Starting an Irish Store

Summary: Are you an Irish in the US looking for a business to start? Why not bring a piece of Ireland in your neighborhood and start your own Irish store? You will do your fellow Irish a favor at the same time make money for yourself. We will guide you in getting your Irish store up and running in no time.

There are 36.5 million US residents of Irish ancestry as of 2007 according to the US Census Bureau. That is more than nine times the four-million population of Ireland itself. In fact, Irish ranks number two as the most frequently reported ancestry, next to Germans.

Irish is also in the top five ancestries in every state except for Hawaii and New Mexico. All these facts mean that there are a lot of Americans of Irish-descent who are your captured market for your store.

Like any other businesses, you need to create a business plan to guide you on certain aspects of your store. As a specialty store, you need to identify what kind of items your store will be offering. You can make a survey among your family and friends what kinds of Irish stuff they would like to have access to on a regular basis and on special occasions. Find out if there are other Irish stores in your community that offer such items. If there are, figure out how you can compete with them, providing a better alternative to your customers. If not, then you have found an opportunity to make money by filling a need of the Irish community.

Other items that you need to include in your business plan is the location, startup capital, projected operating expense and revenue, staff requirement, and the suppliers for your inventory.

Location is very important since you want customers to visit your store. Find a place accessible to or frequently visited by your target Irish community. When thinking of a business name, you may want to choose a name related to Irish culture that can be easily recalled. When designing your store, take into account the ambience that you will be providing your customers. Make them feel like they are back to Ireland and they will be more inclined to return to your store frequently. You can play Irish music in your pipe in sound system to add to the store’s mood.

Capitalizing on occasions and festivities that the Irish celebrate such as St. Patrick’s Day can be a good way of bringing more business to your store. You can decorate your store with the occasion as your theme and offer relevant items they can use as gifts, to decorate their homes or to serve in their parties.

As your business picks up and you have more capital to pour into your store, you can add more items in your inventory. Take note of items that are fast and slow moving so you can have a better handle how to replenish your stocks accordingly. Take note also of items that your customers frequently ask for that your store does not offer yet. They are giving you a hint already of what to add to your product listing.