I'm sick of working on the computer....I wanna open up a record store in new york
 

I'm tired of working on the computer, i'm too manic for this shit.

I live in NYC area.

I'd really love to open a record store....it's something i can imagine running forever.....how would i put a brick and mortar plan together effectively?

any help would be appreciated...

All about location

One day i would love to own a record shop.

Open something that's in more demand.

like what?

umm ... Meth?

I love the old record stores that used to be everywhere when I was a kid but it seems like they've all disappeared. I'm as guilty as the next guy since Best Buy is the first place I go to get my music. I would think that the first thing you would need to do is decide what type of customer you want to cater to, since you can't carry it all or the big box stores will kill you. Do you just carry vinyl? Maybe that and used cd's and dvd's like a CD Connection would be a good start. Maybe you could add a small cafe/coffee house, too, to make it a cool place to hang out.

You're going to have to be very creative if you want to make it in NYC with a record store. It's going to be tough just to cover the rent never mind a profit.

people still buy music?

good question

just like video killed the radio star, ipod (particularly mp3's) killed the record store

Opening up a record store these days is kind of... well, strange. Think of your competition.

yes but.....

i will cater to music nerds, and i'll be able to run a site at the same time offering digital downloads of all the records and physical mail order.

most importantly, it's something i'd really wanna do. I'm just a big music nerd, and my hearts not in porn.

i feel like i should throw everything i got into this and just make it happen.

i dunno man...

Record stores are a hard game, i had an independant back in the early 90's and even then it sucked, god knows what its like now.

Distributors wanted too much per unit and the major stores bought in bulk and could sell cheaper. I had to almost forget CDs due to their pricing and then the fuckers got decks in which pinched vinyl sales.

So i turned to a more niche market and most of the customers were too nerdy, picky and poor to afford to walk about with more than a few copies.

The remaining ones just wanted to bore me to tears with their rendition of unavailable/unobtainable white labels, bootlegs and dubplates they'd heard........."you know the one mate, it goes...... "boom, boom, chaka, da boom la la.....have you got it mate?????"

You never know, it might be just your thing though :winkwink:

wouldn't touch a brick and mortar record store at this time that I would a video store....even if I could parallel my sales with online product....there is too much of a shift to digital delivery underway that will only happen with greater speed in the next year to 5 years....

Tower Records, filed bankruptcy...about 3 times I believe until this last one did them in...

For there to be any life at all it will have to be in very specific music genres that are not available in other stores, but even that won't last long with the ability for young startup or niche market bands now able to publish to the internet and have an immediate market, fan base and sales outlet.

Sounds risky....

porn videos shop... i guess...

wouldnt pay mate, its all mp3 and downloads now, unless you catered for the djs of the area, but i cant see it paying mate:(

your better off opening an apple store :)

you'll have to go niche - I have a friend that makes a living out of this but he sells some weird jazz music that you and I have never heard about

cool idea but....sick of working on the computer? come on this beats any day job you could possibly have cept for maybe a video game tester

The idea's good...I simply LOVE record stores, but as the others before me already mentioned it, this mp3 thing makes it pretty hard...but if you really want it, I suggest you should go for it! :winkwink:

put some effort in your dream and setup some goals :thumbsup

I have an offline job too!! Couldnt take it if I had to sit around here all the time! + it brings in more cash!

leave your pc now and open your store!

I believe it still could work but you have to be creative. You could be the store were people who don't know how to use itunes/the internet go to for their legal MP3's. Don't know how legal it would be but just buying and downloading songs of itunes and put them on the custumors mp3 player and charge the actual cost + something extra. I think there could be a market for things like that (just like there are those ebay drop-of stores for those who don't know how to use ebay)

Open up a story that specializes in groove/dance/trance/house/funk and only go for vinyl. Have a corner where people can have a drink and have equipment dj's can use in your store to listen to the records, like two Technics turntables and a good mixtable. Market it as a DJ store and make it look "retro"........ your set to go.

Works perfect uphere in Belgium! :)

If that what makes you happy and contented with your life...then go for it! :thumbsup

what is a record?

anyone else wanna weigh in?

Not weighing in, but I often have thoughts of not wanting to work on a computer anymore... Especially a daily longing for having a shaved ice and melon stand on some beach in the Caribbean.

Guess my random post is just a bump for you.
*shrug*

The record store thats a hard one its like wanting to be a blacksmith after the car came out.

that was my dream too until technology and big business killed it. you might have a go appealling to some kind of indie market of *very* hard to find type stuff in a big city but in my hometown area i watched as every small record store went under and closed down one by one. even here in ottawa record runner shut down, i loved that place.

I love records... Find a creative twist and give it a go :thumbsup!

i live in new york, im a musician and a bigger music nerd than anyone i've yet met in real life. I hate to pidgeonhole myself, but im meant for this. I want to run this record store for the next 50 years.

would be an adventure for sure, I dont think it would make huge profits though due to rent/costs/competition etc

yeah that i know.....but if i can pull in like 1500-2k a week profit for myself within 5 years i'd be a terriblly happy 26 year old living in new york city with an established record store catering to the scenes and people i love...to me that sounds better than working in porn in any capacity, even if im making twice as much ....

i really wanna make this happen....

Nice wish, but i can't help you, sorry. Wish you all the best.

I wrote for a music magazine in the early to mid 90's, even though it's been awhile, I dealt with record stores and independent labels a lot. I would say if you are opening a mainstream store it will fail. You can't compete with the big chains who can sell for less and afford a lot of advertising.

An independent music store, I think, is still a viable idea. The idea the everything is mp3 and downloads these days is wrong. Digital music sales only account for about 11% of all music sales world wide. There still are a lot of people that go out and buy CDs. The hard part will be finding a retail space that is in a good area and is affordable then getting the product. One good thing about being an independent store is that you can often deal directly with the music label to get the product instead of having to go through a distributor. In the city I live in we have a store called Locals Only. All they do is local bands. We have a few bands like Everclear, Modest Mouse and The Dandy Warhols that have become big, but many of them are lesser known and this store covers them all. This store has been around forever and continues to thrive. You will have to find your niche like they did.

Something I often wondered about would be having a kiosk of sorts in a store where people could buy digital downloads. So they could buy the CD from you, or they could sit down at a computer and add the CD to their ipod right there. Or they could even buy the CD then use your gear to rip it and copy it to their ipod. It could be a nice little addition if you figured out how to work it.

The first step I would take is to get all the local music mags you can find out there and start looking through them and start hitting all the independent music stores in the city then ask yourself how you could do it better. Starting a store won't be cheap, but it could be a lot of fun.

With al the piracy going on on the internet Record stores are a dying breed plus a good locatio In NYC is gonna cost you a lot of loot $$$! That's not to say you can't be successful, cuz i feel if people give 100% effort they can be successful at virtualy anything they put their heart into! Good Luck man! :)

When you say record store do you mean a "record" store or a music store?

Collectables which is what a record store is, is probably a great business. People don't want the download they want the actual records and they will be in demand more and more. You can sell online as well as offline.
As far as just a plain music store...hmmm thats a tough one...however I think the video game business is very lucrative as well as comics and any store that deals with collectables. You can sell online as well as brick in mortar.

Dealing with people everyday is way better then just on a computer...what you are seeing today is companies with brick and mortar are also thriving in online sales as it adds some legitimacy to their online presence.

Look at some of the photography business's fuck they do great biz online as well as going in the stores.
People like to have a hobby and go and listen and look and socialise. Especially after we spend so much time on the computer...lol