The Layout of the Land Dec 1, 2007 12:00 PM
, BY JENNIFER LONOFF SCHIFF
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RULE #3: MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN COMPLIANCE WITH SAFETY REGULATIONS — AND KEEP HIGH-PRICED MERCHANDISE SAFE.
A
store requires clearly marked fire exits, as well as smoke alarms and
fire extinguishers and perhaps a sprinkler system. If you neglect to
follow fire and safety ordinances, you can get hit with fines and
possibly store closure.
Similarly,
to ensure the safety of your customers and your valuable merchandise,
consider installing surveillance cameras and mirrors in hard-to-see
areas. Keep in mind that if you use surveillance cameras in dressing
rooms, you need to let customers know; you also need to make sure the
people monitoring your security system are trustworthy.
Consider
designing your stores so that salespeople can monitor merchandise from
a variety of angles, to reduce shoplifting. If you sell expensive
jewelry or smaller items, it's a good idea to store them in a locked
display case. Tag expensive clothing with a theft-prevention device
(such as a tag that spurts ink when forcibly removed) or lock them to a
rack with a cord or cable.
RULE #4: KNOW YOUR BUDGET.
Obviously,
your budget will vary depending on the size and location of the store,
and the type of merchandise you are selling. But let's say you want to
open a 3,000 sq. ft. store and have a “basic vanilla” shell to start
with.
Must-haves fixtures include carpeting, construction, paint, electrical, and the lighting, Grant says.
Then
you have the want-to-have fixtures, such as TVs or video monitors,
sound equipment, graphics, and props. These cost can vary widely,
depending on, say, whether you want one giant plasma TV or 20 monitors
(plus installation) or just a bunch of props and posters.
Grant
says fixtures for a store this size typically range from $20,000 to
$60,000. That's why you need to determine a budget upfront.
RULE #5: TEST YOUR IDEAS BEFORE ROLLING THEM OUT NATIONWIDE.
Often
retailers lose sight of their customer and just forge ahead. So before
making any drastic changes, test your concepts. It can be in one store,
several, or a dozen, whatever the budget allows. (See “Cacique concept
store a keeper for Lane Bryant” on page 40 for an example.) If
customers like the changes — and don't be afraid to ask them — roll
them out to few more stores, always keeping in mind that store's
demographics.
Jennifer Lonoff Schiff is a Wilton, CT-based freelance business writer who shops online, via catalog, and in stores.
Cacique concept store a keeper for Lane Bryant
Executives at Lane Bryant in 2004 noticed a curious trend:
While the plus-size women's apparel merchant's intimate apparel
sections typically took up 15% of the retail space at the back of the
store, they delivered 20% to 25% percent of store revenue.
To
capitalize on that trend, Lane Bryant, a division of Charming Shoppes,
picked about 40 of its 800 worldwide Lane Bryant stores and added more
SKUs to the intimate apparel department, “to see if we could add more
productivity to that space,” explains Charming Shoppes' spokesperson
Gayle Coolick.
The
test went so well that the retailer expanded it to 75 stores — and
doubled the amount of space it gave to intimate apparel. Customers
responded, so Lane Bryant redesigned its stores to highlight its strong
sportswear are intimate apparel brands, Coolick says.
The
company designated the intimate apparel section of the stores as
Cacique — its private label intimate apparel brand. It even created a
new double entrance for the test stores. The sportswear side of the
store includes the traditional Lane Bryant sign and the lingerie side's
entrance is marked Cacique.
“Each
side of the store is incredibly different as far as the aesthetics, the
design, the mood, and the feeling that we are presenting to the
customer,” explains Coolick. The intimate apparel side of the store is
feminine, with chandeliers and soft colors.
The
company completely redesigned the fitting rooms in the new concept
stores, making them “incredibly roomy,” says Coolick, with a large,
three-way, lighted mirror in each dressing room. The changes to the
dressing rooms alone have been “an incredible win,” says Coolick,
because a lot of the selling for a retailer takes place in the fitting
room “when the customer sees how something looks on her.”
The
first prototype Lane Bryant/Cacique store opened in September 2005 in
Pembroke Pines, FL. It was followed by six more stores that same year.
Based on the success of those locations, Coolick says, today there are
86 of these concept stores, with more on the horizon. — JLS
TIP BOX
A few basic store layout and design tips
Make sure your aisles are wide enough, so that people don't bump into one another when shopping.
Include helpful signage and displays that help customers get to where they want to go quickly.
Make
sure you have enough dressing rooms, and include at least one
handicapped fitting room. Customers don't like to wait on line to try
on items, so if your store is larger than a few thousand square feet,
consider several fitting areas. You may also want to have separate
areas for men and women, depending on your clientele and your
merchandise.
Optimize your checkout areas. Depending
on what you sell and to whom you sell it, you may want to include video
monitors near your checkout areas, which show off your merchandise or
reflect the mood of the store.
You may also want to
place smaller impulse-type purchases near cash registers, as customers
often make last-minute purchases while they're waiting on line to pay.
Separate
your returns or customer service area from the checkout area. Returns
often take two to three times longer than a first-time purchase and
annoy customers who simply want to check out. — JLS
