White Owls please.

I live right by there, on Montgomery and Grove. I often walk by there en route to work, as I walk to the Liberty Harbor marina, as might others who do the same. That said, certainly offering a variety of coffee options in the morning would be good.

I saw your inquiry into lists of products we prefer. While it's incredibly nice of you to ask, I will insert my two cents. I almost NEVER buy health/beauty products from convenience stores unless it's a dire emergency. And when I do, it's the basics, with no frills. I think almost everyone realizes that the mark-up for things like health/beauty products is astronomical in those stores. I would save yourself the time, money, and energy, now, and focus on other products, other than the perfunctory toilet paper, bars of soap, and toothpaste. Now, if you were going for more of an apothecary theme, which would require you to have interesting options, then that is a different story. But it doesn't sound like that was your goal, which is cool. Someone had commented that you should get Wonder Bagels in your store. I completely disagree. First, I think you should be DIFFERENT from the options already available. Second, Wonder Bagels may be the only game in town in JC, but they aren't good. Having lived in the city and Long Island for years, there is no comparison to an authentic NYC JEwish bagel and the ones at Wonder Bagels. Maybe getting bagels from Tal Bagels in the city would be a nice option!

I do think that the location will have a propensity for attracting a lot of kids, however, given the proximity to the Boys Club, as well as the couple of schools in the area.

Good luck!

Quote: that would be me <--------

What items would you like to see stocked in this type of store? For example, would you prefer Snapple over Nestea? Crest over Colgate? St. Ives over Tom's?


I am looking for specific products/brands, including the categories of:

1) Paper Products
2) Beverages
3) Dairy products
4) Boxed goods (pasta etc)
5) Frozen Goods
6) Limited Produce (items you can't live without)
7) Health/Beauty Brands and Products
8) Speciality Items - an example would be an idea I have of carrying some artisan cheeses from the Hudson Valley Region and other places I find along the way. Why? Because I can't seem to find a cheese shop in JC. I have to go to Hoboken for a cheese shop, but would prefer to get it here.

Can you think of things you would like to have that you can't find? That is what my goal is. To stock what we love, but can't get when we want it, or it may be hard to find.

Think mid-market prices. I am not looking to open a store not accessible to everyone. However, I am also not looking to stock a typical "bodega" concept. Not that I don't love a Bodega, but that's not what I'm going for.

Thanks for your time (and feedback).

Thanks for the feedback. The concept is in development, and I am definitely going to take some of your ideas into consideration. Any other feedback is welcome!

In that location what you might get a lot of is students during the day... this may be good for business (think egg and cheese on a roll in the morning, candy, soda, chips, etc.) or it might drive you nuts (think packs of kids being loud, litter, loitering, etc). It depends on your patience level.

You may also get business from people visiting the hospital... fresh flowers might be a good idea for that reason. Not sure.

Not sure about the pre-made sandwiches and stuff... they tend to get soggy. Muffins and coffee might be good. Maybe an actual sandwich counter... People always need to run out for toilet paper or a pack of advil, things like that.

I live right near there and would LOVE to have a convenience store with decent sandwiches !!!
As for the smokes, I would say you should definately sell them.
They are for sure gonna get people in the door from ZH. Just remember, some of them will be looped !!!
Good luck & I'll see ya there.

Quote:

You're basically asking them to fail, and in the end, nobody's going to smoke (much) less because there's one fewer store around. Carrying smokes gets people in the door, and successful businesses are what we want downtown. I don't think the neighborhood can support another Subia's (at least not for a few more years), if that's what you're hoping this hypothetical store to become. Buying products from other neighborhood places isn't practical, as people are on foot, and would rather go straight to the source for fresher stuff. Find a good profitable niche that's open (e.g., ~$7 range gourmet sandwiches, available late nights), and exploit it.

sounds like a great idea however if you're going to involve the community you'd be doing it a favor by NOT carrying cigarettes. I would recommend getting bagels in from Wonder Bagels having a good bagel place close would be great.

This could work very well, if done right, for several reasons.

Start a good sandwich counter in the store. Use quality, fresh ingredients, maybe a notch or two above what's used at A1. Then, keep this sandwich counter open until midnight seven days a week.

This last thing is key: aside from Zeppelin Hall, the only food close to where you're thinking of opening the shop is Bubby's Burritos and the Taqueria. Bubby's is closed Sundays and Mondays, and Taqueria is closed Mondays. Taqueria always closes ridiculously early. There's a bit of a void in the neighborhood for decent food late nights and Sunday-Monday, and you could fill it.

Other good things: tons of cigarettes get smoked at Zeppelin Hall, and they don't sell them there. The two convenience stores on Bright street keep weird (non- late night) hours. Right now, people probably have to walk way up Jersey Ave to Marrow Deli if they run out of smokes at ZH - with a convenience store on Grand, the ZH patrons might be buying them on the way in.

Just be prepared to have to bribe some city officials if you want the place open anytime in the next five years.

That sounds great. You'll need foot traffic, so you'll probably get a lot of customers from Liberty Harbor North and not so many from those who don't go that way walking home from the Grove Street PATH. But if you stay open past 9 p.m., I would walk over there. (Lee's on Grove St. and the grocer on Newark Ave. both close up at 9, which is inconvenient.)

Good luck.

Beings that I live at the Regent I would happily like to see a store go up on that strip of Grand that would make for an easy grocery pickup on the weekend or on the way home from the PATH.

I am in the process of researching the concept of a small convenience store on Grand St., between Jersey Ave. and Grove St. My concept would be to stock the usual items a store like this would (paper goods, milk, eggs, newpapers, coffee, etc).
I would also try to work with local vendors to create a "grab and go" section in the store. This would feature local restaurants that would make sandwiches/wraps for purchase at my shop, which would help drive their business, as well as mine.
I would ideally offer 15% of my stock as green/organic/locally grown products as well, depending on the price point, as I want to be as competitive as possible.
Delivery and customer accounts would be an option as well. I also plan on working with various High Schools to create an internship/work study program, as part of my focus is community involvement.

Feedback? Suggestions?