In looking for new product ideas for a country retail store, draw inspiration from your region and your customers. Conventions also provide business owners a chance to see many new products in one place. Avoid overbuying a brand-new product; see how it sells before making a large order. Remember, even if you love it, your customers may not.
Regional Products
You are probably surrounded by local artists, craftsmen, woodworkers, blacksmiths and inventors. Find those people through local craft guilds, art fairs and advertisements, and see if you can make an arrangement to sell their work. You can keep money in your community and offer your customers original products. For instance, if you are in the Pennsylvania countryside, see if there are local craftsmen working in the German tradition of furniture or decor. In Texas, find a blacksmith doing ranch-style ironwork to sell. Ask friends and neighbors for leads on those people. If your store sells food items, seek out people who make side businesses out of canning preserves and pickles or making breads and cakes.
Feedback
Ask your customers what they want. Handing out a customer survey or hiring a marketing firm to do so can give you a better idea of what will sell. If your customers are mostly homeowners, pet products, gardening tools or home gadgets might be good additions to your shelves. If you are in a farm-based community, your customers might be interested in traditional products such as the ones in the Vermont Country Store catalog. If your business is mostly tourists, add some collectibles like postcards, shot glasses, spoons or key chains that are mementos of your area.
Conventions
The biggest retailing convention is the annual National Retail Federation conference, but smaller retail conventions take place all over the country all year. You may find great new products at an invention convention, a natural products convention or a clothing or furniture show. There are conventions as specific as paper crafts, garden shows, and agricultural products, too. Look in your state or region for specific conferences that may interest you.
