Relocating an exisiting shop - has anyone done it?

[MuchAdo]

Hi all,

We have been trading from our exisiting premises for 18 months. It is a small unit, and we always knew (hoped!) we'd outgrow it. The business has expanded more rapidly than we'd expected, and we are now at the point where we desparately need more space. I was just hoping to hear from anyone who has relocated themselves.

The opportunity has come up to move to another unit, less than 3 miles away. We are a niche retailer, and it is actually our competitor who are closing down.

The unit is 50% bigger than our current shop, with parking, and the rent is cheaper. The lease terms are much of a muchness. We would have the option to purchase their fixtures and fittings, and could negotiate on any remaining stock.

I guess my major concerns are:

- Whether our customers will follow us
- The location is not as good, 1.5 miles further from the motorway network
- Whether it is big enough, or whether we will also outgrow that space.

I know it's hard to comment specifically, but I was just hoping for input from anyone who's relocated themselves, successfully or otherwise. Did your customer base follow you? What were the major pitfalls? Any thoughts would be very welcome!

 

[herewegoagain.]

Good Luck with your move - to me it sounds 'win win' - I moved my shop this time last year when the landlord tried to increase my rent for my new lease by 33 % !!!

I moved to another (slightly bigger shop) nearer to the centre of town for far less than the rent would have been with the 33% increase - and my takings have increased around 20%

It is not without its risks of course - what type of shop is your business??

I launched a loyalty card a couple of weeks before the move and put large posters in the window of the old and new shop - two weeks before the move...

Overall- it has been the best move I made !!

seriously worth thinking about...

 

[fairdealworld]

We've re-located twice. Once within the same street from upstairs premises within a general purpose building (not just retail) to a larger on the street newly renovated ground floor shop. Three years later we re-located again to a suburban High Street.

The first move was to get 'on the street' and meant leaving very supportive landlords for a builder/landlord who had done his own renovation of the 'new' shop. That move was a bit of a disaster as the landlord's building skills turned out to be very lacking which led to some really serious problems. For a variety of reasons the area also went into a bit of a slide at the time and the problems drove us out.

The second move was to somewhere I'd always had an interest in trading as though out of town it was such a busy shopping area. In fact I was so keen to get there that I accepted a move into much smaller premises but at least I was back to having a reasonable and actually helpful landlord. The first year we were there (8 years ago) was our best ever year and we revelled in the high footfall even while endlessly having to be shall we say 'creative' in our use of the much smaller space, the next year was not as good but pretty good. Unfortunately since then footfall has been consistently declining though none of the local shopkeepers has ever been able to come up with a good reason why as it was happening before the recession began and, for example, no new major supermarkets have opened nearby.

As an owner of a 'niche' shop my take on re-locating would be:

a significant proportion of customers will not follow you. Many people have very set shopping habits, though equally there are others always looking for something new or happy to travel to a shop which has moved. Also no matter how much you publicise a move many customers simply do not take this in. Eight years on we still have people (many of whom I recognise) turning up and saying 'there used to be a shop like this on X Street' and then expressing astonishment that we are indeed that shop even though the name is the same and the owner they are speaking to is the same!

people are very odd : - ) The bitter complaint in our first shop premises was about the stairs which were indeed stairs in an old building and originally designed for small Edwardian feet. When we moved triumphantly to our first ground floor shop premises further down the same street with every facility including a ramp for wheelchairs/pushchairs, the very first customer complained long and loud that she'd preferred to park higher up the street and why on earth had we moved? She wasn't the first to make similar complaints. Sigh!

Moving even a few doors can be kill or cure for a business. In our previous premises we knew a shopkeeper who kept a sort of second hand/antique shop in the next road, she sold all sorts of stuff but specialised particularly in old dolls and accessories for such dolls. She did so well in her tiny corner store that when the opportunity came up to let bigger premises just two doors along she jumped at the chance. In less than sixth months her shop had closed due to lack of trade. Why? Who knows?

When we moved to our current premises (previously occupied by a Travel Agent) access to the building involved a couple of steep steps. I immediately had a ramp installed suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs. Parents with pushchairs were most appreciative. Wheelchair users rarely enter (though there are many in the area) even when specifically invited to do so, and tend to stick with being served at the door. The able bodied, particularly the mobile elderly and women in high heels complain bitterly about the ramp and say they preferred the steps

Do I regret the move to our current premises? No. We lost some customers, we gained a lot of new customers even if the gains have been partially negated by time.

All I'd say to anyone re-locating is:

you will lose some customers so the equation is can you acquire enough new customers to balance out or negate this effect?

beware of the peculiarities of customer reaction even to the most promising re-locations!

 

[kelvin1950]

First question is why is your competitor closing down?

 

[MuchAdo]

fairdealworld, that's interesting. People can be very odd! I'm worried that we'd lose more custom than we'd gain in the short term. It's taken 18 months of solid graft to get to where we are now - the issue is how long it will take to re-establish ourselves in a new location, and whether we have the cash flow to get through.

Thanks herewegoagain, glad your moved paid off. We already have a loyalty scheme, and would be heavily advertising the move, if we do go for it. I am seriously considering it, just not sure it is win-win, when we *could* potentially lose the customers we've worked so hard to gain.

First question is why is your competitor closing down?

A number of factors - to my mind, their choices of stock are wrong for the local market. They are selling what they like, and what they think people want, rather than actually meeting the local market demand. Us opening round the corner probably didn't help. We also sell online, which they don't. And from what I can see, their marketing efforts are pretty much non existant. It's not been run proactively in any sense.

I just don't know what to do. There seems to be as many reasons for, as there are against. Anyone have a crystal ball I can borrow please? :redface:

 

[deniser]

We moved 15 miles away but from a village to the nearest big town. We were surprised by how many people did seek us out in our new premises. But we were a destination shop rather than one you find on every high street.

 

[gr9ce]

Still hard to have an opinion without more details of what you are selling. Location could have been the death knell for your competition too.

Local market demand for what? Selling items you personally don't like is what you are proposing? Maybe they quit to sell 100% online from now on?

 

[HS4B]

Hi

We recently relocated from outside the town to the town centre it's self. Whilst it didn't work for us (details in our thread), it wasn't because the customers didn't follow us. As mentioned above a certain amount of people will always follow if they can, we are a repetitive people and like to stick to a supplier or shopkeeper when possible.

Loyalty points and free vouchers are always good, together with collecting something. For example, collecting tin cans, aluminium foil or bottle tops for your local school, project or homeless organisation. By being a collection point (I suggest one item only as space can get tricky) for an item, customers come to you regularly even if they don't buy. Your business name is always on their minds when saving the item or talking to their friends, it's great for word of mouth. You take it in and pass it on to the good cause who then turns it into money and it costs you nothing yet increases footfall.

I hope that helps
Regards
Ian

 

[Kirsty H]

Hi,

Have you thought about building condition? Of both shops? Are you able to get out of the lease on your existing shop, and if so, does your lease require you to put it into repair? If it does, you may find the landlord expecting you to carry out work you weren't expecting.

Also, have you assessed the condition of the new shop? If it is likely to need work, make sure you get a Schedule of Condition before you complete the lease so that you are not held responsible for the repairs that are needed now.

Just a couple of things you may not have considered. Also what about business rates? Any difference could make or break.

Best of luck

 

[sarahjohs]

Hello there,

The answer to this will depend on the nature of your business and how good you were with your customers so far. If you are not relocating too far away, they are likely to still come to you. Make sure to be a little extra nice to them a few weeks before the move, that way you are giving them reason to visit again. Also you could try offering some sort of discount on the first week of relocating. You can use this to draw your existing customers to the new place. If you have a loyalty program of some kind established, this would be of help too. Good luck!

 

[Talay]

Can't you have two shops ?

Had you previously identified this area as one where you wanted to retail from ? If not, why on earth do you want to go there now, particularly when a competitor has failed in the very same location.

My feeling is that you are trying to make it work with this one and it is not the correct location. There might be some one-upmanship in your trying to succeed where previously a competitor had failed. If so, back away now and refocus.