The past year and a half have been extremely detrimental to the vast majority of brick and mortar businesses. The coronavirus and Covid-19 pandemic has spread across the world, leaving havoc, pain and countless issues in its wake. In a bid to slow the spread of the virus from one person to another, governments in the vast majority of countries have implemented all sorts of measures that have been designed to limit our physical contact with one another. Most brick and mortar stores have been forced to close their doors for periods of time, resulting in difficulties generating profits, paying bills and overheads, maintaining staff and generally keeping afloat. If you had any hopes of opening your own store, chances are, these were put on hold. However, with vaccines being rolled out around the world, and with life slowly returning to normal, those business minded amongst us are seeing more opportunities arising in brick and mortar retail and you may be considering getting your store opening set off. Here’s some information that can help you to achieve this!

Choosing the Right Commercial Premises

Where do you want your store to be? Location can make or break a new business, so it’s important to be certain of where you want to be located and how much footfall is in the area. Do you need a prime location with plenty of footfall or will customers travel to you? Do you need to be located somewhere that your target demographic frequents? Next, consider elements such as size. Do you need a large store? Will a smaller store be better suited? Do you need additional space for stock or store rooms? Staff break rooms? Managerial offices? Shop around until you find something that fits perfectly.

Fitting the Premises Out Well

Of course, many premises come completely empty, serving as a blank canvas for you to work with. This is beneficial, as it allows you to create your own branded aesthetic within the store and also allows you to create a layout that works for you, your staff, your stock and your customers. Take every aspect of your space into consideration. Do you want it to be bright and open plan? Do you want high ceilings or low? Do you need the ability to mount shelves or rails? Professionals in retail design solutions will be able to help with any questions you may have and can make recommendations that fit your business well.

Signage

Every store should have a good quality sign. The design of this will depend entirely on your brand, however, it should use branded colours and maybe your logo if you have one. There are great sign designers out there and companies who will craft a sign that will look perfect above your storefront.

Of course, you’re going to face a whole host of focus areas when opening your store up. But some of the questions and options highlighted above should help get your thought process going in the right direction to undertake this tasks successfully!