Extend Design Studio

Organic cosmetics and skincare
Cosmetics is a tried-and-true vertical in the retail industry. But do you know what’s even more popular than cosmetics and skincare products? Those which are organic. Per Energias Market Research, “the global organic beauty products market is expected to increase from USD 14.8 billion in 2017 to USD 28.7 billion in 2024, at a CAGR of 9.9% from 2018 to 2024.” Successful retailers in this category like Lush do a great job of selling not only organic, but wholly ethical and sustainable, products

Children’s products
In recent years, parents have spent more on their children due to decreases in school budgets, making child-oriented stores some of the fastest-growing in the industry. The average parent spends $6,500 on toys alone over the course of a child’s life. Plus, growing populations means more babies. So whether it’s toys, clothing or something in between, catering to the youngest consumer base is a real retail opportunity.

A co-op or community space
People like to be part of a group, and retailers have a unique opportunity to foster community through their physical space. One example is Deep Roots Market, which is a grocery store that also has community space and hosts in-store markets with local merchants.
Meanwhile, the outdoors retailer REI charges co-op members a one-time $25 fee for lifelong benefits including discounts, exclusive sales and store credit rewards for qualified purchases.

Men’s grooming
Statistica data predicts the male grooming industry to be worth $29.14 billion by 2024 — up from $21.65 billion in 2018. It’s why we see online brands like Dollar Shave Club, Beardbrand and Harry’s reach popularity quickly. One thing brick-and-mortar retailers can do that those brands can’t is to create an immersive men’s grooming experience. Offer grooming services or consultations in-store and allow customers to touch, feel and smell your product to seal the deal.

Bowling alley
Though not the cheapest of business ideas on this list, it’s one that can be extremely profitable as well as appeal to the widest range of patrons in a small town. A successful bowling alley can become the center of a town’s social life. Besides the obvious bowling revenue stream, food and drink (especially alcoholic beverages), can also help you pull in the big bucks. Small town bowling alleys can also be rented out for additional income. Like all businesses, large and small, having a quality business plan for your bowling alley is incredibly important.

Bookstore
Bookshops might now be different and resemble little of what most of us remember from our childhoods, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If anything, the need for bookstore owners to create new and innovative ways to succeed has opened up a plethora of additional business opportunities. And isn’t that what small towns are all about, creating opportunity and coming up with creative ways to provide the most options for their communities?
Of course, if you decide to open a bookstore as your small town business you’ll want to make sure that the main focus is books. But that doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate other aspects of your community or additional products into your store. It’s rare nowadays to go into a bookstore just for books. They’re now a prime destination for gifts, crafts, e-readers, coffee and events. Selling a variety of merchandise and holding events will diversify your revenue stream and bring additional customers into your store, those that traditionally might not be the paper book type.
It also might surprise you that though there are far fewer bookstores around these days, sales at bookstores that have weathered the storm are up five percent. Though it is partially due to less competition, it is also that the opportunity to reinvent bookstores for the 21st century has proved lucrative.

Flower shop
It might surprise you, but opening a flower shop is a fairly inexpensive business idea and great for small towns. That is, less expensive than say a restaurant or a car wash. Starting a flower shop has relatively few costs compared to other retail businesses. One of the only costs you will be faced with is the purchase of a cooler to keep your product (aka pretty flowers) fresh and cool.
Though your local community will be thrilled to have fresh flowers in their town, you will still have the struggle of competing against online delivery services. Remember, if you are the first florist the town has ever seen (or at least for a while), they are probably used to ordering online. Habits can be hard to break. The best way to compete with the online sea of flora is with reasonable prices, attention to detail, great customer service and a sprig of creativity.

Gift card shop
Americans purchase on average 6.5 billion greeting cards each year. While sales are estimated between $7 and $8 billion annually, according to the Greeting Card Association, many of these cards are now purchased in big box stores, such as Target and Walmart. Those living in small towns often don’t have access to these types of stores, at least not in their immediate vicinity. Providing the people of your town with a place to not only purchase cards but gifts as well is a prime retail opportunity. The variety and diversity of products you can carry are endless, which allows you the freedom to play around with your inventory until you find that special mix of products for your small town business. Plus, the profit margin on gift cards can be quite high, making this a potentially very lucrative business.