[sesfan01]

sounds like a great idea as long as you have it well planned. Best of luck to you and let me know if you get a website I can check out since I don't live anywhere near FL.

[mjanooz]

dude... your competition Jax Sports Cards ..Mike and Ed and Dick and Janes (vince and jane)... Largest libraries of base and product in florida.. both have been in business for countless years. Each will tell you, that the store is "fun" however the majority of their sales are on the internet. And, in North Florida, Football rules, with baseball second. Jax Sports has a store here on Beckett and D/J's is sportsbuys largest vendor...there have also been other stores that have tried in N FLA and had a shelf life of 4-6 months.. Most of them shifted to Magic/Gathering only. I would think long and hard about risking this $$$. Speak to them, maybe you can offload their inventory or buy from them... I also have thought long about opening a Memorabilia store, with a few cards mixed in the Town Center, however, who has the money in N. FLA to lay down 500$ for a jones drew jersey or helmet auto? Not enough to quit your day job. As some have mentioned here, go internet first.. cheaper, I know COMC and sportlots have a good corner on base..but both have a terrible user interface. if you are going to spend money on brick and mortar, I would use the money to develop a web store with a more user friendly display. I bet you could get 20 -30 users here to help with inventory. I have the resources to do such a thing..so contact me and we can chat. Otherwise...Jax needs a killer Italian deli...before it needs another card shop. Take a trip to the national..talk to the vendors.. i bet 80% would sell you their business for 1/3 of what it is worth...that will tell you something...

[northflacards]

Jax Sports Cards is my lcs. They are awesome, but if I was to have a brick and mortar it would probably be about an hour south of them, as I will be living in south OP/Middleburg at the end of this week. And definitely agree with you about the football, so those are definitely things to consider. May just end up doing the internet thing, not sure yet after all of the feedback. Am supposed to be talking with a buddy who might go into the business with me, and has the football/basketball covered.

[RobbinsDynasty]

Internet and card shows to start. Keeps overhead low but keep in mind your goal. Don't let others knock that out of your sights.

[HeyFitzy]

Internet and card shows to start. Keeps overhead low but keep in mind your goal. Don't let others knock that out of your sights.

It's not really knocking him off his goal, it's about giving someone young advice and truth about owning a business and not filing for chapter 11 at a young age.

Sometimes reality and truth hurts but in all honesty a lot of these posts are pretty much spot on.

I wish the OP a lot of luck on this! Just be smart on every decision. Always think ahead of every choice you make and the consequences/joy every choice could have on your life.

You don't want to get divorced over a business.

Good luck OP.

~Zach

[RobbinsDynasty]

Very true very true but I was just telling him to never forget his goal. Not to many COLLECTORS get into the HOBBY to get RICH. True COLLECTORS spend more then they GET BACK. HENCE why I havent pushed my business venture as swiftly as I could because I am a COLLECTOR first. Once I am JADED from busting a pack/box/case then I know I am ready to get into the business end of it. But as of now I keep the jitters when BUSTING over the headache of where the next bill payment if going to come from.

[dbroockerd]

Everyone always thinks they have the inventory for this but the reality is most don't. Good Luck though. I hope you don't become another statistic.

[ricelynnevans75]

I don't know the first thing about running a business and I only scanned through the thread. If I'm remembering correctly, you said it would primarily be baseball. I would recommend that you open up a little more than that as you're limiting yourself immensely in regards to your audience. I would think, just a guess, that football does well down that way.

On another note, the owner of another forum opened up a shop about a year ago I think and he recently mentioned that the gaming cards (Magic, etc) are the real money maker for him. I would recommend researching and studying up on that as well.

[mcleodfive]

Hey send me the address when it gets going!! I live in DeBary which is in the middle of Orlando and Daytona. I would be glad to make a trip to your shop.

[RobbinsDynasty]

Hey send me the address when it gets going!! I live in DeBary which is in the middle of Orlando and Daytona. I would be glad to make a trip to your shop.

What shop if any do you use the most in your area. I live in Deland.