Site Selection Starts With a Drive-By Analysis
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Site Selection Starts With a Drive-By Analysis

What makes a great retail location is different for every retailer, but almost every site evaluation begins with a drive-by as part of a tour of the trade area, followed by a closer on-site look and a lot of number crunching. The bottom-line objective of every site analysis is a sales volume projection for the location, which determines how much rent and other costs can be paid. Here’s a collection of factors site selectors consider.

Exposure: Is the proposed location easily seen from the highways that connect to it, and is the store in question clearly visible to its intended market? Either you’re pulling customers off the highway, or you’re gathering them from the traffic generated by an anchor tenant. Can customers will see the store?

Access: How easy is it to get into the site once you find it? Are there enough curb cuts, and is there adequate, easily accessible parking near the proposed store location? How hard is it for customers to leave and get back to where they came from (meaning how far away is the nearest U-turn)?

Regional Access: If the retailer needs exposure to a regional market, does the road network connected to the site provide that?

Parking: Is there enough convenient parking, and is it available during the retailer’s peak hours? Include employee parking.

Conditions: Is the storefront attractive? What about the center in general, and the rest of the visible neighborhood? Are common areas well maintained? Does the building suit the use (i.e. are ceilings high enough, is loading access adequate)?

Neighborhood: The right co-tenants could make the difference between a fair location and a great location. Are competitors in the right places (nearby for furniture stores and auto dealers, far away for supermarkets)?

Market: Demographics are more likely used to screen sites long before a physical inspection, but highly detailed studies are now available that reveal spending habits and focus on actual trade areas for a given location. Also, when counting traffic consider traffic quality factors such as speed and truck traffic.

Details: Will this location cannibalize customers from another store? Is signage adequate? Is foot traffic a factor? Is a competitor coming in at a better location nearby? Is the trade area growing?

And always be alert for the odd factor that can ruin an otherwise great site. One retailer reported that one store in his chain never performed as well as expected. It was the one located next to a cemetery.