Good. Even great.

I actually think that's not a bad idea. I don't want this to be too complicated, though. Don't want to have to worry about frothing up somebody's 1/2 skim mocha latte with diet whip cream while trying to call in an order for next week's releases or whatever.

If I only lived in S. Carolina. I would help you.

I know you would, my little slave.

Ha, Anyways hope you can this started so when I go visit my Bro in N. Carolina I can buy some records off of you.

!@#..., yes, there's a college radio station. From what I can tell, there's one sort of indie music store that might appeal to their audience, and the other place is more jazz oriented. But I don't see a place (at least on the net, I haven't actually been there) that has that sort of college hang-out vibe. Pretty intangible, I know. I might start contacting people at the radio station and see what they think about my plans for a store.

I don't know. A lot of dreaming. But I figure I won't have many other chances to consider this kind of thing, so as long as we're in this transition period anyway, why not.

Dude... instead of moving to South Carolina, move to Sudbury, Ontario. We NEED a good record store, especially one that sounds as rad as this here so bad.

Call it like, Thirty-three and a Third.

I'll have an internet mail order service, too, and be on Gemm.

Gemm is good; Musicstack also works like that and is a fine resource. Musicstack has to approve you so there are far less of the "one star seller" ripoff types on that site, but they are both highly useful.
Musicstack's customer service for their site-using retailers blows Gemm out of the freaking water.

yes, but consider that you might have to subsidize the record store somehow. as beautiful as it is, it's not a "hot" business.

remember all the bookstores that died in the 90's? coffee has been what's kept alive those that survived. it has also been the weapon of the victors (b&n, borders). an espresso machine will set you back around $4K but i believe it will pay for itself promplty.

plus, internet stores don't offer you a place to hang out & listen to records.

(just an idea, really. but you're entering a TOUGH business so you'll have to get creative).

HeeBGB's

I like the idea of coffee in the store. Just not sure how I'd pull it off. I don't want to become a barrista, and I don't want much of a staff in the beginning.

I mean Gemm and the Internet in addition to being a physical "hang out" store, by the way. I'd also probably have to do the MySpace thing to help advertise among the students.

I'd also have replacement needles (styluses), record cleaner and accessories, maybe even the occasional refurbished turntable to sell.

Maybe a few magazines? Not sure how much they sell, though.

I think I'd do used CDs, but mostly as a sideline to the new stock.

We had a record store here that had classic arcade games in its basement at one time.

In the bookshops I run, there's a big move towards non-book product, because the margin is so much greater.

We sell greetings cards for instance, with a discount of about 60%, in comparison to books which are about 40% on average, and often sold with money off on top of that, to draw customers in, reducing discount in real terms to about 30-35%.

And I know in the UK, record shops are in the same position. Lots of "related product" is key.

What is the related product in UK record shops, Pookie?

hiring a barista would pay her salary, yours, and the rent. of course you'd have to do payroll taxes which is a major PITA. but you could reward good customers w/ free coffee & shit. you could do it alone at first when business is slow if it picks up you hire a student part-time.

Yeah. Nice idea, really. Plus I could be wired all the time.

& a big sign: "You spill on the records or CDs, you buy them."

Maybe a few music DVDs as well?

T-shirts?

I thought you might get some perspective by reviewing the Stylus list of independent stores they chose as the best. Many are larger stores that have spawned small franchises with a few stores, but most on the lists started as very small stores and in some cases, have moved location.
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articl...orite-shop.htm
Part I: East
Part II: South
Part III: Midwest
Part IV: West
Part V: International

Or instead of coffee, one of those old-fashioned Coke machines with the glass bottles. It is the south, after all.