[ANGWife]

Opening a cloth diaper/organic baby supply store in my town (and also online). Have I lost my mind?

The closest one is like 2 hours away. And I have mixed feelings if it would be a success in my area.

[Kiwi]

That sounds like a great idea! I guess you'd just have to do some research to work out how successful it would be. You could always start with an online store and open a store once sales pick up.

[*krista*]

I've been considering doing the same thing once Charlotte is a little older and I have the time. The online market is very saturated, though, so it won't be easy. How dependent you plan on being on online sales is something to consider.

[~*sierra*~]

that sounds awesome! there are like a bazillion of those stores here so if there isnt' one in your area i'd say definitely go for it! you could have the online option that offers local pickup, i've done that with an online store here.

[~Caroline~]

I don't know anything about business so I can't give advice or anything, but it sounds great!

[Babybear4]

I think it sounds like a great idea, as long as there would be a market for it in your area. There are many, many companies online that already sell that type of stuff online, so you would have to consider if you would make ample money in the store to make up for what you aren't able to sell online. I know here, I would be nuts to open a store like that, because there is just no market for it at all.

GL in making your decision!

[Mars]

Sounds like a great idea!

[alicenwonderland]

I think it's a great idea, but you may want to scope out interest in your area first. I know my town has been rough on cloth diaper stores. They came and went. We have a great one now, but she works hard to offer more than just diapers, and advertises EVERYWHERE.
I considered this a while back, but start up costs were more than i expected. But sounds like a great opportunity, could be really satisfying once off the ground.

[Resi]

I think it would be awesome to do something like that. Damon and I even talked about it but I think the start up cost would be big and we would have to take out a loan to get started. We don't have a CD store front within 2 hrs but have a local company that sells online and delivers locally. They also do a diaper service too.

Let us know how it goes if you start looking into it more and take the plunge!

[bittersweet]

I don't know where you live in MD, but there is Soft and Cozy Baby in Baltimore. It is a great store. I go in all the time for other things. The lady that owns it holds CD and babywearing workshops in the store too.

She started out in her home and did that for a couple years...I think she just recently bought a store.

Maybe you can start up a CD or natural mothering group on meetup.com to see how much interest there is in your area...you can do CD workshops in your house to get the work out. Plus this will help you to network with the moms that are interested for if you do eventually open up a store.

[**jessie**]

It sounds like an interesting idea. You would just have to find out how much interest there is. In my town, there wouldn't be much. Also, as mentioned above, you have to figure out how to compete with the online stores. I know that I and most of my friends go out to the stores, find what we like and then go order it cheaper online. But I think if there is really a hole in the market in your area, it has the potential to really be successful.

[ANGWife]

Originally Posted by bittersweet

I don't know where you live in MD, but there is Soft and Cozy Baby in Baltimore. It is a great store. I go in all the time for other things. The lady that owns it holds CD and babywearing workshops in the store too.

Yeah, that's 2 hours away