home » Companies » Choosing a place in a shopping center. Typical mistakes when renting premises for a store

Choosing a place in a shopping center. Typical mistakes when renting premises for a store

Properly chosen premises bring business income. An unsuccessful premise will result in losses and the burden of unrealized opportunities: you could earn money, but it will not work in such a premise. How to rent a commercial space for rent and make money on it, we tell in this article.

From this article you will learn:

How to choose a premise for a shop? Depends on business strategy

Whatever business you are in, before choosing a space, you must determine your business model - what standard you want to meet and for whom you work.

The widest audience and thousands of product positions? We are talking about a hypermarket - you need a piece of land and a building of about 6,500 sq.m. The shop "All at the same price" will fit into 30 square meters - into a one-room apartment, transferred to a non-residential fund, on the first floor of the "house-ship". Look for the premises for a fashion boutique in a shopping center.

First decide what you are, and then choose the right room.

Business Model/Comparison Options	Discounter: market on Sennaya or Udelnaya, from chain stores - "7 steps"	Supermarket: 7Ya, Pyaterochka, Dixie	Shop "At home": shops in the yards	Hypermarket: O "Key, Tape, Carousel	Boutiques: Azbuka Vkusa, Live Foods	Specialty stores: "Ounce" (tea only)
Range	Limited: sells what you managed to knock out low prices	Wide: groceries and household goods	Limited: what is in demand among residents of nearby houses	Maximum wide: products, household goods, furniture, clothing, appliances...	Limited: regular products and something exclusive (truffles, freshly picked blackberries...)	Specialized: sell one product or products of one category (tea only, spices only...)
Prices	Very low	Low	High	Low	Very high	High
Walking distance	-	+	+	+/-	+/-	-
Availability of parking	-	+	-	+	+	+/-
Interior, exterior, room aesthetics	-	+/-	-	+	+	+

If you are targeting an audience that is chasing low prices, then you are a discounter. You do not need cross-country ability, you can have a dirty floor and a tent in general. Your task is to save on renting premises, cleaning, storage and the cost of goods. If you want to sell goods more expensive, you will have to choose the premises more meticulously.

For retail premises (except discounters), the following conditions are usually characteristic and desirable:

High ceilings - from 3 m
Showcase windows
Good electrical power - from 10 kW
If the room is on the 1st floor of a multi-storey building - a separate entrance from the street
Most of the premises should be a trading room
Warehouse and/or utility room
Bathroom for employees
If the total area of the premises is more than 100 sq.m, an emergency exit is required - a requirement of fire safety standards

Conclusion: determine who you are, what your business model is - from here the key parameters of the retail space will become clear

Target audience - another guideline when choosing a retail space

In addition to the business model, the choice of premises and its location is influenced by the target audience of your business. Think about who and in what conditions is interested in your products. And which one do you want to sell to most and most of all? Let me give you an example from the pharmacy business.

Target Audience Type/Comparison Parameter	Man, travels by car, above average income	Woman, married, has children, 30+, travels by transport	Elderly woman
Range	+	+/-	-
Walking distance	-	+	-
parking	+	-	-
Transport accessibility	-	+	-
Prices	Any	Medium	Lowest
Description of a typical buyer	Viktor Sergeevich needs to go once to any pharmacy where it is convenient to park the car. It is important to be able to buy everything in one place, so as not to wander around the city and not rebuild the usual car routes and your plans	Maria will stop by the pharmacy on her way to work before diving into the subway. Or on the way home from work. Usually he does not know the prices of medicines and does not compare, but he will not buy too expensive either. If a convenient pharmacy does not have everything you need, it's not scary. There are other convenient pharmacies. Drop by another time	Baba Klava will go to the other end of the city, with three transfers and stand in line to buy Corvalol 2 rubles cheaper

Conclusion: make a portrait of your target audience and decide who you want to sell to the most. Under these buyers and choose a room.

Which premises are better: in buildings (ground floors of residential buildings and buildings) or in shopping centers?

Commercial premises on the ground floor of a building or residential building. A good option if the house is well located and the room is located on the ground floor, while it has a separate entrance from the street.

You have the right to install a sign above the entrance and on the windows, and outdoor advertising will require permission from the management company or the HOA and the Committee for Press and Interaction with the Media.

Good commercial premises - in new houses. But they also cost more.

All rooms have some reputation. For example, if you moved into a room where there was a similar store before you, you will get a "train" of its reputation. Out of habit, those who went to the former tenant will go to you.

If the premises are rented for the first time, then it will take time to "promote" it. The normal time to be remembered by people is six months to a year. Probably needs to be refurbished.

What you need to remember about commercial premises in buildings and residential buildings:

On average, prices for renting premises in a building are lower than in a shopping center
You can set a work schedule that suits you.
May need repair
Compared to a shopping center, it is more difficult to choose a good location

Space in a shopping center. Modern shopping centers are being built in good places where there are a lot of people and all the infrastructure for shopping: parking, restaurants, gaming areas. People come there to buy and stay for the whole day.

What you need to remember about the premises in shopping centers:

Completely finished premises - move in and trade
Nice place, great people traffic
High rental prices
Competition inside the mall
It will be more difficult for you to set your own work schedule. Most likely you will work on the schedule of the mall

Conclusion: the most convenient ("enter - trade") retail premises are in shopping centers. But they are also the most expensive. Premises on the first floors of houses with a separate entrance are cheaper.

How to search for a room?

You can search for commercial premises on your own, or contact a commercial real estate agent.

Search for a commercial space

Independent search for premises will take a lot of time: you will need to view hundreds of ads, call everyone, come to view. Get ready: renting is a hassle.

Search engines. Enter a query into a search engine and start browsing sites - these will be real estate sites and free classifieds boards.

Real estate portals and free classifieds boards

Sites popular among ordinary people where you can find ads for renting premises:

https://www.avito.ru - the most popular free classifieds board

https://spb.cian.ru - specialized real estate portal

https://realty.yandex.ru/sankt-peterburg/ - Yandex.Realty

http://spb.arendator.ru - commercial real estate portal

There are closed databases of commercial real estate, in which agents exchange information about leased objects. Access to them is paid, private individuals are not allowed there.

Go to the room you like and ask if they are going to rent it out

Sometimes you're lucky. Suddenly you are lucky?

If the current tenant is not going to move out, ask how you managed to remove such beauty. Ask for the telephone number of the intermediary agent.

Why you should hire a commercial real estate agent

If you hire a commercial real estate agent, then ads, calls, negotiations, bargaining, viewings and verification of documents will fall on his shoulders, and not on yours. But for his work you need to pay a commission of 50% or 100% (depending on the agent and the object) of the amount of one monthly payment for renting the premises. That is, if the agent found a room for 50,000 per month, then you must pay:

50,000 rubles for the first month of rent
25,000 or 50,000 rubles - agent commission (as agreed)
Registration of a lease agreement - 2000 rubles, if you register as an individual. If as a legal one - 22,000 rubles

If you have a specialist, a commercial real estate agent that you can trust, delegate this task to him. What for? Agents gain their experience with their feet and know such subtleties that amateurs simply do not know.

Story. It was necessary to open a network pharmacy, next to the Moskovskaya metro station. The place is very popular, the squares are densely occupied. As a result, a room without parking was chosen, near residential buildings, with low traffic. Meanwhile, there is no shortage of buyers. How so?

The fact is that the pharmacy sign is perfectly visible as soon as you rise from the subway underpass. Specifically, this pharmacy was designed for a female audience that moves on foot.

Good agents know the folk trails, take into account the review, count the traffic (patency), and not only check the legal purity of the transaction. In order for an agent to find a good location for your business, he will need a description of your business model and target audience.

So when you get the idea to look for a retail space on your own, think carefully. Of course, you can rent a room, even if you have never done it. Another question: will you run into trouble? Will the documents be in order, will they ask you to vacate the premises in a week, will you be required to pay for insanely expensive services? And the most important question - will your premises make money?

Conclusion: with a commercial real estate agent, the search for premises will be faster and easier. But the main thing is that this way you are more likely to rent a room that will generate income, not losses.

Record the results of viewing each retail space

Regardless of how you search for real estate, it is useful to record the results of your searches. While viewing the room, take photos, and then arrange them in folders for each object.

Conclusion: record the results of each viewing, take photos and arrange them in folders. This will help you remember what you were watching, and it will be easier to compare objects with each other.

What documents to check when renting a retail space?

It doesn’t matter if you did the search yourself or hired an agent, before signing a lease for a retail space, ask the landlord for the following documents and carefully read what they say:

What documents are required from the tenant

Extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities or EGRIP not older than 4 months.
Copies of certificates of registration of a legal entity and its registration with the Federal Tax Service.
Bank details.
Postal details (including legal address).
Copies of TIN, OGRN, KPP.
A copy of the passport of the head and a copy of the document that confirms his authority.

Final documents of the transaction

Before signing a lease, it is wise to write a letter of intent or leave a deposit against receipt. In this document, describe the object of the lease, area, cost, terms, conditions of the lease.

Conclusion: carefully read and check the documents before signing and giving money.

Commercial real estate specialists Ruslan Khidoyatov and Nikolai Demyanov shared information.

“We have such a good repair, the goods are fresh, we regularly hold promotions, the prices are not worse than those of competitors, but for some reason there is no revenue,” the owners of various outlets are often perplexed and subsequently close their stores. This situation develops for many reasons, but the most common mistake, which is easier to prevent than to correct later, is the initially incorrectly chosen place to open a store.

So, the decision to open a store has been made: all the pros and cons have been weighed, resources have been accumulated, and the minimum program has been drawn up. Now comes the crucial moment of choosing a room. I will not talk much about how important this is for the fate of the future store and its owner. So much has already been said and written about this that we accept it as an axiom: a good place is half the success, so the selection and evaluation process must be approached carefully and thoughtfully.

For any store, it is important that there are more potential buyers in the nearest radius, and fewer competitors, the entrance is convenient, and the facade (or showcase) is visible. But, unfortunately, when considering the real estate market, you will come to sad conclusions, because all the good places are already taken by competitors. For this reason, you will most likely have to look not for an ideal location, but for the optimal ratio of what you need and what is offered on the development market.

Of course, the task is complicated by the fact that, as a rule, there are only a few suitable premises, and there are a lot of offers on the market. Regardless of whether you are going to select a place yourself, or use the services of agents, it is necessary to draw up a clear list of criteria for selecting premises. Your list of requirements should look like a step filter, passing through which all the options presented are easily evaluated from different angles and unnecessary ones are immediately eliminated. It is necessary to look at the situation realistically: there are wishes and a vision of your ideal premises, but there are mandatory conditions, without which it cannot be used.

So, the first filter is the main criteria, your format and budget. If you decide that the sales area should be about 150 m2, then you need to consider premises with a total size of 170 to 250 m2. Also, when drawing up a business plan and investment budget, it is necessary to evaluate rental rates. If, for example, you understand that in your region the rate for retail premises varies from 500 to 2500 rubles per square meter, then when assessing risks and calculating the payback period, you need to lay down the rental cost that is acceptable for you. Let's say it's 250 thousand rubles. Thus, you are considering objects with a rental rate of 500 rubles (minimum on the market) to 1,500 rubles per square meter.

Of course, there is always a certain tolerance, and one must understand that 170 m 2 can turn into 155, and 1500 rubles into 1700. But it makes no sense to push the boundaries indefinitely, since there is a risk of spending a lot of time and as a result of choosing the wrong room .

The second filter is all kinds of technical and design characteristics of the premises, as well as its legal status. A grocery store is an object whose activities are regulated by a large number of industry norms and rules. In order to avoid future conflicts with inspection bodies, additional costs for coordinating and bringing the premises into compliance, as well as the absence of restrictions on the assortment, we immediately determine the necessary minimum requirements for the premises:

The retail space must be located on the first / basement floor of a stationary building, that is, it must be an object of capital construction.
The premises must have a documented commercial purpose. Buying several apartments on the ground floor of a residential building with their subsequent merger is a common practice. However, it is not enough just to demolish the walls, it is necessary to obtain permission, transfer the premises to non-residential and obtain a cadastral passport for it. It is not worth renting apartments No. 31, 32 and 33 to accommodate a store.
To obtain an alcohol license, a lease agreement must be concluded for a period of more than a year, which involves registration with Rosreestr. The premises must be put into operation and have a documented owner and / or tenant, if it is a sublease.
Across the country, there is an active promotion of a healthy lifestyle and agitation for the proper upbringing of adolescents. It is for this reason that it must be taken into account that the sale of alcohol and tobacco products is not allowed in places that have common adjacent territories with children's, educational, sports, health and medical institutions. In each region, the requirements are not the same: the distance of the retail space from the listed establishments in different parts of Russia ranges from 20 to 150 meters. However, if the adjacent door to the facility is a teen section, there is a good chance that you won't be able to get a liquor license.
If the premises are located on the first floor of a residential apartment building, there are restrictions on the organization of unloading cars, as well as the placement of refrigeration units on facades under residential windows. This question, of course, can be bypassed, but other things being equal, it is worth giving preference to rooms with a technical floor, a separate loading area, etc. From personal experience, I can say that there were cases when residents of the house put gates in the arch to prevent cars from entering the yard, complained to Rosportebnadzor, the endgame was a crowbar stuck in the condenser.
The room should have two entrances: the main one for visitors and an additional one for loading goods. The latter can be organized on the facade, separately from the entrance for visitors or with the allocation of a common vestibule, from the side of the courtyard, etc. The organization depends on the configuration of the premises, but there must be at least two entrances.
The premises must have a water supply and sewerage system. This is a mandatory requirement of Rospotrebnadzor.
Pay attention to the allocated electrical power. The grocery store involves the placement of refrigeration, freezing and heating equipment. The total power consumption, of course, will depend on the range, number of refrigerators and the chosen refrigeration system. But 25-30 kW is a necessary critical minimum.
Warehouse space is required. The standard ratio, which allows efficient use of space and a decent level of warehouse logistics, is 70% to 30%. In life, of course, the division depends mainly on the shape of the room, the location of the entrances, bathrooms, etc. It just doesn’t make sense to rent or acquire ownership of a space in which it is impossible to allocate a full-fledged trading floor for more than 50% of the total area, or, conversely, there is no way to organize the storage and acceptance of goods.

After you have filtered out the proposals by applying the proposed principle, there will most likely be few options left. However, it will significantly increase the likelihood that exactly the target objects that suit you in terms of area, cost and technical characteristics remain.

Now we have to apply the most difficult selection criterion - commercial.

Reconnaissance on the ground

2. We study the convenience of approaching and accessing the object: the presence of public transport stops near the object, pedestrian crossings, an asphalt promenade, paths for people, organized or spontaneous parking, the ability to turn around for cars passing along the highway. If the house is "long", then the advantage is the presence of a through passage or arch next to the room.

3. Each object has its own “zone of influence” or “radius of coverage”. This refers to the territory in which this store is the closest (or one of those) for people living / working there, which gives reason to count on their increased loyalty, all other things being equal.

For a convenience store, the coverage radius extends to an area within a five-minute walking distance, that is, 400 meters from the store in each direction. The distance is considered along the sidewalk, footpaths and clearly expressed "paths".

It is very important to assess the width of the adjacent highway and the intensity of the traffic flow. If it is a road with heavy traffic, an artificial median / fence in the middle, a viaduct, in general, a highway, involving a complex pedestrian crossing system (underground or overground), it must be understood that residents of houses on the opposite side of the road are not included in the potential coverage area, although formally and fall within this 400-meter radius.

4. Evaluation of the structure and composition of the coverage area: we take a map, draw a circle with a radius of 400-500 meters. The center of the circle is our room. Taking into account the convenience of approaches, the presence of obstacles, we reduce or expand the boundaries of our “zone of influence”. Having determined the boundary of this zone, we begin to find out its potential / composition.

We count the number of residential buildings and apartments in them, put on the map objects of mass visits: clinics, schools, business centers, industrial enterprises and administrative institutions. We study pedestrian and car traffic along the facade of the object: we observe human flows for some time and make timing.

We analyze competitors located inside our coverage area and on its borders. We put all outlets on the map, make small comments on their size, assortment and external attractiveness.

If during your visit to the facility you came to the conclusion that the area is densely populated, the number of competitors is average, and the appearance of the premises meets your expectations, the last step remains - systematization of the collected information, its analysis and forecast of future revenue.

There are two key components of the store's turnover - the number of cash receipts and the calculation of the average check. Our task is to predict these indicators based on the material collected during the site visit and statistical information published in open sources.

Algorithm for calculating the number of purchases per day

1. Our main target audience is residents of houses located in the coverage area. During the "reconnaissance on the ground" you need to map the residential complexes located in this zone, as well as see the number of apartments in them. Multiplying the number of houses by the number of apartments, we get the total number of households.

2. Next, you can calculate how many times during a certain period, for example, a month, the average household makes daily purchases in a store of our format. The indicators are very different in different regions, you need to find statistics for your locality.

3. In addition to the residents of the surrounding houses, there is an additional audience - these are people who fall into our zone of influence when visiting mass objects located in it: schools, clinics, business centers, etc., and also regularly pass by our object. There is simply no ready-made formula for calculating the number of additional buyers in nature. It all depends on the convenience of the location of the store, on the area (dormitory or center), on the assortment and format. The only way to estimate "passage" is to keep watch for several days in the entrance area, especially during the morning and evening rush hours, and then calculate the average number of passers-by per day.

4. We must not forget that our coverage area also includes competitors, both direct (supermarkets, convenience stores) and in the context of individual groups (vegetable pavilions, stalls, spontaneous markets, butcher shops). In general, everything whose assortment intersects with ours. It is necessary to predict in advance how buyers will be distributed after our opening. We choose transparent evaluation criteria, for example, proximity to the location (within the coverage area), brand awareness, price level, assortment depth, store appearance. After that, we evaluate all competitors and our own project as honestly and objectively as possible. The result should be a rating in percent, which reflects what proportion of buyers will fall on each participant in the assessment.

Factors affecting check size

If the number of buyers is a calculated indicator, then the average check is a planned indicator; it is impossible to calculate its value using a purely mathematical method. Using statistics, you can determine a realistic range for the average check based on the store format.

The average check depends on a large number of factors. The main dependence is regional. In large cities, convenience stores are perceived as places for everyday additional purchases, mainly for fresh goods or spontaneous purchases, which reduces the level of the average bill.

It should be understood that the average check depends on the time spent by the buyer on the trading floor and on the satisfaction of his expectations, that is, on the size of the trading floor, the depth of the assortment, the appearance and quality of goods, the price level, service, etc. Other things being equal, the average check will differ in a store located near the metro and in a store located in the depths of a residential area. The greater the "passage", the greater the number of checks and the lower the average check.

Once you have determined what range your average check is in, the main task is to understand whether the selected seat meets your needs.

Evaluation of findings

Colossal work has been done to collect statistical information, all calculations have been made, it remains only to draw the right conclusions. Our goal is to make a profit, so we evaluate the data set from this point of view. We calculate the revenue range based on the predicted number of purchases and the average bill, and substitute the data into the calculation of profitability. If, with an average revenue, we reach the break-even point, then the chances are good, and you can proceed to the lease agreement. Just don't let the euphoria distract you from the important nuances, read the document very carefully before signing it!

The proposed assessment methodology is not exhaustive and its application is possible only if there is an understanding of the format and a developed concept. In fact, without having the experience of opening stores, it is quite difficult to correctly assess the premises the first time. With this article, I want to draw attention to the importance of choosing the location of your future store and designate a list of questions that should be answered before making a decision to open.

The right choice of a store location is the key to a successful business in any kind of retail. In times of crisis, a good location is even more important because it allows you to maximize the use of targeted traffic. Choosing a location for new retail outlets has its own technologies, secrets and subtleties. The Internet magazine Business.Ru has collected working methods, proven in the experience of working with large retail companies. Alexander Shipilov, co-owner of the crowdsourcing company Wowworks, talks about them.

Opening of new stores

– You need to understand why the company wants to open new outlets. In the roughest approximation, there are two such goals: introduce yourself to consumers in a new city, highlight the brand in a landmark place in the city, or expand the sales network.

Professional automation of goods accounting in retail. Tidy up your store

Take control of sales and track the performance of cashiers, outlets and organizations in real time from any convenient place with an Internet connection. Form the needs of outlets and purchase goods in 3 clicks, print labels and price tags with a barcode, making life easier for yourself and your employees. Build a customer base with a ready-made loyalty system, use a flexible discount system to attract customers during off-peak hours. Operate like a big store, but without the cost of specialists and server hardware today, start earning more tomorrow.

In the first case, you open a shop window so that people can feel the product, see it in person, and maybe then buy it online. In the second, you create full-fledged stores for offline trading.

It all depends on the product and the desired volume of sales through the network. Very often, retail is interested in cities from 400-500 thousand people. Some companies, on the contrary, are interested in small towns and settlements. In any case, in order to talk about a good representation in the city, you need to start from the population and sales statistics per capita. For example, if you decide to open a new shoe store, then knowing that a person buys an average of 3.5 pairs per year, you understand the number of people in your price segment, represent the sales volume and the share that you plan to take. Based on these statistics, calculate the assortment you need, staff and other values.

Having understood what type of outlet you need and how many outlets you need to open, you can move on to other steps.

Collection of data for opening a store

– Different systems and options can be used to analyze competitors.

The first is for companies that can afford to use the services of large consulting companies for market research. This is the most expensive option, and not always the fastest. But specialized companies operate according to proven methods and can collect information throughout the country.

The second is to attract small consulting agencies, although there are few of them on the market. And in this case, it is difficult to find a company with a good reputation that you can trust.

The third option is when you yourself go to each city with your feet and look at what is really happening there with competitors, with the average sales receipt, with brand representation, with rental opportunities and rates. This option is the cheapest and most reliable if this task is handled by a professional person who understands all the intricacies of the business. The only downside is speed. A person cannot simultaneously be in 20 cities of our country in order to give a full assessment of them.

The fourth is to hire local specialists, preferably from your own industry, who will deal with such a task as project activities. They are well aware of the local characteristics, the competitive environment and the level of consumption. You do not need to hire them for a permanent job and in the future they are unlikely to be useful in management, but using them as freelancers is optimal for a start. You just need to accurately set the task in order to get an assessment of the placement, and competitors, and everything else.

The advantage here is that you can hire specialists for a large coverage of the territory at the same time. Such work is performed by crowdsourcing b2b projects. True, when working with them there are some peculiarities. You can influence staff members, you have control levers, motivation, and a clear system of subordination. But this option is more expensive - you bear the cost of business trips, wages, travel, sick leave, and so on.

Freelancers tend to be cheaper. In addition, these are, as a rule, people who already know the local specifics. They probably already did such work for other companies before you, they “landed” more than one company, and they will successfully land yours as well.

In order for freelancers to work successfully, you need to write down obligations with them and manage them from one center, especially if you plan to work on a large territory. You can select a specialist in the company, or you can find a single contractor who will lead your project throughout Russia.

Traffic analysis

– The place and the traffic around it is the basis. And it doesn't matter if you are making a storefront or a network for offline trading.

Comprehensive trade automation at a minimum cost

We take a regular computer, connect any fiscal registrar and install the Business Ru Kassa application. As a result, we get an economical analogue of a POS-terminal as in a large store with all its functions. We enter goods with prices in the Business.Ru cloud service and start working. For everything about everything - a maximum of 1 hour and 15-20 thousand rubles. for the fiscal registrar.

In any case, place yourself in the most traffic areas. Yes, it's more expensive, but it pays off. In addition, there is an important factor.

In a lively store, everything is always lively and cheerful - including the work of sellers. When there are people, there is motivation for work, there is something to offer, there is someone to offer - and sales go faster. Traffic converts into sales faster.

Then, having analytics in hand, you determine the number of outlets and places where you would like to see them, develop a targeted program. The number of places in the targeted program should be three times the desired result. If you plan to open 10 stores, then there should be about 30 locations in development. In this case, it is likely that in the next six months you will find yourself 10 potentially suitable points. And be sure to fight for the top places. As a rule, they are busy, so you have to work hard.

Store Location Estimation

- After you have identified the most suitable places, you need to make sure that they really suit you. To do this, you need to measure the traffic around the intended point.

The easiest option is to record multiple videos during peak and off-peak hours. After watching 2-3 minutes, the specialist will understand whether there is traffic or not.

But there are tricks to be aware of. If such shooting is provided to you by the landlord, or the company that deals with your accommodation, then there may be a specially organized influx on it. People on the ground know how to “correctly” film the flow of people. Their job is to sell you a home.

Therefore, it is better to hire a freelancer and give the task - to shoot a video at a specific address, in a specific section of the mall at such and such hours. It is inexpensive, and you will get reliable information about traffic. When millions are invested in the renovation of the premises, it is better not to risk it and pay 1000 rubles to an independent person who will give you an accurate idea.

If the traffic data suits you, move on to other nuances. Pay attention to electrical power, the location of advertising structures, entrances and exits, walkways, stairs, and so on.

Be sure to pay attention to the front part. For example, an uncomfortable staircase that people climb to you will be a negative factor, as well as small windows or closed facades. You can sometimes put up with this if the place is in high traffic, but these subtleties must be taken into account, because they will help you reduce the price if you negotiate with the owner correctly.

Rent and negotiations with the owner

– The size of the rent is a separate task for real negotiators. For these negotiations to be successful, all preparatory measures are needed. You must know all the intricacies of the premises in all territories where you want to open new points.

First, analyze the cost of rental space in this place and set the bar for yourself. But never start with the price. First, tell us about the seriousness of your intentions, about long-term relationships, the scale of your company, Tell us how much money you are going to invest in the premises. Try to find out from the owner what else is important to him, besides money.

For example, if you have free funds, you can pay the rent for six months in advance, or agree on the possibility of subleasing the space that is extra for you.

An interesting option is to tie rent to revenue. I believe that this is a more honest relationship with the landlord. Agree on a fixed amount, but if the place is as good as he advertises, promise him a percentage of the proceeds. If the results are higher than your calculations, for example, the base rate is 100 thousand, but if the revenue is more than 1 million per month, then I will pay 10 thousand in rent for every additional 100 thousand. Accordingly, on the basis of all these data, a feasibility study (feasibility study) is compiled.

During the negotiation process, it is easy to repurchase the site by raising the price by 50% of the starting price. But you need to understand: this is an expensive rent, and it will be extremely difficult to reduce it. In addition, you have already given the landlord a trump card - at any time he can do with you the way you yourself did with the previous tenant. The owner takes the contract, shows the one who wants to take your place and says, give me at least the same amount, otherwise these people are tired, they are somehow capricious.

Try to equate your rent with your neighbors or the general pricing policy of the place. The important point is to understand where you want to stand initially, because renting is very different inside any mall. With each floor up, the cost drops by 20 percent. Shopping centers, of course, will drive you to where there are similar brands or a similar assortment. And in order to understand the cost of rent, it is correct to find out the rent of these particular places.

A very important point is that the feasibility study should be the basis for action, and the actual results should be verified against it. And the person who selects the premises should be responsible for the compliance of this feasibility study with the facts. In practice, this means "binding" such search engines to the effectiveness of stores. That is, after the transaction is completed, they receive about 70 percent of the promised bonus, the rest is paid within three months, when the store began to show results.

But I think the most honest option is to tie the bonus to incoming traffic, since a lot of factors also affect the conversion of traffic into sales - there was no product, sellers were not trained, etc.

Use modern technologies and keep safety in mind.

The most modern technology now is the use of crowdsourcing, especially if the company is planning a large-scale expansion in different regions. Of course, it can be carried out only with full-time employees, but the costs will be immeasurably more expensive.

If you plan to enter a specific territory, competitors will quickly find out. As soon as you start opening the first stores, everyone will understand that you are planning to develop. In order not to reveal their economic secrets, calculations, etc., the feasibility study is divided into two parts, and only a limited circle of employees knows the whole picture. Contractors, of course, it is not reported.

Boost your store performance in 1 month

The service will improve the efficiency of the store by reducing the loss of product balances, significantly speed up the process of revaluation, printing price tags / labels, strictly discipline the work of the cashier and limit his opportunities when working with discounts / sales at a free price.

The number of points that you want to open should be three times higher. But the number of stores usually brag about. This is more likely to be to your advantage.

When choosing points for stores, consider options for stores of different formats. It is not always possible to take the required area in the desired places (and the place is the most important thing). Let's say your product is designed for a store of a certain format and an area of 90-100 square meters. meters, but suddenly a chic place turns up, and it is 50 or 60 squares. For such a case, it’s good to have some kind of mini-format to place a reduced key range, stake out this place and start trading, drawing attention to the brand, increasing its awareness.

We can single out the following methods for the effective deployment of a retail network, which are used by the most successful merchants in the Russian market:

franchising;
purchase of an existing business through mergers or acquisitions;
construction of their stores on their own using both their own and debt financing.

To create or develop an existing retail network, the following types of key resources are needed:

financial;
temporary.

The importance of financial resources need not be explained. Of course, a company can attract investments and borrowed funds, but the level of the former is limited by risk managers of investment funds or other institutional investors, while the level of the latter directly depends on the capitalization of the company.

If we talk about the second factor, then its influence on rapidly developing markets is often even higher than the influence of the financial factor. If the network did not take any promising place, then it went to competitors and the network lost twice: the first time when it lost its possible income, and the second time when this income was received by a competitor.

If we rank each of the methods of network development by capital intensity, we get the following sequence:

purchase of a business (the costs are the highest, since in addition to the appraised value of the company's property, it is also necessary to pay for some intangible assets of the acquired company, of course, if the company does not experience financial problems and is not in the process of bankruptcy);
construction;
franchising.

Ranking by time spent gives the following picture:

construction (maximum time spent: direct acquisition of land and construction, recruitment, training, etc.);
acquisition of existing retail assets (needs time to complete the transaction and time to integrate business processes);
franchising.

We see that, from the point of view of time and capital expenditures, it is most effective to expand the activities of a retail network through a franchising program. Of course, for the sake of high speed it is necessary to give up a certain share of the profit. If we rank networks organized on different principles, according to the share of profit remaining at their disposal, we get the following picture:

Wholly owner-owned networks that do not outsource logistics and other operations, own all real estate objects that are used by the network to carry out its activities. In this case, we are dealing with a quasi-vertically integrated company that has margin at its disposal as a property owner (stores as properties), as a retailer (stores as points of sale and inventory management) and as a logistics operator (transport and warehousing).
Wholly owned chains that partially outsource logistics and other operations, lease all or part of the real estate that the chain uses to carry out its activities. In this case, the network loses part of the income from outsourcing activities and does not receive income as a property owner.
A network based on the principles of franchising. Such a network not only does not receive income as a property owner and logistics operator, but also gives away part of the margin on retail operations to franchisees.

From this classification, it is clear that ownership of a chain, including real estate, provides the highest gross margin and the lowest risk, while the use of a franchise allows you to get only a part of the profit from retailing in a certain territory. But it is also obvious that the efficiency of using investments is inversely proportional to the amount of margin remaining at the disposal of the trader. In the case of a franchising network, the franchisor's financial resources are used most efficiently - for the implementation of the most key function - the creation and replication of effective retail technologies. Networks built on the principle of franchising most fully implement the concept of financial logistics - a total reduction in costs throughout the supply chain.

The role of logistics infrastructure in retail

The role of logistics infrastructure in retail trade is manifested in the following components:

Store location.
Select the type of retail premises.
Creation of infrastructure of individual retail outlets (shops).
The location and type of the distribution center or centers of the network or simply warehouses that support the activities of the retail network.

As you know, the store is characterized by three main parameters - place, place and place. This only partly playful maxim has the right to life, since the value of this factor is an order of magnitude higher than the value of such factors as the area of \u200b\u200bthe outlet and its other characteristics. If we are talking about the location of the outlet, then we immediately come across the following important parameters that affect the logistics of the store:

availability of convenient entrances to the location.
human flow, pedestrian or vehicle, passing near the location of the outlet.

A number of formats do not involve the use of warehouse space at all, and in a number of formats (in hypermarkets), warehousing can be carried out on the same area from which retail sales are carried out. Each of the retail formats has specific requirements for real estate. These requirements are summarized in Table. one.

Table 1. Real estate requirements for trade enterprises of various formats.

Format	Room height	Finishing Requirements	Flow Logistics
Hypermarket	10 m (due to the need to organize the second and third tiers of racks for storing inventory)	Medium	Excellent transport accessibility, large parking
Supermarket	3.5-5 m (required to create a comfortable atmosphere)	High	Good transport accessibility, availability of parking, availability of pedestrian flows
Discounter		Below the average	Large pedestrian flows, availability of parking
Shop at home	2.5-3.5 m (standard height of middle-class retail premises)	Medium	Passing place, the presence of parking is not important

In addition to the fact that the type of retail outlet is largely determined by the format, it also depends on the type of location of the outlet. The following types of outlets are distinguished:

street retail (or street retail) - stand-alone stores located in a shopping area or on a shopping street with street entrances;
as part of a shopping center;
a stand-alone store located in a residential area (such as a separate discounter or supermarket located in the center of a residential area);
a detached store located on a country road or in other parts of the city, which, due to its size, is itself a place of attraction for customers.

It is clear that in the latter case, the analysis of the logistics of customer flows becomes somewhat more complicated - it is necessary not only to analyze existing flows, but also to predict an increase in flows after opening stores of this type and reaching their planned performance indicators. This issue becomes especially relevant in the case of designing such stores or large shopping centers in the central areas of the city or on highways with insufficient capacity. In this case, there is a significant risk that after the opening of a large retail outlet, increased traffic or pedestrian flows will cause significant traffic jams, which will alienate potential consumers.

Consider the general approaches used when choosing a location for a retail outlet.

How do shops usually open? At best, after a simple marketing research. A subjective analysis of already operating stores is carried out, fragmentary information about competitors is collected, a simplified sociographic portrait of the territory is compiled: a poor area, an elite one ... It is determined whether there is a large flow of people in the place where a new shopping facility is planned. Further, the decision is dictated by intuition, common sense of the owners of the company and its managers.

But a few months pass, and it turns out that the revenue is half as much as expected. It's too late to change something: a lot of money has been invested in the equipment and repair of the store, the rent has been paid a year in advance. Worse still, there is often no methodology at all that a firm can use regularly to decide whether to close unprofitable stores.

The problem is further complicated by the fact that there is often not enough retail space on the market. Evaluate offers from realtors, you have to quickly, otherwise there is a danger of being left with nothing. There is only one way out in this situation - to use more advanced forecasting methods that help avoid gross errors. One of them is the peer review method, which allows you to combine objective indicators and subjective opinions about a retail facility.

Mathematically, the relationship between the characteristics of the outlet and its financial result is described using a special normalizing coefficient. To obtain this indicator, an expert assessment of already operating chain stores is carried out according to a number of criteria. Then the subjective assessment - in its quantitative terms - is compared with the revenue of each store. This can be easily done by dividing the average (for example, average monthly) sales of the outlet by the appropriate valuation value. The resulting number is the normalizing coefficient.

What is the accuracy of such forecasts and what does it depend on? If the normalization coefficients of different stores do not differ from each other by more than 5-10%, you are very lucky: you have acquired an indispensable business tool. In this case, the forecast for the revenue of new stores that you will have to evaluate will be within the same 10%.

However, the case described above is ideal. In reality, the picture you would like to get can be distorted by a number of subjective factors.

First, it is necessary to correctly select the most important evaluation criteria and find a mechanism to describe them quantitatively. And it's not always easy. It is one thing to measure retail space in square meters, and another to measure the intensity of the flow of people passing by shops, or the level of well-being of the inhabitants of the surrounding streets. You will have to show both patience and imagination.

For example, some experts determine the level of "eliteness" of the area in such an original way: they count the number of expensive double-glazed windows on the windows and brands of expensive wines on display in the nearest supermarket. The "passability" of the outlet can be determined by simply standing next to it and counting how many people pass by. For a manager who knows the basics of merchandising, it is enough to take a look around the trading floor to appreciate the convenience of its layout.

To facilitate this work, accurately select and quantify the evaluation criteria, you can consult with a commercial real estate specialist. In general terms, the standard set of factors affecting the amount of revenue will be as follows:

store area;
distance from the entrance to the shopping center;
the floor on which the store is located;
convenience of the interior layout of the store;
the location of the shopping center where the store operates;
the number of people passing by the shopping center per unit of time;
convenience of approach and entrance to the shopping center;
availability of parking at the shopping center;
competitive environment in the surrounding area;
sociology of the region.

The list of these factors can be longer or shorter, depending on the format of the store, its consumer audience and the tasks you set. The more criteria are taken into account in the assessment, the more accurate the forecast will be. However, one should not get carried away: the result is 80% determined by three main evaluation criteria.

The scope of the peer review system is not limited to retail revenue forecasting. It can be used to make managerial decisions in any business area.

For trade, it is preferable to rent rather than buy premises. This has an undoubted number of advantages, one of which is the ability to respond to changes in a short time. In this case, the tenant can quickly change location.

The customer flow can change dramatically due to external factors. So, if a large and prestigious shopping and entertainment center is being built nearby, then it will surely lure a large number of buyers to itself. Ultimately, this can make the business of another store unprofitable.

We must not forget that the purchase of a retail space subsequently requires the fulfillment of a number of obligations. If you have to reduce the number of outlets, then selling the premises is not so easy. Then you have to think about renting it out, and this is work in a completely new line of business.

You need to choose a room after the entrepreneur is clear on the format in which he is going to work.

There are quite a few accommodation options. You can open your outlet in a shopping center, a separate building or make it mobile.

There are a number of factors to consider when choosing a space. They will be considered in more detail.

The article turned out to be large, so use the content.

Location estimate

This includes several nuances at once, which the entrepreneur must take into account in order for the work to be effective later:

District potential

If it is insufficient, then it makes no sense to open your own outlet in it. At the same time, it is necessary to determine the trading zone correctly. For medium-sized supermarkets, it is about 1.5 kilometers, which is equivalent to a quarter of an hour on foot.

It is also very important to understand how to determine the potential, what should be taken into account? The components will be:

security of the population of the region;
purchasing behavior of people living in the area.

Assessing the capabilities and desires of the population, you need to pay attention to the following features:

the level of buildings in the area;
the number of inhabitants in the area;
infrastructure development;
the location of important objects (this includes shopping centers, parks, transport routes, stops).

Traffic near the outlet

It is very important to clearly understand how many people walk around the outlet. All the information obtained during the assessment of the potential of the area must be mapped, and then the level of customer flows should be assessed.

A very important question will be, is it convenient for the buyer to get to the store? This issue is especially acute for stores that open on the outskirts, because there the bulk of purchases are made on the way home. In general, it is necessary to open outlets in such places with extreme caution.

The presence of competitors nearby

It is very important how close the competitors are. The fewer of them, the better it will be for the profitability of the future outlet.

If there are no competitors nearby, in principle, this can often mean that the niche is simply not in demand in a particular area.

social orientation

If rich people live in the area, then they are unlikely to be interested in off-brand clothing, for example. The elite class prefers boutiques, fashionable clothes. Therefore, it is worth comparing the desires of potential customers with what the entrepreneur can offer them.

Driveways

Any outlet should be convenient and easy to get to. If the store does not have a convenient entrance, many will surely find an alternative. At the same time, you need to understand who the potential buyer is, how he will get to the store. If these are rich enough people, then they need to be provided with parking spaces. In this case, the calculation must be carried out from the following data: for every 25 m 2 of area, on average, 1 parking space is needed. If the main buyers are low-income citizens, then there is no need to take care of parking.

Location in the shopping center, requirements for the premises

It is equally important to evaluate the premises, its location inside the shopping center. Particular attention should be paid to the following factors:

Shop space, comfort conditions

It is very important that the person inside the room is comfortable. We must not forget that when located in a shopping center, there can often be an influx of customers, especially if the goods are in demand. That is why it is necessary to provide potential buyers with comfortable conditions.

Location inside the mall

Here a significant factor will be how far the room is located from the entrance or exit. The closer the better. This means that the customer will first go to this store and make a purchase. If he failed to find something suitable in another store, then he will be able to go to the one closest to the exit and make a purchase there.

The shape of the room and a number of other aspects

The most spacious and comfortable is a rectangular room. If it concerns shops of the "apartment" type, then it is not recommended to choose them.

Be sure to find out about the possibility of redevelopment, if necessary, the condition of the premises. It is equally important to find out which store was previously in it - it may have had a bad reputation, which may scare away some of the customers of the new store.

About the audience and visitor flows

Many entrepreneurs jump at the first opportunity to open in a particular mall, which is a serious mistake. It is very important to conduct a detailed analysis of the customer flows of a particular store. Moreover, both quantitative and qualitative indicators are important here. You can do this in one of the following ways:

Visit the mall on your own. It is worth staying in an open cafe next to the proposed premises. This will help to calculate how many people will pass by in a given time.
Find out about the profitability of opening in a shopping center by contacting another tenant or an employee of one of the stores.
Ask for landlord information.
Independently conduct a survey on any local website or in social networks among the population that can be attributed to the target audience. At the same time, information about the area of residence, visits to shopping centers can be included in the number of questions (specific names can be used).
Monitor check-ins of a specific segment of customers (this is possible if there is access to information in other stores, for example, if a second or subsequent outlet is opened).

Additionally, the circle will narrow, based on the price factor. You should also take into account the requirements of the landlord, additional services.

Components of success

The entrepreneur must not forget that the success of the store is made up of a number of factors:

30% of the correct choice of the store format;
30% of the correctly chosen location;
40% of the situation in the store, the work of staff, the quality of goods and a number of other points.

At the same time, it is worth paying attention not only to shops, but also to the islands. This is the name of the showcases of the open type, which are placed in the corridors and aisles. This concept is often preferred for evaluating the profitability of working in a shopping center. Often they are used as seasonal points of sale. Of course, testing takes a lot of money and time. It makes sense to use it if there are other outlets and capital adequacy.

Engineering systems

Be sure to pay attention to whether the room has:

electricity;
water supply (if required);
fire alarm;
sewerage (if necessary);
heating;
air conditioners;
ventilation system.

Especially responsibly it is necessary to approach the study of information about the available electrical capacities. If there are not enough of them, then the store simply will not be able to function normally.

When calculating the required electricity, you need to take into account all possible costs, including lighting, kettles, etc.

We pay attention to the features of our own business

Much depends on the characteristics of sales. When choosing a format and location, you need to consider:

what will be sold;
What are the dimensions of the goods?
how diverse is the assortment;
whether visual advertising is required for the products sold;
flows of buyers who are aimed at purchasing goods in a particular store (at island outlets, people, as a rule, do not stand in lines);
the popularity of the store or brand used by the entrepreneur (the more famous the brand, the easier it will be to sell products and the more customers the store will have).

It is important not only to choose the format of the store, but also to figure out how to promote your product. “Will it be possible to attract customers in this shopping center?” - this is the question the entrepreneur should ask himself, having worked out the answer to it in detail. Some promotion methods are simply impossible to use in certain premises, stores, which can lead to refusal to rent.

Installing the island - where is it more profitable?

Undoubtedly, those island outlets that are located near the entrance have the greatest success. But getting such a position is quite difficult, especially if the entrepreneur does not have regular customers. Most often, well-known representatives, branded companies are located here.

Island points are also called "floating" due to the fact that they can move without problems. This option is a great solution for beginners. The island format is more suitable for selling the following products:

electronics;
toys;
bijouterie;
souvenirs.

Here are three tips to help you get the most out of your island store location:

Best of all, such formats take root in places where people are focused specifically on the purchase of goods, and not on entertainment or dining.
It is very important that there are no outlets with the same product nearby. Non-exclusivity kills this format.
No "shadow" placement. The outlet should not be blocked by many well-known stores.

Be sure to pay attention to what exactly buyers want to buy in a particular shopping center. If they are used to buying branded items, then there is no point in placing a new unknown store in it. The only exception is exclusive items like jewelry and accessories. It is important to remember that:

Will have to interest potential buyers. To do this, you will have to spend money on a good bright showcase.
Only experienced sellers will be able to sell in a large flow of buyers. Saving on specialists simply will not work.
In large shopping malls, there are quite a few rules that you have to follow. That is why it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the lease agreement in advance.

Stationary outlet - how to choose a more profitable one?

When choosing a stationary outlet, you need, first of all, to build on the flow of customers. At the same time, it is very important to separate potential (target) buyers from everyone else. Be sure to ask yourself a few questions:

What other goods can a potential customer buy in this shopping center?
Why do people buy certain products?
What can an entrepreneur offer his visitors that they will not find anywhere else in this mall?

These questions will help you understand whether it is reasonable to locate in a given shopping center, what level of attendance the store will have.

When choosing, the undoubted advantage will be the presence of the following facts:

There are many shops on the floor that potential customers visit, while the goods in these outlets do not compete with the goods of the entrepreneur.
If a large number of people of the desired price segment visit this shopping center.
No competitors nearby. Even better, if they are not at all in this shopping center. At the same time, you need to assess the level of competitiveness in order to assess your capabilities and make a decision on renting.

Accommodation in a shopping center or freestanding store?

Not always a shopping center is more promising than a separate store. Here you need to proceed from the products sold and the target segment.

So, for example, many representatives of the middle and low price segment (entrepreneurs selling goods at a low price) are located in separate premises. This is due to the fact that people often use public transport to get around. By the way, many of these outlets often become more successful than outlets in malls.

But branded stores are best opened in well-known and large shopping centers. This strategy is the most profitable for them.

To understand the difference, it is necessary to compare the advantages and disadvantages of both formats.

Shops located in shopping centers will have the following advantages:

occupancy;
unified design style;
the presence of a manager;
the presence of non-core anchor tenants that increase the flow of buyers.

As for the cons, they are:

difficulties in obtaining an outlet;
strict terms of the contract;
high price;
possible increase in the rental price;
dependence on the shopping center in terms of opening times;
obligatory submission to a single work schedule;
the complexity and limitations of the delivery of goods;
restrictions regarding the use of elements that are branded for the entrepreneur's store;
the need to coordinate their own actions;
the need to meet a range of visitor needs;
different revenue depending on the days of the week (the peak falls on the weekend, on weekdays the sales volume is much less);
the danger of a decline in consumer interest in this shopping center.

Standing in a stand-alone store also has its advantages and disadvantages. The undoubted advantages include:

constant eye contact with potential customers;
customer focus on a specific product or brand;
the ability to change the format of your work depending on the jumps in pedestrian traffic;
independent determination of the opening time;
the ability to use any necessary advertising methods;
no need to agree on the mode of operation or the format of the store design.

The disadvantages include:

the need to establish relationships with various service organizations;
rather complex shapes of premises, which may not meet the desires or standards of the organization.

The entrepreneur must make the decision himself, because, alas, there is no universal solution.

And now I will give advice from the book, in which the founders of the Mosigra company described the process of finding premises for their stores.

Crossing streams

Before choosing a place for a new point, it is necessary to pay attention to the intersection of streams. The store should be located in such a place that it is convenient to reach it: on foot, by car, by public transport or by metro.

An ordinary resident in a big city basically walks along his main routes and almost never turns off them. You need to place the store in such a way that it is as close as possible to the route that people walk on. It should be located somewhere between homes, offices, or your vacation spot.

For Moscow, such points are located near the ring metro stations, as well as those located on the Garden Ring. The result is a point of intersection of the main road and the main flow of public transport.

The next step is to select the area where you want to search. You can outline a small area near your chosen metro station. In the middle of the resulting area, you need to compare the visibility of the place from the roadway, the distance to the metro, some visual landmarks, and so on.

For example, on Kurskaya, we were offered a place that is quite expensive, but located right in the metro building itself. The man got out of the subway and just a few meters away - our store! We weighed the pros and cons and decided to take a chance. Opened for a lot of money and did not lose. Today it is one of the most popular stores.

What to do if the store is located on the outskirts of the city? In fact, on the outskirts, the share of self-delivery is much less than in the city center. Therefore, the availability of the store from the stop does not play a special role. A store located at the end of the metro station will not work for the city, but only for this area. With this option, you do not need to think about a store located somewhere on the street, you need to find a shopping center that is located closer to the metro station. This will turn out to be the place that attracts customer traffic. It is in such a place that you need to open a store.

For example, if the point is located on the "Teply Stan", then this is just the intersection of such flows: a metro station, a large number of houses located nearby, cafes, buses. In the shopping center near the metro, we opened. The center itself was nothing special, but people go shopping there all the time. This is where we find them!

How to search

First you need to go around the selected area and carefully study it. It is very important. For your first two or three stores, you need to carefully check everything in person. Only then can one afford several agents, watch internet ad projects and buy newspapers. For the city of Moscow, the following sources work:

Popular Internet resource "Avito". It has one hundred percent profitable offers, and they are on the site for several days.
"Cyanogen". Favorably differs in good search. The options on it are very good, so agents and search specialists respond very quickly to them. Therefore, they are located on the site, very little time. In some cases, no more than half an hour.
"Intercom". Its advantage lies in the fact that here you can find offers that are not available on Avito and Cyan.
Internet - rental agency "Izrukvruki", located near the metro station. If you do not want to spend time yourself, then you can hire an agent for a commission.

When looking for suitable premises, the most important thing is to determine exactly what you need from the premises. You don't have to pick the first one that comes along. If you had to rent a room or buy a house, then you have probably come across this. Only after examining a dozen rooms, you will be able to understand what you really need to pay attention to.

The Capricious Bride Problem

There is a capricious bride who lives in the palace. There are hundreds of suitors. They enter the palace one by one, and the bride says yes or no to each of them. If she says "yes" - others immediately leave, and the young ones play a wedding. If the bride says no, then the groom leaves and the next one comes.

The task for the bride is to find the best of all. The solution to the problem of choosing a groom for the bride is as follows. For the first thirty-five people, she checks the range of possible options, looks at their qualities. At the thirty-fifth - she is already becoming more experienced and will be able to understand a person. Up to the ninetieth person, she will choose the one who looks like the best of the first thirty-five trial people, and then the selection criteria are sharply reduced as the number of suitors decreases.

You need to agree with yourself that after inspecting the first fifteen rooms and discussing all the details, you will not take any of the viewed rooms for yourself. And only after inspecting the first fifteen rooms, you can start looking for it for purchase. This is difficult to do, but this stage must be passed, otherwise you can easily drive yourself into bondage for several years simply because the room is chosen incorrectly.

Basically, such a search takes from one to two months. You will not be able to find a room that is 100% suitable for you. You still need to sacrifice something. This can be: a sign, the area of the room, the distance to the subway, and so on. If you do not look at many different rooms, then your choice will be reduced to one of some options. And this is not correct.

It should be noted that after examining the first fifty rooms, an important feeling will certainly appear. Right on the spot you will be visited by the idea that the premises should be taken without any options. We called this feeling of butts - filling. If it tells you that this room is suitable, then you trust it one hundred percent (provided that fifty rooms have been viewed) and do not go anywhere until you conclude the contract you need. This is your luck.

Search with your feet

When opening your first stores, it is imperative that you go through all the districts that you consider promising for placing a store. Everything needs to be assessed. Look for places that:

Seemingly empty
Where are ads posted that they are for rent.

If everything seems clear with point two, then everything is not so simple with the first point. When finding an empty object, you need to clarify what was there, who lived, and try to find contact information about the owner of this place. If you can't find the owner, you need to take scotch tape and paste an announcement that you want to rent this space. Of the fifty new places - at least one we find in this way.

It should be noted that we found one of our most profitable stores in this way. We have decided on the search area. We received information that a pharmacy would move out of this place and contacted its owner. The owner of this place referred us to his agent. We signed all the necessary documents with him.

Another point was also found with their feet, just the day before when its owner wrote a rental ad. Now it gives the most profit in this region. In the city of Moscow, everyone does this.

foot stream

Those people who conduct a population census in rural areas, just by looking at a grandmother in the village, can tell how many piglets she has. The same will happen with new premises. Having examined many premises, and having opened several dozen stores, you will know just by looking at the premises whether it is necessary for you or not. If you still can’t do this, you need to come to the point and calculate such important points:

The number of people passing by your store door.
The number of cars passing by at speeds up to forty kilometers per hour. If the car goes faster, the driver simply will not read the sign.
How many people passed by the store.
Do people pass by in companies.

Such a calculation must be carried out several times. Morning, afternoon, evening, weekdays and weekends.

For example, when opening a point on Tverskaya, we visited all the stores located within a radius of several blocks and talked with the sellers, clarifying the following questions with them: how many people are in the store and at what time there are most of them, how many goods are sold per shift, and so on . If the sellers are properly spoken to, they will gladly share this information. As a result, we did not fail.

The visibility of the chosen place

It is necessary to determine the distance from which the sign will be clearly visible. A very important point. How far is the pickup point from the place where the transport stops? If you are offered a place located somewhere in the yard, you should immediately think of this place as the top floor in a large shopping center. You can conditionally divide the flow of customers into sixteen. Any unnecessary movement, such as another passage, turning a corner, greatly reduces the flow of visitors. If you do not count on the flow of visitors (your store is used for self-delivery), then an inexpensive store in the yard near the metro station will be a good option.

Problematic premises

Accordingly, premises without problems will cost much more. Large retail chains do not take premises that have some problems. Most likely, this is because it is unprofitable for them to adapt it to each specific case.

For you, a room with minor problems may be a great option. Even if it needs to be improved.

Looking around the room you need to make a complete picture for yourself:

Are there other departments. This may affect the work schedule.
Roof leak problem. If mold is found on the ceiling, then this indicates that the roof may leak, and this is a large material cost to eliminate the leak.
The difficulty of placing a sign, or after placement it will be poorly visible.

You need to walk down the street where you plan to place the store and see if there are empty or moving rooms nearby. If there are many such points, this indicates that something is wrong in this area.

At Belorusskaya, in our premises, there was a printing office nearby. As a result of the work, at first it was not possible to organize self-delivery.

At the "Park Kultury" our store is located on the second line of houses. As a result, there were problems with the sign. We came up with a special sign design.

We stopped renting stores with such or similar problems only after the opening of the tenth store in Moscow.

People who drive cars

It is necessary to count the people who pass by in cars. The point where cars pass at low speed will be much more profitable. In such places they can look around. The thing is that when you drive at high speed, the field of view narrows. For example, at Kurskaya, our panel on a special bracket was located on the metro building parallel to the road. After the release of the new technical regulations, the panel had to be removed. There is only one sign left. It was located perpendicular to the road, and looked like a red line located on the side, and it is difficult to understand what is for sale, cool games or gifts. As a result, we immediately noticed that car traffic dropped significantly.

In the life of a motorist, there are a large number of shops that he passes by without noticing them. For example, we drove past one such store for a whole year without noticing it, until we accidentally read on the blog that this store is located somewhere in the house. When we went there, it immediately became clear why they sell twenty units of goods a day, and we sell more than a hundred.

Another important option is parking. The driver will not always want to break the rules to get into the store. The direction of the road must be taken into account. You need an evening referral. On the "Park Kultury", just opposite us, there was a store selling sporting goods. Our worker wanted to hit it many times in the morning when he was driving to work. He stood on the "morning side". In the morning he had no time, as he was in a hurry to work, in the afternoon he had to cross six lanes and make an incomprehensible detour to turn around. As a result, the store eventually closed, and the person never visited it. This is a real dead place for people driving cars. This must be remembered. If you come across, for example, a “morning” shopping center, then with this option it’s a good idea to place a coffee shop.

Neighbours

We opened an anti-cafe (customers pay money for the time spent in the cafe, not for the food). Conflicts with neighbors become a frequent problem for small establishments. For example, one of our establishments called Ziferblat was especially noted in this regard. Almost everyone wanted to survive. For several weeks, the police regularly came to the site, on the call of the neighbors. Knowing about the possibility of an unpleasant situation, we took several important steps:

We agreed with the owner that if there are problems with the neighbors, he would solve them.
Put up a sign called “Developmental Games Lovers Club” so that everyone thinks that they are doing something important and useful here.
The head of the department called all the neighbors to visit and showed everything that was inside.

Site layout

Each specific task requires its own planning. To figure out whether the layout is good or not, you need to imagine whether visitors will like it or not. A long trading floor will be worse than a square-shaped room. It will be simply inconvenient for visitors to enter a long hall. For example, Ufa "Mega" is a room in which the parties are in the ratio of two to five. They thought that we would allocate half of the room for a utility room, and we would get such a small compact store. We did not want to make a utility room. As a result, about two meters of space remained between the racks. It got uncomfortable. It is warm in a small room, but in a large one it turned out to be a tunnel like in a subway.

We had a trading floor forty meters, and the whole room - seventy-six. The store and location is good, but the problem was that half of the space was in the back room. The price for one meter is high, and half the area will not work. This also needs to be paid attention to and everything should be properly calculated and taken into account.

For example, the cash register at the entrance to the store, as it were, offends the buyer. He gets the impression that he is not trusted. If a person is considering whether to go to the store or not, then the cash register will scare him away.

Important about shopping centers

We can assume that the shopping center practically does not care where it is located. The most important thing is what is inside. For example, a shopping center with or without a cinema - these are two huge differences. A high quality grocery hypermarket will immediately attract a large influx of people. For example, in one small town, two shopping centers located opposite each other staged a war between themselves for a client. The mall with the best tasting bread won.

Escalator is the enemy

If an escalator in a shopping center rises twice a floor, then this significantly reduces the flow. If your point is on the third floor, then divide the flow from the first by four (on average).

The first floor is the most visited. But it is the second most visited after the floor with a cinema and restaurants. If your store is on the fifth floor, and a cinema with restaurants is on the fourth, then traffic will drop by half.

You should definitely check this, because there are very strange shopping centers.