The Sweet Shop thread!

[Crtrjas]

Does anyone know where you can source the american jelly beans and dispensers. Cant find owt on tinternet . Ta.

 

[kelvin1950]

Does anyone know where you can source the american jelly beans and dispensers. Cant find owt on tinternet . Ta.

You're not looking very hard then.

http://www.bestimports.co.uk/pages/products/jelly_belly.shtml

 

[babblemouth]

Anyone remember the 'giant' fried eggs?

Not the tiny offerings found today but these were big, almost matt in appearance and feel but I think if I recall they were kind of 'dusted'.

I'm trying to think as our old family friends used to sell them in their corner shop (talking 35yrs ago), Barratts? Came in a wholesale box that was red, shoe box sized but sold individually?

 

[PDRD]

Has Anybody else recieved a mailshot offering them replica Wonka bars?

We bought our kids a couple of wonka bars from a lovely sweet shop in Cheddar gorge. Worst decision ever as we spent the following week explaining that the golden ticket was not real and they were not going to the chocolate factory. They are 2 & 5 and they still think the ticket is real.

Sent from my GT-I9305 using UK Business Forums

 

[warnie]

We bought our kids a couple of wonka bars from a lovely sweet shop in Cheddar gorge. Worst decision ever as we spent the following week explaining that the golden ticket was not real and they were not going to the chocolate factory. They are 2 & 5 and they still think the ticket is real.

Sent from my GT-I9305 using UK Business Forums

Try explaining that the actual 'wonka' bar is a fake as well!

Some places even charge upto £3.99 for them, for what is essentially a Cheap block of chocolate wrapped in some fake wonka wrappers which can be purchased off ebay! I've got some here I just can't bring myself to do it though...

 

[PDRD]

Try explaining that the actual 'wonka' bar is a fake as well!

Some places even charge upto £3.99 for them, for what is essentially a Cheap block of chocolate wrapped in some fake wonka wrappers which can be purchased off ebay! I've got some here I just can't bring myself to do it though...

Tried every trick there is, but we get a response of ''Dad, we have seen it on TV so we know its real''

 

[alz2345]

Hi - I run a very small traditional sweet shop in Yorkshire which has been open since March and is gradually building up.
I'm thinking of getting a reconditioned twin slush machine for circa £1k but does anybody have any experience with selling slush and is it really popular all year?
Thanks in advance and hope everythings going well for everybody!

 

[billybob99]

A random question, is it me or is it hard to find sweets, I don't mean chocolates, but those little sweets kids eat but without gelatin in them?

All the good ones have beef gelatin or something along those lines.

If you also happen to know / sell any let me know.

 

[kelvin1950]

A random question, is it me or is it hard to find sweets, I don't mean chocolates, but those little sweets kids eat but without gelatin in them?

All the good ones have beef gelatin or something along those lines.

If you also happen to know / sell any let me know.

You want vegan sweets. Bloody expensive but readily available via Google.

 

[warnie]

Hi - I run a very small traditional sweet shop in Yorkshire which has been open since March and is gradually building up.
I'm thinking of getting a reconditioned twin slush machine for circa £1k but does anybody have any experience with selling slush and is it really popular all year?
Thanks in advance and hope everythings going well for everybody!

We had one in at the weekend. Sales so far are not great but that's partly due to the fact it's still a bit nippy out there. I decided not to buy mine, as it's something thats redundant for around half the year. So instead I've got mine supplied with slush, cups and straws rent free, I just share the profits with the machine owner. He will leave it with us until october then he takes it away services it then drops it off the following March.

The payoff is we only keep 40p out of every £1 slush we sell, compared to around 80p if we owned it.

To be honest if we sell a fantastic amount then we'll look into buying one next year, but it's good to try this route 1st so we have something to base our figures on as to weather it's worth it or not.

 

[alz2345]

Thanks Warnie - I keep looking at eBay where you can pick up a twin unit for about £1k - but don't know whether I'd sell one cup of slush a week or 5-10 a day.
Approx how many are you selling daily with the current weather.
Also in Hancocks the other day they mentioned they charge 10% more online compared to instore!

 

[kelvin1950]

We had one in at the weekend. Sales so far are not great but that's partly due to the fact it's still a bit nippy out there. I decided not to buy mine, as it's something thats redundant for around half the year. So instead I've got mine supplied with slush, cups and straws rent free, I just share the profits with the machine owner. He will leave it with us until october then he takes it away services it then drops it off the following March.

The payoff is we only keep 40p out of every £1 slush we sell, compared to around 80p if we owned it.

To be honest if we sell a fantastic amount then we'll look into buying one next year, but it's good to try this route 1st so we have something to base our figures on as to weather it's worth it or not.

Has he got any more machines? I wouldn't mind giving that a try.

 

[andrew12]

Good idea to share but don't you think you should be having this conversation privately? It will come up whenever anyone thinking of setting up, possibly in competition to you, is researching.

 

[LMDServicesUK]

Hi Warnie, and fellow posters

This is a great little thread, most enjoyable !

Just wanted to ask you guys, how many of you have ever considered getting a card payment facility for your shops/stalls but been put off by the running costs / contracts etc ?

We have launched a new service called Judo (www.judopay.com) which is a true PAYG service e.g. you only pay when you use it, so if you do not use, does not cost, so depending on your turnover, very cost effective....

Is ideal if you are dong a field event, or there is no cash dispenser nearby..

Just a thought as I am coming across a lot of confectionery businesses now and they are seem quite interested in the idea and quite a few have signed up already..

Not trying to sell here, rather just make you aware, but if you do want to know more then please do PM me..

Many thanks

Mark
LMD Services

 

[warnie]

Has he got any more machines? I wouldn't mind giving that a try.

He's based in Worcester and supplies I believe within a 50mile radius, as he comes every month to top you up and err bill you what you've sold.

If your within that pm me and I'll give you his details.

 

[warnie]

Thanks Warnie - I keep looking at eBay where you can pick up a twin unit for about £1k - but don't know whether I'd sell one cup of slush a week or 5-10 a day.
Approx how many are you selling daily with the current weather.
Also in Hancocks the other day they mentioned they charge 10% more online compared to instore!

Hi, were selling around 20 or so a day since Sunday, but like I said the weathers not that warm yet and most of our customers are not yet aware that we sell them, as with everything, it takes time for word to get around.

 

[warnie]

Good idea to share but don't you think you should be having this conversation privately? It will come up whenever anyone thinking of setting up, possibly in competition to you, is researching.

No not really, I started this thread so we could help each other, and bounce ideas of each other. I have gained a new and valuable supplier out of it and I hope that a few more have benefitted from it too.

 

[alz2345]

Thanks Warnie - Its interesting to see how popular it is thanks.
On another note I've been using some great striped/polka dot paper bags from the carrierbagshop.co.uk (the 13*18 size) as ive found the bags from sweet wholesalers to be a bit limited in range - just thought id share with everybody!

 

[matty evans]

Hey Everyone

Im thinking about opening a sweet shop in west wales
hopeful when summer comes, i get some tourist trade

what do recommend for a good sweet shop? what type of sweets? should it be old fashioned inside or modern?

thanks, matty

 

[TrevorHorswell]

I am thinking about this franchise, can anyone who owns one give me some tis, do they work and what are the profit margins?

 

[mhall]

I am thinking about this franchise, can anyone who owns one give me some tis, do they work and what are the profit margins?

He has 80 odd shops for a reason. Prices are high but people like the vision.

You'd be better off just going into one of the shops and asking them - or ask them for a list of those who are no longer franchisees and see if they can give you the downside. Personaaly I think he hit on a great idea at the right time and has made the most of it, but it's not a difficult concept to do yourself so you need to make sure the initial fee is worth it..

 

[David1962]

He has 80 odd shops for a reason. Prices are high but people like the vision.

You'd be better off just going into one of the shops and asking them - or ask them for a list of those who are no longer franchisees and see if they can give you the downside. Personaaly I think he hit on a great idea at the right time and has made the most of it, but it's not a difficult concept to do yourself so you need to make sure the initial fee is worth it..

His original plan was for 100 shops by the end of 2010, failed.

Don't buy this franchise, sweet shops are two-a-penny these days and you'll be hanging on the very rear end of a tired bandwagon. These franchises are changing hands, closing, or de-franchising at an higher than average rate.

Also, if you don't have where-with-all to open a simple operation like a sweet shop, without relying on a franchise to get you going, you probably shouldn't be going into business!

 

[TrevorHorswell]

Hi David
It's certainly not about having the 'Nonse' to open a sweet shop!!

Its just to sit beside a 1930's vintage tea room in a tourist area, both situated under a prestigious art gallery and interiors showrooms.

As i run all the above i simply didn't have time to fill my last space and a ready made business would suit me for this unit. Hassle free set up and no time wasted.

If I only had a dream to open a sweetshop alone, i would have given up years ago. I just see the Simms brand as a great add on and in a populated area of 250,000 I can't believe we have nothing like this already. from what i ahve sen they look pretty impressive and there is always more to every business than meets the eye - things are a science with experts for a reason.

 

[warnie]

His original plan was for 100 shops by the end of 2010, failed.

Don't buy this franchise, sweet shops are two-a-penny these days and you'll be hanging on the very rear end of a tired bandwagon. These franchises are changing hands, closing, or de-franchising at an higher than average rate.

Also, if you don't have where-with-all to open a simple operation like a sweet shop, without relying on a franchise to get you going, you probably shouldn't be going into business!

He may have failed with 100, but he still has 80! if that' failing bring it on

We've been going 3 1/2 years now and are growing as a business year on year, this is despite massively difficult trading conditions ever since we opened. Perhaps it may be because it's not as easy as you think to open a simple operation like a sweet shop, that so many are failing.

Maybe Mr Simms has spread himself too thin, opening up shop/franchises in less than perfect locations. As we all know in retail, location is king and no matter what shop it is, if it's in the wrong location then your doomed to fail. The succesful sweet shops in the right locations have been going for years and are as popular as ever. It's those that set up in the wrong locations, with no prior experience that fail. So to label every sweetshop as being a tierd bandwagon is wrong in my opinion.

Just to add that there's no way I would take on a Mr simms franchise, his shops are good, but no where near good enough to warrent paying out franchise and management fees!

 

[warnie]

Hi David
It's certainly not about having the 'Nonse' to open a sweet shop!!

Its just to sit beside a 1930's vintage tea room in a tourist area, both situated under a prestigious art gallery and interiors showrooms.

As i run all the above i simply didn't have time to fill my last space and a ready made business would suit me for this unit. Hassle free set up and no time wasted.

If I only had a dream to open a sweetshop alone, i would have given up years ago. I just see the Simms brand as a great add on and in a populated area of 250,000 I can't believe we have nothing like this already. from what i ahve sen they look pretty impressive and there is always more to every business than meets the eye - things are a science with experts for a reason.

Nice one Trev:redface:

A sweet Shop alongside a 1930's tearoom sounds perfect, but I wouldn't entertain a Mr simms franchise, as you can easily copy what he does for a fraction of the price.

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

Psst Warnie!!!

You missed a trick there mate! Open another shop with Trev!

 

[warnie]

Psst Warnie!!!

You missed a trick there mate! Open another shop with Trev!

Shiiiiittttttt! Bloody ell I have!

Err Trev, how about adding a bit of Fanny err Adams to your tea rooms :redface:

 

[mhall]

His original plan was for 100 shops by the end of 2010, failed.

Don't buy this franchise, sweet shops are two-a-penny these days and you'll be hanging on the very rear end of a tired bandwagon. These franchises are changing hands, closing, or de-franchising at an higher than average rate.

Also, if you don't have where-with-all to open a simple operation like a sweet shop, without relying on a franchise to get you going, you probably shouldn't be going into business!

So, someone opening 80 shops is a failure? I think someone needs to close his green eyes

 

[kelvin1950]

I am thinking about this franchise, can anyone who owns one give me some tis, do they work and what are the profit margins?

Frankly I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. For what they want up front, you can easily do your own thing and retain all the profits thereafter. We looked at it but they take so long to answer enquiries and give out any information we'd opened before we got an answer! That might be a pointer to the amount of support you'll get too.

Plus, I don't like the brown colour scheme, it looks dire IMO.

 

[kelvin1950]

So, someone opening 80 shops is a failure? I think someone needs to close his green eyes

I see what you mean but in some ways he's right. The Mr Simms franchises are closing and changing hands quite frequently which leads me to wonder what the problem is. He's also right with "Also, if you don't have where-with-all to open a simple operation like a sweet shop, without relying on a franchise to get you going, you probably shouldn't be going into business!"

Opening a sweet shop isn't rocket science!

 

[mhall]

I see what you mean but in some ways he's right. The Mr Simms franchises are closing and changing hands quite frequently which leads me to wonder what the problem is. He's also right with "Also, if you don't have where-with-all to open a simple operation like a sweet shop, without relying on a franchise to get you going, you probably shouldn't be going into business!"

Opening a sweet shop isn't rocket science!

I think Mr Simms was a very good idea but the guy who started it came from DFS so had little experience in supporting new businesses. The idea was so good that he exploded and he has never really had the wherewithall (is that a word?) to support properly. The first few franchises were pennies and he just wanted £60 a week as "Management fee". We met him a few years ago when he was just opening his seventh and he told me then that all he wanted was for 20 people to give him £60 a week.

I think he was amazed at the growth but has never really put in a support network because, as you say, it's not rocket science. As he has grown he has had to start charging more for the franchise as he no longer does the work himself and more people with little knowledge of Retail saw it as a "get rich quick" scheme. These shops are the ones changing hands as people discover that whilst it may not be rocket science, it's still bloody hard work.

At the end of the day it's him, his siblings and his Mum trying to run what is actually quite a big business. It may be too late for him to put in the support network he needs, but I still admire his guts.

 

[TrevorHorswell]

Very interesting point of view, backed by what appears to be quite a knowledgeable person in this field, much appreciated.

Here is a question -
From a small sweet emporium (1,300sq ft) but with no competition (seasonal) what would be a genuine takings figure that could be achieved with all the hard?

only a ball park idea and from that that could be the profit?

 

[kelvin1950]

Very interesting point of view, backed by what appears to be quite a knowledgeable person in this field, much appreciated.

Here is a question -
From a small sweet emporium (1,300sq ft) but with no competition (seasonal) what would be a genuine takings figure that could be achieved with all the hard?

only a ball park idea and from that that could be the profit?

Anything from £0 to £100,000 a year depending on location and footfall.

 

[mhall]

As Kelvin says, that's impossible to predict. First of all, you must have competition- even Top Shop sell sweets. (although Mr Simms doesn't do Cadburys, Mars or Nestles to keep him away from the mass market - I have no idea if that is a good idea or not; I note he does Hershey which would put him in competition with Asda - bit of a paradox really)

I don't do sweets - I don't like anything with a dated shelf life - it leaves it open for people like Yum Yums to steal business from you. I have loads of respect for people who do sweetshops. Everyone thinks they are simple but they are way off the mark if they think it's easy. Personally I think 1,300 sq ft is large for a sweet shop. All the best sweet shops to me seem small - and it keeps the rent and rates down.

Location, footfall and your ability to get the customer to increase the spend is key and you can only research those points yourself. Your profit margin should be able to tell you how much you need to sell to cover your costs. Your research will tell you if you can sell it.

 

[David1962]

Very interesting point of view, backed by what appears to be quite a knowledgeable person in this field, much appreciated.

Here is a question -
From a small sweet emporium (1,300sq ft) but with no competition (seasonal) what would be a genuine takings figure that could be achieved with all the hard?

only a ball park idea and from that that could be the profit?

To get you started with that, on weighout and pick 'n' mix your POR will be between 65% and 80%, occasionally you will get up to 90% but count that as a bonus. Boxes of chocs like Beeches will return between 40% and 60%. Stay away from the Cadbury's etc as they will only return 17% to 22%.

Tart things up in pretty jars and bags for tourist and you can add around extra 10%.

From that you can now do the maths backwards to find out what you need to take to break even.

 

[kelvin1950]

As Kelvin says, that's impossible to predict. First of all, you must have competition- even Top Shop sell sweets. (although Mr Simms doesn't do Cadburys, Mars or Nestles to keep him away from the mass market - I have no idea if that is a good idea or not; I note he does Hershey which would put him in competition with Asda - bit of a paradox really)

It is odd, we don't do a huge range of Cadburys, Mars or Nestles, only those that our locals buy in quantity and we then know they're not going to go out of date. We also sell Hershey, and a larger range of american sweets. I think they're expensive but they sell and the people who buy them invariably buy more profitable stuff too.

Personally I think 1,300 sq ft is large for a sweet shop. All the best sweet shops to me seem small - and it keeps the rent and rates down.

Ours is about 350 sq ft, I think! With around the same out back for storage, toilet, kitchen. We could use a bit more but the overheads wouldn't make it worthwhile.

Location, footfall and your ability to get the customer to increase the spend is key and you can only research those points yourself. Your profit margin should be able to tell you how much you need to sell to cover your costs. Your research will tell you if you can sell it.

You need more than sweets. We also sell good quality belgian chocolates, drinks, ice cream, cards, stamps, wrapping paper, party goods and cake decorations. As well as all that, we make up baskets, hampers, sweet trees, sweet cakes, party bags (very lucrative!) and we do sweet tables for weddings and parties, we also have a sweet cart for weddings and parties plus a pick n mix stand we hire out.

Man cannot live on sweets alone.

 

[mhall]

Man cannot live on sweets alone.

Sweets no, but chocolate is a different matter altogether !

 

[AndyICAEW]

Given the wholesale rates of sweets available in superstores, I'd imagine it would be tough to keep a sweet shop going without a fairly loyal audience...

 

[mhall]

Given the wholesale rates of sweets available in superstores, I'd imagine it would be tough to keep a sweet shop going without a fairly loyal audience...

Sweets are the original and ultimate impukse buy - loyal customers are good but almost anyone is tempted.

MInd you, I was at East Midlands airport yesterday and even I draw the line at 89p for EVERYTHING - from a tube of fruit mentos, a small packet of Tic Tacs and the smallest Twix I have ever seen - everything was priced at 89p.

 

[kelvin1950]

Given the wholesale rates of sweets available in superstores, I'd imagine it would be tough to keep a sweet shop going without a fairly loyal audience...

Well, you could judge that for yourself by popping in to Tesco and then comparing their prices with ours.

Small is not necessarily expensive, big not necessarily cheap.