the spouse joked that i should start a movie rental store and folks
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@hex Unless you know the market super well, don't get into comic books or trading cards or most vintage video games.
Those are incredibly competitive, vicious markets with the most difficult customers you'll ever find.
(I say that as a guy who has been a difficult, vicious customer at a comic shop and a video game store.)
@hex The exception to the above is anywhere that you can tap into the mass market or overlap directly with your video market.
Where the mass market overlaps with these specialty markets is at the low/cheap end.
But, even then, I'd bring a good deal of caution.
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@hex The exception to the above is anywhere that you can tap into the mass market or overlap directly with your video market.
Where the mass market overlaps with these specialty markets is at the low/cheap end.
But, even then, I'd bring a good deal of caution.
@hex beyond that, though, I *heartily* recommend considering toys.
The overlap between the toy market and the video market is pretty big. A lot of the best toys currently being produced for the collectors market are directly targeting video collectors up to and including doing VHS packaging for their toys.
Super 7 and NECA are the companies to look at, and both offer decent wholesale pricing.
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@hex beyond that, though, I *heartily* recommend considering toys.
The overlap between the toy market and the video market is pretty big. A lot of the best toys currently being produced for the collectors market are directly targeting video collectors up to and including doing VHS packaging for their toys.
Super 7 and NECA are the companies to look at, and both offer decent wholesale pricing.
@hex My favorite video store does not do rentals.
They are Orbit DVD in Asheville NC.
I recommend taking a look at what they do, because they are incredible.
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@hex My favorite video store does not do rentals.
They are Orbit DVD in Asheville NC.
I recommend taking a look at what they do, because they are incredible.
@hex Books.
Getting set up with Ingram as a book distributor is an absolute pain in the ass, but I'd recommend doing it, even if you're mostly going to carry rental videos.
The reason for that is books like this: https://www.hemlockbazaar.com/product/how-the-world-remade-hollywood-global-interpretations-of-65-iconic-films-glaser-ed/
and ... you get the idea.
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@hex Books.
Getting set up with Ingram as a book distributor is an absolute pain in the ass, but I'd recommend doing it, even if you're mostly going to carry rental videos.
The reason for that is books like this: https://www.hemlockbazaar.com/product/how-the-world-remade-hollywood-global-interpretations-of-65-iconic-films-glaser-ed/
and ... you get the idea.
@hex I think that's all I got for now.
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@hex Books.
Getting set up with Ingram as a book distributor is an absolute pain in the ass, but I'd recommend doing it, even if you're mostly going to carry rental videos.
The reason for that is books like this: https://www.hemlockbazaar.com/product/how-the-world-remade-hollywood-global-interpretations-of-65-iconic-films-glaser-ed/
and ... you get the idea.
@ajroach42 i absolutely love this idea. i’m literally watching the documentary 1000 Women of Horror based on the book of the same name right now and having this on the shelf next to books like that and Men, Women, and Chainsaws feels like the corner that has love for media that i want to foster
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@ajroach42 i absolutely love this idea. i’m literally watching the documentary 1000 Women of Horror based on the book of the same name right now and having this on the shelf next to books like that and Men, Women, and Chainsaws feels like the corner that has love for media that i want to foster
@hex Check out I Spit on Your Celluloid
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@hex Check out I Spit on Your Celluloid
@ajroach42
also i checked out Super 7 and NECA and i can see the appeal for surei still dont know how ambitious launch should be, so i dunno if toys will be there from the start but the idea of books, films, merch, and food all being available is hitting the mark with me - give folks as many opportunities to walk away with something
though i saw Super 7 had blind boxes and i know thats a surefire way to get a kid ask for something
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i’m simultaneously going “i don’t know if i should carry modern shows” and going “well Of Course we’d have all of Columbo”
also just made the unilateral decision that “no, we *don’t* need to carry the wizard movies”
i think i want to go with something along the lines of Physical Video or Corporeal Video for the name of the store
something indicating that this is a place where physical goods are sold. enshrining physical media
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i think i want to go with something along the lines of Physical Video or Corporeal Video for the name of the store
something indicating that this is a place where physical goods are sold. enshrining physical media
@hex Hard Video
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@hex Hard Video
@kev lmao same reason i’m worried about “Physical Video”
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@hex Hard Video
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@ajroach42
also i checked out Super 7 and NECA and i can see the appeal for surei still dont know how ambitious launch should be, so i dunno if toys will be there from the start but the idea of books, films, merch, and food all being available is hitting the mark with me - give folks as many opportunities to walk away with something
though i saw Super 7 had blind boxes and i know thats a surefire way to get a kid ask for something
I think it's probably wise to skip having a large inventory of new toys at opening, because the margins on them are only good, and not great.
That being said, if you can manage some vintage toys it's probably worthwhile to have a couple to set the tone.
For merch, find a local screenprinting shop and see if you can get a better rate than the internet. It's worth dealing local if you can for speed of restock and to recirculate money rather than extract it.
For books, you'll be dealing with ingram. They suck, but they're the only real game in town.
For newly produced movies, you're probably at AMS or alliance. Pricing won't be great unless you're placing big orders. There is probably someone better that just does movies, but I haven't found them yet.
For food, you might be able to get away with restaurant depot or a similar restaurant supply store if you have one nearby. They usualyl have a large collection of snacks and drinks.
You'll probably want to get a real supplier to do deliveries eventually, depending on how far away the restaurant store is, but also maybe not.
I highly recommend you have some zines at open, and that means writing them now.
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I think it's probably wise to skip having a large inventory of new toys at opening, because the margins on them are only good, and not great.
That being said, if you can manage some vintage toys it's probably worthwhile to have a couple to set the tone.
For merch, find a local screenprinting shop and see if you can get a better rate than the internet. It's worth dealing local if you can for speed of restock and to recirculate money rather than extract it.
For books, you'll be dealing with ingram. They suck, but they're the only real game in town.
For newly produced movies, you're probably at AMS or alliance. Pricing won't be great unless you're placing big orders. There is probably someone better that just does movies, but I haven't found them yet.
For food, you might be able to get away with restaurant depot or a similar restaurant supply store if you have one nearby. They usualyl have a large collection of snacks and drinks.
You'll probably want to get a real supplier to do deliveries eventually, depending on how far away the restaurant store is, but also maybe not.
I highly recommend you have some zines at open, and that means writing them now.
@hex Blindboxes are great, and some of the s7 blindboxes are especially good.
If that's the kind of thing your after, I'd also recommend checking out License2Play. They do a fair number of blindboxes.
Once you have your store set up, you can also get a Faire account for lots of wholesale products. We sell toys. wholesale through faire.
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@hex Blindboxes are great, and some of the s7 blindboxes are especially good.
If that's the kind of thing your after, I'd also recommend checking out License2Play. They do a fair number of blindboxes.
Once you have your store set up, you can also get a Faire account for lots of wholesale products. We sell toys. wholesale through faire.
@ajroach42 yeah we already have a local screenprinter that i was planning on working with.
writing down the names of all these places to make sure i connect with
i'm also supportive of the idea of having some zines. i'll scribble down some ideas and i know Masto is also rich in them, so i think asking around should get me some hits
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@ajroach42 yeah we already have a local screenprinter that i was planning on working with.
writing down the names of all these places to make sure i connect with
i'm also supportive of the idea of having some zines. i'll scribble down some ideas and i know Masto is also rich in them, so i think asking around should get me some hits
@ajroach42
i mainly know Blindboxes cause my own kiddo can't get enough of them. i just know if a parent walks in and wants to support a business and they have a kid there, that'll be an easy sell. and hell yeah i'd love to eventually sell your toys too -
@ajroach42 yeah we already have a local screenprinter that i was planning on working with.
writing down the names of all these places to make sure i connect with
i'm also supportive of the idea of having some zines. i'll scribble down some ideas and i know Masto is also rich in them, so i think asking around should get me some hits
@hex Specifically, I'd recommend doing things like "Some Samurai films you should know" or things of that nature.
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@hex Specifically, I'd recommend doing things like "Some Samurai films you should know" or things of that nature.
@ajroach42 oh dang yeah i'm picking up what you're putting down. i'd be able to knock that stuff out easy
i also love the idea of having one lying around that is "Why is Super Mario Bros (1993) Even Here for Rent?"
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@ajroach42
i mainly know Blindboxes cause my own kiddo can't get enough of them. i just know if a parent walks in and wants to support a business and they have a kid there, that'll be an easy sell. and hell yeah i'd love to eventually sell your toys too@hex Archie McPhee is always an easy sell. Big buckets of weird toys pretty cheap.
Schlieck (that's spelled wrong) does retro wind up robots that we always had good luck with.
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Alright, this is a very loose collection of thoughts of things that you'll need to think about if you're opening a retail business for the first time *and* a bit of information about doing a video business in particular.
We had to bail on doing video rental stuff because we were spread to thin. I still sell tapes and DVDs, but we don't do rentals anymore. I'm interested in picking it back up eventually but our town is not big enough to support it full time.
1) Don't rent your originals. Format shifting and backups are legal. Get yourself an ecotank style printer that has a disk printing tray and make backups of your originals, rent the backups.
It's unlikely that anyone is going to *tell you* that this is what every remaining video store in the country is doing, but I guarantee you that nearly every remaining video store in the country is doing this.
2) make sure you've got a ton of retail product to go with your rentals. Candy, snacks, branded t-shirts, tote bags, etc. Have a product that people who just stumble on can buy.
Keep at least a few used movies on hand that people can buy. Consider setting up with Alliance or AMS and carrying newly produced titles as well, but margins here aren't great and and you shouldn't feel bad if you skip it.
(1/? I'll just keep going till I run out of stuff to say.)
I think I read all of this and I love everything in it. Great sounding advice and I wish you both the best with Hemlock Bazaar and [New Video Store Name Here]
