store? A specialty gift shop? Incorporate other things ... there are nice plants all over but you could have a shop for topiaries, herbs, potpourri...that goes all year long. Lavender in topiaries are great and haven't found one place...incorporate a brand of stuffed animals. Check the gift shop over by Church St downtown and the one next to Tues Morning that does framing. Do a lot of research to make sure the local populace will support it. A specialty consignment shop...with housewares and new items to recycle. Made myself tired.

[jimj]

Michaels,Wal-Mart and the like really don't impact a good scrapbook store believe it or not.
My wife has been into it for years and we have found that the chain stores can't carry the same stuff as a stand alone store due to space and uniformity with the chain.

We would do classes, midnight crops and pretty much whatever the clientell dictated.
We almost bought a store in GA but found the owner was, how shall I say it, less than honest and was cooking the books and hiding inventory to open a store in E TN.
I guess we'll wait until we move and settle in to get the lay of the land but it doesn't look impossible.

[turbochick]

There are a few independent scrapbook stores in Knoxville, AC Moore and Michaels and of course Severville has a large one, and I think Maryville has at least 2.

From the folks I have talked to, yes it's popular here, but it's not easy to open and run that type of business.

Location is key, having a large enough inventory (this will really impact you financially) and offering something unique to drive traffic to your retail location.

Wish you all the best!

Debs