How much in inventory do you need to open a health supplement shop?

[SofaGeorge]

My girlfriend and I had beers yesterday with Citruscide. She owns a shop right across the street from the outdoor tavern where we met. She originally had a little dress making and design shop... but then she greatly expanded... tripled the size of her shop and has the corner with all the cool windows that face the traffic.

The people that own her building adore her and have hinted that they want her to open another business to help gentrify her block. She is game for the idea and is playing around with different business ideas.

She asked Citrus and I what estimate we would put on how much inventory she would need to open a nice health supplement shop that focused on sports nutrition. (Believe it or not there isn't anything like this in our area. Just finding protein powder is hard around here. Give up on finding anything below GNC prices.)

Does anyone have an approximate estimate as to what opening this type of shop might cost?

 

[bigguns7]

Get six bottles of all the basics, I'll bet you can get started with less than $15,000 in inventory. See how the shop does, and take requests from the folks that come in. Get a book on Just-In-Time inventory systems, hook up with reliable suppliers, and you're good to go.

One thing I have heard is that protein is not heavily marked up, like a bottle we pay $35 for, the shop pays $25 for. I don't know if that's true, but keep that in mind.

 

[HUGHJORGEN]

2 bottles of each Muscle Tech product should do it!

 

[beefybull]

GNC corporate stores typically keep between $55-75k in inventory.

You'll obviously want way less. And if you're going to do it, do it right. Thank as a customer...what type of shit would you want to see on the shelves? What type of shit would you ignore?

Carry a few things people dont see every day, like Yohimburn and some of the AF products.

Go to http://www.beyond-a-century.com/ and get some of their stuff then mark the price up (this site is cheap as shit!)

Get wholesale catalogs from companies and buy your Xenadrine & Hydroxycut by the case for a bigger discount.

Most importantly, make sure you sell cheaper than GNC (shouldnt be much of a problem with their HUUGE markup). This will take business from them and get you a loyal customer base.

Make customer service and treating people nicely a BIG priority, and make sure you have an attorney (you probably already do due to the previous business).

 

[Code]

I would invest no more than you think you could sell in a 60 day period.

A buddy in Utah runs a couple of pro shops, I'd wager he has roughly 12-20k of product at any given time.

That's wholesale/distributer prices though. So it should yield twice that in retail.

 

[HappyScrappy]

also, since nobody else has pointed this out, it is in the store's best interest if only hot women work there. oh, and topless.

and then also post pics of said hot topless chicks.

 

[Code]

also, since nobody else has pointed this out, it is in the store's best interest if only hot women work there. oh, and topless.

and then also post pics of said hot topless chicks.

Thats sooo true. My buddy has a HOT-ASS chick working the counter. She wouldn't know ALA from HIV, but it works.

 

[HappyScrappy]

also, if you go through with hot chicks at the counter - then it is VERY important that anything around the counter is either waaay up high, or on the floor.
that way they either need to bend over, or they need to stretch way up high.

this is standard bar rules, but they can be applied to anyplace that women want to make money via people gawking at them, or having to buy things in order to gawk.

 

[SofaGeorge]

Thanks guys. I was hoping this was something she could look at for less than 100k.

Especially thanks to code and happyscrappy. I've told her her store will only be successful if she employs nude hot looking chicks.

Velvett? Starfish? Do you guys need jobs?

 

[cure]

Open up a tanning salon that sells bodybuilding supplements.