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The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

theguardian.com

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Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#51

Post by majewsky »

Myrmornis wrote: post #13

Surely the obvious question is: is the high street shop really a justified expense? Surely all the sales are online? The more specialized the shop, the less one can hope to fulfill ones sales volume from people in physical cruising distance. The article doesn’t seem to address this, except for acknowledging that most sales are online.

On the contrary, I think many of these particular shops shown in the article can only work as brick-and-mortar. Think about the button guy. He's probably a one-man show. How is he going to enter 10,000s of SKUs in a webshop, and maintain accurate stock numbers?

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#52

Post by tw1010 »

This doesn't really make sense to me.

On the internet hyper-specialisation is obvious since space is virtually unlimited. But in real life, I mean, real estate is limited so why wouldn't darwinian market forces make a shop with product diversity + epsilon out compete a shop with a more niche spectrum of products, until only walmart and such remains?

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#53

Post by mattkrause »

SolaceQuantum wrote: post #32

I also find hyper-specialist shops in america wherever there is still cheap land enough for it. When I used to live in Buffalo, there were small shops- one specifically for new agey "gypsy" clothing, one for bath soap made in house, one for herbs for witchcraft, one that specialized in stones. I really enjoyed those places and miss them now how I live in NYC (although NYC has its own quirks- big gay ice cream is grea…

New York City has tons of these too; they’re just generally not well-advertised since they many of them cater to a specific market. There are a few button stores in New York, mostly in the Garment District, but also on the upper east side. There are stores selling all kinds of obscure art supplies, kitchen equipment, and lab gear too.

To be fair, I’m not sure exactly where you’d buy a currywurst cushion, but there’s a shop selling bones and stuff near NYU, if you someday decide that your living in room needs more of a Natural History Museum vibe.

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#54

Post by pbhjpbhj »

gjm11 wrote: post #24

In Cambridge (UK), on an out-of-the-way side street, for many years there was a shop called "Roll On Blank Tape". I never understood how they could possibly do enough business to stay _in_ business, and always suspected that if you asked in just the right way they might sell you some ... not-blank tapes. Boringly, the available evidence suggests that actually it's just that the person who ran the shop was really inte…

Like, just audio cassette or all types of blank magnetic tape, or blank tape in general? Like masking-, sello-, elephant-tapes?

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#55

Post by emteycz »

rorykoehler wrote: post #41
emteycz wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That it's borderline "vitriol" or considered offensive says something about culture here in 2019. I'm literally writing this comment from mobile while standing in a crowd near anti-communist protest in Prague. I can't really wrap my mind around this culture change.

Why is there an anti-communist protest in Prague?

Because there is a pro-communist protest

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#56

Post by weinzierl »

weinzierl wrote: post #10

Several hyper-specialist shops I know in Munich: - balloon shops seem to do really well because we have several here and every major city seems to have one - foam shop for when you need to fix your upholstery - venetian blind store which only sells the vertical kind - Ketten Wild was a chain shop that only sold chains but chains in all forms and sizes - la porcelaine blanche's slogan is "only china, only white" and t…

Just thought of two more in Munich:

- Der Lautenladen sells only lutes, Anatolian lutes to be precise.

- Almost next to it is the "Spy Shop". I don't know if real spooks buy there but you can take the name quite literally.

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#57

Post by tim333 »

tw1010 wrote: post #52

This doesn't really make sense to me. On the internet hyper-specialisation is obvious since space is virtually unlimited. But in real life, I mean, real estate is limited so why wouldn't darwinian market forces make a shop with product diversity + epsilon out compete a shop with a more niche spectrum of products, until only walmart and such remains?

>The majority of Antstore’s sales take place via the company’s website

I think they kind of act as showrooms for online sales.

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#58

Post by mattkrause »

Iv wrote: post #25
Myrmornis wrote: post #13

Surely the obvious question is: is the high street shop really a justified expense? Surely all the sales are online? The more specialized the shop, the less one can hope to fulfill ones sales volume from people in physical cruising distance. The article doesn’t seem to address this, except for acknowledging that most sales are online.

In theory it does not make a lot sense. In practice, I am amazed at how much crap most online webshops are. In a shop I can browse through the wares much easier. I can examine them, look at the size and specs, feel the weight and texture, get ideas. More often than not, crucial specs of the product I am looking at are not available. Dimensions and weights are often missing, I often can't look at more than 5 or 6 arti…

A lot of these shops also have excellent customer service.

The guy with a million kinds of tape can help you find a product that does X and Y, but won’t Z and matches your color scheme, the ukulele shop owner might recommend one that fits you or your style.

You could probably call around and get similar advice, but the places offering this kind of advice aren’t going to have free overnight shipping either.

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#59

Post by weinzierl »

tw1010 wrote: post #52

This doesn't really make sense to me. On the internet hyper-specialisation is obvious since space is virtually unlimited. But in real life, I mean, real estate is limited so why wouldn't darwinian market forces make a shop with product diversity + epsilon out compete a shop with a more niche spectrum of products, until only walmart and such remains?

I'm pretty sure that what you described is happening. It's just that the process has not yet been completed. I don't think these shops are "the future of retail" like it says in the article.

What another comment said about showrooms makes a lot of sense. Also there are some fringe businesses that will never go online. Portrait photography businesses come to mind. Pharmacies are a thing where I live, because subsidized prescription only drugs can only be sold there.

But apart from that I wonder what will happen to all the smaller sales rooms in the inner cities?

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