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5 Tips on Leasing & Negotiating Retail Space

retail space lease tipsA great business or franchise in a bad location becomes a bad business or franchise.  Selecting the right location is imperative for a retail business.  Below are a few site selection tips when leasing retail space.

  1. Start early so you are not making stressful decisions.  New retail businesses or franchises should start at least 4-6 months before your ideal opening date.  In some cases a landlord will hold a space for you for a few months.  You will need plenty of time to find the right space, negotiate and build out the store front.
  2. Drive around your ideal areas so you are familiar with them.  Traffic patterns, complimentary tenants, competitors, etc are important to be aware of.
  3. Negotiate on more than one location.  As a franchise or small business owner you should create some competition between landlords and be looking at more than one location.  You never know if one offers a better deal or if another ends up being a better location.  Or worse a landlord could decided to lease to someone else.  Better to have more than one egg in your basket.
  4. Talk with existing tenants.  Actually go inside and ask for the owner or manager to find out their experience with the landlord.  How is their business doing?  Has business increased since they have been there?
  5. Let the landlord make the first offer.  When you find a site or two that you like ask them to draft proposals for you to review.  If possible avoid making the first offer

These are just a few tips to consider when leasing retail space.  There are many more factors to consider so make sure to do your homework and ask lots of questions.  If you have any questions about leasing retail space feel free to give us a call at or check out our website.   

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