The best chance he has is by paying careful attention to the following success factors. Location certainly is still number one on the list. No matter how good your location is, though, it will exclude more potential customers than it will include. The second key to success is to find ways to go beyond the local market and reach more customers. The internet, catalogs, and ads in focussed magazines are all possibilities, but I have seen even more success when the retailer can identify a national market place, a trade show or convention, like the recent National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlanta, which brings interested buyers and sellers together in one place.
Business name is number three.
National chains already have a brand identity. If your shop has a non-obvious, too cute name, it faces huge marketing costs just to explain the name. Try to avoid the completely mundane, but let the customer know what you do. Exclusive, unique or unusual products are number four. Small retailers cannot compete with big box retailers, catalogs, or internet retailers for commodity sales.