Author Topic: Questions for the antique mall owners/managers...  (Read 1466 times)

Eddie2you

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Questions for the antique mall owners/managers...
« on: March 17, 2015, 05:33:52 am »
Hello!
My wife and I have been trying to open our own antique mall for over a year and have had no success. The size buildings we have looked at (30k sf - 50k sf) are either in really poor condition and/or the owners want way too much rent.  We are thinking of a different approach: a smaller building (say 10k sf - 15k sf) but with a different style of displaying items.
To the antique mall owners/managers reading, could you share: on a SQUARE FOOT BASIS, do display cases do as well (in sales) as open booths? In your opinion, could a small antique mall survive with NO open booths but just having display cases and wall hangings? I realize that we would not be able to display/sell furniture and other large items but we're not sure smalls sales could generate enough income to keep our sellers happy.
Thank you in advance.
Ed

Rauville

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Re: Questions for the antique mall owners/managers...
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2015, 08:23:51 am »
Hello Eddie;
I'll give you some ideas from myself as a vendor involved in a newly opened mall in our town. The 50k sq. ft. building was a major furniture store until the business was sold and moved to a new location. One thing that was left behind were dozens of wooden "carpet display cases", about 7' tall, 5' wide, and 2' deep, open fronts with overhead lights. The building owner put adjustable shelving in these units and rented them for $45 / month. In addition to these, he constructed booths, plus put in rows of open gondola shelving that is rented out by the running foot.
The business opened the first of the month with about 50% of the space rented and the reminder is quickly filling up. I hadn't sold anything in a mall setting for over 20 years, and thought I was out of the business after selling my shop inventory at auction few years ago. But like most anyone involved in the trade I had leftover items that I wanted to get rid of, and decided to rent one of the $45 display units. It's probably just the novelty of a new business, but I've been truly impressed with sales over the past couple weeks since opening.
(To answer your question on sales per sq. ft.; so far mine have averaged about $30 / sq. ft. / day.)

frogpatch

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Re: Questions for the antique mall owners/managers...
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2015, 08:44:34 am »
I rented a lighted display cabinet in an antique "emporium" years back. It is still there in Point Pleasant Beach NJ. It was located in an old retail location which was once a furniture store I believe. It was just renovated into condos one of the two floors recently. There were also open vignettes for dealers of larger items. The case was locked and a manager in house had a copy of the key to assist buyers. I did pretty well until they moved me to a lower visibility spot. I paid around 40.00 per month and it was worth it up until then. The cases are very expensive to buy unless you can find a liquidation.

Eddie2you

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Re: Questions for the antique mall owners/managers...
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2015, 07:19:53 pm »
So, as sellers and/or buyers, do you prefer locked display cases or open booths? Obviously, the display cases have space limitations but offer (IMO) a visually more impressive display and security. Opinions?

Rauville

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Re: Questions for the antique mall owners/managers...
« Reply #4 on: March 19, 2015, 11:08:35 am »
As a buyer I never buy anything out of locked cases, just too much hassle involved. As a new seller, I'll soon find out if I'm getting paid for my merchandise or not. :o