I kind of thought a cool way to segway your way into the brew store ownership would be to join a couple homebrew clubs and sponsor/coordinate bulk purchases. Then eventually just keep some stuff on hand in bulk which could eventually lead to opening a store. Order hops in bulk and portion them out in seal-a-meal packages and whatnot. Keep bags of specialty grain on hand and sell them by the pound to people who need them. You get the idea. Good excuse to have anything you want on hand.
Just a thought...