Fire

After being in the busisiness of selling knives and swords at fairs, sci-fi cons, and all stripes of outdoor events for about six years now, I have lucked into a great location with very cheap rent- and am going to open my store within the next three months- inventories on hand, and I am sharing space with a martial arts dojo that will provide staff, as well as a built in clientelle- looks like its finally a green light- My question to all you out there is, what would you like to see in a weapons shop- no guns, but pretty much anything else in the slashy/ bludgeny/ throwie categories I can get- What would make you go ooooohhhhh and then buy it, if you saw it in a store of this type (got the idea from the fact that my assorted friends who do everything from Kali to european MA's have began to barage me with suggestions on what they have always wanted, but could never find)

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Stare At The Sun

I think you should build some really cool platforms to put the swords and such on.

Also, lighting is HUGE, there is nothing worse than going into a store with horrid lighting, dirty floors, etc, make sure its presentable, the storefront reflects the quality of your product, even if in reality they are not related.

Having a website would also be good.

Keep us updated though!

AngelicVampire

A test area? I like looking at weapons but most stores that sell swords etc are massively packed and you couldn't swing a bowie knife let alone a claymore... maybe just me but space is nice (specially if you have martial artists, live demos?)

shakran

real weapons. So many "martial arts" stores have shit like glass nunchaku and aluminum katanas. I'm sure you'll have the real stuff. I'd love to see a store that had less emphasis on the fantasy knife stuff (if it comes in a coffin, it's probably not a good fighting knife ) and more emphasis on stuff that will work well on the street. I don't need a replica of the sword from Highlander or Lord of the Rings, but I do need a good spyderco, ya know?

Anxst

I've been to Ren Faires all over the country, and seen many a sword booth. What I'd like to see is:

• More Knives. Many places have 2-3 knives, and the rest is all swords. Swords are big and eye catching, but a good sword is expensive as hell, and I can't wear one everywhere. Besides, I'm more the scholarly type, so if I ever join the SCA I'll have a knife.
• Space. Leave enough room so people who don't know how to draw a rapier from a frog don't knock over everything in the place.
• Real Blades. If I'm going to spend 800 american on a rapier, I want one that I can bend over my head 2 feet and the blade won't be out of true. And if that means I'm really going to be paying 1200 american, so be it.

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Fire

Thanks for the input- to address a few of the statements- we currently stock "real " weapons, though most of what we sell is the cheap wall hangy stuff, mainly because so few people will drop 200 + on a real sword- we also stock a lot of knives, mainly because more people can afford em, and therefore will buy them- And, for shakran, we do stock spyderco (I have a growing number of cops and their ilk as customers)

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Anxst

Sounds good, Fire! I wish you well with you endeavor. If you ever decide to put things for sale online, let us know.

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ziadel

make sure you stock Kershaw, Emerson, Benchmade etc.


You'll make your living selling crap, but nothing pisses off people who know whats what more than a peddler or cheap trinkets masquerading as a knife dealer.

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Suave

For me:
-real blades (seems to be a running theme here )
-good assortment not only of knives in general, but of different types (eg. combat, boot, folding, etc); I hate it when there are a dozen versions of a freakin' folding knife and that's it
-Oriental/ancient-style weaponry (katanas, gladiuses?); for me, most European swords just don't do it

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monkeysugar

In my opinion, a blade shop that does not carry a selection of QUALITY blade care items and tools is irritating but normal. A shop that stands out to me carries these items. If I spend a lot of money on a blade, I'm going to want something to keep it in good shape. Non-gimmicky sharpening stones or crock sticks are very hard to find in my area. An assortment of torx bits that would allow me to dismantle some of my folders for cleaning/tweaking would be a welcome sight in a blade shop as well.

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WillyPete

Good info: "Knives, you and the law" type stuff.
Discount for training. Will the dojo do any aikido training?

Good instruction on service and storage.

legal utility and hidden knives.

Have some quality pieces (maybe your own?) from cold steel or paul chen sp that people can get an idea why they need to plop $300 for a decent blade if they want functional instead of just a mantlepiece set of cutlery.

If it's also for renfaire, have some helmets and other armor and catalogues for them to order from.


You could probably make a good profit from local 'tester' days when people get to swing at a melon for a dollar with a REAL sword.
Your local fruit stand will love you.

Locobot

Are you stocking tazers or cattle prods? There should be a secret area that you need a password to enter where you keep all the switchblades and other illegal gear. It'd be good if you had some of those smoke bombs like batman carries, that's ninja gear right? Throwing stars, of course. And naturally you need a sales staff that looks like this:

You are going to stock metal bras and panties aren't you?

Fire

Sale staff so far consists of students at the dojo, who work for classes, while we do have some hot girls, i doubt that I could get em to wear quite that outfit..... I agree with all of the above statements regarding the need to have quality "real " weapons, and stock paul chen, MRL, my own handmades, and some other brands for the ren crowd ( just got in a few very nice damascus daggers, for instance) and most of the higher end name brand modern stuff will be represented, However, having already been in the buisiness for almost 6 years, I have no illusions of selling many of the nicer pieces except once in a blue moon- ( for example I have had the same damascus viking sword for two years, and am quite below retail on it) one thing that I do enjoy, however , is the fact that a few of my distributors regularly sell discontinued/ bulk buy stuff from higher end brands at half to a quarter of wholesale- and over the years I have learned to have cash on hand to snatch those up when they come along... so i get to make a good profit selling nice stuff at way less than normal, and they are "firsts" with all the standard warrantys... most of my sales, though, will be wallhangers, and the assorted cheap rennie belthangers.... But at least if someone wants a Chen Katana, or a damascus steel dagger, the option will be there, and my sales people are all educated, and enthusiastic about the real pieces, so there is hope.......

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WillyPete

It's funny, because I've been considering getting a nice carbon-steel bladed Tanto to carry.
I'd want one a little smaller then normal with a handle and sheath that reminds one of an expensive cigar holder to avoid attracting attention.

Fire

Do be warry on that, as many states are now honestly more hard on concealed knives than guns......

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WillyPete

Particularly the UK.

Fire

looks like we get the store front on dec 1- working hard to take advantage of at least some of the x-mas season.......

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Fire

In case anyone was wondering, we sign the lease on thursday- unless something bad happens at that point I move in... everyone hope for me, and knock on some wood........As long as this works out I will try and get some pics up once we get settled....

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Fire

Binder on the store is signed, and now we wait for the background check and the credit check.... previous tennant fucked left on bad terms and did in fact fuck up the carpet and linoleum as feared, so thats another delay.....

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Willravel

Will you offer sharpening, cleaning, repair, and appraisel? I always look for that, as it is usually in indicator that the people know what they're doing. I also look for solid connections to the source of the blades and weapons. If I want a buckler from France circa 1500s, I want it now. If I want a wakazashi with an enscription on it "mini-me katana" in japanese, I want it quick and quality. Other than that, it sounds great. I wish you the best of luck.

im2smrt4u

It is nearly impossible to offer a quality appraisal service, but sharpening, cleaning, and repair are all very wise ideas. They keep your customers coming back for service.

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longbough

well you have to have an honest evaluation of your clientelle ...

Personally, I'd like to see a store with high-end and good quality equipment (professional kerambits, Benchmade and Emerson folding tactical knives, ...etc.) but most people can't afford that stuff. What you carry depends on the demographics and/or the type of customer you're trying to attract.

Please don't become like the vast majority of shops that become warehouses for cheap, useless "fantasy blades" folding knives, katanas/wakazashis/tantos made in Spain and shuriken.

Some of the staples to consider ... Bo staves, Jo staves, escrima sticks (burnt rattan and hardwoods) ...

Fire

I will of course have plenty of the cheap katanas and etc, I have to to stay afloat, but I will also have the nicer stuff- thats the way I have done it for the last few years- and we will have all of the sticks you mention- some are on order and some are already here- with the dojo in the back its kind of nescessary - and the synergy between the three occupying buisinesses is nice - I also learned that the local pd is going to loose its gear supplier in febuary or march- and the neighboring counties sherrifs dept is driving three hours for supplies- so that will help me quite a bit....

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longbough

You bet!
Serving the PD gives you instant community presence and terrific credibility! Also means you could be stocking up on some personal defense products like Pepper Spray (e.g. Sabre) and Surefire personal defense lights.

Don't forget the rubber/wood training knives.

Fire

got the pepper spray, and the lights, and the rubber knives- still need a few more lights, as the surefires arent cheap, and eat batteries like candy- looking into some of the newer, more natural light like, led lights.... also there is the new rechargeable surefire, - as for the credibility, among other things, the guy running the dojo is a reserve PD guy, and his assistant is the medic for the county next door's meth lab busting squad....The security firm hires off duty cops for "sweeps" of the apartments they guard- myself , I am organizing a local ren faire for 06, so I've got the medieval enthusiusts covered......

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longbough

Sounds like my kinda place you got there. Too bad I'm not in the area - you'd have my business ... I own several Surefires ... you can never have too many of them IMO ... The G2 Nitrolons are affordable - entry-level lights. The E2s are terrific - very compact. I carry a C2 centurion most often - because it's really tough. My next one is probably going to be an E2 Defender with the jagged bezel.

Yeah they eat batteries ... that's why I buy Lithium Batteries in bulk. I prefer not to go the rechargable route since the Li Batteries have a 10 year shelf-life without decay.

Fire

Well- after learning that yes , everything does indeed still take longer than it should, we open tommorow morning at 11 am ( of course I have to be up at 6:30) Wish me luck and skill................. will try to eventually have pics and post em at this thread.....

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longbough

good luck!

ziadel

I ain't wishing you luck, you don't need it, sharp things are so cool they sell themselves.

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Fire

suprisingly, given the lack of advertising and fact that the dojo remodeling is still underway, I have to agree with the above, as we have had customers appearing seemingly out of nowhere- not bad when I expected no sales for at least the first week...

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ziadel

you should get your FFL

only thing better that sharp things is things that go bang

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Vote for Freedom
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ziadel

screw that, I want a can of the shark repellent that he just happened to have that time he and robin got chained to that bouy

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Vote for Freedom
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Fire

To clarify, the store front is leased by a joint venture of three buisinesses, myself, who sells non gun weapons, a martial arts instructor who will run the dojo and co-ordinate various instructors, time slots , etc, and a security firm that will have its offices in the space between the dojo and retail front- the martial arts guy owned a gun shop about 8 yrs ago, and plans to renew his FFL sometime next year- so far only the retail part is open, with the dojo opening in january after the renovations are finished- the response from the customers has been amazingly positive, and many of the classes already have students ( they have been working out of comunity spaces, churches, etc) so, provided all goes well, by the end of january we will have classes running six days a week, and soon after that we will offer the full range of weapons, including the bang bangs........

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longbough

pics!
you need to post pics!

macmanmike6100

of course i'll second/third/whatever the notion of quality goods, but I also want to reinforce the idea of a high-quality appearance. especially for a store selling such non-standard (at least to me) items, the appearance of your store is paramount...how are you going to get people (all types of people) to be interested and not freaked out? (rhetorical question of course)

good luck and pictures would be great!

longbough

if business booms would there be any future plans for an Internet business as well?

Fire

In reverse order- We might get a net site up some time soon- depends on a few factors- largely, I tend to buy on closeout to keep the prices low, but it means that I regularly have only a few of something- the downside is that it means a lot of site updating- As to the stores appearance, so far so good, while a few are taken aback by the merchandise, (ok, so it was damn funny at one point, guy had no idea what he was looking at) we keep it well lit, and, make it a point to have a discernable color scheme and good looking signage- may try to get some digital pics tommorow when I go in..........

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Fire

ok- so far so good- the martial arts studios open on jan 9, and we had a good enough christmas to pay for the next two months operational costs- shot some promo pics a few days ago, will try to get em up as soon as I get the cd back form the ad girl

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Seaver

My suggestion? Dont skimp on the combat knives.

I can count on one hand the number of guys who buy "decorative knives". However I cant begin to count the number who own, or are looking for, a good combat knife.

They come in a number of variations, everyone looks for something special. Marines are absolutely in love with K-Bar knives (and in return are hard to find). Hunters always prefer to have a good heavy military knife as opposed to generic store bought because the thick leather is tough to cut at times (especially in the cold when the skin toughens to insulate).

I suggest having the combat knives in one section, and learn the history of each one so that you can quickly answer anything about them (in case they're history buffs). People will know what they're looking for before they enter the store (WWII buffs wont generally buy a Legolas sword, and Medievalists generally wont buy a K-Bar).

Leave enough room for them to wander around, and corners in general are a bad idea. People dont like being in corners, it's more confined and the lighting is generally much poorer. I understand chances are you wont be able to avoid that, so it might be a good idea to put your items you dont expect to sell as well except those who know exactly what they want (the big baheamouth swords).

Yeah swords look cool and bring people in, but chances are they'll be leaving with a knife.

Fire

actually, in terms of actual sales, they leave with a sword- you see, walmart wont stock those, and therefore I am the only game in town- Our demographic differences may also be because I operate in a huge university town- its a bastion of wierd amid the sea of, well, corn- don't get me wrong, I expected to sell a lot more knives, but the numbers contradict me pretty hard- I sell currently at quite a few different venues, and basicly, at flea markets we sell knives in the 20 bucks or less category, and swords at below 40, ditto that at antique stores- at shows its swords for 50 or less, and daggers at any up to 30, while at my store the average purchase is swords for 35 or more, and martial arts stuff then at a weak third, come the knives and daggers- we do stock quite a few quality knives, some at high price points, but these are not being bought yet- keep in mind that the average starting cop around here makes about 20 k a year to start- no strider, sog or tops knives for them, for the most part- likewise, most sportsmen are heading to wally world for their hunting knives- In the future we plan some targeted advertising to raise awareness and get a better variety of customers in- oh, and BTW, the real functional swords hang out in the back of the store, as they only sell to the discriminating customer- and lighting is quite key- I went with what I thought was too much, and am buying more..........- and we avoid the corners with nooks- helps corral the merch by type, and people seem ok with it- PICS UPDATE still as of right now waiting for the add girl to get me back the CD of photos

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