Shoe and bag shop

About the business

A shop selling shoes, sandals, school bags, handbags and belts together. Much of what the country's small footwear workshops make ends up on these shelves. On 16 September 2026 the Daraz catalogue showed Bata's own store listing school shoes at Tk 559 to Tk 1,999, flip-flops at Tk 120-239, Walkaroo clogs at Tk 504-597 and a Lotto slide at Tk 695. On the bag side, school bags ran Tk 279-996 and women's handbags Tk 299-1,604. Belts are the cheapest line, starting at Tk 134 in artificial leather and Tk 979 for full-grain. The real game here is size and design. Shoes sell by size, so a dozen pairs of one design will lose its middle sizes first and leave the extremes sitting; those leftover pairs eat the profit. Bags have no size problem, which is why many shops lean on them. Demand is uneven through the year: it jumps when school reopens in January, rises again before both Eids, and almost stops in the monsoon, when people buy plastic sandals rather than leather shoes.

Unit economics

What you need to start

• Wall shelving, a mirror, a stool, a shoehorn, a way to measure feet, and a glass showcase. The bottom shelf should sit high enough to keep boxes off a wet floor in the monsoon.Equipment
• A size run for every design, weighted to the middle sizes, or money gets stuck in unsold pairs. Bags and belts carry no size risk and are safer stock.Starting stock
• Trade licence from the city corporation, municipality or union parishad: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, non-judicial stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type, plus VAT and signboard fee. Issued in 3-5 working days with papers ready.Licence
• At least two wholesale sources - small footwear workshops or a wholesale market. Tied to one source you accept their price and their designs.Supplier
• A small shop at a school, college or market entrance. Wall-to-wall shelving is needed because shoes do not sell unless displayed, plus space at the back or above for the boxes.Workspace

How the work is done

1. 1Look for a shop near a school, college or market gate. Shoes and bags are bought while walking past, so footfall is everything.
2. 2Take the trade licence from the city corporation, municipality or union parishad.
3. 3Decide which wholesale market you buy from, and keep at least two sources so you can switch when one raises prices.
4. 4Weight the first stock towards cheap and mid-price lines. Expensive shoes look good on the shelf but sit for months in a new shop.
5. 5Decide the size run for each design before you buy: more of the middle sizes, fewer of the extremes. Ignore this and the shelf stays full while the sizes people want are gone.
6. 6Stock bags and belts alongside shoes. Bags have no size problem, so the money that gets stuck in unsold shoe sizes does not get stuck in them.
7. 7Put out a stool, a mirror and a shoehorn. Nobody buys shoes without trying them, and a customer who has to try them standing up walks out.
8. 8Build up school shoes and school bags before schools reopen in January. Those few weeks are the surest sales of the year.
9. 9Before the monsoon, cut back on leather and stock plastic and rubber sandals. Leather does not sell in the mud months and grows mould sitting on the shelf.
10. 10Every two or three months clear out leftover sizes and old designs at a discount. A shoe that has sat six months will not sell in a year either; getting the money back out is the gain.

Sources

• সিটি কর্পোরেশন থেকে ট্রেড লাইসেন্স প্রাপ্তির ধাপ সমূহ

  Collected: 16 Sept 2026

  Supports: Starting capital · বাংলাদেশ

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