Expert Witness Blog
In Successfully Locating A Business, zoning and land use expert witness John J. Wallace writes on a retailer’s biggest challenge:
As customers move through a center, whether on foot or by car, the repeated exposure to signage provides a form of advertising. A concentrated shopping area can generate a sense of activity and critical retail mass that initially attracts people, then keeps them coming back.
Consider that it is almost impossible for small stores to operate successfully from second floors, half-floors, subfloors or any other spot out of the retail line of sight, and without frontage to the flow of shoppers. Second floors only work when the anchor tenants have entrances on that level to generate shopper traffic. Otherwise, upper levels generally provide very poor retail locations. Some center owners solve the problem by turning second story retail space into offices or professional personal service establishments. Others have encouraged ground floor tenants to expand upward and include another story, while retaining a ground floor entrance.
Many shopping malls have side malls, retail clusters projecting oft the main mall. The relative strengths and weaknesses of these illustrate the principles of site selection. In side malls, the limited visibility of stores and their signage translates into reduced customers and, usually, reduced rent. Perhaps 20 percent of visitors to the central mall will venture into these out-of-the-way areas. In side malls, stores often are not visible from the main shopping area, but they are visible to each other. So, successful side malls leverage their internal visibility and isolation from the main mall to create distinct shopping destinations, often geared to smaller or specialized markets. They either include their own anchor store, or collectively function as a destination. As customers move through a center, whether on foot or by car, the repeated exposure to signage provides a form of advertising. A concentrated shopping area can generate a sense of activity and critical retail mass that initially attracts people, then keeps them coming back.
Consider that it is almost impossible for small stores to operate successfully from second floors, half-floors, subfloors or any other spot out of the retail line of sight, and without frontage to the flow of shoppers. Second floors only work when the anchor tenants have entrances on that level to generate shopper traffic. Otherwise, upper levels generally provide very poor retail locations. Some center owners solve the problem by turning second story retail space into offices or professional personal service establishments. Others have encouraged ground floor tenants to expand upward and include another story, while retaining a ground floor entrance.
Many shopping malls have side malls, retail clusters projecting oft the main mall. The relative strengths and weaknesses of these illustrate the principles of site selection. In side malls, the limited visibility of stores and their signage translates into reduced customers and, usually, reduced rent. Perhaps 20 percent of visitors to the central mall will venture into these out-of-the-way areas. In side malls, stores often are not visible from the main shopping area, but they are visible to each other. So, successful side malls leverage their internal visibility and isolation from the main mall to create distinct shopping destinations, often geared to smaller or specialized markets. They either include their own anchor store, or collectively function as a destination.