Just MNSHO, and nuthin' personal, but I'd probably run you off after a couple days, young Padawan... Plus, and this is the hard part to figure out: She may just be using it as a hobby, or even may actually WANT the business to lose money and handle it as a tax write-off... I Might agree with with you there except that this perticular store has lasted for a long time, its been around longer then I have been alive and outlasted every other LHS in the area that I know of. Plus, the owner is constantly changing stock, adding this, removing that, trying to find new things that will or will not sell.
Business owners (and I've owned a couple, which I sold for a pretty good profit) are like Soldiers... They can't stand the new guy that is some kind of self-proclaimed expert and shoots his mouth off about "how it should be done"... While you have some good ideas, they're not "Spectacular" ones, nor are they all that original..
I know there not spectacular or new ideas, I'm not saying that, but there better then what they are doing. They used to do those table top gaming things (they still may) and it would bring people to the store as well.
I know that you say that you're not interested in telling her she's "wrong", but I think I know you well enough, at least as far as your "on-line personality" goes, to make an educated guess that the "subdued attitude" wouldn't last long...
Heh, that may be true, but if I can talk myself into a job I wont say a bloody word, believe you me.
For instance.. The "Make & Take" thing... Fine for a club, bad for a business, IMHO.. SOMEbody's gonna pay for that kit, and it ain't gonna be ME... I already paid for it, along with everything else to support it and others like it... I ain't paying for the paints, cements, nothing, for the "demonstrations"...
Well, I know (cant put my finger on it) some companies, I think Eduard actually, sells make and take kits for their planes. And I know the store has an overstock of humbrol and other less then the best quality paints they sell in their cheap bin, wouldn't be hard to re-purpose them, just put it as part of the fee to get in, 10 bucks to get in and you get a teacher to show you how to build it, the kit to keep, the paint to keep, and access to the tools you need. As far as things like brushes and what not go, there are alot of those really cheap low quality ones for sale in bulk which would be perfect for this kind of thing.
Personally, it's been my experience that only experienced modelers are interested in learning new techniques too.. First-timers and other nuggets are happy just to get the paint and decals on without catastrophy... Until a kid is about 12-14, he ain't buying with his money, and 1/72 scale kits ain't .39 cents anymore... Parents are flat just not gonna spring for a 40.00 kit that will give them a permanent record of his fingerprints...
THERE I completely agree with you. Younger kids wont be spending their own money, and the parents wont shill out that much for a new kit, BUT there are alot of things, like... 1/72nd scale vehichles, figure kits, 1/72nd scale planes, that can come in under 10$ for a kit (a set of figures in 1/32nd, the kind that already come constructed but not painted, im sure you all know the kind there are a BILLION of them, and in so many more themes then we get in KIT form could do a whole room of kits)
Also, one of the store's bigger sellers that I can see are those wargaming miniatures, those need to be painted and the people that paint them get fairly serious about them, im sure a few flyers in the window of the store could get people in for a demonstration.
Heck, my two oldest grandkids (who've built a couple-three each in the past) begged for models from me a couple months ago, I let 'em pick out two from my stash (BTW, they both grabbed copies of the same kit, Revell/Monogram 1/48th P-38s, )
Last I saw of the kits, which was last Subday, they were still sitting on top of the frige, un-opened... Neither are old enough t' buy model cement.. (And they don't like the Non-tox Testor's Fruit Salad either...) I offered to go get 'em some, but they didn't care right then, they'd get Mom to do it "later"...
Thats ashame, but then at a make and take they would have everything they need, wouldn't have to rely on mom go 'go get it' then loose interest when she didn't wanna go right away
The other thing about that if that there IS a liability issue... One kid rips through his thumb with an X-Acto, gets thinner or overspray from a rattle-can in his eyes, and *poof* you're in court... Waivers of Liability are not "bullet-proof"... They only discourage a lawsuit, they don't prevent them... Ever...
That is something I did not think of and would be a problem. you COULD avoid it by not letting them use Exactos and Rattle cans, or not without supervision from the person running it.
Remember the Ferengi's First Rule of Aquisition too... While it may have been from a fictional race, it rings truer than ever in the small business world... I give you My Prime Directives, based (ok stolen from, but that's just TCOB) upon the Ferengi Rules of Aquisition:
1: "Once you have their money, you never give it back"
Others that apply (to me, anyway) to a small business owner, include, but are not limited to-
59: Free advice is seldom cheap.
This is the only one that I want to argue with. Especially at a LHS free advice is something that I always liked about them. Bought something new, or needed help with something I could ask the old guy behind the counter who built all the planes that were hanging from the ceiling and he would help me out, or give me a bit of advice to point me in the right direction. His advice is how I started using acrylics
141: Only fools pay retail.
189: Let others keep their reputation. You keep their money.
211. Employees are rungs on the ladder of success. Don't hesitate to step on them.
I also don't care what an emplyee is doing behind the counter when I'm in as a customer... I've been building models and dioramas for 40+ years, dunno what some 20-teen kid is gonna tell ME about a kit... I absolutely HATE when a clerk comes walking up to me to me with the "Can I helpya?" line, and follow me around the store.. I'll say something like, "Yeah, you can help.. Where's the Raid so I can get you to quit buggin' me.."
I do hate the hard sell as well. I personally want my space when im buying too, but I also really dislike it when you walk into a place and feel like your in someone's living room disturbing them. Hey, fatbutt, get your pizza face away from the TV and do your job, this isn't your mama's basement!
I wanna be left alone, to think, search, to get inspired, get a dio idea, and may be there awhile... I can kill an hour in the LHS with not a second thought... I'm gonna look through the books and mags, kits, and paints, and especially that clearance bin or shelf.. "Demonstrations" of basic modeling techniques would drive me OUT of the store, not draw me in... That's what model forums are for.. "Events" just cost money, they don't make any... 100-10-1 Rule applies.. For every 100 folks, 10 are interested, and 1 will buy a major item(s)...
I sort of agree with you about the event not making money, but it wouldn't be a random spur of the moment thing, it would be a once a week product demonstration, kind of thing, at a specific time. If you didn't want to see it well it would only last a half an hour, all it would take, product wise, is a single figure from a figure kit and a bit of paint (I would honestly just use my own I could care less as long as it was working for a project I was going for)
I DO like to shoot the breeze with the boss and anyone else there too, though... My LHS here, is more a "Floyd's Barber Shop" than a Hobby Shop... There're several guys, two or three besides me & the owner, just batting the breeze about kits, then sports, news, politics, whatever was on the "Military Channel" last night... You get the idea.. It's a social event, not a sales pitch I'm looking for..
Yea, but you do buy stuff, you dont go in there just to hang out and talk now, do you?
I may have strayed a bit from your original post... But, while I see your point, I wouldn't pack up the toolbox and ask her "Where's my bench?" just yet...
Oh, I know, I know, I just feel I have a better chance of talking myself into a job here then with the resumes and calls I have been making for the last few months, and I NEED some income... I'm dieing here man.
Also, this is the exact kind of reply I was hoping for, thanks Hans