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I've mentioned this before here, but since I got married, I got really into paper - started frequenting If It's Paper in Ridgewood, PaperBuzz in North Hills, and visited Paper Source in Charlotte.
I'm staring to play with the idea of potentially opening a card/specialty paper shop, but feel like I should start with a pop-up shop, at shows, or working for someone else. Any ideas on where to start? Anyone have any experience with something like this in the past? Thanks!
Also, do you want to do custom stationery or have a variety of items you just reproduce? I don't think opening an actual store front would be a financially sound decision. You can offer everything online and spend some time at local events on weekends if that's your thing. Make sure your skills are at an adequate level as well. I would recommend looking into some classes to sharpen any skills you may be lacking.
I think custom would be a part of my business - I think an online store would be a really great idea. Part of my concern is how important being able to touch and weigh paper in your hands is. Do you think people would buy their paper/postcards/monograms sight unseen?
Print is dead--or dying. Though, there will always be a niche market.
I used to work for one of the world's biggest "social expression" greeting card companies in the world. In 23 years, I saw their revenue drop by almost 1/2, due mainly to mobile and online apps and due to increases in first-class postage. You're facing future generations of consumers where paper will no longer even be considered. Amazon, EBay, etc. will slowly consume the little guy.
Everybody likes to get physical mail. Handwritten on high-quality paper, hand addressed, stamped, etc., but nobody wants to send them.
You're going to have a tough row to hoe going forward. Just my 2 cents. . .
Good prices. Good communication. Free freight.
That is the sort of bulk competition out there, so I think the custom niche is important.
And, I tend to agree with Adams. I wonder if you could find a margin and volume to support a business.
Schedule an appt with the folks at SCORE (score.org). They can help review your business plan and give advice on if/how to proceed.
Also the NC Small Business & Technology Development Center. It's free for a business consultation.
I know that M Herget was a locally-owned, very nice stationer here in Raleigh for many years, but they went out of business in the past few years. I think that says a lot--also there was a nice stationery store at Cameron Village that I used to go to that is also now gone.
Yes, there have been several paper goods shops that have closed in the recent past. It's kind of sad.
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