First pics of our store!

We're back! We've been extremely busy the past few weeks preparing the store, but the effort's worth it! The lights are on, and we're good to go! The response has been overwhelmingly positive, as we have over 15 boxes booked already... and to many of you who've shown interest, we really appreciate it :)

And with no further delay, here's our store:

We are set to open October 17th (next Saturday), and for one week only we're having a pre-opening special offer for everyone who signs up for a box or more:

1) pay only one week of rent during October;

2) until November, you will get a free upgrade for next level; and

3) for the duration you sign up, you'll get free airtime on our double LCD display.

So don't delay! The best spots are going fast!

Our Regular Price List...

Here's our regular price list for the various levels... but don't forget our pre-opening great specials (see below from my post Sept 23rd), which is good until our opening date (tentative October 18th)... contact us today!

New flyers...

Fresh out of the oven! :)

Our English Flyers...

Our Chinese Flyers...

Pricing now available...

Okay! Now that we've settled on the design, we are also putting together a preliminary price list...

We are priced competitively: our lowest-priced box goes for only $25 a month. That's < $1 a day! And we got lots of boxes along our high-profile storefront, starting at only $45 a month...

We are innovative: we are proud to be the first store in Toronto which offers multimedia capabilities. This includes our dual large-screen displays, and for selected boxes along the windows we provide power outlets so you can hook up digital frames! No other provider lets you do that!

We can promote your business 3-dimensionally: beside the box, we can also help you advertise on our large-screen displays. Prices goes as low as $50 per month... and your store is automatically included on our online network.

So that's our package!

How can we help YOUR business?

I'm back! We've finished cleaning up the old store, and we put up our first set of promo materials on the window...

We offer 3-dimensional promotional services – retail space, LCD display ads & online for businesses such as:

1. Established business – try out new products and see how the market response.
2. Entrepreneurs – your IPO starts here!
3. Online business & home business – an excellent media to show your clients the actual products; clients can pick up your product at our store - save your time & money for delivery & shipping
4. Individual hard-working salespersons – get more referral through us to expand your network (niche markets here are interested in your featured homes, travel deals, & your great products and services).

It is also suitable for individuals such as:

1. Working class – keep your day jobs, chase your dream!
2. Designers/ Talent – showcase your masterpieces to the public. Let the world prove your ability!
3. Second-hand reseller – match-making your “re-useful” treasure with the best-fit users.
4. Stay-at-home-mom – yes, it’s you! You can also start your business while still taking care of your family!
5. To serve our community – check our sponsorship program for your charitable fundraising!
6. Everyone else – if you have an idea we haven’t thought of, give it a try!

What's in the name?

I just remember that I never explained how we got the name for the store...

As a new business, we're looking for a name that is: a) memorable; b) catchy; c) demonstrative of our enterpreneur spirit. It'd be a place where people find hidden gems that are not available elsewhere, and voila! We thought about GEM... as a stock market symbol!

GEM is an alternative stock market for startups in Hong Kong (http://www.hkgem.com), similar to New York's NASDAQ. This market is for enterpreneurs who need to raise funds on the public market, but not quite ready for an IPO in the more tightly regulated stock market. This is a perfect allegory to what our business is all about: providing space for budding enterpreneurs a place to showcase their products or services, and help them prosper into bigger business...

So that's the story behind our name, Growth Enterprise Market...

Store Layout

Hi!

We're back... we got a picture of the store's layout! It's going look pretty close to this...

Our store is Unit 118 in the mall (good Chinese number!)

The store's got 3 sides facing the mall, and we're taking full advantage of it... we'll have lots of boxes - over 70 of them spread over 5 layers - which has tremendous exposure to the crowd. And on top, we'll have two large TVs which will run ads that can help promote your business. The boxes at the end of the window will be a little different from the diagram: they will have the same window space as the other ones (not double), but they will extend inside along the wall, so they're larger than a regular box.

Inside the shop, we'll have quite a few boxes inside as well, and they will be lined up against the wall. The middle will be modular, so we can try different things out...

Now that design's done, we're ready to furnish the store...

Away in body, but always thinking...

I haven't made a post in a few days, as we've gone away for a little R&R before our company kicks into full gear. But since my last post, we've got some exciting news!!! First, we've got a real store! We've signed a contract with our landlord in First Markham, and it's a fantastic location which draws lots of foot traffic. We've got the people who comes in to eat and pickup at the foot court, and the store fronts on 3 sides, so we got lots of great spaces which surely will attract their attention!


Now that we got a place, our project's got into full gear. We're currently working with our fabulous designer - Sonia - who's working on a design for our store. From what I've seen so far, it's gonna be fantastic. We've got lots of boxes - over 70 of them - which faces directly into traffic, so we know they're going to be in high demand. But unlike other existing micro-mall stores, we are going to be much more than just renting boxes... here are some of the
concepts:


1) Showstopper items: even with a great location, as a new startup we've got to work hard to draw traffic. So what I'm thinking is putting up a deal that's so good that anyone - and I mean EVERYONE - will notice and come into the store to check it out. We've got a few ideas, so stay tuned to see what we will do...


2) TV advertising: we've seen lots of these in malls, supermarkets and other high-profile places, and surely they capture eyeballs. But we don't see too many ads on them, mostly filler ads by the media companies themselves to get business to put advertising on them. Kind of ironic, isn't it? Well the thing is, people don't like to buy things when they don't know the price, and when
they don't show it... we suspect it's uber-expensive so we don't even bother to call them. So we're going to turn this 180-degrees: we'll make the prices crystal clear, and it's going to be well worth the price... bet you're asking WHAT IS THE PRICE? We're still working on that, but when it's ready we'll let everyone know.


3) Open box concept: most of the micro-malls so far have 100% of the boxes under lock and key. It's good for security, but people are used to be able to try things out before they buy, and quite frequently they don't bother to ask the shopkeeper to open. So in GEM, there will be a part of the store which will give this concept a try, and we'll be gauging responses from both sellers and buyers...


Well my laptop battery's dying, so I better post it now before it goes into hibernate... adios from Italy!

What the heck do we do?

It's been a dream for both of us to start a business, and we stress-

tested (kinda a term from yesterday eh?) our ideas over the years

to make sure we're not throwing our money away... but man now

that we've decided to go forward, there's so much to do!

My wife's asleep on our couch looking at website designers. We

had an eye for a website designed in Hong Kong that had the

functionalities we wanted for our storefront, but it's so far out of

our budget we'll have to get something simpler to begin. Hope we

can find one soon...

Oh yeah, I never talked about what our store really does...

the concept's pretty simple: we divide our store into many mini-

stores - most of them are 1'x1'x1' cubes - and we allow anyone

who have stuff to sell rent them and put their goods in. Basically,

that's about it!

So why are we doing this? Retail space is quite expensive, so

for many enterpreneurs it's almost impossible to get their products

into their own store if they don't have some serious loonies to

start one.

Yeah I know you can sell it online, but how are you going to get

noticed among a gazillion competitors all over the

world? Even if you have an awesome product, it'd cost you a

fortune to buy google / yahoo / bing ads just to bring traffic in...

and eBay? Oh man that cost even more... you get poor just to

attract eyeballs (another term from yester-year which means

less than nothing)...

Craigslist and Kijiji are good options, but your post only stays

on the front page for maybe 5 minutes... and then it disappears

into oblivion... and drifts away...

So that brings us back to square one: how do you draw people's

attention to your awesome product? This is how we can help.

G.E.M. is a store dedicated to

enterpreneurs of all kinds - small

businesses, students, moms,

anyone who has a great idea - to have

a low-cost store front in one of the

busiest mall in Markham.

Since the store's cost is divided amongst

the many mini-tenants, each cube can be rented at a very low, very

affordable month rate. Now anyone can afford a store without huge

upfront cost...

It's getting really late, I have to catch some Zzzz to go to work

in the morning... hope to see you again soon!

G.E.M. is ready for liftoff!

Hello world! Welcome to our blog... we're a husband-and-wife

team who are venturing into the retail world for the very first time,

and we're 99% excited and 1% nervous... or is it 1% excited

and 99% nervous? I'm not even sure! But nevertheless, this is

definitely different from work in the office :)

This is our first time blogging, so pardon us if we speak in old

20th-century english... darn that feel so old! We'll be putting

updates often, so check in often...

We have a ton of work to do and not too much time before our

self-imposed opening deadline, so please pray for us that

we can make it without driving each other nuts...

See you soon!

Brian