Cheesefood said:
Few problems I see:
1. Wrigleyville is a young, hip, expensive area. Most of the HBers here are 30+, which isn't the Wrigleyville crowd.
2. W-ville is FILLED with bars - good bars like Goose Island. Most people will spend their alcohol budget on going out.
3. Apts there are really small. Few will have the ability to brew in their apts.
4. People there don't drive. It's not exactly thrilling to carry 15 pounds of big bags of grains or DME in the winter time.
5. People go to W-ville to party, not to shop.
A successful LHBS needs two things: highly knowledgable staff and fresh ingredients. You need to turn stuff over pretty quickly or people will just order online. Second, as mentioned, it's typically a Business in a Business. Unless you have a great online presence, you're not going to get enough customers. So you need something else to bring people there - a bike shop, a grow shop - something that fits the homebrew lifestyle.
I think you're better off going to Joliet, Plainfield or some other burb about 20-30 miles out.
All very valid points, and things that I've given at least some consideration to.
1. Having lived on the edge of Wrigleyville myself, I've found that only the newer condos on the east side are extremely expensive. You can find great apartments at reasonable prices all over the area. As for the young and hip, half of my brewing friends live in Wrigley/Lakeview and make a pretty good go of it.
2. It's definitely filled with bars. And cubs fans. A lot of those older fans are hombrewers, and they'd be walking by my storefront to and from games, bars, and Bacci's. In my experience the "alcohol budget" and the homebrewing budget are two different things. The guys that I know separate grabbing a pint at a bar from brewing. They're both beer related, but they're otherwise totally different categories of expense. You should also keep in mind that Wrigleyville is getting a bit older, and is brimming with late 20s/early 30s yuppies with a fair amount of disposable income, as well as college students who think Mr. Beer is the greatest thing since Guinness in a can.
3. My apt. near Wrigley was huge, and most of the apartments I've seen have had more than enough space to brew in. I've been brewing in apartments for almost two years now. You'd be surprised how little space it takes up when you are willing to be just a little industrious.
4. People in Wrigley definitely drive. Parking in Wrigley in the most off hours imaginable in hell. Even if they didn't drive, it wouldn't hurt all that much, because we'll be offering delivery service for a very nominal fee. We've even thought about offering rides to customers who purchase more than they can carry while in the store. There's some liability there, but it's worth the loyalty.
5. Thousands of people live and work in Wrigleyville, it's actually one of the most lucrative economic areas in the Northside - lake corridor. There are boutique clothing stores, wine shops, small delis and eateries. Outside of Friday and Saturday nights it's a very normal slice of near-north Chicago. Friday and Saturday nights make me want to go on yuppie killing sprees, but we'd be closed by 8 or 9 on those days, anyway, which would give us a solid hour buffer.
As for the other poster's comment on making the storefront appealing, I couldn't agree more! The locations we're looking at have exposed brick walls, hardwood floors, bay window fronts and beautiful natural lighting. We plan on putting some of our non-brewing stuff up front, and possibly carrying some glassware, pending a little more market research. I plan on buying wooden shelves with "wrought iron" frames (the cheap kind that are actually black powder coated aluminum) and we've talked about putting out a few hanging plants (we've seen a number of affordable places that have lofted ceilings). We're definitely looking at carrying a significant amount of winemaking supplies, as well, which has a higher price tag and less price-conscious consumers, to some extent.
Again, major thanks to everyone for some great advice, you've all given me a lot to think about. Keep on discussing!