Hello to everyone,
I have been recently working on market research involving opening a military model shop in Houston TX. It would include everything Military from ships, airplanes, helecopters, and armored vehicles. Included would be a comprehensive array of modeling supplies geared around military models. This idea came to me when I was attempting to purchase a specific armor model and found that most hobby shops have a small amount of military models with large numbers of car models. Give me some feed back and suggestions...

oohhh gooodddddyyyyy

Seriously, one thing I've noticed about good shops in Virginia is not as much having everything on the planet on their shelves, but having a good basic range of supplies.

Of course you're gonna have to have some new or high-end merchandise to draw people to the store window and in the door, but it's gonna take time (and a whole lot of capital) to have a fully stocked Eagle Strike and Superscale decal bin, or to carry the whole Tamiya armor, naval and aircraft line.

A good variety of stuff helps, like military figures, some of the obligatory "normal" stuff like Mustangs, Spitfires, Messerschmitts, Strike Eagles and MiG's, manufacturer packages of stock aimed at the younger or beginning modeler.

But the key to attracting and keeping the more experienced modelers in your clientele is probably a good distributor who can get those upper-end Tamiya/Trumpeter/Panda/AFV Club/Black Box/True Details products to you in a few days instead of three weeks to a month without breaking your budget or your customer's wallet.

One thing I appreciate more about my "local" shop (55 miles away) is it carrying a good stock basic of modeling supplies --Model Master enamels, Evergreen plastic and K&B brass and aluminum tubing and rod, for example -- that one really doesn't want to have to order by mail or internet because they're often those "one last thing" items holding up projects.

Also having some good cements and adhesives (Ambroid ProWeld, Tenax, Zap Kicker accelerator for CA glue) is a big help too,

And, believe it or not, there's some model railroad stuff that the hardcore armor, airplane and ship builder really like - MV Products lens jewels, Grandt Line nut/bolt/turnbuckle castings, microsolder and some railroad scenery/diorama materials.

If you're going to stock decals, I'd probably stick to those that you'll be able to sell with newer releases, or decal sheets of generic and handy stuff like national insignias, USN/USAF/RAF lettering, blank and colored decal sheet.

And yes, to lure in more customers, you'll probably have to stock some Polar Lights, cars, Guillows balsa flying kits and maybe even some of those ready-to-fly RC planes. But even those products can expose new customers to your preferred core business, so they're not just taking up space.

Just a few thoughts, and I'm more than willing to be proven wrong

Good luck if you take the plunge!!

One thing to do is to advertise by leaving flyers at local military (National Guard, Reserve Centers, Active Duty locations) installations. I am assuming you may have some access (ex-11M and all). Might want to entice them with a "grand opening" sale or 10% off military discount. Carry what the folks around you ride, i.e. carry ships if there is a lot of Navy, tanks for Army, planes for USAF.

BTW, it is considered bad form to cross post the same message in multiple forums. Very few users only read one forum and this type of tactic is more annoying than helpful in spreading your message around.

Hey thanks for the suggestions. I am looking at around being able to put around $30,000 in inventory but I'm still in the number crunching stage

If you have a web site don't forget about APO and FPO addresses.

Also with just coming back into modeling one thing I've notice is the lack of paints to match the models that shops. Some shops that I've been to have the big paint displays, but only have black and white.