To reiterate good points above, be sure to have plenty of entry-level/gift-level items from Victorinox/Gerber/Kershaw and a step-up in quality for second-timers to Camillus and low-end Spyderco. This will be the bulk of your knife sales (along with multi-tools, esp. Leatherman). Benchmade would be the obvious choice for your high-quality production pieces along with Spyderco. Everything you have above that will mostly be for display (very low sales volume), but will help sell the lower stuff and keep your store interesting.
In addition, try to piggyback on the fishing and kayaking store's business by offering knives that would appeal to those customers who are already being drawn there by that market. Fillet and fishing knives and fixed-bladed river rescue knives in kaydex sheaths made for life-jacket attachment.
There is a successful knife shop near me and one thing they do is offer a sharpening service. This is a decent little side-business and increases traffic in the store. They also put MSRP list prices on the knives and then a discount price right under that for all their volume knives. Nobody wants to pay retail any more, especially with the internet competition.
I've worked in a couple of retail businesses and one thing I've learned is that to be successful, you have to think about having two kinds of merchandise. The first one is already stated: good knives. That's what makes the customer walk in the door. The second kind of merchandise is crucial to success: it's everything else that someone might possibly buy if he came in to the store to look at some good knives but didn't buy one this time. Before he walks out, he should have the opportunity to drop some cash on impulse buys that are inexpensive. Stuff like knife lubricant, Photon micro lights, cheap sheaths, knife magazines, keychain stuff (like whistles, screwdrivers, compasses, etc.), hats, and just anything you can think of in this category. You might even want to include stuff that has nothing to do with knives but that a typical tourist might be in need of, like chap-stick, candy, local map, sunglasses, whatever. You are going to be getting full mark-up on these impulse items and it will add up to an important part of your business. If you don't have any impulse stuff, 98% of the people who walk into your store will walk out without spending any money and will remain a completely untapped resource for you.
One more thing: make friends with the local shop keepers, especially the ones at other sporting goods stores. They will be referring customers to you if they like you. For starters, you might want to give them preferential pricing and service.
I don't know if your question is for use or just curiosity, but if you plan to open a shop, good luck!
