Maryland Geocache store

[subfamous]

I am fairly new to Geocaching. I have only been caching for 6 months, but I have met so many great people and have had many conversations about where they get their geocaching gear. I have discovered through these conversations is there are no brick and mortar stores specifically for Geocaching. It was suggested to me to bring this to the forums to gauge interest.

If there were a brick and mortar Geocaching store in Maryland where you could get container, gear, clothing, tools, trackables and gear; would you prefer to visit this location or get the things listed above online. Please let me know what you think about having a store open up in Maryland.

[CacheNCarry45]

I would be interested as shipping gets expensive from these private vendors. I would also suggest making it a theme or a reason for out of state cachers to visit. I know some of the brick and mortar stores have a really cool cache in the store or outside of the store. I know out near WV and hagerstown is a honey hole because of WVTim but I wish you luck and support wherever needed!

[zekester]

I have given this some thought in the past, here's some of the rain that fell in my head:

1 - The profit margin on geocaching gear is pretty low; it seems unlikely that one could run a store with it's associated overhead costs (rent, climate control, employees wages and benefits, insurance and energy costs, banking services, etc.) and still have pricing competitive with a mail order house, who has fewer of these overhead costs, but also has shipping. That being said, the existing brick & mortar geocaching shops I am aware of also run a mail order business concurrently.

2 - The existing stores shut down locally, and take the store "on-the-road" to attend mega events and sell their wares there. While they likely sell well at the events, they are still paying many of the overhead costs listed above for a shut down store, that is now unavailable to their core customer base. There are also now added costs of transport to move the goods they have to sell at the event.

3 - One way this might be more feasible would be to lease a corner of an existing store, where overhead costs could be shared.

4 - Another thing to keep in mind, is that geocaching does not require a lot of gear. Smartphone and pen and you are on your way. Sure, you see people like me with a sackful of additional stuff that makes it marginally easier, but 90% of that is readily available in your local hardware or drug store, who you are unlikely to undersell.

Just some food for thought. Geocaching store. Location, location, location. Look at the demographics of the state and the population distribution, as well as geocache distribution for an indication of where to open.

Would I shop there? More than likely, but for what? Replacement logs. Presents for our caching friends, or raffle items for our events. Already really have all the gear we need, and have more caches out there than we can reasonably maintain, so the need for container is slim. That profile may well fit the majority of your customer base....is that enough to put food on your table?

My suspicion is that a brick and mortar geocaching store is like a hobby farm. Fun diversion for someone who already has a sustainable income. Wish that was me!

[zekester]

I have given this some thought in the past, here's some of the rain that fell in my head:

1 - The profit margin on geocaching gear is pretty low; it seems unlikely that one could run a store with it's associated overhead costs (rent, climate control, employees wages and benefits, insurance and energy costs, banking services, etc.) and still have pricing competitive with a mail order house, who has fewer of these overhead costs, but also has shipping. That being said, the existing brick & mortar geocaching shops I am aware of also run a mail order business concurrently.

2 - The existing stores shut down locally, and take the store "on-the-road" to attend mega events and sell their wares there. While they likely sell well at the events, they are still paying many of the overhead costs listed above for a shut down store, that is now unavailable to their core customer base. There are also now added costs of transport to move the goods they have to sell at the event.

3 - One way this might be more feasible would be to lease a corner of an existing store, where overhead costs could be shared.

4 - Another thing to keep in mind, is that geocaching does not require a lot of gear. Smartphone and pen and you are on your way. Sure, you see people like me with a sackful of additional stuff that makes it marginally easier, but 90% of that is readily available in your local hardware or drug store, who you are unlikely to undersell.

Just some food for thought. Geocaching store. Location, location, location. Look at the demographics of the state and the population distribution, as well as geocache distribution for an indication of where to open.

Would I shop there? More than likely, but for what? Replacement logs. Presents for our caching friends, or raffle items for our events. Already really have all the gear we need, and have more caches out there than we can reasonably maintain, so the need for container is slim. That profile may well fit the majority of your customer base....is that enough to put food on your table?

My suspicion is that a brick and mortar geocaching store is like a hobby farm. Fun diversion for someone who already has a sustainable income. Wish that was me!

[bneeriemer]

Right, that's why I was disappointed that REI dropped carrying geocaching stuff. It took up a tiny space in their stores, and they were readily available to customers.