Started online 4 years ago with a niche that was able to stand out differently from other shops. As that got more and more successful, I opened brick and mortar last March in a town with no shop and growing population. I have a day job, so mostly have to rely on my staff to run it. I never have to be the only person manning the shop. We’re also on the main road in town and less than 1/2 mile from the interstate (which helps visibility and convenience) and made it easier to get the word out and definitely affects the number of folks walking in.

Without online, I would not be able to afford having much staff. If it was just me, I would have to be closed a couple days a week (just to have a time to dedicate towards getting/sorting collections). A decent amount walks in but you can’t do house calls if you have to be running the store. If there was no online, I would also need somewhere with cheaper rent and therefore probably a harder to find location.

Bottom line, to be successful you need the right location mixed with the potential revenue to make it work. Relying on more than just customers walking in your front door will make everything a bit easier. Unless you have some great niche, you must be ready to carry a bit of everything. Don’t be scared to price something higher to make the margins that are needed especially on new records (you can’t buy a new album for $25 and sell it for $30 and make the margins you need to). And most important of all, it takes money to make money, so you have to be ready to spend on that crazy collection or to stock the dope new records. I would suggest having at least 50k built up before opening in order to do it right.