Second Shop

maria102

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Oct 25, 2005
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465
Manchester
We've had our first shop open for five years now and are in the midst of taking a second one on for a trial six month period. My husband thinks we should use the same name for the second one, although the target customer will be slightly younger than our current one and subsequently willl be stocking some different labels. He also thinks we should keep the same interior, though I think it should be edgier to reflect the younger customer. I can understand what he is saying about building a brand, but the second shop just won't be the same business model as our first one :|.
 

maria102

Free Member
Oct 25, 2005
3,614
465
Manchester
Hi,

Firstly good luck in your 2nd shop.

Could you continue the theme but change the design, a bit like fat face. What age group does your first shop target?

Ben.

Thank you. I don't know much about fat face, what do you they do with their shop design? By the sounds of it, I think it may be what I have in mind. Keep the key elements (our signature stripes for example) but move some of the fittings on, I want it to look more urban whereas the first shop is a bit too fancy. Our first shop targets 30's to 50ish.
 
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deniser

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Jun 3, 2008
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If you're catering for a younger market with and edgier feel then I would go for a completely different name and branding. But maybe you could have an overall group name and say that the new shop is part of the so and so group?

I can't believe it is over five years ago that we were on this forum talking about the opening of your first shop. Gosh, how time flies!
 
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John_Orcus

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Nov 19, 2010
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There is nothing wrong with keeping the same name/branding, but targetting your products differently provided there isn't too much difference.

If your product mix is going to be totally different then give it a different name/branding.

For example if you have a shop in Bournemouth the average punter age/type will be different to that in Brighton, and the branding should reflect that.
 
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maria102

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Oct 25, 2005
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Manchester
It's not a million miles away, just a few brands that are for the older market (40+) that we will be leaving behind and maybe taking on a few newer younger ones. My friend suggested our name at the moment and incorporating a new one into it, not come up with anything so far! Got the draft lease today and the keys to get quotes for work.
 
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Berkshire Business

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Feb 26, 2013
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Firstly good luck with the 2nd shop. - I think the whole idea with keeping some of your signature elements is a good one, then the two shops can be related in some way. I also think that the whole change of theme and colour would be a good idea, if your clothing range is for the younger generation then why not make the shop a bit more colourful and eye catching.

Good luck.
 
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It's not a million miles away, just a few brands that are for the older market (40+) that we will be leaving behind and maybe taking on a few newer younger ones. My friend suggested our name at the moment and incorporating a new one into it, not come up with anything so far! Got the draft lease today and the keys to get quotes for work.

I'd tend to go for the same name with an add-on with something like 'xyz classic' and xyz urban'. If you're thinking of keeping common lines to both shops then maybe 'xyz urban-mix' for example.

By keeping the same overall brand name this will surely simplify all the legal stuff, paperwork, tax returns & VAT and so on. It will also increase your market awareness having the common name across both shops. If you go with an entirely new name you may well also have to start from scratch building up a new client base.

Over time, you may find that the client bases do become sufficiently different not keep some of the same lines in both shops and to market them differently as a result. But for the moment it would surely be safer, wiser and easier to have the same brand name for both shops?
 
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maria102

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Oct 25, 2005
3,614
465
Manchester
I'd tend to go for the same name with an add-on with something like 'xyz classic' and xyz urban'. If you're thinking of keeping common lines to both shops then maybe 'xyz urban-mix' for example.

By keeping the same overall brand name this will surely simplify all the legal stuff, paperwork, tax returns & VAT and so on. It will also increase your market awareness having the common name across both shops. If you go with an entirely new name you may well also have to start from scratch building up a new client base.

Over time, you may find that the client bases do become sufficiently different not keep some of the same lines in both shops and to market them differently as a result. But for the moment it would surely be safer, wiser and easier to have the same brand name for both shops?

Thank you, that's pretty much exactly what my husband said, although it pains me to say it :) Just need to think of an add-on name then!

As part of the deal with the council we actually have to take the adjoining shop on as well. In the trial period we are going to fit this out as a mens lifestyle store, so far *fingers crossed* we are managing to negotiate SOR stock for that side.
 
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Thank you, that's pretty much exactly what my husband said, although it pains me to say it :) Just need to think of an add-on name then!

As part of the deal with the council we actually have to take the adjoining shop on as well. In the trial period we are going to fit this out as a mens lifestyle store, so far *fingers crossed* we are managing to negotiate SOR stock for that side.

Mens Grooming, we sell it well, Edwin Jagger do a great range of shaving stuff, its becoming pretty popular.
 
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Talay

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Mar 12, 2012
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I built up a few similar but slightly different businesses, all operating in the same sector, essentially with only a slightly different target demographic and after much thought, I used taglines to differentiate.

Thus, you'd have Joe Bloggs (the original), then Joe Bloggs Interior, Joe Bloggs Home, Joe Bloggs Classic, Joe Bloggs Retro etc.

The Joe Bloggs theme assists cross marketing if that is important to you but it also means that when someone sees Joe Bloggs Interior but really wants Joe Bloggs Classic, they have that image reinforced in a way which would not be available if you called it Design Classics.

I found quite a bit of trade flowed from one to another and I guess that would not have come if they were not name aligned.
 
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Duke Fame

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Jan 28, 2008
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If the overall product is similar and you wand to develop a brand it needs to be either the same or at least incorporate part of the branding from the first shop.

Bear in mind that using the same name means you can just have the one website, packaging, carrier bags etc. Should you advertise or do promotional work, you benefit both shops.
 
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If the overall product is similar and you wand to develop a brand it needs to be either the same or at least incorporate part of the branding from the first shop.

Bear in mind that using the same name means you can just have the one website, packaging, carrier bags etc. Should you advertise or do promotional work, you benefit both shops.

2 different names, each with its own website,
 
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Duke Fame

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Jan 28, 2008
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We launched a 2nd site iconsume.co.uk it now does 30% more than our old site fatbuddhastore.com, hasn't taken any sales away from the existing site, we are know up to almost 50% online sales, makes the bricks and mortar shop become more important.

Whilst that is good, it doesn't look like te OP is looking to throw another £4k at a new transactional site, this seems to be a simple additional B&M shop.
 
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