Starting my own Tack Shop Any advice or tips? Answer some questions for me! thank you?

My advice: Hire knowledgeable, FRIENDLY, intelligent salespeople. There are 4 tack shops in our city and we all deliberately avoid a particular tack shop that has really obnoxious, snooty salesgirls who would rather be texting or talking on their cell phones than helping shoppers, and frankly, we've all agreed that we'd rather not deal with snooty, know-nothing sales help who think they know a lot and really do not! NONE of the people I know (and I know many, many horsepeople as I'm in the "business") shop at that tack shop unless it's having a big sale. True story. Also, good quality tack - not the cheap stuff from South America, India or the middle east. It's easy to get that type online. People are more apt to pay more for quality when they can actually see and feel it. Preferably products made in the USA, UK, Germany or Switzerland. Halters and leadropes that are well-made, not made in China. Blanket-washing and repair is a great service to bring people in, and weekly specials on oft needed things like de-wormers (appropriate ones for the given time of year). Cookies and punch or hot-chocolate during a Christmas sale. Above all, as mentioned, quality is the most important consideration for most horse people who buy a lot of tack. A section of the tack shop where gifty-type items and horsey cards is also really a good draw. Find local artists and artisans who make equine-related items, and thereby support your community, because people tend to feel good about buying those kinds of things.

What do you like to see in your tack store: freindly workers, who are helpful What do you buy the most often:feed,treats and the occaional new halter/lead rope What do you hate the most about your tack store:its some-what small What do you love the most: how as soon as i walk in someone there asks me what im looking for today. What would you change about your tack store:I would make it bigger =P Is saddle fitting a plus to you: totally i would hate to by a saddle that dosent fit. How important is selection to you; its very important, i would hat eto walk inot a styore with only one or two diffrent brands of feed vitamins or treats. How important is convience vs price; i would want conveinence to be higher than the price hahah Does your tack store sell feed as well:yes, i like this because in the winter, when my local grower dosent grow anymore, they have feed. Would a blanket washing service be a plus:definatly, i wouldnt get i trouble at a local wash service for all the dirty blankets, haha Would selling feed and bedding material be something you look for in a tack shop:yes, my local feed tore sells it, i dont buy it but if they ever do get somthing new and cheap id probly try it out

I think a consignment section where people could bring in their unused or outgrown horse stuff, and shop for used equipment would be great. We used to have a tack store around here that did consignments, but they closed down. They also sold new stuff of course. Also, offer a wide range of products at different quality levels. I hate it when you just need a spare blanket, and all they carry is $200+ premium brands. Or you want a pair of nice show breeches, and they only carry cheap brands. Or they carry only Ariat clothing, which never fits me right!!! Friendly knowledgeable salespeople are a MUST! If they know their own product line and can help me choose the best product for me, I'm more likely to choose the tack store over the catalog even though we all know the catalog is cheaper. I like to be able to try things on, touch and feel stuff, etc. But if the people are snooty, the store is inconvenient, etc then I'll just stay home and shop online. I would caution you to start out small. Don't offer things like blanket washing service unless you have the time and manpower to do so. Concentrate on figuring out what is needed most in your area. If there is already a feed store that sells feed, supplements, pitchforks, etc at good prices, then you might want to let them have that niche and concentrate on tack and clothing. If there is a snooty high-priced tack store in town already, maybe you should concentrate on having economical off-brand products as an alternative. If you live in Saddleseat country and the local tack store sells mostly Western, well then you have a need to fill. A tack store is a LOCAL business, so figure out what is most needed in your LOCAL area. Go to a couple of the bigger farms in your area, and ask them what they would want to purchase locally.