New Store for all Martial Arts Supplies

[kanjc]

Hey folks, I am trying to get together all of the info I need to open a brick-n-mortar store in my area for martial arts supplies. What I want is a store that is not dedicated to a particular art but, has the basics for many. So my question is this, what art do you practice and what would you like to see in a store like this (uniforms, gear, equipment, etc) and what brands. Thanks

 

[terryl965]

Anything and everything that handles Tae Kwon Do and Karate, brands like Century, Techno, Vision, Pro-Tec, but just not have them on hand but will always give a great price no-matter what.

 

[charyuop]

I practice Tai Chi. Something that in my town is not very easy to find and I found out it might be useful is (I don't know what they are called) "heel socks". They are very short elastic socks open on both sides. I have seen Tai Chi practitioner who play Tai Chi bare feet using them to cover the heel to avoid damage to the skin (there is a lot of twisting on the heel).

 

[kanjc]

Anything and everything that handles Tae Kwon Do and Karate, brands like Century, Techno, Vision, Pro-Tec, but just not have them on hand but will always give a great price no-matter what.

Supplies for TKD, HKD, and Karate will be fairly easy to asses and supply, it is the other not quite as mainstream/prevalent that I am unsure about... such as judo,jujitsu,arnis,ninjisu,xma,wushu,etc...

 

[kanjc]

I practice Tai Chi. Something that in my town is not very easy to find and I found out it might be useful is (I don't know what they are called) "heel socks". They are very short elastic socks open on both sides. I have seen Tai Chi practitioner who play Tai Chi bare feet using them to cover the heel to avoid damage to the skin (there is a lot of twisting on the heel).

Any idea who makes them?

 

[HKphooey]

FMA books, uniforms, weapons and full contact training gear.

 

[ArmorOfGod]

That is a big endevour. Do you live close to a lot of martial arts schools?

My wife and I owned a medical uniform store years back and it was a very eductional experience.

In our area, rent for a 500 square foot unit was about $700 per month, but that was about half of what it would have cost if it had been in the heart of the city. So that meant we had to make about 1,000 dollars PROFIT per month just to pay rent and utilities. Then, we had to keep re-ordering merchandise to keep the store stocked.
It was a lot of fun and I am glad we did it.

Have you looked around to find suppliers? Once you get your business license or tax id, most places will cut you some good deals on merchandise.

Keep us posted.

AoG

 

[still learning]

Hello, The best place to look is the martial arts catalogs (as many as you can get). See what they carry. You will find many have the same things-WHY? ...because it sells.

In time you will find what sells for you? ..Repeat sales means you are carrying the right stuffs.

As a rule of thumb- the top 20 percent of your products will give you 80% of your earnings. the bottom 80 percent will give you only 20% of your sales.

So in time you will learn what to carry and not to carry alot of junk/none moving items.

Locations of your store and the ease of shopping at it will alsol make you more successful.

Keep in mind most MA schools already have there own connections for martial art supplies. (What can you provide for the general populations in your area?)

You may want to be a catalog dealer too? ...or sell other things too! ....best of luck to you.....Aloha

 

[IcemanSK]

Maybe this is off-track of your topic, but maybe it will give you some insight. When I opened my TKD school this year (in a community center) I went to the MA supply store that the karate instructor for the community center went. When I asked about v-neck uniforms he said, "We don't carry a lot of them. I think a lot of TKD folks get their gear from whomever their instructor gets them." Because I could get uniforms quicker & cheaper at the place that "all the TKD folks went" I don't use that local supplier for my gear.

I tell you that story to give you a "heads up" to that possibility. I'd love for this local vendor to be able to supply my stuff, too. But I'm too small & there's not enough other TKD going to him. Hopefully, you can be the "go to guy" in your area for every school.

I wish the best in your new business:asian:

 

[kanjc]

I did a bit of looking around, within a 30 mile radius there are approximately 100 martial art schools. Most get their stuff from online and supply their students that way, what I am looking to do is have a stire where joe schmo walks in and says " I am starting to do ( insert MA form here) , do have anything for that here? " and be able to have the basic, common things on hand for the majority of the art forms in our area. I do intend to have a web presence this prices about 5% higher than in the store but it includes free next day delivery on orders over $25 within our 30 mile service area. I also want to include a media rack that schools can put their flyers in so that lookyloos can find school info and a supply center at one place.

 

[ArmorOfGod]

If you open a webshop with delivery within 30 miles, do you really need a brick and mortor location?
You could use your website, cold calls, and visit schools in person to show your items.
Think about the rent of a building: $700-1500 per month for your building, $150 per month for electricity, $40 per month for phone service.....
That may be an option you may want to consider or even use as a starting point for opening a store.

AoG

 

[kanjc]

If you open a webshop with delivery within 30 miles, do you really need a brick and mortor location?
You could use your website, cold calls, and visit schools in person to show your items.
Think about the rent of a building: $700-1500 per month for your building, $150 per month for electricity, $40 per month for phone service.....
That may be an option you may want to consider or even use as a starting point for opening a store.

AoG

If Ic ould find retail space that inexpensive I would be loving it, the average around here with decent visability and access as well as enough room for the store front is about $2800 -$3500. I am probably going to have to start in a less than desirable location, the reasoning behind going with B&M instead of just web is that people are tactile, if you are just starting out in MA or looking for something different than what you already have, then you want to touch it, feel it, look at it in person. I bought a chest protector once on e-bay, it looked cool in the pictures but, when I got it I thought they had sent me a groin protector by mistake, it turned out it was a rib guard for karate or something of that nature. The point I am trying to make is if you can look at it, touch it , and take it with you today, you are more likely to get it.

 

[Tarot]

I would like a MA store to have Arnis pants. And also a place where one can buy uniform seperates. Meaning, if I just am looking or need pants I can buy pants without having to buy a jacket too.

And it should have a decent change room as well if people need to try on uniforms or pants.

 

[kanjc]

I agree, with you on that, I also was thinking of replacement draw strings , I know it sounds goofy but I have 3 uniforms and I have had to replace the drawsring in 2 of them and trying to find drawstring material, even in a fabric store, is not an easy task. The seperate parts of the uniform is a great idea, some martial arts have pants and jacket, but you don't always wear the jacket but you do , thankfully, always wear the pants.

 

[Eternal Beginner]

If you open a webshop with delivery within 30 miles, do you really need a brick and mortor location?
You could use your website, cold calls, and visit schools in person to show your items.
Think about the rent of a building: $700-1500 per month for your building, $150 per month for electricity, $40 per month for phone service.....
That may be an option you may want to consider or even use as a starting point for opening a store.

AoG

I think this may be very good advice. I know a guy in my city who did just this and it has worked very well for him. He started out making cold calls to MA schools and also had a web store. He hand-delivered everything to our club and was very well informed as to the products he carried so we were never misled or disappointed with the quality, even though we never actually saw the product before delivery (usually just a catalogue pic and description).

He was so successful at this approach that he has expanded his web store, getting the exclusive rights to major brands as well as opening a storefront location in the city.

He kept overhead low, personal contact high and has maintained a high level of visibility in the MA community by being at all local (and now national) events.

Good luck.

 

[HKphooey]

And keep in mind, with a website you can keep lower stock levels because most distributors will "blind"drop ship directly to the customer for you.

 

[FistOfFury]

Try to carry a variety of supplies for as many different arts as possible. The main store in my town has an abundance of karate and jiu jitsu gear, but very poor selection of uniforms, shoes, etc for kung fu. It would be nice to walk into a store and find dit da jow available. I'm sure students of other styles would buy that too...kung fu students aren't the only ones who train in iron palm and breaking.

 

[kanjc]

I hope to carry a little bit of everything, my question really should have been along the lines of "what art form do you practice and what stuff do you need/use?" I know what is needed for TKD and HKD but nothing about karate,kung fu, wushu etc...

 

[MBuzzy]

I practice Tang Soo Do and I would echo everyone else on the uniform parts, pads, shoes....the basics ,and a wide variety of them. One of the advantages of having a STORE rather than a WEB STORE is that you will often sell people things that they didn't come for. i.e. come in for a new uniform, walk out with a new set of pads, shoes, book, AND a uniform.

Which brings me to my suggestion....I think that if you kept a variety of books on hand, you would make a killing in book sales alone. No normal book store sells the art specific books out there and many people want the reference. Everyone is forced on to Ebay and Amazon to buy MA books. Those are a GREAT walk in item. Organize by art and people will be drawn to their section automatically - and I would bet that more often than not, they will find a book that they need or want.