What building features are must-haves in a retail space?

Whether you sell mattresses, sandwiches, tires or other equipment – if you’re in the retail business, your physical store can heavily influence your sales. If you’re a commercial developer wanting to attract top retail tenants, preplanning can go a long way in helping you create highly desirable, flexible rentable spaces. When designing for retail spaces, we evaluate a variety of criteria – including how to improve the consumer experience, loss prevention measures and operational efficiencies.

The Consumer Experience

The customer experience starts long before people even approach a retail store or center. Your building’s placement on your property can help shoppers get in and out easily, encouraging them to return. Ample parking, safe walkways and clear signage all factor into smooth access. The goal is to help customers focus on what you sell while eliminating any pain points that would keep them from staying or coming back.

Once inside, traffic flow is just as important. A design-build construction partner can help you plan your space around what you sell so that you can more effectively merchandise for shopper traffic – assuring they see everything you offer. This can include built-ins or displays where needed and open expanses for clear sight lines. For our retailers in the quick service food industry, planning includes kitchen or prep areas that are clean and inviting, room for ample seating and easy-to-clean surfaces. For our customers that are creating retail centers for rent, flexibility is key.

Flexibility in lighting is important for retailers of any size or industry.  A retail building’s electrical infrastructure needs to provide for ample lighting, and that lighting needs to be movable – so it can evolve with changing inventory or tenants.

One overriding consideration – from your parking lot to your checkout counter – is accessibility. It’s important to plan upfront for ADA-compliant entrances, aisles and restrooms.

Loss Prevention & Safety

Security systems, including cameras and anti-theft devices, are an important part of any retail space. During the preplanning and predesign phase of construction, it’s important to map out how you’ll keep your inventory and your people secure.

We will take a broad look at keeping your property and people protected, and work with security system partners to assure these critical systems are in place on day one.

Operation Efficiencies

HVAC, lighting and electrical systems all need to be designed for maximum functionality – but beyond the basics, you need to consider what your business needs to operate.

Planning for the correct infrastructure – or for a flexible infrastructure – can go a long way in helping retailers run their business. The design-build process assures that a retail space is correctly planned for so fewer changes or expensive delays don’t occur during construction.