If I had a storefront in Korea – I would open an awesome 24-hour laundromat/cafe that serves “American” food. People could wash and dry their clothes, use the wireless internet service in the lounge area and order yummy food while they wait on their clothes to finish. I would serve breakfast/brunch items all day long. Laundromats and American breakfast food are hard to come by in Korea, so I would make them both available in one fantastic place .
Snack shop where you could come in and have a sit and a visit! Offer healthy snacks for kids and p’s. Just make it the funnest break place ever!
Then, run helpful classes at night. Job search, finances, parenting, etc.
Then music. Open mic night. Scrapbooking night? Dance lessons? Summer camp classes. Cupcakery. Writing lessons. Book club. Always changing with a core business of coffee/snacks? A neighborhood hangout and co-op. Let neighbors run events at this place. Have a home business? Come set up shop for a few hours and let us help you out!
Just a something for everyone place – that is such fun!!
I’d open a cafe/book store in a small college town. The window front would have a mosaic table for two. We’d sell a variety of teas, coffees, and medicinal foods. Foods like grilled cheeses, tuna melts, french toast, veggie wraps, etc.
I have done a lot of research and have concluded that the people selling their shirts for $30, $40 plus are simply…greedy! My plan would not to become rich at the expense of God or Christianity but to make enough to support myself, the business and the rest to be donated to my church and charities. For the Glory of God means exactly that!
Actually they aren’t greedy, they are small & trying to produce a quality & stylish product. If you look at the wholesale prices for american apparel or alternative apparel (which are made in the us…without a sweatshop)& then you print in several colors on them. Then no a $40 tee is not that bad. If you want a hanes tee then you can shop at walmart, not support you local economy, & have something lame. If you do find it affordable & hip then they simply have a lame business model & one that wouldn’t allow you to support yourself or charities. Time for a little more research.
If I had a storefront I would set up a coffee shop where the first cup is always free. I’d plant a church and start from there small on Sunday nights or Thursday nights. I would invite local artists and poets and authors to make it their home by playing only local music and allowing the artists and poets to create the painting inside. I’d leave a box for suggestions and honestly read everyone. I would offer meals to those who needed them and in all of this I would hope above all to show the love of Christ to a hurting world. A world needing inspired by some creativity. A world needing truth and love.
Either a cookie bakery – Cookies and Cream. Where the base is already made for cookies, but you add the ingredients you want. And ice cold milk, different flavors, like from Promised Land milk. Warm cookies cold cold milk.
or . . . a small restaurant. Specific for children. They have a mini-me menu. Same items as on the adult menu only small portions. Tiles for the kiddos to paint, and then place on the walls. Spark their creativity and use it as the decoration.
Open up the stage for acoustic sets from local artists. Instruments available for the kiddos to share their stuff.
Wow. I don’t know, I like to cook and can make a few things really good. But I also like color and being creative. Hmm, I think and arts and crafts place that families can come to and have a daily special.
Something like Dharma’s store from Dharma and Greg when she had a place where everybody just traded their talents. Either way it would be full of color and clutter.
This reminds me of a place in NC I used to visit that sold newspapers from all over the US/world and magazines that you never knew existed. It was open-air with a roll-up door and they held all of the papers down with rocks or bricks. They also sold Sun Drop in a glass bottle. It closed down about 5 yrs ago.
Funny, I was just thinking about this (there is a shop down the street from my house that is empty…as if I had money to afford a business!)
I would have a small urban gardening community store. People could donate old garden supplies, and we could sell used and new supplies that would be ideal for small city gardens. We’d offer classes and workshops and teach others how to grow their own food. It would be a border-line coop operation, kind of like a “Bicycle Collective” here in town.
A place where hurting people can find healing. A place where hopeless people can find hope. A place where people can reach their dreams and meet Jesus along their journey. A place that “demonstrates the love of God to our community” through meeting needs with no strings attached while accepting everyone because of the love of God. Am I dreaming? Yes. But we will have this store front soon. real soon….
I would stand in the window like a mannequin and scare the crap out of people.
or.
I would live in it. When I was little, I always thought it would be cool to make a store front into a little flat and live there, only closing the curtains on the big front windows at bed time.
I’m pretty sure that says something scary about my psyche…
So many great answers already! Some of these people need to go see the “sharks” for a loan. I would open a restaurant serving great food, eaten on couches and small areas where we could ponder questions of the day like this one!!
I would open a daytime homeless shelter… a place where people without homes could come and sit and feel like people again, instead of sleeping all day on a park bench, or crowding into some run down space, I would make it beautiful, with clean lines and inspiring design.
We would offer free medical clinics on Thursdays, and free law clinics on Tuesdays, and free social services on Mondays, and if we could find one free vet clinics for those homeless people who have dogs. We would offer haircuts, and clothing, and job training for those who want it. And if we could work it out, maybe even have a locker room where you could sign up to take a shower and wash your clothes like they have at truck stops.
We’d have coffee all day, and three meals… and when the weather got cold we’d open up for the night shift as a place for homeless women and children to stay.
And if you came for the day, you would be given a task to help out with the running of the shelter. You might be the floor sweeper one day, or the table cleaner another day… but everyone would be encouraged to be productive and help each other out. However, it wouldn’t be all work, we’d also have a library and maybe some board games. I’m picturing something like the lobby of my dorm in college. and it would just be a place where people can sit and interact and remember that even if they don’t have a roof they are still made in the image of God, and are still glorious and precious, and Good.
For me, that was by far the most amazing answer. (No offense, all the ideas have been awesome!) What a cool heart you have, and I’d love to see that dream of yours become reality one day!!
We own a marketing firm. If we ever have storefront space (instead of office space) we’d always have someone performing out front. Music, comedy, dance, painting, whatever. We would offer our front as a stage for local talent to come and market themselves For free. And because we have ADD and need someone to entertain us while we work
I keep telling my husband that somewhere in the back of my head, I *know* that I will own a storefront one day. Ever since college, I’ve known that a storefront is somewhere in my future. I have no idea what it will be for, but it’s still there. Like a quiet cat in the corner.
My best guesses as of late? An office for my counseling business. Or an art studio/store. Or a stationary shop.
My wife and I would put in a tea shop, hire teenage girls to learn the business, host all girl band nights, and eventually turn over this joint to our daughter who isn’t even born yet.
i think a “post-secret” sandwich shop could be kinda cool. walls and windows all decked out with ‘secrets’ and the sandwiches rolled in secrets, or blank paper that people could put their own secrets on.
Weirdly, ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to live in a storefront. Not in, like, a voyeuristic way, but I just think it would be awesome to live a home flanked by businesses, in the middle of everyone’s everyday life. I’d probably set up a little seating area right in front, and people watch, and invite friends in for a cup of coffee when they passed.
If I owned a storefront in Maastricht, in the Netherlands, I would give it to my former youth pastor who is planting an English speaking international church there. They need a place for offices and hang out space and meetings and a 24/7 prayer room.
When I found out they’re naming the church Damascus Road, I sent them your LA Ink clip, Los…they thought that was wicked cool.
Location, location, location. Where is the store front located? Downtown ATL v. Marietta Square – big difference in demographics. Downtown ATL – Liquor Store, Marietta Square – Art and Clothing. I’m a business owner, not a magician!
Thanks for this question Carlos! It was a great date night discussion for my husband and I We decided we’d open a place that served soup and bread paid for by donation and a place where local musicians could come and jam together and collaborate (which would have some structure to it led by my husband), while others just come to listen and take in the atmosphere. This is actually a dream of my hubby’s but we don’t have a store front, so we’re praying about doing it out of our church.
i’d set up a cooking class company that would cater to low income/resource neighborhoods. it would be half grocery store where they could use food stamps to buy healthy and whole foods and fruits. the other half of the store would be for cooking classes or “let’s dish” type of set up. i’m convinced that women want to feed their kids well- they just have never been taught how.
RAIN IT DOWN
Probably just rent it out.
each month i would tell a story. i would talk about how our product impacted a costumer.
graffiti, painting, music, sculpture. whatever worked to tell THAT story.
If done right, the window would become more popular than the store.
this is why i love you
If I had a storefront in Korea – I would open an awesome 24-hour laundromat/cafe that serves “American” food. People could wash and dry their clothes, use the wireless internet service in the lounge area and order yummy food while they wait on their clothes to finish. I would serve breakfast/brunch items all day long. Laundromats and American breakfast food are hard to come by in Korea, so I would make them both available in one fantastic place
.
Snack shop where you could come in and have a sit and a visit! Offer healthy snacks for kids and p’s. Just make it the funnest break place ever!
Then, run helpful classes at night. Job search, finances, parenting, etc.
Then music. Open mic night. Scrapbooking night? Dance lessons? Summer camp classes. Cupcakery. Writing lessons. Book club. Always changing with a core business of coffee/snacks? A neighborhood hangout and co-op. Let neighbors run events at this place. Have a home business? Come set up shop for a few hours and let us help you out!
Just a something for everyone place – that is such fun!!
id put a sign up that said ‘there is nothing in here’ w/the tag of ‘please do not come in’. i’d sell nothing but bazooka bubble gum.
I’d open a cafe/book store in a small college town. The window front would have a mosaic table for two. We’d sell a variety of teas, coffees, and medicinal foods. Foods like grilled cheeses, tuna melts, french toast, veggie wraps, etc.
I’d put a sign that read FREE ADVICE… I wonder if anyone would bite on that one.
I have always had a creative streak and have ideas for a line of christian clothing designs. Either that or a hot dog restaurant call Almighty Dogs
Would you sell the shirts for $15/20 instead of $40 prices they are now? I would shop there then!
I have done a lot of research and have concluded that the people selling their shirts for $30, $40 plus are simply…greedy! My plan would not to become rich at the expense of God or Christianity but to make enough to support myself, the business and the rest to be donated to my church and charities. For the Glory of God means exactly that!
Actually they aren’t greedy, they are small & trying to produce a quality & stylish product. If you look at the wholesale prices for american apparel or alternative apparel (which are made in the us…without a sweatshop)& then you print in several colors on them. Then no a $40 tee is not that bad. If you want a hanes tee then you can shop at walmart, not support you local economy, & have something lame. If you do find it affordable & hip then they simply have a lame business model & one that wouldn’t allow you to support yourself or charities. Time for a little more research.
Coffee/Book Store/Internet cafe near a couple of the local colleges
I would help you! I would also have to have open mic night, there is to much overlooked talent out there.
Open a Photography Studio that would offer “Pay what you can” sitting fees.
If I had a storefront I would set up a coffee shop where the first cup is always free. I’d plant a church and start from there small on Sunday nights or Thursday nights. I would invite local artists and poets and authors to make it their home by playing only local music and allowing the artists and poets to create the painting inside. I’d leave a box for suggestions and honestly read everyone. I would offer meals to those who needed them and in all of this I would hope above all to show the love of Christ to a hurting world. A world needing inspired by some creativity. A world needing truth and love.
Either a cookie bakery – Cookies and Cream. Where the base is already made for cookies, but you add the ingredients you want. And ice cold milk, different flavors, like from Promised Land milk. Warm cookies cold cold milk.
WHOOPS forgot to add my “OR”
or . . . a small restaurant. Specific for children. They have a mini-me menu. Same items as on the adult menu only small portions. Tiles for the kiddos to paint, and then place on the walls. Spark their creativity and use it as the decoration.
Open up the stage for acoustic sets from local artists. Instruments available for the kiddos to share their stuff.
Menudo! (…..and posole for people who don’t enjoy intestines.)
Yes, please!
How about Menudo without the posole? I have only been to one restaurant that did that. Yum. Now I am hungry.
Wow. I don’t know, I like to cook and can make a few things really good. But I also like color and being creative. Hmm, I think and arts and crafts place that families can come to and have a daily special.
Something like Dharma’s store from Dharma and Greg when she had a place where everybody just traded their talents. Either way it would be full of color and clutter.
Maybe open a store called “Oriented for You”
This reminds me of a place in NC I used to visit that sold newspapers from all over the US/world and magazines that you never knew existed. It was open-air with a roll-up door and they held all of the papers down with rocks or bricks. They also sold Sun Drop in a glass bottle. It closed down about 5 yrs ago.
I’d bring it back.
Display local artists’ works – change it out every month or so.
I would turn it into a thrift store (Called Steve Jaguar Thrift—-long story, would explain over drinks sometime) that also doubles as a music venue.
Cool place for people to shop and to listen to some good music.
Artist studio and C-L-E-A-N Comedy club… a place where artists could display and sell their work and a place to perform.
I would open a Christian Bookstore/Coffee Shop that would have the atmosphere of Barnes and Noble…drink drink coffee and peruse through the books.
Funny, I was just thinking about this (there is a shop down the street from my house that is empty…as if I had money to afford a business!)
I would have a small urban gardening community store. People could donate old garden supplies, and we could sell used and new supplies that would be ideal for small city gardens. We’d offer classes and workshops and teach others how to grow their own food. It would be a border-line coop operation, kind of like a “Bicycle Collective” here in town.
You know…I’d kind of like to steal from Donald Miller’s idea in Blue Like Jazz.
I’d like to have a prayer/confessional type place.
I realize this comment might leave me open to sarcastic comments along the lines of “we have churches for that” buuuut obviously we don’t.
I guess I’d like to create a safe space is all so that people can be real and I can be real too.
A medical clinic for the underprivileged population.
Come on … thats the question. AHHH
A place where hurting people can find healing. A place where hopeless people can find hope. A place where people can reach their dreams and meet Jesus along their journey. A place that “demonstrates the love of God to our community” through meeting needs with no strings attached while accepting everyone because of the love of God. Am I dreaming? Yes. But we will have this store front soon. real soon….
I would stand in the window like a mannequin and scare the crap out of people.
or.
I would live in it. When I was little, I always thought it would be cool to make a store front into a little flat and live there, only closing the curtains on the big front windows at bed time.
I’m pretty sure that says something scary about my psyche…
So many great answers already! Some of these people need to go see the “sharks” for a loan. I would open a restaurant serving great food, eaten on couches and small areas where we could ponder questions of the day like this one!!
It would be a”Free Prayer Stand”.
I would open a daytime homeless shelter… a place where people without homes could come and sit and feel like people again, instead of sleeping all day on a park bench, or crowding into some run down space, I would make it beautiful, with clean lines and inspiring design.
We would offer free medical clinics on Thursdays, and free law clinics on Tuesdays, and free social services on Mondays, and if we could find one free vet clinics for those homeless people who have dogs. We would offer haircuts, and clothing, and job training for those who want it. And if we could work it out, maybe even have a locker room where you could sign up to take a shower and wash your clothes like they have at truck stops.
We’d have coffee all day, and three meals… and when the weather got cold we’d open up for the night shift as a place for homeless women and children to stay.
And if you came for the day, you would be given a task to help out with the running of the shelter. You might be the floor sweeper one day, or the table cleaner another day… but everyone would be encouraged to be productive and help each other out. However, it wouldn’t be all work, we’d also have a library and maybe some board games. I’m picturing something like the lobby of my dorm in college. and it would just be a place where people can sit and interact and remember that even if they don’t have a roof they are still made in the image of God, and are still glorious and precious, and Good.
For me, that was by far the most amazing answer.
(No offense, all the ideas have been awesome!) What a cool heart you have, and I’d love to see that dream of yours become reality one day!!
Okay, I need to play the lottery. If I win, you are all invited to start a town with me! We would have a church of no walls in the park.
Sell my handcrafted bags with a biblical message.
We own a marketing firm. If we ever have storefront space (instead of office space) we’d always have someone performing out front. Music, comedy, dance, painting, whatever. We would offer our front as a stage for local talent to come and market themselves
For free. And because we have ADD and need someone to entertain us while we work 
I’d put it right by a busy bus stop.
It’d have a walk up window that serves great breakfast & lunch.
It’d have office space for creative people.
And we’d launch one creative project a year that would impact the community in which it is in.
I almost laughed out loud when I saw this post.
I keep telling my husband that somewhere in the back of my head, I *know* that I will own a storefront one day. Ever since college, I’ve known that a storefront is somewhere in my future. I have no idea what it will be for, but it’s still there. Like a quiet cat in the corner.
My best guesses as of late? An office for my counseling business. Or an art studio/store. Or a stationary shop.
Why open a shop if it isn’t a guitar shop?
My wife and I would put in a tea shop, hire teenage girls to learn the business, host all girl band nights, and eventually turn over this joint to our daughter who isn’t even born yet.
that’s what we would do
I’m about to! So excited!
i think a “post-secret” sandwich shop could be kinda cool. walls and windows all decked out with ‘secrets’ and the sandwiches rolled in secrets, or blank paper that people could put their own secrets on.
That is such an awesome idea! Love it.
Hot Dog Stand!
authentic, homemade, mexican cafe. Especially homemade flour tortillas. Who doesn’t like mexican food.
Restaurant.
Bar food mostly.
I would open a boutique that carries vintage surfboards, clothes, and stuff you can’t find anywhere else.
A coffee shop//studio for artists/businesses/entrepreneurs to come collaborate together in. And a place I could get coffee 24/7!
Weirdly, ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to live in a storefront. Not in, like, a voyeuristic way, but I just think it would be awesome to live a home flanked by businesses, in the middle of everyone’s everyday life. I’d probably set up a little seating area right in front, and people watch, and invite friends in for a cup of coffee when they passed.
If I owned a storefront in Maastricht, in the Netherlands, I would give it to my former youth pastor who is planting an English speaking international church there. They need a place for offices and hang out space and meetings and a 24/7 prayer room.
When I found out they’re naming the church Damascus Road, I sent them your LA Ink clip, Los…they thought that was wicked cool.
Location, location, location. Where is the store front located? Downtown ATL v. Marietta Square – big difference in demographics. Downtown ATL – Liquor Store, Marietta Square – Art and Clothing. I’m a business owner, not a magician!
Thanks for this question Carlos! It was a great date night discussion for my husband and I
We decided we’d open a place that served soup and bread paid for by donation and a place where local musicians could come and jam together and collaborate (which would have some structure to it led by my husband), while others just come to listen and take in the atmosphere. This is actually a dream of my hubby’s but we don’t have a store front, so we’re praying about doing it out of our church.
i’d set up a cooking class company that would cater to low income/resource neighborhoods. it would be half grocery store where they could use food stamps to buy healthy and whole foods and fruits. the other half of the store would be for cooking classes or “let’s dish” type of set up. i’m convinced that women want to feed their kids well- they just have never been taught how.
Hot Chocolate in the winter, Lemonade in the summer! Fall and Spring, on break!
A bodega for sure! Homecooked meals for lunch & dinner. Cook enough for the day and sell until there’s no food left