Niche stores cater to specific segments of the population, offering products or services related to a specific concept. They can be hobby-based, occupational, or lifestyle-specific, and may operate online or in real estate formats. Some require a physical storefront, while others can be successful as online businesses.
Niche stores are those that cater to a specific, focused segment of the population. Unlike department stores or websites that sell products in hundreds of categories, niche stores offer services or products related only to a very specific basic concept. There are many different types of niche stores, including hobby, occupational, and lifestyle-specific stores. There may also be niche stores in online and real estate formats.
Hobby-based niche stores cater to participants in specific activities or sports. For example, a store dedicated to board games might carry a wide variety of new, used, and vintage games, strategy guides, or kits for creating do-it-yourself games. A niche store that caters to runners would likely carry shoes, clothing, training equipment, and books or videos that focus on learning to run or the sport and hobby of running.
In some cases, occupational niche stores may only be open to members of the public who work in the niche field; Wholesale flower shops, for example, are usually only open to those who work as professional florists. Some occupational stores may have one or two days a month where the store is also open to the general public. Occupational stores open to the public on a regular basis can offer significant discounts to people who can prove that they are professionals in the target field.
Lifestyle-specific niche stores cater to those who make specific choices about the products they need or the services they use. Health food stores, for example, are only allowed to carry healthy, unprocessed or organic products. Christian stores are only allowed to carry books, videos about Christianity, and supplies used in Christian-related ceremonies and rituals. People may be attracted to lifestyle specific stores as they are often operated by owners with experience in the lifestyle demographic.
Some niche stores may do better in an online format, while others require the presence of real estate. A wholesale florist, for example, will often need to be an actual storefront, as products are perishable and can see changes in availability on a daily basis. A store for chess lovers might be better off as an online business, as stock can be limited to very few items, making a literal store an unnecessary expense.
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