Factors to Consider When Finding a Location for Your Gourmet Gift Shop or Gift Basket Business (Part 2)

Thoroughly Investigate the Area!

Once you determined the optimal type of area for your gift shop or gift basket, company you'll need to further investigate the area around any specific site that you are considering.  Factors such as how many people live in the vicinity of the store, their average income, the amount of pedestrian traffic passing the front door of the store, and availability of parking are critical factors to consider and know.


"Trust Your Tummy": An Invaluable Tool In The Gift Basket Business!

One of the most important tools that you can use to assess many of these issues is your own "tummy!"  Before you sign a lease, simply spend some time (several sessions of a couple of hours at different times of the day and week should be satisfactory).  Examine the shoppers around the area.  Do they appear to be likely customers for the goods that you plan to sell in your gift shop or gift basket location?  Are there any similar stores in the immediate area that will be competing for this same customer?  Will this competition stimulate sales or end up "slicing the pie so thinly, no one has any success?"  Take a few minutes to discuss with some of the owners of some non-competitive stores how their business is doing.  Try to assess in any way that you can how the area is performing economically.  Nothing can replace your own "gut feelings" and nothing is more valuable than your own observations in this regard!


Merchant Associations Can Provide You With Insight!

If you're pleased with everything that you have observed and learned regarding the potential site for your gift basket business or gift shop, you should determine if there is a Merchant's Association or Business Improvement Association in the area.  (Often, these groups can be extremely helpful in joining together to do various neighborhood promotions throughout the year.  Many such associations also offer group discounts with advertising, insurance and security.  Consult with some of the other shop owners to determine how effective the association is, how often its members meet, what its annual dues are and what it has accomplished in the recent past.)  If there is no Merchant's Association, often the shopping area will be run down, have several vacant stores and be in a general state of decline.  Do not convince yourself that your fabulous gift shop or gift basket concept and / or the lure of low rent will be sufficient to overcome the obvious disadvantages of operating in such an undesirable area!


Who is the Landlord?

Finally, you will need to determine what the monthly rent is for the storefront that you are considering for your gift shop or gift basket business.  Try to determine if the Landlord is responsive to other tenant's requests for maintenance and repairs or if he simply collects the monthly rental checks.  Be prepared to negotiate the terms and conditions of your lease and any leasehold improvements that are necessary for you to be able to operate your gift or basket business.  Generally, the longer the term of lease that you are prepared to commit to, the more money will be available for leasehold improvements.  If there are some features that you feel are critical for your store premises to have (e.g. A decent heating and air conditioning system and clean, respectable bathroom facilities), be prepared to negotiate hard to get what you want.  Always be prepared to "walk away" from any deal if you are not able to negotiate these most important points for your new store - there is almost always another opportunity just around the next corner!

Phyllis and Greg Sprout began their company, epicureanfoods.com, in July 1993.  They specialize in supplying hard-to-find gourmet foods and gift basket supplies to gourmet shops, gift shops and gift basket companies across North America. 

They have helped the founders of literally thousands of gift, gourmet food and gift basket companies start and grow their businesses.  Many of these companies remain excellent customers of epicureanfoods.com today.  They can be reached at phyllisandgreg@epicureanfoods.com.