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ZippoZ
Knomadic



Registered: 06/17/03
Posts: 13,227
Loc: Pongyang, North Korea
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So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front....
#7810217 - 12/29/07 10:55 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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i allready blow glass, and have whole sale connections from blowers all over the country. I found a location for the shop and people to work it, i even have all of the permits and aplications lined up (ready to be submitted)
all that remains is figuring out how much money i would have to put into it to get it started, and making sure that i can actually turn a profit. I figure that to stay above water, i would have to sell atleast $2000 worth of merchandise a month, which would be about 100 sales at $20 a piece. or roughly 3 sales a day. i think that i could pull it off, but i would like some other pepoples input as well...
im thinking that it could be done for roughly $10,000 up front if i ot most of the glass on consignment (partially on the front)
-------------------- PEACE
zippoz "in times of widespread chaos and confusion, it has been the duty of more advanced human beings - artists, scientists, clowns, and philosophers - to create order. In such times as ours however, when there is too much order, too much m management, too much programming and control, it becomes the duty of superior men and women and women to fling their favorite monkey wrenches into the machinery. To relieve the repression of the human spirit, they must sow doubt and disruption" "People do it every day, they talk to themselves ... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it."
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2FiNiTe
ConsideratlyKilling Me



Registered: 06/12/06
Posts: 1,635
Loc: New England
Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: ZippoZ]
#7810232 - 12/29/07 11:08 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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I think your main expenditures are going to be :
The $ you have to put down to start renting/leasing the property your going to use for your shop.
$ up front for all the glass your going to need to initially stock your store
I'd recommend allotting some money for advertising in the yellow pages or TV or w/e. Headshops are usually slow to build a customer base, so I'd think advertising would be key in starting a successful shop.
The head shop I go to has awesome artwork all over the building so it really catches the eye as you drive by, idk if this is possible for you but I know this is the deciding factor for my purchase. I mean just seeing the Caterpillar from Alice & Wonderland like 15 ft tall, smoking a pipe just does it for me.
& I mean I think the owner probably just let his buddy tag the whole building with cool artwork. So if you knew a good tagger you wouldn't even have to pay, most people that tag would dream of be able to do a whole building.
-------------------- "Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war that we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living." General Omar N. Bradley
Edited by 2FiNiTe (12/29/07 11:10 AM)
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ZippoZ
Knomadic



Registered: 06/17/03
Posts: 13,227
Loc: Pongyang, North Korea
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: 2FiNiTe]
#7810239 - 12/29/07 11:10 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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yeah, as for advertising, i sell pipes all over Chicago at most every major fetival and underground party. people are always asking for my card, etc...
the location i found is also roughly 20 miles from any other head shop where there is a real need.
the location is like 1,000 a month, and i figure that ill have to drop about 3k to remmodel the store slightly.
the rest is for insurance, bills, and inventory.
-------------------- PEACE
zippoz "in times of widespread chaos and confusion, it has been the duty of more advanced human beings - artists, scientists, clowns, and philosophers - to create order. In such times as ours however, when there is too much order, too much m management, too much programming and control, it becomes the duty of superior men and women and women to fling their favorite monkey wrenches into the machinery. To relieve the repression of the human spirit, they must sow doubt and disruption" "People do it every day, they talk to themselves ... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it."
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2FiNiTe
ConsideratlyKilling Me



Registered: 06/12/06
Posts: 1,635
Loc: New England
Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: ZippoZ]
#7810245 - 12/29/07 11:13 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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1,000 a month rent isn't bad at all. Sounds like you got a good location scouted. Maybe have like a grand opening BBQ or something that people will come to even if they don't have $ to buy pipes. I think the main part of having a successful head shop is getting a loyal customer base. Maybe have a BBQ, raffle off pipes & t-shirts or something.
-------------------- "Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war that we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living." General Omar N. Bradley
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DirtMcgirt
in a pinch



Registered: 10/20/04
Posts: 2,213
Loc: city of angels
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: ZippoZ]
#7810263 - 12/29/07 11:19 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Most head shops also sell an assortment of merch like t shirts or smoking related stuff. Probably in order to make some kind of worthwhile profit and to fill all that expensive floor space your gonna be dropping 1000+ a month on.
One place near where I used to live opened up the 2nd half of his retail space to a tattoo artist. Walked in one day and bam half the store was curtained off and some fat tattooed dude was milling about
-------------------- "And we, inhabitants of the great coral of the Cosmos, believe the atom (which still we cannot see) to be full matter, whereas, it too, like everything else, is but an embroidery of voids in the Void, and we give the name of being, dense and even eternal, to that dance of inconsistencies, that infinite extension that is identified with absolute Nothingness and that spins from its own non-being the illusion of everything."
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RasJah
Prince


Registered: 12/05/07
Posts: 60
Last seen: 15 years, 10 months
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: 2FiNiTe]
#7810271 - 12/29/07 11:23 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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go to high schools. good pubs there.
also, most head shops around here sell other shit. knives, porn, goofy things. your head shop?
Also keep in mind competition. you said that you scouted that already, so no worry.
Then look at what all your shop can offer. consider making it a hookah bar too. There could never be too many hookah bar/head shops. it'll draw more business and profit. or maybe a head shop/something else.
Shoot, bring your glass blowing stuff into the shop and teach glass blowing lessons at extreme prices. Do you have an oxygen concentrator? Or do you just know how to blow glass, w/o equipment?
I've always wanted to open a laser tag/hookah bar/head shop. It'd give the kids something to do.
The most important thing, though, is location, location, location.
Good Luck! Ras Jah
Edited by RasJah (12/29/07 11:24 AM)
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Jadian
Ninja



Registered: 07/07/05
Posts: 7,404
Loc: The desert
Last seen: 6 years, 1 month
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: ZippoZ]
#7810351 - 12/29/07 11:47 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Head shops get customers mostly from happy customers telling their friends. Where there's one pot-head, there are usually several more nearby. I know I've brought a ton of business to my favorite head shop in Alaska, they let me in when I was 16 because I went in with a guy I knew who was 18 and was a good customer of the store. From then on I'd bring people into the store and they wouldn't get carded because the owners knew I was a good person and didn't say stupid things about the pipes.
So make a few really good customers quick and the rest should start flowing soon. Sounds like you got a pretty good deal set up to me, you should open a website you can sell the pieces out of too.
-------------------- LNC's official Alaskan stoner
 
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ZippoZ
Knomadic



Registered: 06/17/03
Posts: 13,227
Loc: Pongyang, North Korea
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: Jadian]
#7810393 - 12/29/07 12:05 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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yeah, i can sell pieces on line, but only within the state, as otherwise it would be interstate commerce and then be subject to federal laws...
another thing is that i don't want to get shut down, so i have to stay legitamite as a tobacco shop. which means no drug references, no pot leaf t-shirts, no scales...
another thing, is this, i would love to make it a hookah bar, but illinois is going smoke free in like 2 days, and i dont think that hookah bars are even legal anymore...
another thing is this, the whole shop is only 800 SQF. not that large.
i think that im also going to showcase a large amount of glass artwork. class up the joint a bit
-------------------- PEACE
zippoz "in times of widespread chaos and confusion, it has been the duty of more advanced human beings - artists, scientists, clowns, and philosophers - to create order. In such times as ours however, when there is too much order, too much m management, too much programming and control, it becomes the duty of superior men and women and women to fling their favorite monkey wrenches into the machinery. To relieve the repression of the human spirit, they must sow doubt and disruption" "People do it every day, they talk to themselves ... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it."
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CherryBom
Yoga Gypsy


Registered: 12/26/98
Posts: 11,177
Loc: Ontario
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: ZippoZ]
#7810413 - 12/29/07 12:16 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Capatalistc nomad said:
i think that im also going to showcase a large amount of glass artwork. class up the joint a bit
This is important, I think. Instead of focusing on a 'head shop' which is done over and over again you need an original focus. Nomad Glass! Now that is classy. Not just pipes, either. Glass hemp charms, maybe glass bracelets? Models...like different glass mushroom coffeetable centerpieces. Be creative! Creativity gets you everywhere!
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ZippoZ
Knomadic



Registered: 06/17/03
Posts: 13,227
Loc: Pongyang, North Korea
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: CherryBom]
#7810424 - 12/29/07 12:24 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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i like it, i like it. i think that you also might have given me the name for my shop, nomadic glass !
-------------------- PEACE
zippoz "in times of widespread chaos and confusion, it has been the duty of more advanced human beings - artists, scientists, clowns, and philosophers - to create order. In such times as ours however, when there is too much order, too much m management, too much programming and control, it becomes the duty of superior men and women and women to fling their favorite monkey wrenches into the machinery. To relieve the repression of the human spirit, they must sow doubt and disruption" "People do it every day, they talk to themselves ... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it."
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CherryBom
Yoga Gypsy


Registered: 12/26/98
Posts: 11,177
Loc: Ontario
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: ZippoZ]
#7810429 - 12/29/07 12:26 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Glad to be able to help.
I'll let you know when I need a name for my coffeeshop.
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Jadian
Ninja



Registered: 07/07/05
Posts: 7,404
Loc: The desert
Last seen: 6 years, 1 month
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: ZippoZ]
#7810443 - 12/29/07 12:29 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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I don't know if these laws are specific state to state, but scales are perfectly legal in any head shop I've ever been in. You just gotta throw out anyone who says "Bong" or anything pot related.
One of the head shops in Alaska had a big sign that said "If it rhymes with WRONG, it is wrong!"
-------------------- LNC's official Alaskan stoner
 
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moon_glue
Orwell's Post9/11 Era



Registered: 01/20/07
Posts: 2,264
Loc: Earth, today...
Last seen: 8 years, 10 months
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: Jadian]
#7810483 - 12/29/07 12:46 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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You should start with a website, they're cheaper than a shop and reach more people. You also don't have to be there 8-10 hours a day.
Find some underground events, they are always looking for people to have a sex toy, head shop, and such at their venue.
if you could point me in the direction to start learning how to blow glass i would appreciate it!
Ps. this is a suggestion, please be headshop that stocks many brands of premium papers. it's so hard to find something a vareity of papers these days. howabout some bambu, hempire, rizla, ect.
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ZippoZ
Knomadic



Registered: 06/17/03
Posts: 13,227
Loc: Pongyang, North Korea
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: moon_glue]
#7810489 - 12/29/07 12:49 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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-------------------- PEACE
zippoz "in times of widespread chaos and confusion, it has been the duty of more advanced human beings - artists, scientists, clowns, and philosophers - to create order. In such times as ours however, when there is too much order, too much m management, too much programming and control, it becomes the duty of superior men and women and women to fling their favorite monkey wrenches into the machinery. To relieve the repression of the human spirit, they must sow doubt and disruption" "People do it every day, they talk to themselves ... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it."
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Jadian
Ninja



Registered: 07/07/05
Posts: 7,404
Loc: The desert
Last seen: 6 years, 1 month
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: moon_glue]
#7810497 - 12/29/07 12:53 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Most head shops in your area don't have lots of kinds of papers? That seems ridiculous to me! Every head shop I've ever been in has shelves and shelves of papers and blunt wraps.
-------------------- LNC's official Alaskan stoner
 
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moon_glue
Orwell's Post9/11 Era



Registered: 01/20/07
Posts: 2,264
Loc: Earth, today...
Last seen: 8 years, 10 months
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: Jadian]
#7810546 - 12/29/07 01:18 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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theres a new head shop that opened up in the area that i need to check out. The one that had been around for years got crappy, i think the owners turned into bums or something.
all that glass is nice, but recently the only think ive wanted to use is papers. glass makes me want to smoke 24/7. lol
Edited by moon_glue (12/29/07 01:20 PM)
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Jadian
Ninja



Registered: 07/07/05
Posts: 7,404
Loc: The desert
Last seen: 6 years, 1 month
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: moon_glue]
#7810554 - 12/29/07 01:21 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Alaska had more head shops per amount of people there of any place I'd ever seen. Although one day I did walk around my campus down where I'm at now and counted 3 head shops within 1 block of the college I attend.
But I've never seen one that didn't have a huge amount of papers.
-------------------- LNC's official Alaskan stoner
 
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ZippoZ
Knomadic



Registered: 06/17/03
Posts: 13,227
Loc: Pongyang, North Korea
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: Jadian]
#7810567 - 12/29/07 01:28 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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alaska is more head shop friendly than we are in the chicago suburbs.
half of the towns i would rather open up in would shut me down in under a week's time.
-------------------- PEACE
zippoz "in times of widespread chaos and confusion, it has been the duty of more advanced human beings - artists, scientists, clowns, and philosophers - to create order. In such times as ours however, when there is too much order, too much m management, too much programming and control, it becomes the duty of superior men and women and women to fling their favorite monkey wrenches into the machinery. To relieve the repression of the human spirit, they must sow doubt and disruption" "People do it every day, they talk to themselves ... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it."
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moon_glue
Orwell's Post9/11 Era



Registered: 01/20/07
Posts: 2,264
Loc: Earth, today...
Last seen: 8 years, 10 months
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: ZippoZ]
#7810600 - 12/29/07 01:44 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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i think spedning money on a good workshop and selling wholesale to a few headshops would be a better investment. let the head shops worry about store keeping, buisness liscenses, and footwork. then you could focus on inventory building and production. and not have to lease a building.
then you could bulk mail your portfolio to a few hundred shops and let them come to you.
just my idea, though i dont know squat about legit buisness
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ZippoZ
Knomadic



Registered: 06/17/03
Posts: 13,227
Loc: Pongyang, North Korea
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Re: So, i want to open up a head shop, but im not sure how much money it would take up front.... [Re: moon_glue]
#7810618 - 12/29/07 01:54 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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ive looked into wholesaleing
i actually know the main whole saler in chicago, he buys 10K worth of glass at a fucking time, i dont have a chance to get in on that game.
i think that the shop would be a good idea for another reason as well, it would give me a jumping off point to go sell at festivals and shows around the country.
also, i can open up a torch blowing room in the back to make glass myself.
-------------------- PEACE
zippoz "in times of widespread chaos and confusion, it has been the duty of more advanced human beings - artists, scientists, clowns, and philosophers - to create order. In such times as ours however, when there is too much order, too much m management, too much programming and control, it becomes the duty of superior men and women and women to fling their favorite monkey wrenches into the machinery. To relieve the repression of the human spirit, they must sow doubt and disruption" "People do it every day, they talk to themselves ... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it."
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