6 Tips for a Successful Retail Store Remodeling

In the retail world, one of the best ways to stay competitive in today’s changing marketplace is to renovate or revamp your existing stores. Whether you own several locations or are just looking to renovate the one retail store you have, we’ve created this comprehensive guide on how to renovate a retail store for any business owner who wants to make their retail space more attractive and convenient for customers.

Know Your Goals and Objectives

Before you start any type of renovation, you need to know what you hope to achieve. What are your goals for the space? Are you looking to increase sales, attract new customers, or improve the overall look of the store? Once you know your goals, you can start planning out your renovation. Also, get input from your employees. Your employees are the ones who interact with customers on a daily basis, so they have valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t in your store. Make sure to get their input before making any changes

Create a Mockup and Finalize Your Layout:

Assess your current retail store’s traffic flow to figure out where improvements can be made. Where are the places your customers are likely to spend most time at? Which spots they prefer the least? These insights will help with your store remodeling and design and create a great in-store customer experience.

Create a mockup that  outlines all of the different fixtures and how they will affect the way customers move at your store. Keeping a layout handy will help you understand what’s going where.

Get Approval From Local Authority:

Make sure to get approval from your local authorities. May be they ask you to submit a building permit application. If you’re doing any work that involves plumbing or electrical, you’ll also need to get the appropriate licenses. Once you have all the necessary approvals, you can move on to the next step.

Make Sure You Have Enough Funding:

You need to make sure that you can fund this project and be able to survive without any additional income.

There are two types of retail store renovations: an interior renovation that focuses on improving the look and feel of an existing space, such as painting walls or replacing carpeting; and an exterior renovation that creates new storefronts, entrances, parking lots, sidewalks, landscaping. Interior renovations can cost $1-2 per square foot while exterior renovations can cost $5-6 per square foot.

It is important that you will not go into debt with this project as it will be hard to repay that loan when there is no income coming in from the new design.  If you are on a tight budget, consider the retail storefront glass options available. You will want to do your research before hand on how much glass will cost and if there are any tax incentives offered for using renewable energy.

There are other ways of saving money when renovating a store besides just using sustainable products such as finding used furnishings or old furniture off Craigslist or Kijiji instead of buying brand new furniture from an expensive retail store. You can also try negotiating your rent, lease or property taxes so that you save some money in these areas too!

Work with the right contractor

When it comes to retail remodeling, you need a contractor that you can trust to get the job done right.

1. Ask references from other businesses in your industry. Chances are, they’ve had to renovate their own stores at some point and can point you in the right direction.
2. Once you have a few contractors in mind, check out their online reviews and see what others are saying about their work.
3. Meet each contractor so you can get an idea of their process and what they would recommend for your store.
4. Ask for examples of similar projects they’ve completed in the past.

Inspections and Final Approvals:

Before you start any work, you’ll need to get the proper inspections and approvals from your city or county. Depending on the scope of your project, you may need a building permit, zoning approval, and sign permit. Your contractor should be able to help you navigate this process. Be sure to have all necessary documents handy when meeting with inspectors.

The Bottom Line:

When you open your retail store, you want it to be everything that you want it to be and more. That’s why it’s important to plan every aspect of your store renovation carefully in order to make sure that the final product turns out just as you had envisioned. A successful renovation relies on careful planning, an eye toward details, and great communication between you and your contractor throughout the entire process.