Retail: rubs, sauces, etc.

[ceedubya]

How many of you have your suaces, rubs, marinades, etc. bottled for sale? Is the juice worth the squeeze or is it a waste of time?

other than your own, do any of you sell other bbq accessories and / or other commercial rubs and sauces?

As I am moving forward with my little adventure I have an option on a 3rd attached space in the building that would make an awesome deli or retail space. It could easily be ran by a single employee (wife ).

I like the idea of promoting bbq as a whole and selling accessories, rubs, sauces, etc.

I live in MT where most stores carry nothing more than kraft bbq sauce or sweet baby rays.


Thoughts??
_________________
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over - Hunter S. Thompson

[BigOrson]

It's a nice idea, but the bottom line would be if your market can support the extra overhead. If your grostos are only carrying Kraft BBQ sauce, it's quite possible that the market isn't deep enough to support anything else. Competition for shelf space in grostos is intense and you can gauge the market by what is generally stocked. The two most saturated market products are BBQ sauce and salsa. Count the number of brands and products within those brands that are stocked by the three largest grostos in your area and then weigh that compared to the upfront cost of products and the cost of your overhead and decide if the risk is worth the potential reward. Your location will also figure largely in your decision. Can you generate enough foot traffic to generate business other than the draw of your 'raunt?

I'd love to do something similar to that here, but I can't come up with a location that could drive the foot traffic to support it. If you do decide to move forward, you might want to include a selection of hot sauces as well. Might add to the appeal.

Just to be clear, my thinking comes not from a retailer or restauranteur basis, but from someone who tried to break into the high-end salsa business during the Great Recession.

[SoEzzy]

The BBQ Pit Stop in Lehi i doing something similar... they have space available where they used to sell oil and oil products, and they now carry Big Green Eggs, Yoders, Traegers, and also a fair number of rubs and sauces as well as other BBQ supplies.

http://www.bbqpitstop.com/

They are supplying a need locally that no one else covers as well as they do.
_________________
Here's a change Robert.

I still work here!

[ceedubya]

Helena has always been pretty tight knit community with a large "shop local" mentality that is ever growing. Once a month they host a "cash mob" where they hit a particular store, or block of stores, with large number of shoppers encouraged to stop and buy. The shoppers are handed coupons for other local stores as they enter.

The grocery stores do carry a slightly larger selection that mentioned, that just seems to be the most prominant. There are a few specialty markets in town that do quite well.

A new local vinigar and oil shop just opened and has really taken off.

There is one hardware store in town that carries quality bbq's (traeger, big green egg, etc), accessories, and good lump charcoal. So, I believe there is a market for what I am proposing.

My location will be in the sweet spot between the old downtown area with a walking mall, and the "new old" downtown development surrounded by professional offices (lawyers, accountants, real estate, federal buildings, etc), retail, a few higher end sit down with cloth napkins kind of restaurants, and about a block away from the street / park that hosts many town festivals as well as a weekly farmers market for about 6 months out of the year.

I have interviewed a LOT of the local professionals who work in the immediate area and they are very hungry for something good, inexpensive (compared to the sit down steak houses in the area), fast, and local. There is another small local place a couple of blocks the other direction that kills during lunch every day, and it is TINY! They are serving a creole / cajun mix.

Thanks for the link Ezzy, that is very close to what I am envisioning even to the point of carrying a few lines of cookers.
_________________
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over - Hunter S. Thompson