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Permalink Reply by teresa pilarz on July 31, 2009 at 6:42am

Is there really nobody that has stories about finding their retail space??

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Permalink Reply by Ron Ingber on July 31, 2009 at 7:05am

If you have decided on a very specific area (i.e. 4 blocks along Main St.) I would go door to door and ask each business owner if they know of any space coming available. Store owners often have the inside scoop on how other businesses are doing. Ask for contact information for their landlords, and let the landlord(s) know what you are looking for.

Driving around an area might give you a feel for what's going on, but I believe that walking and watching an area at different times will give you a much better "feel" for its potential.

In different areas of the country I have seen listings on Craig's List for space/businesses for sale that are not actively on the market (for business/competitive reasons).

A good RE broker that specializes in commercial property is a great place to start. Find the commercial broker that has the most signs up on other commercial properties (all over the area) and start there.

As I own my building, I didn't have to search for space.

Ron, the Country Guy

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Permalink Reply by Paul on July 31, 2009 at 10:34am

Hi Teresa! My wife found her retail space (non coffee, but retail) via Craigslist. Another thing we did when looking for space was to look at the companies offering the space (THIS SPACE AVAILABLE contact so and so at CB Richard Ellis/West Coast Commerical, etc) and just go to their website and browse their listings. Even though we weren't interested in the actual site, we were able to look at other listings they had.

And last, but not least, Loopnet.com. It's a great commerical real estate site.

I hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by Terika on July 31, 2009 at 10:58am

A coffee shop that I worked for found their space through a local organization that was working toward community improvement and was helping local businesses get a start. It was a much better location than they had hoped for, and has been working out quite well.

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Permalink Reply by Barbara Adams on July 31, 2009 at 5:32pm

Oh, welcome to this crazy thing called location shopping. We went through the same thing. Consider several options:
1. driving around, writing numbers down and calling;
2. on those occasions when you get a real estate broker answering the phone, ask them for other locations they listed that are similar to what you are looking for;
3. Call your real estate agent - a lot of them do commercial sales and leases;
4. Consider buying a business. In the end, this is what we did. It comes out cheaper most of the times than doing your own build out. Look online for businesses for sale, and pay attention to assets sales. They will include equipment at the location, leases, etc.

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Permalink Reply by Jay Caragay on July 31, 2009 at 6:52pm

Lots of great suggestions already so I won't rehash some of them (Craigslist, broker sites, realtor sites, etc).

Over the years, I've spent a lot of time calling, touring, discussing, negotiating and walking away from "deals." Quite simply, some landlords are crazy and just don't have a realistic grasp of their own markets. I remember a few landlords who only wanted us to sign nothing longer than three years (in addition to us paying for our buildout) because they wanted to be able to sell their building that magic day when a large developer (like General Growth) was going to buy their property to raze and put up a high-rise.

The old adage is paramount: location, location, location. You will pay more for a good location but do your research and learn the prices in the areas you are interested. For our newest space, I literally spent years observing the neighborhood, watching it grow and change then keeping my eyes open for "For Lease" signs and calling as soon as possible.

And if you see a space you're interested: call sooner than possible. Best to call the moment you see it. I lost out on a great space by a matter of hours because I waited too long to call. By the time I called, the upstanding landlord let me know that he would like to negotiate with me but he had just spoken to another interested party and if they were unable to come to a deal then we could discuss terms seriously. The other party ended up sealing their deal and are now down the street.

Once you've targeted certain areas, spend time there. Get to know the area. Meet some of the business owners and get a feel for the neighborhood. Research your potential landlord. Make sure you're comfortable with the landlord because you're going to be married to that landlord for up to 20 years (as we know you'll do well).

Another venue is to introduce yourself to the local chamber of commerce or merchants association. They can also be helpful in identifying spaces before they become available.

But most importantly, know what the going rate is in the area you desire. For our new space, the deal we ended up with was slightly higher per square foot than many of the spaces in the same area but the space was/is in great condition and would require very minor alterations (therefore saving the expense and time of hiring an architect to design the alterations, drawings and additional city filings and red tape).

Know the range you're willing to pay (and know that you can make a profit) and stick to it. Remember: No deal is "too good" to walk away from. Don't "fall in love" with any space. The peril is that you fall in love with the space, negotiate a poor deal and bankrupt yourself in the process.

Traffic is also a key factor. I've looked over many "perfect" spaces that were in lower traffic areas. Had we taken those spaces, we would have been hammered. Even with the current space coming online we could still be hammered, but I think we've mitigated that risk. I know a girl with great energy and great passion who was just beat down because the location for her coffee shop sucked. Not the right clientele for what she wanted to deliver and just not enough traffic. A shame really.

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Permalink Reply by teresa pilarz on July 31, 2009 at 8:39pm

Many good ideas...thank you all very much. These suggestions should help anyone looking for space right now.

As Ron advised, I have driven and also walked neighborhoods, pen and paper in hand taking notes. Sometimes I feel like a spy or stalker, checking out towns and examining buildings in ways most regular shoppers don't. Being new at this, it's hard to imagine what a place could be, and I've already experienced two occasions when someone put a new business in a spot I would've never taken a second look at, but after it was transformed I realized what a good site it would've been.

Jay, you're right about location, but I'm banking on a little more flexibility than most since I want to do some roasting and have a novel approach on marketing, so my concept doesn't entirely depend on traditional coffee bar traffic. (I hope I'm not off the mark.) If there are any small roasters out there, feel free to comment!!

There is one site I'm especially interested in, and have met the landlady once already. It's not technically on the market yet, but she said they'd know by the end of summer. I figured I'd just wait because I don't want to appear over zealous. Is this the right approach, or is it better to pursue it more assertively?

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