Where to open a new LHBS

[Mustangfreak]

Abline, TX (also Lubbock and Amarilla)

Oh please oh please oh please come to Abilene!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'd be buying from you often!:rockin:

 

[TotemWolf]

What does it take to open a homebrew store?
We don't have a decent one within driving distance.

I was wondering iwhat kind of cash outlay, and would people visit a locqal shop instead of ordering online.

It depends on how big u want to go. J B Carlson wants a min $10K in orders a year for most stores. Then you have your lease and upkeep. Fees for the licencing and such. All your displays coolers and so on.

We planning $500K total capital for the startup for a full service LHBS. That could be grants, loans, investment and everything. Alot of that will be one time only payments. Plus enough capital to get the wheels rollin'. You could start smaller, or bigger.

Depending on where you set up. You may need a licence for brewing on location (lessons, brew day events, clubs and so on).

Make sure you incorperate and keep your personal finances seperate from your business.

 

[TotemWolf]

Oh please oh please oh please come to Abilene!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'd be buying from you often!:rockin:

How big is the Homebrew community there?

Edit to add:

I noticed there was a club but is it active?

 

[BarleyRocket]

From what I understand there is one store in Spokane but I don't know that much about.

Correct. Also correct that Sea-Tac does not count as local for us. 9+ hour round trip. Seems to be a pretty decent brewing population here, and several new breweries opening up. Somewhat under-served craft beer market considering we're the closest major metropolitan area to the hop city USA (Yakima).

Several homebrew clubs, you'll likely find the most info and current contacts here: IBU facebook page

Depending on location, you'd serve from Moses Lake WA to Coeur d'Alene ID. roughly 500k people. I believe there's another shop in CdA, but haven't been.
If you've questions about our solo LHBS, send a PM.

All that said, you'll want to set up such that your primary competitor is the internet. Many folks here, and I'm sure everywhere, shop primarily online. I'm sure many are like me and have some arbitrary margin they'll pay over shipped online prices, but there is a limit, and large volume low margin can be tough to beat. That margin can rise if the service is good, more so if it's great. Other questions about Spokane let me know.
Will

 

[Mustangfreak]

How big is the Homebrew community there?

Edit to add:

I noticed there was a club but is it active?

The club is active! Over 50 members I believe, heck I think we have more than that now.

 

[TheZer]

Since you're retiring, why not Miami. I haven't checked lately, but my LHBS said there is not a single LHBS in Dade or Broward county. That's 3 million people. There are two LHBS in Palm Beach County.

 

[jbsg02]

Here in Dallas we already have four HBS. I think you would be pushing it trying to survive against all four stores plus all the online vendors. You might be better situating yourself in SA (I don't know if they have a local shop and AHS is a bit far for a quick drive) or somewhere in OK, but I have no idea why anybody would want to go to that dump of a state. I'm not sure if anywhere in west Texas has a large enough community to support a physical shop. Houston might also be another place to consider although I am sure they have a shop or two.

Hey, What are the 4 stores in Dallas? I only know of HBHQ and Winemakers toy store, what are the other 2?

 

[Erroneous]

Just my 2 cents, but the LHBS in Orlando has a really bad rep but is the only one for orange county (1.2 million people). There's a HB club in the area, and the Orlando Brewery (USDA Organic). Because of the temps here, I could see a need for fermentation solutions that Hearts Home Brew really doesn't cover, same with wort chilling with the warm ground water temps.

Plus I'd love to help setup a web site for you

 

[pm5k00]

San Antonio TX has one decent store on the extreme northeast side. We would be well-served by a home-brew store on the West side of town. Driving an hour across town over 410/35 is a huge pain in the ass.

HomeBrewParty rocks, if you come to SA I would get some distance from them, they are not perfect but they have their sh*t together.

I will be more than likely moving to Tyler, TX in a few months and noticed they dont have a LHBS, as most brewers there goe to to dallas or order online.