Guest guest Posted February 27, 2005 Report Share Posted February 27, 2005 I have read through the archives and saw that this had been brought up without replies on the subject. Do any of you have retail space? If so, what do you sell in terms of products and services? do you have a separate area for classes? How are you able to afford an expensive commercial lease? Before I had my private practice, my husband and I had a wine and spirits shop, so I understand the general retailing componets, I am just trying to figure out how to successfully translate that to PP. I have some idea's that I would be happy to share, but didn't want to reinvent the wheel. Altman All The Best www.feedyourbaby.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 i am curious about this thread too, as i am wanting to go in this direction .. . . Lyla At 10:04 PM 2/27/2005 -0500, you wrote: >I have read through the archives and saw that this had been brought up >without replies on the subject. Do any of you have retail space? If so, >what do you sell in terms of products and services? do you have a separate >area for classes? How are you able to afford an expensive commercial lease? > >Before I had my private practice, my husband and I had a wine and spirits >shop, so I understand the general retailing componets, I am just trying to >figure out how to successfully translate that to PP. I have some idea's >that I would be happy to share, but didn't want to reinvent the wheel. > > Altman >All The Best >www.feedyourbaby.com > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 I've had a retail space and classroom in my office for 7+ years now. It was thriving until all the local hospitals began carrying products at a much lower cost than I could afford to carry (no profit) and offering free consults. That has drastically hurt my practice. It is something to keep in mind, the number of hospitals in your vicinity that might open lactation centers. Other costs that are incurred with a retail space: liability insurance (for slip-and-falls, etc.), yearly taxes on maintaining an inventory, the inventory itself (which is not cheap), the display items (shelving, bra models, etc.), the hours spent keeping your space open and available to walk-ins (and possibly not doing consults during that time, or paying an employee to man the retail end of things), employee taxes (unemployment taxes, matching federal and social security taxes, state taxes, etc.), employee salaries, credit card fees (the machinery itself, the percentage fees for each transaction, the monthly fees for accepting cards, etc.), and little unexpected expenses. These all add up VERY fast. Hope that helps. My practice is currently restructuring to get rid of the retail end of things. Too expensive now that mothers are going to the hospitals to get one-stop-shopping. Ugh. Kathy Parkes, RN, IBCLC, RLC The Lactation Connection (TLC) Inc. San , TX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 The Private Practice conference in Philly was wonderful (someone asked about it.) Except for the fire alarms that went off Sunday morning, interupting the session several times and causing all the outside doors to open which, I’m told is why it was freezing in the (open air design) hotel afterwards! We had a really nice get-together Saturday night where people got to show pictures of their offices and talk about what they did, sold or how they worked. It was very informative. A few had offices outside their homes with space for retail, and some had space for classes, though not many. I think the prospects for retail can depend on what the situation is in your town. If the hospitals offer supplies in a boutique-type setting, many moms will go back to the hospital where they delivered. Especially if they also offer lactation help. Many cities don’t offer this, I don’t think. I know our town has a couple of hospitals that offer boutiques, but they involve paying to park in a parking garage and walking a distance inside the (large) hospital to get to the boutique so it isn’t practical for a lot of moms with babies. Some towns like ours also have stores like a local grocery store chain and a pharmacy chain where you can get things, including rental pumps as well as larger retail stores that carry, for instance, the PIS. I think there is still a niche for a store that combines lactation help with a retail aspect. You just have to figure out how to market your advantages over these other stores. I thought I wouldn’t carry rental pumps because of these other options available to mothers here, until I referred one grandma to a store for a rental pump (she just called with a question about her dil) and I get a call a week later from the dil, who received the rental pump along with a video about how to use it and proceeded to pump for 50 –yes 50- minutes on high suction pressure and low cycles and…you guessed it, seriously damaged her nipples and was unwilling/unable to pump further. I am now considering renting pumps. Marsha ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Marsha Glass RN, BSN, IBCLC~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mothers have as powerful an influence over the welfare of future generations as all other earthly causes combined. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ S. C. Abbot~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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