Retail Store Funding in Lubbock

A shopping city for a wide region

Lubbock is the economic center of the Lubbock metropolitan area on the High Plains, with 257,141 residents at the 2020 census and a county of 310,639. Retail here serves shoppers from the city and from nearby towns such as Slaton and Wolfforth. A store with a good location and a steady stream of customers still has to solve the same problem every season: how much to buy, and when.

The buy-sell gap

The wider the gap between the first and third rows, the more cash a store needs to carry the season.

Choosing between a few big bets and many small ones

A store with limited cash tends to buy a little of everything. A store with more available cash can commit to depth in the products it knows will sell. Depth means fewer stockouts and, sometimes, better pricing. It also means more risk if a product fails. The best use of outside capital is to buy deeper in proven products, not to speculate on unproven ones.

For illustration only, and not our terms: if a boutique expects to sell $40,000 of a seasonal line, it may need to commit $20,000 or more before the first sale. Whether it can afford a large order determines whether it stocks the line deeply or sparingly.

Other costs

• Sales tax: filers are told by the Comptroller whether to file monthly or quarterly, and the maximum combined state and local rate is 8.25 percent.
• Store refresh, fixtures and signage.
• An online channel alongside the shop.
• Lease deposits for a better location.

See working capital and line of credit for the common structures.

Inventory mistakes worth avoiding

• Buying the whole season at once. Leave room to reorder what sells and skip what does not.
• Ignoring last year's data. Your own sales history is the best forecast you have.
• Funding fixtures from the stock budget. Display costs and inventory costs should be planned separately.
• Forgetting the markdown. Some of every season's stock sells at a discount; price that in from the start.

Outside capital works best when the plan already accounts for these, because the money then covers timing rather than mistakes.

Questions to answer before you place the big order

Which three products carried the most sales last season? How many weeks did the stock take to sell through? What did you mark down, and by how much? Answers to these questions turn a guess into a plan, and they tell you how much capital the next season really needs. They also help you spot the difference between a store that needs more stock and one that needs better stock.

Applying

The application takes about five minutes with a soft credit pull. Sole proprietors can apply, and funding of $25,000 to $5,000,000 can arrive in as little as 24 hours after approval. See the Lubbock County page, then apply.