Need advice on renting a space

debutanteclothing

debutanteclothing

VFG Board Member
Hi everyone.
I have been thinking about renting a space in an antique mall. I now a few of you have a space. The reason I was thinking of doing this is:

1. move some stuff out of my house
2. another stream of income
3. don't have to take pictures and edit and stuff

But I have a few fears.

I stopped by my local antique neighborhood, the Pomona Antique Row. Two stores were very helpful. One seemed like it had the cream of the crop but it was a bit pricey and it already had some vintage clothing sellers. Another was a bit less expensive but the AC was poor, but hardly any vintage clothing competition.

Both seemed to have the same amount of foot traffic.

One wants $120 (poor AC) and the other wants $200 for the main floor (which gets the most amount of traffic) and $100 for a smaller space which gets less traffic because it is on the 3rd floor.

I guess none of this really matters if it's best to sell online vs. in an antique mall.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, stories, advice, etc.

Sandra
 
I checked into an antique mall space a while back. I was going to go in on it with a friend who does vintage housewares.

My concern was having seen other vintage clothes spaces and how people treated the mdse. Not all of course, but several had piles of items strewn about by customers - that would drive me nuts.

If you took the 3rd floor space would they allow you to place a sign in a more prominent area as an advertisement?
 
I don't think so. But i know what you mean about people being careless. The $100 on the 3rd floor, I'll refer to this one as 3rd floor from now on, had a seller who was selling lingerie and little dresses from 1900 to 1929. They were in great shape too! I would be too afraid to sell something like that in a store and display them on hangers. But they were well taken care of.
 
Samdra, I had a full on store in an antique mall 2.5 hours away. I built a store front and in the dressing room had signs posted saying" hang up your clothes and make your Mama proud" Tko no avail, Mamas would cringe! But I tipped the workers of the mall to pay attention to my shop, & they did. It was a good cash flow for me but the burden of being so far away from my goodies hurt a tad. the mall moved into a low ceiling space and i didn't want to rebuild the store there. I miss the cash flow, but... unless you can get a sales person to "keep things up", well, many catch 22's will follow. Also, you will never knoe about the thrifty-Lou's and missing merch! If at all possible, I wouls rent the one that the "trendy" folks shop at and stock it with quick moving items that are the rage. And hich ever space you chose.... Suck up to the workers!!! Let them know you and you will be called foer someone wanting to sell steller items and they eill look after your goods with an extra eye! If I was to do it again, I would make the Booth Very High End looking and with mnamal stock. The price tags would have complete descriptions of ech article of clothing and it would be only trendy selling vintage and not my good stuff that cringes at the thought of being tried on by 50 people.
 
I noticed that one of the sellers, whom I just contacted via email to pick her brain, sells a lot of trendy stuff: 70s and 80s dresses and clutches galore. She had a TON of stock. I think I prefer the more sparse, high end look as well. I want it to look expensive, not like crap!

Sandra
 
Sandra - as you know I have two spaces in a mall in Old Town Orange.

First -- what are the SIZES of these spaces? Price per square foot? What are the walls made of? High walls are best, and those are often only available on the "outer ring" of malls. But -- in ours we've managed to build our own higher walls using grids. You're paying for the space - use it to your FULL advantage.

One of the things I love about it is that I don't have to describe, take pics, ship or any of that stuff. And things mostly sell at the prices I want.

BUT -- I have to go in frequently to straighten up -- people are PIGS! Oh my gosh! I swear I'm red in the face every time I go in there! Purses piled (literally!) in mounds on the floor! Clothing dropped & left where ever. Pigs, I tell you.
GO IN OFTEN! I usually try to drop by at least a couple times a week. I didn't need to come in nearly so much when I was selling furniture & decor.

Also -- do NOT put your nice stuff in here. Or, put it in a case. I wouldn't trust those 20's dresses you were talking about - here they would be stolen or destroyed. No way.
I do try to organize clothing by size range (S, M, L, etc) and put measurements on each tag. Maybe this helps keep people from trying to squeeze big butts into small clothing. I don't know. But that I'm aware of, I've only lost two pieces to this kind of damage.

I do think a fair amount of stuff is stolen. I have noticed that my glove supply has gotten low, among other things.

Because we're facing delays in licensing at the new store, we're going in this weekend to revamp the old spaces to keep them going for another couple months. My plan is to take out anything really good and pack the racks with all my $20-30 items.
 
Kristine-
I was just about to email you. I wanted you to reply to this thread.

I never even asked about square footage. I will do that tomorrow. The 3rd floor space had a case already in it that the previous seller was selling. But I think the 3rd floor looked rather chaotic and cluttered, not at all like the main floor. Of course, I could become the GO TO vintage booth on the 3rd floor!!
 
Sandra, I don't rent space, but I do shop at a local co-op on a regular basis. One of my favorite shops there had a space on the upper floor, and I really liked it when she was there. It wasn't as crowded as the main 2 floors and there didn't seem to be as much trashing of wares going on. I used to head straight up there when I went. Now she's on the 2nd floor, and because it's so crowded with so many other booths, I have a hard time finding her, and her space is smaller, with things smooshed together now. I do suppose she gets better traffic, but, as a buyer, I'm sorry she moved. This mall does have floor people wandering about, and they do come up to the 3rd floor to keep an eye on things.

I don't think this particular place has a big problem with theft, and several sellers do have cases for their nicer things.

Based on what I've seen in most vintage booths in most malls I've shopped, the biggest problem with things getting ruined is that sellers try to jam too many things on a rack, and they get damaged from buyers pulling them out to look at, then having a problem wedging them back onto an already jam-packed rack. I try to be exceptionally careful, and have sometimes left an item neatly draped over a stand or rack rather than risk tearing it by attempting to hang it back. Of course it doesn't help when things are on a (horrors) wire hanger. You wouldn't be facing that sort of dilemma, as your shop would be meticulously arranged, I'm sure.

I think a nicely, but not overly stocked shop with a neat, clean upscale appearance encourages people to keep it nice, even if you're not selling your most upscale items. And the lower-priced trendy things would probably do well.

JMHO, FWIW!
 
Another thing to consider - especially if you'll be in during the summer. Go for the AC - do you really want sweaty people trying your stuff on?

Also - dressing rooms. Is there a provided place to try stuff on? In my mall they have to ask the staff - however, lately they've just been sending them into the TINY bathroom! Eek!
And another note - in my mall the rent is cheaper on the basement floor -- for a reason. There just isn't as much traffic. I am now on the mail floor and there's a lot more traffic, of course.

We have two other vintage clothing dealers in our mall -- and I think that's a GOOD thing. I believe that those shopping for vintage clothing would rather stop in ONE mall, rather than 2 or 3 malls. Just like antique shops tend to cluster together for a reason, I think it's good for vintage clothing shops to band together.
Your merchandise is essentially one of a kind (ok - not totally, as we all know, but for al intents & purposes) so you're not really competing with the other dealers, per se.
 
Sandra, as you can tell by the other thread, my experiences in this kind of selling weren't good, so I'll just say that if you have a choice of spaces go for the one that is the most visible, best traffic and the easiest to monitor. Ideally - be within watching distance of the front counter where the staff can keep an eye on your stock. I find that the more "privacy" your stall affords, the more bad treatment your stock will be subjected to. It's worth paying more for your stall to increase traffic and lower the risks of theft and damage.
 
Originally posted by nicolejenkins
Sandra, as you can tell by the other thread, my experiences in this kind of selling weren't good, so I'll just say that if you have a choice of spaces go for the one that is the most visible, best traffic and the easiest to monitor. Ideally - be within watching distance of the front counter where the staff can keep an eye on your stock. I find that the more "privacy" your stall affords, the more bad treatment your stock will be subjected to. It's worth paying more for your stall to increase traffic and lower the risks of theft and damage.
Click to expand...

Yep.

And I will also add that although I've been pleasantly surprised at how well my space has done, the treatment of the merchandise, the lack of attention from the underpaid staff, and the theft of items are ALL contributors to the fact that I'm now opening up my OWN store.

It's probably worth it - but just keep all these considerations in your head. I'm actually considering keeping my spaces after the store opens, but only putting sale merch in there.
 
I used to have two booths in an antique mall here - I sold smalls, and very little clothing. Booth 1 was higher end stuff & Booth 2 was low end junque. I loved it, but I was there 5 days a week or more. Of course, I enjoyed the sales part of it, so it was pretty much my full-time gig.

I also used to work these monthly indoor swap meets here & that was selling contemporary clothes. I had a pal w/a pool cleaning biz make me a collapsible dressingroom. He built theframe from PVC pipe & I made fabric panels that slid over 3 sides of it for walls, then a curtain for the "door". It was large enough to fit a small stool in there, but there was no where to hang garments once in it. I wish I still had it - it was a pretty good design, if I do say so myself. If you go with the idea, be sure it's roomy enough for the BBWs, and try to figure out a way to hang things in it.

I'd go with the $200 space, unless you can be there every day. Also - you need a way to "lock up". IMHO.
 
People ARE pigs.

I have yet to put anything in my space that cannot be handled too much.

Maybe start slow? See how it goes on the upper level?

The main level is definitely going to garner more sales.

Try it out!

I find antique malls MUCH better than eBay sales.

People can try things on, and I get better prices for my stock.

In My Opinion!!

Sandi

P.s, We have sensor tags we can use, so anything over $40-$50, I put a tag on. I KNOW they aren't TOTALLY reliable. For the most part, it will deter those who are too stupid to figure them out. (I worked in a department store)
 
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