Hi there .....just needed some advise...planning to open a garment retail store on Ecclessal road.....can somebody tell me if its a good place to start a business...also if someone can advise any better location??

Hi there .....just needed some advise...planning to open a garment retail store on Ecclessal road.....can somebody tell me if its a good place to start a business...also if someone can advise any better location??

I'd say don't open any kind of store if you're relying on strangers to advise you of the best location!

Ecclesall Road is a graveyard for ill conceived businesses, but a haven for those that have a proper, well researched strategy plan. Good luck.

It depends on a lot of factors. Ecclesall Road is expensive for rents and rates, so you'd need to be making a good ammount per week to cover costs. It also depends on what items you are selling, is it young fashion, childrens, classic clothing? That'll have a big impact on what area you'll do well in as you need to be where your target audience is.

thankyou for responding.....i am planning to keep young fashion/ casual wear....what do u suggest?//

perhaps trying the units further up ecclesall road towards banner cross would mean lower rents as there are empty units that way..

but too many empty units is a bad thing isnt it!! - either lack of passing custom or someones not done their research properly..

get out and do some market research on ecclesall road.. todays the day most students are back as they have to move houses so there should be a lot about - they are your target market after all..

Go down there and see what it's like. Peak trade on a Sat is the best (12-3) you'll get an idea of what footfall is and what the customer base would be like. Have a look at what it's like mid week too, as you need a whole weeks trade to sustain you. Look at what shops are there, price points, stock, see if they're busy. If there's closed/empty shops, see what they were selling as that might give an idea of where they went wrong.

We've lost a few clothes shops in the past couple of years. Liquorice, Pandoras Boutique, 423 Blush to name the ones I can remember.

Your posts don't suggest you have a detailed plan, but maybe you have a lot of money behind you or are lucky?

Rates on Ecclesall Road are very high, as are rents. You need to be turning over a lot per week just to break even - what turnover does your business plan show?

thankyou for responding.....i am planning to keep young fashion/ casual wear....what do u suggest?//

Don't do it.

You clearly don't know what you are doing. I say that is the nicest way possible as I would hate for you to be out of pocket.

Clothes shop are closing down on Ecclesall Road. It is a student area and students don't have a lot of money. In my opinion it is not really a shopping area. Only specialist ladies boutiques and student wear (Animal, Fat Face) do any business.

For a clothes shop to work you need to get it all kitted out with changing rooms etc. People want to feel special and well looked after.

These days the big boys cover the market. Unless you have a niche - vintage, retro etc - then you will struggle.

Don't do it.

You clearly don't know what you are doing. I say that is the nicest way possible as I would hate for you to be out of pocket.

Clothes shop are closing down on Ecclesall Road. It is a student area and students don't have a lot of money. In my opinion it is not really a shopping area. Only specialist ladies boutiques and student wear (Animal, Fat Face) do any business.

For a clothes shop to work you need to get it all kitted out with changing rooms etc. People want to feel special and well looked after.

These days the big boys cover the market. Unless you have a niche - vintage, retro etc - then you will struggle.

Ecclesall Road is not a student area, it is a mixed area. We have the Bang and Oulefsen shop, the Aga Centre, camera shops and estate agents - not exactly 'student shops'

Animal and Fat Face clothes always seem to be worn by middle aged people as far as I can tell.

Ecclesall Road is not a student area, it is a mixed area. We have the Bang and Oulefsen shop, the Aga Centre, camera shops and estate agents - not exactly 'student shops'

Animal and Fat Face clothes always seem to be worn by middle aged people as far as I can tell.

I'll re-phrase that - it is a niche shopping area. Mainly caters to students. Why all the camera and computer shops - cater to students and the arty / post grad student types who still live in student digs.

When someone wants some new clothes they don't go 'lets go to eccy road', they go to town or Meadowhall. They would only go to Eccy Road if there was a special item sold by a special shop which was on Eccy Road.

I tend to agree with go4it; opening a retail shop in a stagnant market where personal taxes are about to rise (VAT...I know it does not apply to clothes however it will reduce spending power for discretionary purchases such as clothes), the Internet is threatening high street retailers because it delivers like for like products at a lower cost and the super markets are muscling in on high street products too.

On top of this, setting up a shop, from scratch, will require plenty of cash. My worry for you will be you will burn cash faster than you will generate it.

Unless you have a unique desirable brand, you need to think this through thoroughly.

From working with retailers in the past, the key measure in deciding whether to open a shop is footfall...I'm not sure how you would find this data for the location you have in mind, but it would be useful (it might be as simple as you spending a few weekends monitoring it yourself at the location you have in mind counting the number of people that walk past the location, their sex, age and fashion style)

If you do decide to go ahead; the very best of luck to you.

Charity shops on Ecclesall Road are the busiest for clothes,Oxfam the most expensive but not the best.it will be very difficult to compete with these as there are lots of quite fashionable clothes to be had there now at cheap prices,and most people cannot resist a bargain.I was in business for many years on Ecclesall road,and for a long time thought about buying the best designer name clothes from charity shops all around, but then presenting clothes in a more upmarket way, boutique style with an instore quick alteration service.There are now one or two doing it but it could still be done better and more profitably.

I've got to say, I was going to open a store but I felt this is entirely the wrong time for it.

I think rates and rent are just too high to open a store where you wouldn't be bogged down with the stress of turning over enough profit just to compete with those nightmare overheads...

Give it some serious thought before making any decision that could mire you down in debt for years to come!

(VAT...I know it does not apply to clothes

It does if they're adult sized.