pamperme Posted July 31, 2006 Share Posted July 31, 2006 ...hubby has been talking to me about putting my shop in a mall kiosk instead of the location we found..I know someone on here opened one..and cannot for the life of me remember who.. Hey if you are out there and read this will you PM me?? PLEASEJust wondering if it is worth it..my though is I will have to be open mall hours..which suck!..but the payoff being almost into that holidayish season..will be much much better than if I am just on the main street of my town..plus I would end up in PA insted of doing biz in WV(much better and busier mall)..I don't think I could do a lotion bar in a kiosk though??? Thinking to myself that I would have to hire alot of help..plus work the kiosk..plus come home and be up all night making stuff..but man that mall booms in at Christmas. OPINIONS??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted July 31, 2006 Share Posted July 31, 2006 Bruce does one every holiday season and Heather did one last year. HTHedited to say SlowBurn is Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceCarvesWax Posted July 31, 2006 Share Posted July 31, 2006 Oh and who else was it that had a store in the mall, a kiosk full time. Andrea? Pretty sure it was her. Lots of things to think about, rent, who you have to help you, hours you spend there, and of course your 2 million dollars of insurance they require. I never hire help from outside my family. You can make good money, but if you hit a bad mall or you have to pay for motel bills you can wipe your profits away quick. Some malls dont let you have your own tables you have to use their setups. If they let you bring in yours, alot of them dont want it to look like a craft booth (tables and covers) they want you to build a setup that looks like a real kiosk. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystical_angel1219 Posted July 31, 2006 Share Posted July 31, 2006 Heather (Slowburn) did a kiosk last year during the holiday season.It was MAJOR work & expense for her, and she had her hubby and son to help her. Plus you have to think about the people working for you. Are they going to be as good at marketing your products as YOU would be? And always the thoughts of theft and dishonestly come to mind when hiring employees. (even friends) Another suggestion to you would be to seek REAL sales people. Not just college kids looking to make a few extra bucks. People that can strike conversations and overcome objections. You need someone with a sales mentality, and pay them accordingly. Like a base wage, and then commission or bonuses based on their sales take, IMO. This will give them incentive to work harder on getting money in the cash register.Kiosks around here go about 5K per month or more in malls. Are kiosks near you inexpensive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamperme Posted July 31, 2006 Author Share Posted July 31, 2006 wow..lots to think about.. I have no idea what they run..hubby thinks for a small kioski it would probably be about a grand a month....I am thinking more than that..plus it would have to be open mall hours..which is PIA ..esp during the holidays..I really just want my shop in the location I already picked and even if it takes me longer to make the bigger $$.. I don't think I am ready for it..I need to show him this post so he understands my beef with it.. Plus like Bruce said..I don't want to make my space look like they want it to..I want it to be MY space.. I think I will stick with what is in my biz plan...so not ready for the mall experience yet... $2,000,000 insurance policy..GEESH!Our local mall that is 10 minutes from my house does crafters set ups all the time..for a week at a time..usually around the holidays..maybe that is even an option..in addtion to my shop..HE CAN RUN IT..since he thinks it is such a good idea..lol ..I am still just waiting to hear from the SBA..has anyone else ever got a loan through SBA help..how long does it usually take..??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everito Bandito Posted July 31, 2006 Share Posted July 31, 2006 HE CAN RUN IT..since he thinks it is such a good idea..lol .. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candle Man Posted August 1, 2006 Share Posted August 1, 2006 Kiosks around here go about 5K per month or more in malls. Are kiosks near you inexpensive?They are that and more in my area. During the Christmas season from NOV.-DEC. to get those months, you can only get both months not just one and, you have to pay 5K per month in advance. You just loose out from Dec 25 - Dec. 31 because they will not refund any mony or give you a discount for that month.IMO - That's just way to high priced because a kiosk is not that big and they don't hold much merchandise. You could get a store front for much less than that and hold way more merchandise. I can't see the increased traffic in a mall very effective when the kiosk can't hold very much. If you sell out, which is a good thing, then what do you do, find a storage building close to the mall than go there and re-stock? Then you would have the rent of a storage building. Now if you live a short distance from a mall then that would help. I'm 60 miles to the closest mall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess Posted August 1, 2006 Share Posted August 1, 2006 I really considered doing this. However, I just really don't have the hours to man the kiosk full-time, make product, and take care of house, kid, and hubby. I thought about hiring people but that is a whole other avenue and headache that I am trying to avoid as long as possible lol. Maybe stick to the big shows in your area? That might be better handle and less of a commitment for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamperme Posted August 1, 2006 Author Share Posted August 1, 2006 Ok..talked to hubby and discussed the pros and long list of cons of owning a Kiosk..and convinced him that there is NO WAY I am ready for a Kiosk..it is to close to the season for me to do this..and I don't have the man power I can trust right now to do it. I already have a location for my store front picked out and I don't want to lose it by going into a kiosk and then what after the holidays.. now just waiting to hear from the loan people about my SBA loan ..boy it is hard waiting to find out.. I am on pins and needles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skg Posted August 1, 2006 Share Posted August 1, 2006 My 2 cents: My hubby spent 4 months earlier this year searching the malls from close to home to 3 + hours away looking at kiosks for his business. The cheapest one he found the set up (actually kiosk) was 20k and the monthly rent was 5k. Also I believe the malls have the initial say whether they want your kiosk or not - two local malls would let us try a kiosk for 2 months and then if they wanted our business still we could then sign a contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luci Posted August 1, 2006 Share Posted August 1, 2006 The only loan I got from SBA was through FEMA back in 89 when Hugo hit here and the tidal surge destroyed my home. They were NOT easy to deal with. It took several months for it to go through. Luckily, I was dealing with locals who extended me credit to get started on the rebuilding. I had no flood insurance so was dependent on the loan. Hopefully, yours will be a faster process. Mine probably took so long because there were so many of us here applying at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamperme Posted August 2, 2006 Author Share Posted August 2, 2006 The only loan I got from SBA was through FEMA back in 89 when Hugo hit here and the tidal surge destroyed my home. They were NOT easy to deal with. It took several months for it to go through. Luckily, I was dealing with locals who extended me credit to get started on the rebuilding. I had no flood insurance so was dependent on the loan. Hopefully, yours will be a faster process. Mine probably took so long because there were so many of us here applying at the same time.yeah it is taking forever...very frustrating..I made sure I put in my biz plan that I would need to be open by Sept 1st to hit the holiday season dead on..hopefully that helps a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorrie Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 Racheal,Make sure to check their interest rate on the loan. I was told by my local SBA that their rates are actually higher than a bank would be. You might want to start checking into that before you run out of time.Lorrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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