Farang Food Minimart Idea?

[krasangchris]

Guys -
           Anyone know how Norbies has done ? What do we think of opening a minimart
in Issan ?
Thanx/ Chris.

[Prakhonchai Nick]

Guys -
           Anyone know how Norbies has done ? What do we think of opening a minimart
in Issan ?
Thanx/ Chris.

Presumably you mean Buriram and not Isaan. There was one several years ago -fell flat!

[nookiebear]

Isn't that the place thats for sale ,,not far from Paddys

[Prakhonchai Nick]

That's more of a specialist mini mart - predominantly German food (or was when I was there)

[nookiebear]

That's more of a specialist mini mart - predominantly German food (or was when I was there)

But wasn't Norbie a partner in that place?

[Prakhonchai Nick]

But wasn't Norbie a partner in that place?

He was -but rather strangely he was absent when they held their opening party!

[nookiebear]

But wasn't Norbie a partner in that place?

He was -but rather strangely he was absent when they held their opening party!

Perhaps the penny had just dropped!!

[Admin]

The minimart was mainly with German foods, the main problem was pricing of course.
Think about it, this idea was good lets say 2 years ago when Big-C wasn't here and you had to search real hard for 'farang' foods however that has changed in the recent 2 years and today you can find so many things around here in the big supermarkets and we have 'star foods' who make excellent products you can order, nookie is also in the game so a 'farang oriented' minimart have to be with very rich product variety and VERY good pricing for this area.
*The secret is in the suppliers you find and the investment you make to open such a minimart, it can be a success but not if doing it 'half way'.....

[nookiebear]

Very True Almog,,,the quantities you buy will dictate the price for products produced in Thailand,,,however imported items are costly mainly due to shipping charges & Thai Customs!

[Dave the Dude]

But wasn't Norbie a partner in that place?

He was -but rather strangely he was absent when they held their opening party!

Norby of Surin N&N International(German) Minimart was indeed absent but his wife (Noi) was in attendance (as was I).
They sold the place to his german friend, Manfred, who then subsequently has now placed the establishment up for sale. 

[krasangchris]

Thinking of a 7/11 style. Sure suppliers and capital are important (as well as location).
And then there is the Thai Mrs. involvement - it's a HUGE leap.

[Dave the Dude]

Assuming from your name, you are thinking of opening something in Krasang, then I would suggest having a word with David who has recently sold the (only)Beer Bar in Krasang. He was there a few years and would be a fair judge of the area (IMHO).

There are not many facilities in Krasang so it might be a good idea (I think) as long as there are enough regular customers

[nookiebear]

I wish you luck because you'll need a lot of it

[manupete]

I built a small shop for my wife about 5 years ago,it cost me about 130k in all,  including stock and the big double glass door fridge.For the first year the shop took over a 100k a month ( on average ) ,with a 20% mark up that's a 20k a month income - 1k for electric=19k a month. A nice little income for the wife and mother in law to share.After a 3 year the wife and her  mother had a argument about family helping themselves along with other things and the shop finished ( its a long story  ).As I was giving the wife a 5k allowance a month and this stopped once she had her own income I didn't really lose as I would have given her that money anyway.
If a small shop servers the local community and you just don't specialize in western food you can make businesses and an  income for the wife .The shop was never to make large amounts of money but to keep the wife occupied and stopping her getting bored in the village . But for some its far to easy to sit back and let the farang take care then to actually do any work themselves.

[nookiebear]

I built a small shop for my wife about 5 years ago,it cost me about 130k in all,  including stock and the big double glass door fridge.For the first year the shop took over a 100k a month ( on average ) ,with a 20% mark up that's a 20k a month income - 1k for electric=19k a month. A nice little income for the wife and mother in law to share.After a 3 year the wife and her  mother had a argument about family helping themselves along with other things and the shop finished ( its a long story  ).As I was giving the wife a 5k allowance a month and this stopped once she had her own income I didn't really lose as I would have given her that money anyway.
If a small shop servers the local community and you just don't specialize in western food you can make businesses and an  income for the wife .The shop was never to make large amounts of money but to keep the wife occupied and stopping her getting bored in the village . But for some its far to easy to sit back and let the farang take care then to actually do any work themselves.

If you could manage a profit margin like that perhaps Big C or Tesco could use you as a consultant