Page 47 - DMGT552_VISUAL_MERCHANDISING

Visual Merchandising

Notes Shopping Centre: Strip malls and other attached, adjoining retail locations will also have
guidelines or rules for how they prefer their tenants to do business. These rules are probably
more lenient than a mall, but make sure you can live with them before signing a lease. Your
community probably has many shopping centres in various sizes. Some shopping centres may
have as few as 3 units or as many as 20 stores. The types of retailers, and the goods or services
they offer, in the strip mall will also vary. One area to investigate before choosing this type of
store location is parking. Smaller shopping centres and strip malls may have a limited parking
area for your customers.
Downtown Area: Like the mall, this type of store location may be another premium choice.
However, there may be more freedom and fewer rules for the business owner. Many communities
are working hard to revitalise their downtown areas and retailers can greatly benefit from this
effort. However, the lack of parking is generally a big issue for downtown retailers. You’ll find
many older, well-established specialty stores in a downtown area. This type of store seems to
thrive in the downtown setting.
Free Standing Locations: This type of retail location is basically any stand-alone building. It can
be tucked away in a neighbourhood location or right off a busy highway. Depending on the
landlord, there are generally no restrictions on how a retailer should operate his business.
It will probably have ample parking and the cost per square foot will be reasonable. The price
for all that freedom may be traffic. Unlike the attached retail locations where customers may
wander in because they were shopping nearby, the retailer of a free standing location has to
work at marketing to get the customer inside.
Office Building: The business park or office building may be another option for a retailer,
especially when they cater to other businesses. Tenants share maintenance costs and the image
of the building is usually upscale and professional.

Home-based: More and more retail businesses are getting a start at home. Some may eventually
move to a commercial store location, while many remain in the business owner’s spare room.
This type of location is an inexpensive option, but growth may be limited. It is harder to
separate business and personal life in this setup and the retailer may run into problems if there
isn’t a different address and/or phone number for the business.

3.1.2 Steps Involved in Choosing a Retail Location

Selection of location for constructing a store can be solved in the following four stages:
1. Home country Vs abroad
2. Selection of the region

3. Selection of the locality or community
4. Selection of the exact store
Home Country Vs Abroad: This decision relates to deciding whether the proposed store should
be set up in the country or abroad. Today, in order to avail some low-priced inputs like cheap
labour, cheap merchandise, less taxes, etc., Indian companies have started venturing into other
countries for retailing, marketing, acquisition and even research and development.

Example: There is a long list of Indian retail units abroad; however, most of the stores
deal with Indian foods, spices, juices and pickles.
Therefore, if the management has taken a decision to set up its retail store abroad, the first step
is to decide upon a particular country. This is crucial because due to LPG (Liberalisation,

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