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Opening Record Store

Looking for advice from my fellow audiogoners...I have the potential to move into a store front that is already being operated as a record store (lps only) and become the new shop proprieter/owner. The owner has offered me the space (rediculously cheap rent) in a good area of town. He has had his store for about 5 years now and has a steady customer base. He will be taking all of his inventory and record storage bins that were in the store.He has a web site set up already and signs out front indicating the name of the shop...I plan on rebranding the shop with name change and interior upgrades. It is not a large space maybe 800-1000 square feet. I have a rather large inventory of my own so my up front investment of vinyl would be minimal. The owner wants me to buy him out..basically give cash in return for his customer base and the potential to get my hands on pretty good collections. I am trying to come up with a fair valuation of something like this and I am looking for advice..What do you think something like this is worth? Thank you in advance.
fromunda
au_lait
338 posts
 
Which record store in the Bay Area? I’ll tell if store is worth it hahaha. But no, just the fact that you’ll have to deal with buying collections and/or b2b accounts with distributors is reason enough to not do it. Vinyl is in the tank right now and business is only online.
builder3
758 posts
 
Ask to see his tax records and books. Hire someone that knows what they're looking at. That will give you an idea of the worth of the business. If he balks at that, walk away.
fromunda OP
148 posts
 
so the owner is moving out of state..far out of state to reopen a record store. He is moving his whole family with him. He is a pretty good friend of mine and I trust him. He has no online sales to speak of, he doesnt know how to navigate sales through discogs and in the past has asked me to help him sell items there...he is super low tech. There will be no competition here at all. I do not plan to buy/sell any new products....strictly used lps. Many record owners that I have spoken to across the bay area  recently are reporting record sales over the last 8 months or so....more dollars coming in now than they have ever seen.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,838 posts
 
Don't mind millercarbon: he's pissed off his idol lost the election. Soon, his conspiracies will pollute this thread. I think he's s foot soldier in the cult.
arro222
142 posts
 
You asked for "tips". I partnered to have owned 3 hi-fi stores getting out in 2001 after 30 yrs of doing it.
Although your store is simpler in product, the thing that you must watch for is "expense creep". You will own the business. Are also owning the building or is he?
Rent can go up, Business regulations met such as fire code and equity clauses. You may be strapped to install the latest fire suppression or widen doorways for handicap access that the owner may apply to you in some fashion.
Differentiated tax codes. State regulations as they apply to transfer of ownership clauses.
New regulations as they apply to sq footage of stores.
10K seems fair to me but I would stipulate payment on a royalty basis to prove how valuable his customer base is within the area itself. If he is "re-opening" somewhere else, he is basically taking his customer base with him if most of his sales are on-line.
I may have missed some stuff but you get the idea.
The killer is in the details....and "customer count".
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