The Specialty Shop: How to Create Your Own Unique and Profitable Retail Business [Hardcover]

Dorothy Finell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2007

This is a lively, informative guide to starting and running a specialty shop - a small retail shop carrying a particular type of merchandise and with only a few employees (sometimes only the owner). Dorothy Finell covers more than 100 niche categories and gives specific examples of 37 successful shops in the US, UK, Australia, Italy, and France. She personally visited all 37 and gives advice from their owners based on her interviews. Shops include bakeries, gift shops, apparel, toys, china, linens, hats, dolls, candles, coffee, tea, books - even a papier mache shop specializing in masks (Venice, Italy).The examples were chosen because the author considers them "fascinating, imaginative, creative shops with a remarkable ambience." In addition to the vignettes, the author provides practical information on key business needs, e.g., pre-planning, decor and display, finances, customer service, marketing, community relations. The appendices include lists of major trade and gift shows, e-commerce sites, and a resource guide to the 37 profiled shops. It also includes many photos.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“…an ideal guidebook for those looking to realize their retail dreams.”

-Dance Retailer News, June 2007

"This book can show you how to let out that inner entrepreneur….A useful purchase.”

-Library Journal

"...A solid overview of what a person needs to know... to start up and manage a successful niche retail store."

-New Age Retailer Magazine

“Ever wanted to own your own shop? If so, this book can show you how to let out that inner entrepreneur…. this is recommended as a useful purchase as materials on small-business enterprise are in demand.”

-Library Journal

“In her book, The Specialty Shop, she [Finell] exudes affection and even passion for the art and science of specialty salesmanship and store ownership. With a friendly writing style and a simple, easy-to-read layout, Finell offers a solid overview of what a person needs to know and do to start up and manage a successful niche retail store….The Specialty Shop is warm, welcoming, and full of spirit….Whether you need facts about starting up a New Age niche business or simply wish to rekindle your excitement around the creative possibilities of retail, this book is for you.”

-New Age Retailer Magazine

“…an ideal guidebook for those looking to realize their retail dreams.”

-Dance Retailer News

Book Description

At some point in their lives, many people fantasize about running a shop of their own. But while many of them actually do open their own shop, only about a quarter of them will succeed. Every year, nearly two million small specialty shops open in the U.S. alone, and more than 500,000 go out of business. The Specialty Shop shows readers how they can establish a business that they are passionate about and that will also be profitable for years to come.

Dorothy Finell has traveled the world in search of fascinating, creative, and successful shops. In The Specialty Shop, she describes more than 37 of them, including bakeries, gift shops, toy stores, book shops, tea houses, clothing boutiques, and even unique shops like Papier-Maché, a mask shop in Venice, Italy and The Carmel Doll Shop in Carmel, California. Based on interviews with shop owners, Finell offers advice on everything new shopowners need to know, from pre-planning, décor and display, finance, and customer service to marketing and community relations. She also includes appendices on trade and gift shows where shop owners can find the merchandise they need. Filled with lively vignettes and beautiful photographs, The Specialty Shop will show prospective owners how to open the shop of their dreams and nurture their business into a success.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 17 and up
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM (March 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081447442X
• ISBN-13: 978-0814474426
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #378,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > Business & Investing > Small Business & Entrepreneurship > Retail Businesses

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Specialty Shop in Tourist Towns, October 17, 2007

By 

R. Sherrod "RonJovi" (yuba city, california United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Specialty Shop: How to Create Your Own Unique and Profitable Retail Business (Hardcover)

A decent book on the subject, however most examples of the specialty shops that the author used were shops located in the heart of tourist destinations (i.e. Monterey, Carmel, Venice, etc). If you live in average non-tourist locations in America like most people, you'll probably not find much useful information. I did, however, like the listings of industry product shows that I otherwise would not have know existed.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars No truly valuable information, September 9, 2010

By 

SS - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Specialty Shop: How to Create Your Own Unique and Profitable Retail Business (Hardcover)

I greatly looked forward to receiving this book from my local dealer. It was a disappointment. Essentially it seems that the author took a lengthy vacation to a few touristy spots and wrote some gushy review of the shops she liked. Her biggest piece of retail knowledge is to have "the right item at the right price at the right time" or something like that, but nowhere in the book is there any sound advice on how to arrive at these crucial decisions. While she highlights her likes and dislikes of a few stores, there's nothing in there about how profitable each of these businesses are. And she does review an array of shops, but it felt as though some of them were merely thrown in- such as the bicycle shop. She mentions that they carry a little bit of everything and have a great location, but doesn't go into any specifics about merchandising or how the owners decided what to stock or even how they decided what brands to carry.
Overall, a breezy read with little content and not for the serious retailer who is short of time and needs to spend it wisely.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars helpful though not outstanding, November 12, 2009

By 

J. Greer (Illinois) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Specialty Shop: How to Create Your Own Unique and Profitable Retail Business (Hardcover)

Many valuable observations, but the book could have benefitted from two things: more metrics (e.g. what are the typical profit margins for different types of retail lines) and more anecdotal advice from customers as well as shop owners. For example, it would have been especially enlightening if every shop owner had been asked the same set of questions (to see trends) and if there had been some customer queries (e.g. "why do you patronize this shop and not others?"