Part 3: Practices and Strategies for Pop-Up Retailing – Primary Activities
Part 3: Practices and Strategies for Pop-Up Retailing – Primary Activities
Chapter 7: Location, Location, Location
Chapter Overview
The choice of location is a critical decision for any pop-up business. The age old maxim “location, location, location” underlines that the level of success of a business is heavily dependent on operating the business from the right location. This chapter looks at the factors that need to be considered when evaluating where to locate a pop-up shop. Some locations will work well for certain types of pop-up concepts and not for others. In this chapter we unpack all the elements of the pop-up store location decision.
Location is EVERYTHING. You can have the best product at the best prices but if the customer demographic of an area is not right, then your pop up shop is not going to be as successful as you need and want it to be.1
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of the chapter, readers will be able to:
- Define different location types.
- Identify the differences and similarities between pop-up shop and traditional retail location decisions.
- Understand the three levels of market analysis related to location decisions: market, neighbourhood and property.
- Determine the key success factors associated with pop-up shop location decisions.
- List the key stakeholders involved in selecting and operating pop-up shops.
Setting the Context
VIDEO
The following video helps to set some context about the considerations that may go into selecting a location for a pop-up shop.
In this scenario, a business owner is meeting with a leasing agent outside a streetfront retail strip and discussing the pros and cons of setting up within a vacant store in a nearby area or in a traditional shopping mall.
1. Types of Retail Location Decisions
Retail location decisions refer to a variety of activities related to changing the physical store footprint, including:
- opening or closing single stores
- acquisition or disposal of groups of stores
- expanding the store network in international markets
- refascias and the development of new store concepts
- expansion or contraction of operating square footage at existing stores
- refit or renovation or stores
- relocation of stores to new locations within the same market or shopping centre/retail strip
The figure below shows the type of of location decisions made by major Canadian retailers in 2011.
1.1 Traditional Retail Location Decisions
Retailers have traditionally provided consumers with access to their goods and services through retail stores. Location decisions are critical to the ultimate success of the retail enterprise.
Good locations allow ready access, attract large numbers of customers and increase the potential sales of retail outlets… even slight differences in location can have significant effects on market share and profitability.3
In terms of costs, location decisions often represent major capital investment and therefore risk for retail organizations. While many elements of reta