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Anime store question




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Phantomjest



Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 5
Location: NY
PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:00 am Reply with quote
If an anime store were to open near your area, what merchandise would you want them to sell?

(I'm taking notes as to what people want, I plan on opening my own someday . . .hopefully. If the money gods allow it. >.<
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Tony K.
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Joined: 18 Nov 2003
Posts: 11509
Location: Frisco, TX
PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 12:37 pm Reply with quote
Ah~ there was another user with a very similar question a while back. Check this thread. However, this thread is mostly just about video merchandise and that sort of thing.

I suppose it just depends on how popular anime actually is around you. The first step is knowing if you'll actually have a customer base around wherever it is you plan to open shop one day. But if that's successful enough, you could probably expand to online retail someday as well.

As for product suggestions, how about the non-video media like OSTs, plushes, posters, wallscrolls, action figures, models, and of course manga.

I would personally make the store as diverse as possible, but like I said earlier, it would all depend on your location and level of customer presence.

Going with just video media at first might be good. Maybe rent some stuff out and see if you're getting a lot of people interested. One thing I don't see a lot of is anime rental places, aside from Netflix, but that's online and I'm sure the people around you would like to save the hassle of mailing and waiting.

In any case, these are only a few suggestions and I hope you succeed in this one day, good luck to you!
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beelzebozo



Joined: 11 Jun 2004
Posts: 308
Location: Aurora, Colorado
PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 12:40 pm Reply with quote
Unfortunately, it varies by region. As a store owner myself, I've noticed the difference in sales between even two cities.

My advice is to be sure to provide rentals. You can't compete with Best Buy or most internet stores or bootlegs, so don't rely too heavily on DVDs. Rentals are a great way to have continuing return on investment. Be sure to have enough character goods and manga. Beyond that, it's a bit of trial and error.

Oh, and Advertise, Advertise, Advertise! Go to local cons, drop flyers at the colleges, and look at getting local airtime on cable, especially Adult Swim & Toonami.
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Aaron White
Old Regular


Joined: 23 Aug 2002
Posts: 1365
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 1:15 pm Reply with quote
This is probably no help whatsoever, but my local anime/manga store does pretty well in large part because it was around for years before anime/manga got big in the States, so the hardcore longtime fans are loyal customers. Before there was anywhere else to go for this stuff we went to Empire (now Legacy) and so we still go there, even though we could save a smidgen at Best Buy and all.
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BRUSCO



Joined: 31 Dec 2004
Posts: 28
PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 1:20 pm Reply with quote
i have the same idea, in internet, i want to create a page like the right stuf, and not expend money in a fisical retailer store.
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beelzebozo



Joined: 11 Jun 2004
Posts: 308
Location: Aurora, Colorado
PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 4:43 pm Reply with quote
BRUSCO wrote:
i have the same idea, in internet, i want to create a page like the right stuf, and not expend money in a fisical retailer store.


The problem is that Web Stores are a dime a dozen these days. Unless you can find a way to differtiate yourself from all the others, either by gimmick or by flooding the web with advertisements, you might have a better chance starting a brick-n-mortar. It was something that we considered before opening our own shop. But we realized this wasn't like it was when some friends of mine started their shop by originally going to club meetings and cons. What was going to make us stand out was rentals, and for that we need a real store.

(besides, my little condo was already packed. I don't think I could have stored what I needed to run the shop ) Laughing
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Phantomjest



Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 5
Location: NY
PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:28 pm Reply with quote
Tony K. wrote:
Ah~ there was another user with a very similar question a while back. Check this thread. However, this thread is mostly just about video merchandise and that sort of thing.



Sorry. I'm new to this forum & I didn't have time to go searching through all the posts. Thank you for your advice & thanks for the link. This will give me some good ideas.
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Phantomjest



Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 5
Location: NY
PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:41 pm Reply with quote
Thanks for all your help. You guys gave me some really great ideas Smile
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