Category: Stores
Posted by renewsalvage on Mar 25, 2007

A retail store selling modern used building materials is really in the business of moving many items as little as possible. Items should be easy to view and attractively labeled/priced, but at the end of the day good layout makes for happy sales staff and customers. When buying or leasing a building, keep in mind that a store of 3-5000 square feet will need to expand in short order. Planning for interior expansion to 7-10,000 square feet should be goal if you can afford it. A location that does not allow for secure outdoor storage will be plagued by theft and issues of storing bulky items such as wood. Our deconstruction program generates about 10,000 square feet of lumber storage needs including aisles. Moving or relocating cost our start-up about $30,000 at month 9 of our business life. This is what we learned: We are a destination business; people made an effort to find us, and directions that included local landmarks worked well. Our new location is much more accessible, but word-of-mouth continues to be the best publicity. Money spent on professional signage helped create a positive image. We now have a separate entry for receiving donations; at our previous location all items moved through the same door. The problems with one door were 1) loading and unloading while walking customers squeezed past parked trucks. 2) Pricing and moving donations to a sale area especially on weekends before the bargain hunters hounded us for prices. 3) A storage area for holding sold items that was near the door they would be leaving by. 4) Difficulty in getting large items through an 8' overhead door by forklift with pedestrians and kids nearby. 5) Cold and wet conditions for sales staff near the door. Etc. Now our building has a back grade-level door for donations and pick-ups, with a man door and loading dock at the front. We originally put pallet racking and shelves against every wall. We thought this was wise space use. We have since learned that leaving at least one long wall open allows us to display 8' high doors, picture windows, or large sliding doors that don't fit into the racking. Create end caps. The original layout had several long rows of pallet racking from front to back. We now break each row after 25' to allow us to display new arrivals or "looker" pieces at the end. End caps have also been used to handle overflow from the racks and can feature related items such as door hardware or cabinets knobs. Stripping door hardware prior to sale saves storage space per door and can often be sold at a premium. Create storage above each window and door rack. Our door pallet racking has 10' high frames, so we set the top shelf at 7'6" and then racked window sash, proper vent, sonotube, and gable vents above them. Rolling ladders (the type with several steps, a platform, and hand-rails) are provided for customer access. Save the first two glass display cases that are donated. Use them to highlight vintage pieces. We put glass knobs, old hardware, vintage lighting and globes, and new tools in our cases just inside the door. Hang lighting over the check-out area. Many stores get over-run with certain items, and lighting can rapidly become one. We set a fixed price for all hanging lighting of $10 and hung it from a chain-link fence frame 8' x 8' with s-hooks. Invest in the tools and displays of your trade. A carpet display rack made it possible for us to consider carpet donations. A forklift and lumber trees made wood handling possible. Two flatbed (deck-over) trailers are used to move lumber from the deconstruction sites and are built for the wear and tear that trucks aren't. A nail bin makes selling fasteners practical. Cardboard or plastic sorting/shelf bins make plumbing and electrical parts display well. Wrap and bundle flooring and molding. Leave wide aisles during planning. They will get smaller as your inventory increases. Elders and children need more space. Consider investing in a HEPA shop vacuum and using it weekly. Our store has many young families and we sell many items with lead paint that drop chips during handling. We give out lead- safe practices information at the counter. Target your audience. We strive to feel familiar to the general contractors, comfortable to the owner-builders, and not a bore to the spouses and children. Have a little bit for each audience. Consider selling appliances. Traditionally this is an under served market. Consider setting up several 220v outlets and water source to test for the basics. Display fridges plugged in and running. Don't accept any water-using appliance when the weather drops to freezing. Most have cracked pumps or lines. Start out with weekend hours to allow for a gradual start. You will have midweek to plan, clean, prepare, pick-up, and heaven forbid, move. A well run store will grow at a rate even a good business plan could never anticipate! Questions or comments can be directed to the author at ReNew Building Materials and Salvage, Inc. (802)246-2400 or www.renewsalvage.org.