Opinions and advice wanted please

[ashyuk]

Hi everyone, new to the forums but have read many posts on here, love the forum so thought it was time I signed up and started contributing

I know there's a lot of threads on favorite juices etc, but id like to ask a similar question

Myself and a friend are considering opening up a vape store (I'm not promoting anything)

I'm just wondering what juices would people like to see in their local vape store?
Either brands and flavours, certain full ranges, U.S juices, new recipes which aren't priced as high as the current "premium" juices

I look forward to everyone's thoughts and opinions! Thanks
Sean

[thebishman]

Welcome and good luck with your adventure.

My advice would be to get as much of a range as possible...and gauge the interest from there.

I would also consider selling concentrates and one shot concentrates too.

Cheers

Neil

[Bobsbeer]

Hopefully you have considered location, location, location in your plans. As well as the impact TPD regs are having on B&M businesses right now and into the future. I am a home mixer, so rarely buy from local vape shops. I would guess that home mixing will increase once the 72mg nic gets banned come October and latterly May 2017. For me nothing will change due to hoarded nic stocks, but for new vapers, price will be an issue. Good luck is all I can say and fingers crossed you have done your homework. Vaping is a tough market, and getting tougher. for you.

[ashyuk]

 

Hopefully you have considered location, location, location in your plans. As well as the impact TPD regs are having on B&M businesses right now and into the future. I am a home mixer, so rarely buy from local vape shops. I would guess that home mixing will increase once the 72mg nic gets banned come October and latterly May 2017. For me nothing will change due to hoarded nic stocks, but for new vapers, price will be an issue. Good luck is all I can say and fingers crossed you have done your homework. Vaping is a tough market, and getting tougher. for you.

Yea location has been the main focus for a while, we've been holding off until we find the right place, just continuing to do research and plan, plan, plan!

What are peoples thoughts on a seating area, some comfy couches in a vape store where you can sit and relax on your lunch break maybe, possibly sell some hot food/drinks etc - WiFi etc

[thebishman]

Tbh sofas and food etc wouldnt matter to me. Dont forget to sell food means having different licenses and insurances if i remember rightly.

Also most people now do online shopping a so a decent website wpuld be a big benefit to your business

[ashyuk]

Yea we have started planning the online side of things

The store is surrounded by large factories with tens of thousands of staff, as well as large call centres and offices again with thousands of people employed there, which is where the sofas/coffee/food thing comes into it, as well as other retail shops, banks, supermarkets etc, there's a lot of people who go to this area on their lunch break, or walk to this area from local housing etc

[Lee]

One thing to think about on the liquids you sell is to have at least one cheap line
B&M stores sell liquid for a quid, along with a lot of other cheap shops
Why loose custom to those shops, when you can get customers in the door and possibly get more sales on accessories
Your profits on those liquids might not be much, but it will bring in return custom

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2016 18:22:36 GMT ashyuk said:

Yea we have started planning the online side of things

The store is surrounded by large factories with tens of thousands of staff, as well as large call centres and offices again with thousands of people employed there, which is where the sofas/coffee/food thing comes into it, as well as other retail shops, banks, supermarkets etc, there's a lot of people who go to this area on their lunch break, or walk to this area from local housing etc

Then when its wet (or anytime for that matter) they will just come in for some place to sit in the warm for there lunch breaks but not buy (if any) much i recon.
I personally think people will just use you as a meeting place not as a buying place.
Give most people nowadays a inch and they will want the full mile.

[Postmodern Smoking]

As said above by Bobsbeer, make sure that you are upto date with the TPD and other regs.

Many of your prospective products, including all e-liquids, will need sourced from suppliers/manufacturers that have registered each item with the MHRA and had approval. The cost and bureaucracy is currently putting many vendors/manufacturers out of business.

You mention US juices and new recipes ..... most USA liquids will not comply with the new regs, unless a UK wholesaler or the manufacturer pays for the expensive testing, toxicology and registration, etc. , etc.

[ashyuk]

Sept 26, 2016 18:46:35 GMT Postmodern Smoking said:

As said above by Bobsbeer , make sure that you are upto date with the TPD and other regs.

Many of your prospective products, including all e-liquids, will need sourced from suppliers/manufacturers that have registered each item with the MHRA and had approval. The cost and bureaucracy is currently putting many vendors/manufacturers out of business.

You mention US juices and new recipes ..... most USA liquids will not comply with the new regs, unless a UK wholesaler or the manufacturer pays for the expensive testing, toxicology and registration, etc. , etc.

Yea i fully understand the importance of the new impending regulations, were currently seeking legal advice and consulting with potential suppliers

[ashyuk]

Sept 26, 2016 18:36:54 GMT @broadblaster said:

Sept 26, 2016 18:22:36 GMT ashyuk said:

Yea we have started planning the online side of things

The store is surrounded by large factories with tens of thousands of staff, as well as large call centres and offices again with thousands of people employed there, which is where the sofas/coffee/food thing comes into it, as well as other retail shops, banks, supermarkets etc, there's a lot of people who go to this area on their lunch break, or walk to this area from local housing etc

Then when its wet (or anytime for that matter) they will just come in for some place to sit in the warm for there lunch breaks but not buy (if any) much i recon.
I personally think people will just use you as a meeting place not as a buying place.
Give most people nowadays a inch and they will want the full mile.

Yea i suppose there's a fine line which would need to be evaluated, and make sure there's ground rules in place, and enforced!

[ashyuk]

Sept 26, 2016 18:30:26 GMT Lee said:

One thing to think about on the liquids you sell is to have at least one cheap line
B&M stores sell liquid for a quid, along with a lot of other cheap shops
Why loose custom to those shops, when you can get customers in the door and possibly get more sales on accessories
Your profits on those liquids might not be much, but it will bring in return custom

I completely agree, we've been looking at some low profit items which get customers through the door!

[decoy]

tbh the only time I go in to a b+m shop is for juice and maybe coiling supplies
most of the hardware I buy is from china as its soo much cheaper(getting less so with the strong dollar/weak pound)
this is prob why so many shops fail
sorry just the way it seems to be now

[ashyuk]

Sept 26, 2016 19:25:41 GMT decoy said:

tbh the only time I go in to a b+m shop is for juice and maybe coiling supplies
most of the hardware I buy is from china as its soo much cheaper(getting less so with the strong dollar/weak pound)
this is prob why so many shops fail
sorry just the way it seems to be now

I agree with you, I buy mainly online, but i still go into stores sometimes to test new juices, mods, and for stuff i need and don't want to wait for

Vaping is so diverse now, a lot of people don't order online, or prefer hands on, even though a lot do primarily use the internet, but any shop is going to venture into the online market to i suppose, and a lot of time, the postage costs make it more expensive than actually walking to the local store, so there is still a market, the shops we've been researching locally, albeit slightly further afield have a lot of walk-ins, and these are in lesser locations than where we plan to setup

[thebishman]

Sept 26, 2016 19:46:19 GMT ashyuk said:

Sept 26, 2016 19:25:41 GMT decoy said:

tbh the only time I go in to a b+m shop is for juice and maybe coiling supplies
most of the hardware I buy is from china as its soo much cheaper(getting less so with the strong dollar/weak pound)
this is prob why so many shops fail
sorry just the way it seems to be now

I agree with you, I buy mainly online, but i still go into stores sometimes to test new juices, mods, and for stuff i need and don't want to wait for

Vaping is so diverse now, a lot of people don't order online, or prefer hands on, even though a lot do primarily use the internet, but any shop is going to venture into the online market to i suppose, and a lot of time, the postage costs make it more expensive than actually walking to the local store, so there is still a market, the shops we've been researching locally, albeit slightly further afield have a lot of walk-ins, and these are in lesser locations than where we plan to setup

From my experience i cant agree with the bit about postage costs equalling a b and m price. Most b and m shops have to sell at a higher price because of the rates/overheads.