Where are the website ideas? That has gotta be more important than a shop. Don't forget the domain name and trademark so you can whack your label on everything with groovy graphics.
Ah hum…
“Quai d’or” doesn’t mean much in French… If anything, it would mean “Gold quay”…
“Coast” is “côte”, in French, as in “Côte Basque”, “Côte Landaise”, “Côte d’Azur”. “Gold Coast” would translate to “Côte d’or” but it would then be mistaken with the french department “Côte d’or” which is situated near Dijon, quite far inland…
You said no clothes (the store), but making some extra profit can help. Nutrition has a lot more to do with surfing than T-shirts! How about juicing fruits & veggies, mixing protein shakes, etc. Any competition in your area? It will bring in some daily customers, whether they surf or not. Oh yeah, the name: PURE JUICE SURFSHOP
Sickdog
Boneyards
Boneyards is always the hardest breaking section of the reef, usually on the inside, where things get shallower…
sacred ocean
sunny surf shop (sss thingy)
True surf
surfers code (give respect to gain respect) i know bit dorky ripped it off the surf signs at the beach.
or just local beach name or area i have always loved Valla for that great name and i know there not a surf shop so to speak but the well designed shirt logo sells well.
now here is my 2 cents worth. Do your home work over and over. Ask the locals what they need then look at how you will ad value to the surf industry besides your well crafted yorky boards.
and read this http://www2.swaylocks.com/node/1015112 i know i am not the only one to put it up. Dont rush into the shop write everthing down pros and cons.
My favourite surf shops were egans when it was run by the kegan famaly on darby street newcastle and richards surf now MR 's both had the key small family run business. In both cases you would get the same knowlege out of mum that you would out of the lads. Sure if you needed to talk boards mum would say “well we just got some new ones have a look or if you need to talk custom so and so will be right with you” “are you right for boardies i am just sorting through the new stock come and have a look” all that kind of thing there were great MR’s is still like that.
It was also mentioned how you could combie surf shop with Juice shop. I agree look at what you could combine with Take on your wife’s strengths is she a hair dresser or does she work in caffe’s how can yo use her talents. Do you skate or fish at the least stock a small amount of this related stock. You need to sell things from $2 to $1000+. You know the Cadbury after dinner mint things sold at the counter of bottle shops i think they make about %200 on them…
A mate of mine runs a small drive through bottle shop he has always worked in hospitality and makes a great coffee so he now opens at 8am and makes coffee to the busy suits they drive in don’t need to get out of there car and being in tassie thats a plus.
Talk to business owners, acountants,mates and family. Ask as many questions as you can.
Sorry about the rambaling. You seem like a good guy who happens to be a skilled craftsman it is hard to be good at craft as well as business. Just want you to succeed.
All the best the shop name and branding is the fun bit enjoy.
how about :
**OCEAN SPRAY**
Surf Shop or Board Shop or Surf Shack or Board Works
cheers,
Maybe…
Spirit of the Sea (I really like this one)
Natural Soul
Ocean Spirit
or maybe… F@#%in fantastic ripping machines from hell
(plus it wouldn’t be far to send me a new board Yorky!)
[quote="$1"]
how about :
OCEAN SPRAY
Surf Shop or Board Shop or Surf Shack or Board Works
cheers,
[/quote]
Taken, unfortunately - see http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm/t-find/t-find-text/tmtsearch-default.aspx , a very nice site for finding out what's available in the UK and what will get you sued for trademark infringement, a hassle nobody needs. And yes, trademark owners most definitely will sue on damn near any pretext.
US version of trademark search here, albeit in a couple of clicks: http://www.uspto.gov/index.jsp
Australia: http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/search_index.shtml
more out there for other countries/regions.
Hope that's of use
doc...
“The Roundhouse”
“High Voltage”
“Vitamin Sea”
“Off the Lip”
“Surf House”
“Green Cathedral”
“The Impact Zone”
“Corduroy”
“Project Blue”
“Secret Spot”
“Fresh Surf”
“The Wax Exchange”
“Wave Depot”
“Surf 24/7”
“Glass Slipper”
“OIY”
hey yorky,
first of all good luck with the shop whateva you do! ive seen some of the boards you make and they are great dude.
on the name i reckon stick to yorky surf, its unique to you bro, and thats what you want, it will work.
your shop gonna be up the sunny coast aye? where bouts you looking to setup?
MF
…“FUCKIN´ SURFERS”
I think is a very good name
couple of days ago I was with a buddy that starting to do skate board decks
and I was thinking in “back to basics” as a name for them
so, "BACK TO BASICS" (BTB) surf shop
" ) hehe lightbulb moment right there :
TAKEN SURF BOARD SHOP
cheers,
Yorky, Im up on the Goldy and theres not a lot of great business names here but I would think that it needs to be something without 'R' US on the end. (ugh !)
And maybe something a little bit risque, especially for the Hip and Happening Crowd.....
How about FOAM FETISH.
It allows you to market with tits and ass and Sex always sells.
It gives it that slightly grungy feel of danger and mystery and more importantly
it covers both PU and EPS !
“Morning Light”
“Ninth Wave”
“Spindrift Surf’n Sport”
“Hot Tamales”
“First Strike”
“Inside Out”
Yorky’s Kahuna Shack"
“Mad Max’s’”
“Daddy Cool’s Surf’n Hangar”
“No Name Surfshop”
" Water Breed" Aloha,Kokua
SurF Face
Hey Yorky, thought I'd give a groms input...
"OCEAN EMPIRE"
"LOCAL INDUSTRIES"
"OCEAN INDUSTRIES"
"FUTURE RIDERS"
"THE BAY"
hahah "Foam Fetish" is sick
Our target market is All surfers, Short Board, Retro, Fun, Beginner.
NO Boogie boards ha ha Ok maybe 1
2nd hand boards
Accessories
A few Tees etc
I know there are a lot of people out there that couldn’t give a shit
about, the corporate surfing $ making machine, but its here to
stay…unfortunately… for most shapers.
So I Plan to cater for everyone and run a tight ship…
Still a lot of research to be done.
There’s some great stuff on here, When it comes down to it there are 2
or 3 on here that will definitely get the nod over anything we have come
up with, so Thanks.
A like the idea of combining other aspects of
a surfers life style, such as “health”… thanks Sickdog.
I have got an insurance meeting next week, so… we’ll see…???
Cheers
Along these lines, a friend once had a boat called, “Aquaholic.” I guess we all are!
[quote="$1"]
Our target market is All surfers, Short Board, Retro, Fun, Beginner. NO Boogie boards ha ha Ok maybe.
[/quote]
Very good - if you don't mind, I'll make a suggestion or two.
Boogie boards ain't a bad thing to have, but don't go heavy into 'em or high end. The people who buy high end boogie boards have heard about the internet and you can't beat the online prices and still show a profit.
Fins, on the other hand, good basic fins, they sell well enough.
[quote="$1"]
2nd hand boards
[/quote]
Real good, those are where you make good money on boards. New boards, you're competing against everybody else's new board prices and markup. But with used boards, buy cheap and sell dear. Don't buy a used board unless you can sell it for a minimum of 50% more than you paid for it.
Rentals too- instead of selling a used board, rent it a few times first. Sell a board, you get your money and the customer goes away. Rent it, you get your money and the customer comes back so you can do it again and again, and a happy renter buys stuff to show he was there, maybe gets into surfing and buys a board, wetsuit and everything else.
[quote="$1"]
Accessories
[/quote]
Don't forget the low-end stuff, like stickers with the shop address on 'em. Advertising that not only doesn't cost you money, it makes you money.
[quote="$1"]
A few Tees etc
[/quote]
A whole lot I can say on tees and etc. I was in that business too.
Rough out your design, then have your silk-screener's art department polish it and mebbe rationalise it a little so you use less colors and so less silk screens which in turn means lower costs and higher profit. For instance, what you have for an avatar there is nice, but to reproduce it perfectly as a silk screened multi-colored item would take a bunch of screens. But....tweak it a little to two-color black and white and you get a very nice, easily screened logo.
Make sure you own the designs, if not the actual silkscreens. That way, they can't sell your design and if the screens wear out, they make more of 'em.
Remember who is paying for the tees. It's not the 15-year-old wannabe skate punk, it's Mum and Granny. Or Good Ol' Reg who is in with the wife and kids . So your designs/logos shouldn't be too hip or anything that might be taken as offensive. Christian Fletcher brought out a line of tees some years ago that featured a ganja smoking skeleton with bloodshot eyes, sixguns blasting and sundry gang-like slogans. If he grossed enough on 'em to pay the advertising bill, I'd be surprised. On the other hand, where I worked, we had a simple, inoffensive logo that we sold for 40 years and still sells ( mail order) today, to the grandchildren of our original customers.
Find out what the screener's price vs quantity breakdown is. What they charge for setup for a production run. Ordering, say, 24, the price per shirt is high. Order 72 or 144 and the price goes down a good deal.
Buy the shirts and so on through the screener as much as possible. That way, if they screw up a few, they replace 'em. It makes the screener a little extra money, which isn't a bad thing, they are then well disposed towards you.
Get good quality goods. If you sell something cheap and chintzy with your name on it, that tells a lot of people that story about you. On the other hand, long-lasting comfortable shirts and etc carry your name all over.
[quote="$1"]
I know there are a lot of people out there that couldn't give a shit about, the corporate surfing $ making machine, but its here to stay....unfortunately.... for most shapers.
[/quote]
Oh yeah. And you can't carry everything that everybody makes. What you can do is carry a good size/color selection in a few lines and don't be unkind to somebody who wants something you don't have, including the stuff that they don't make but your customer's deluded little mind thinks they make.
[quote="$1"]
So I Plan to cater for everyone and run a tight ship.....
Still a lot of research to be done.
[/quote]
Oh yeah. The research pays more than anything else. Oh, and if you haven't done it before, working in somebody else's shop ( at a fair distance from where you want to open) for half a year can tell you a tremendous amount, what sells, what doesn't, what lines and reps you can rely on and what to stay away from.
And you find out if you're good at sales and dealing with customers. It's a skill that some have and some don't and one that can be polished with practice and maybe a little advice from someone with time in the business.
[quote="$1"]
There's some great stuff on here, When it comes down to it there are 2 or 3 on here that will definitely get the nod over anything we have come up with, so Thanks.
A like the idea of combining other aspects of a surfers life style, such as "health"... thanks Sickdog.
[/quote]
It's a good idea....sometimes. But remember, you're looking at being a surfboard store, a shaper, a glasser and etc, plus selling clothing and selling accessories, maybe (probably) doing rentals and more. That's a lot to have on your plate without adding a whole other business like food and drink that have a whole other set of difficulties, licensing, inspection, labor, equipment and so on.
It's really, really hard to do a surf shop well enough to succeed. Most go out of business within five years. In the same way, most restaurants go out of business within 5-10 years. Adding a second business, it seems like it will help your profits, but what happens is that you wind up neglecting one or the other and it drags you down.
Do one thing and do it as well as you possibly can. Besides which, the first time an inattentive customer spills a pomegranate smoothie over a rack of white t-shirts..well, that sh!t don't come out, y'know?
[quote="$1"]
I have got an insurance meeting next week, so.... we'll see....?????
Cheers
[/quote]
Good luck. The surf shop business can be a lot of fun. Heee- it kept me amused for three decades.
doc...