The gift shop industry is often associated with souvenirs. Most hotels and motels in Canada will prominently feature a gift shop. These souvenir gift shops allow tourists to buy something for their friends and family back home.
The gift shop industry, however, is far larger than this with people looking for places to buy gifts for birthdays, Christmas, Valentine’s day and other occasions.
Although anything can, technically, be classified as a gift. You will need to make sure that you have a clear idea about who you are targeting and what kind of gift shop you want to be.
Types of gift shops
Picking the right type of business to buy will be important because of the range of businesses that exist in this sector. Make sure that you know what you want to stock in your shop and who you want to appeal to before you decide what gift shop to buy.
A traditional gift shop that appeals to tourists can be profitable if you are in the right location. Consider what landmarks or attractions are nearby that will draw tourists to the area in which your shop is.
If you are after a more design-led gift shop, you will probably be appealing to a different target market. This kind of gift shop will be one that considers trends and stocks the shop accordingly.
If you want to appeal to the higher end of the market, this type of gift shop is probably what you will be looking to buy
You could also be considering a card gift shop. This will be the kind of shop that stocks small, less expensive gifts but will also have cards and gift wrapping stocked.
Essential skills
Running a gift shop is, essentially, running a retail store. Therefore, the same type of skills will apply.
You will need to be good at working with numbers and keeping on top of the accounts. Keeping track of the stock and sales will mean that you will need to be precise.
Running a gift shop will also mean working weekends and holidays. Your store hours will need to cater to the times when people need to buy gifts and, therefore, you will need to be open when they are off.
You should also not forget that, ultimately, you are a salesperson and will be interacting with people throughout the day! You should be a sociable person that will be able to easily interact with your customers.
Finally, do you have a creative flair? The design and layout of your store will need to be done in a way that is attractive to customers as well as functional.
Find the right shop
This sector is one that has a lot a competition, though. You should make sure that you have done your research before you buy a business. Your interest will need to overlap with a demand in the market if you are going to stand out from your competitors.
