subject: How To Open A Retail Store - Location [print this page] The old real estate mantra "location, location, location" applies just the same to your retail store. Here are three ways location can help or hurt your new business.
Street Visibility
Creating the best street visibility for your retail store will depend in part on what you do with exterior design and signage after you open. Before you can reach that point, however, set yourself up for success by choosing a location that not only offers a good amount of visibility for those walking or driving by, but will be seen by the highest number of individuals. Some locations simply receive more foot or drive by traffic than others. In the early days of your opening, while your marketing is still gearing up, pulling in these passersby is your priority.
Neighbors
Your neighbors should be not just friendly business owners, but hopefully complementary businesses who will be assisted by your presence near them as much as you will be by their presences. This could be because the products you sell are specifically complementary to those sold in other stores nearby (such as shoes and socks), but also if your products are sold to the same type of customer your neighbor seeks. If the existing businesses around your intended spot sell to entirely different types of customers, you will gain little from the traffic from their store and they will gain little by yours. In those situations you will find few opportunities to partner with the neighbor and may end up resenting their presence (as they may resent yours).
When your neighbors are residential, you must think hard about whether this situation will be an asset or a liability. Are they potential customers who will welcome having your business right in their backyard? Or will they be upset by noise, traffic, or odors caused by your store, leading to potential issues with them or with local government?
Access to Customers
While it may take time for your location to become a destination for customers, this should be your goal. It is a tough game to survive by convincing person after person who walks or drives by to stop and enter your store (a game generally best won by chain stores whose brand is established on a national or regional basis). To be a destination for customers who leave their homes or work to travel to your store, you must be near enough to your customers that they won't consider closer competitors instead. This could mean either being physically near to them or being near a subway stop, train stop, highway, parking lot, or any such location that makes it easier for customers to reach you.
by: Eric Powers
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