Moving my webstore twice: now and later. Feedback please

[leafgreen]

I think I know what to do, but I just would like some confirmation, and maybe other ideas, from you experts out there :)

I suddenly must move my webstore! I think I want to do a 301 redirect from my webstore (a subdirectory) to a temporary domain name (Domain1), until the intended permanent domain (Domain2) exits redemption in mid-November. After I move to Domain2, I'll add an additional 301 redirect from Domain1 to Domain2.

Here's the rub: The busiest three months for my store starts right now, so I want to capture those sales.

More key details and facts:
I have a two-year-old webstore that's at a subdirectory (for example: www.example.com/store). Due to a sudden split with my business partner, the store can't continue in its current subdirectory, and I must re-brand and move the webstore to a new domain immediately. The site does not have many external links (counts: Yahoo=40, Alexa=98, and opensiteexplorer=41). The little link-building I did do responded well in both immediate salesand search ranking.

Next, about the two new domains in question: Domain1 I just registered. Domain2 I don't own. It is expired and won't be available (out of redemption) until mid-November. (Yes, both myself and a professional domain broker can't reach the owner.) Domain 2 is more likeable based on a survey I conducted asking respondents to rate Domain1, Domain2 and other similar qualitydomains on a scale of 1-6, 1 being best. Domain 2 got the overall highestrating of 2.3. Domain 1 got a rating of 4.3, one of the lowest.

Should I link-build/promote to Domain1 temporarily, and then when I get Domain2, do a 301 redirect from both Domain2 and my old webstore?

[tedster]

First I want to make sure I understand one important factor. You had a severe falling out with your partner and MUST move your content. Is your former partner still willing to host a redirect from his subdomain to your new domain?

If that is the case (and it must be or else you're starting over from scratch), then you could redirect to the first "new" domain.

However, you want to change that redirect so it goes directly to the "second" new domain when it's ready. Chains of redirects are not a good idea. at best, some of the link juice dissipates. At worst, it just isn't trusted and no link juice flows through it.

[leafgreen]

Not a severe falling out, just a split, we're friendly. I'm pretty sure he'll agree to the redirect from his subdomain. (I'm doing the webhosting lol). So let's assume that.

But I don't understand what you wrote: "then you could redirect to the first "new" domain." But then you say it's a bad idea to do it twice. I'm willing to accept that "some of the link juice dissipates", but not "no link juice". What's the best solution?

I should add that the webstore ranks #5 on G SERP for the kw "example store" where "example" is the stuff I sell, and www.exampleanotherword.com/store is the url of the store. So, most of the ranking is because of the "example" in the domain. Both Domain1 and Domain2 use the kw "example".

[tedster]

What you DON'T want is this kind of redirect after you launch the final domain:

No: original subdomain >> temporary new domain >> final new domain

So when your final new domain goes live, change the original redirect rule on the original subdomain - so then you have:

Yes: original subdomain >> final new domain

Make sure you use a redirect that sends every URL to it's individual new URL, not just everything to the new home page.