think outside the snackbox! A challenge

tryinmebest

Hi everyone, I have an empty retail unit in a suburban "shopping centre" By this i mean i have one of six small units. The retail space is directly beside two and a half thousand houses and i cant seem to figure out what type of business would succeed in the unit. It is a working class area and unemployment levels would be quite large so all the usuals are there,the bookies,the chippers,the shop,the offo. Can anybody please make a suggestion as to what might work!?And remember the locals don't have much money

Thanks.

Keith186

€2 discount store
Or try tempt a social welfare office in :-)

tryinmebest

i tried and am having a problem with a centra being the shop currently there,my unit is nextdoor.

what can the centra actually do about it??

any other ideas?

super_furry

Pawn shop? €2 shop?

http://www.cashconverters.co.uk/franchise

I know one of these has recently opened up in Tallaght.

wyndham

Amusement/Gaming arcade. Throw a few machines in there and watch the cash roll in.

eamon234

wyndham wrote: »

Amusement/Gaming arcade. Throw a few machines in there and watch the cash roll in.

Along with the drug dealers

Mr.Boots

Shiny Tracksuit Shop?

highlandseoghan

I would be thinking something along the lines of the euro shops / €2 shops. Centra cant do much about it unless it is in the contract that nobody can open a business competing against them. If this was the case you could always argue the point that the 1 and 2 euro shops sell a wide range of other products not found in centra.

Cash converter and similar style shops seem to be getting more popular especially in less well off areas.

The other thing to do is research the area and see if the locals feel they would like something maybe a coffee shop or similar might do well.

What about something thats geared towards people on the dole or out of work?

Business and Self Help Books, a place where they can browse courses available and actually book them through your shop, a terminal to browse all the job sites with a helpful interface. A bit off the wall, you could call it get off the dole!

fabbydabby

Chipper? The last few I have seen open locally did so in strategic locations with car parking etc and are raking it in. Serious markup on that stuff as well.

Dutchie

A Pharmacy,

Hate to say it but there will be lots of medicals cards and the Drug payment Scheme will be very prevalent based on the details above.

Also lots of money to be earned from the methadone program.

Primary disadvantage lots of red-tape/bureaucracy.
Its a highly regulated thus recession proof industry.

nice1franko

Pizza shop (maybe a franchise)?

lion_bar

Tanning parlour.


I think that the idea above to do a self help shop for locals is a good idea, but as a private individual you want to make a profit so this type of activity is really for gov't, city council or fas type organisations.

Also, it might be a bit arrogant of us to assume thats something they want or need.

However, if you are a private landlord with a very charitable outlook maybe it would be worth yourwhile to have some sort of public space there.

Maybe in the evening have someone (no idea who SVP?) use the space for adult literacy or intercert/leaving cert grind classes, local networks could meetup there, etc.

Mozart1986

Seems to me that online classifieds have boomed in the last 3 years, whoch means there are a lot of quality second hand products available. Why not set up a second hand store in conjunction with an eBay shop, where you buy and sell products at a low margin and a high turnover. The amount of deals out there of quality furniture and electrical goods, etc, is amazing, if you have the time and incentive to look. Try Donedeal, eBay, Babybay.ie, boards adverts, Craigslist, Gumtree, etc. I think it could be something that people in your area, looking for bargains, would be interested in. It doesn't take much to start off, as you could build your stock in response to the local interest, which minimizes the risk. Goodluck:)

neris

could you get an post to stick a branch in? more for giving out the dole then stamps.