The Ford Barn - View Single Post - OT: Is a 'themed' shop necessary to a (potential) customer??

Bruce Lancaster · 10-28-2014, 04:12 PM

Functionality for your own use and suitability for you retiremant plans for the place should be paramount, and I don't think there should be any museum quality to the work areas except of course for neat old tooling that is still in use.
As pointed out by all, your reputation and products are the main deal.
That being said...I would go for a bit of a facade stuck to the customer entrance area, either the look of the front wall of a neat old gas station or the brickwork of so many old Ford dealerships...the latter, if carefully done, might add future value, as it would be nice for a retail area...shops could look like Ye Olde Deluxe Shoppe, rather than just another strip mall.
Customer area really should have some display...maybe a few show-and-tell parts or cutaways showing the sort of work that makes an axle housing or a gastank usable, so it would help sell good services. It could also display expensive goodies that could be folded into a restoration like rare original or NOS parts and accessories. Developing that could make the displays pay for themselves.
I'd probably punt, though, and devote the rest of my life to the 1/20th diorama...

10-28-2014, 04:12 PM	#17
Bruce Lancaster Member Emeritus Join Date: May 2010 Location: Madison, NJ Posts: 5,230	Re: OT: Is a 'themed' shop necessary to a (potential) customer?? Functionality for your own use and suitability for you retiremant plans for the place should be paramount, and I don't think there should be any museum quality to the work areas except of course for neat old tooling that is still in use. As pointed out by all, your reputation and products are the main deal. That being said...I would go for a bit of a facade stuck to the customer entrance area, either the look of the front wall of a neat old gas station or the brickwork of so many old Ford dealerships...the latter, if carefully done, might add future value, as it would be nice for a retail area...shops could look like Ye Olde Deluxe Shoppe, rather than just another strip mall. Customer area really should have some display...maybe a few show-and-tell parts or cutaways showing the sort of work that makes an axle housing or a gastank usable, so it would help sell good services. It could also display expensive goodies that could be folded into a restoration like rare original or NOS parts and accessories. Developing that could make the displays pay for themselves. I'd probably punt, though, and devote the rest of my life to the 1/20th diorama...