Man of Honour
- Joined
- 29 Mar 2003
- Posts
- 57,757
- Location
- Stoke on Trent
because there's absolutely no professionals on any forums who know about stuff or who work in that discipline.
We are all still at school.
Family run store may close after 35 years
- Thread starter 2013
- Start date
because there's absolutely no professionals on any forums who know about stuff or who work in that discipline.
We are all still at school.
Soldato
- Joined
- 7 Jan 2009
- Posts
- 6,919
Could always have a dabble at turning it into a cafe,our local cafes do extremely well,always have 3 or 4 staff on to cope with demand.
(selling £50 vegan sandwiches to hipsters) both options wont work in this area we dont have vegans or hipsters, most of the remaining people are quite tight when it comes to spending locally,
we have people coming in and bartering over shampoo and the other just buy online,
We have 3 barber shops, 2 takeaways, 6 shops, thats on one stretch of road.
We do have a school 2 mins down the road so something quick and easy that opens during the day may work, I was thinking a nice takeaway (pizza, healty food) chippy but that may need work, or a cafe and we dont have a chippy or cafe near us.
By the sound of that then a cafe probably won't work either, although i suppose takeaways tend to do the best in poorer areas.
I know you say there's a large mortgage at a crap rate. Do you have any equity in the building or could you remortgage?
How much of a shortfall are you talking on a monthly basis?
I know you say there's a large mortgage at a crap rate. Do you have any equity in the building or could you remortgage?
How much of a shortfall are you talking on a monthly basis?
And getting on the wrong side of the Eastern European Mob that is running these rackets is a good idea because?
Ever heard of the "Vikings Revenge"?
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Jan 2014
- Posts
- 3,887
Vikings' revenge and Eastern Europe...akin to Cumans' revenge and Western Australia?
Instead of *running* the cafe though (or any business), I'd suggest getting a change of use sorted and then offering it out on the open market.
From the sounds of it, you and your family don't want to run a lifestyle business that basically pays minimum wage (or below) but there are plenty of people that do. So you just need to find someone and lease it out to them. Their rent will pay the mortgage and you can move on with your life.
Unless you go with a greasy spoon type cafe during the day and maybe some sort of takeaway in the evening ??- that might work in the area you are in?
I dont know as I dont run the business its ran by my parents but i can try and check
I assume we could re mortgage by now.
You maybe right
I think that may not work people in the are expect the world and and pay peanuts.
Let's judge this later based on the responses received
To be fair i think there's been some decent responses and i very much doubt theres a corner shop owners forum out there.
I’m assuming you sell neither legal fags & booze or fake?
Here lies your problem I’d suggest, I smoke and drink and when I’m off to get my supplies I’ll go somewhere I know I can get what I want locally under one roof, I’m not going to go to one shop for some dog food and another for beer & tobacco.
You mention other shops have opened, I’m guessing they sell similar lines to you plus booze & tobacco products.....
(Prior to becoming an hgv driver many moons ago my first career was in retail)
its a lot better then I was expecting too, I expected comments like
We do sell them but we dont sell the cheap fakes, we still sell some fags but not as much as we use too, also in the past people would come for fags and buy a few other things but now no thats all they will get and come back later if they need anything else.
Fair enough, I’d say try diversifying into something else or try to come up with something that you offer that your competition doesn’t.
Associate
- Joined
- 4 Dec 2009
- Posts
- 521
The daily intake doesn't cover 1 persons wage.
Your getting robbed daily
The loyal customers have gone.
You let nostalgia rule your head in 2010 and took out a re mortgage when its not sounding like it was financially a good idea back then.
If you have no loyal customers and your getting robbed daily who exactly are you expecting to shop at any new business venture.
Open a turkish hairdressers, staff it 24 -7 . use it for money laundering. If you need advice about that, speak to the guys robbing you, they will have some contacts.
If your all working other jobs then surely just selling everything you can and then renting out the building is a sensible option.
Your getting robbed daily
The loyal customers have gone.
You let nostalgia rule your head in 2010 and took out a re mortgage when its not sounding like it was financially a good idea back then.
If you have no loyal customers and your getting robbed daily who exactly are you expecting to shop at any new business venture.
Open a turkish hairdressers, staff it 24 -7 . use it for money laundering. If you need advice about that, speak to the guys robbing you, they will have some contacts.
If your all working other jobs then surely just selling everything you can and then renting out the building is a sensible option.
Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 11,701
- Location
- Cheshire
Have you tried doing some research by asking existing customers and maybe door knocking in the area?
Soldato
- Joined
- 20 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 12,088
- Location
- Derby
If its an option, Close the shop and put the house/shop up for sale in its entirety and move elsewhere. Unfortunately sentimentality is a great concept but wont pay the bills especially in todays cut throat society. If your parents are concerned about income then, as harsh as it sounds, they should look into getting jobs at local Asda/Sainsburys etc stacking shelves, tills etc. Shouldn't be seen as a failure but a sign of the times. To be honest, it sounds like they have had a bit of a stressful time with all the issues with the shop, they may actually be happier and more stress free.