On a recent trip to our home in Florida, I was pleasantly surprised to see several new convenience stores opening to serve what I had long considered an underserved market. Although none of them was one of my customers, I was pleased as a consumer, not a designer. I needed a good place for my coffee and breakfast sandwich.
It seemed that all of the c-stores around our home had been at least 15 years old, including all that implies. So I watched with interest as the stores went through the construction process. A very spacious lot with a solid major branded forecourt: check. Nice landscaping and quality materials being used on the exterior: check. As the store took shape, I saw full-length windows and LED lighting (another check).
That’s when it all seemed to go terribly wrong.
Nothing Special
I left for a couple of months as the inside was being completed and merchandised, and the exterior finished. The first thing I noticed when I returned to Florida was that there was no brand other than the major-oil brand on the outside. I asked a couple of people about the store later that day. They all referred to it as the [insert major oil company here] down the street. The owner had missed a great chance to differentiate his store from all other major-oil-branded stores. Being unique and different is one of the most important ways to invite customers into your stores. In any retail endeavor, but especially in an area filled with transients and snowbirds, it is vital. Opportunity lost!
I went inside the unnamed store. It felt as if the designer/owner had gone into a time warp and brought back merchandise sets from the 1990s. The finishes were nice but the flow, function and merchandising were tired and dated on the day the store opened.
Boring shelving sets were accented by uncoordinated vendor racks. Racks and shelves were shoved up against the full-length windows and the hot and cold dispensed beverage areas were crowded, cluttered and disorganized. New stores should be represented with the latest in products, services and technologies. Unfortunately, this store fell short. Opportunity lost again!
As I went through my forensic analysis of the store, I determined that it had been designed by a local architect with no merchandising experience. It was also obvious that an equipment company had worked with the architect. There was a lot of equipment; it wasn’t well coordinated, nor was it functional, but there was a bunch of it. The resulting design was a pretty store with nothing special to differentiate it from any other store in either appearance or offering. It appeared that little thought had been given to merchandising during the design process. It looked unfinished.
Opportunity lost yet again!
Unfinished Business
I am sure these stores represented a significant investment on the part of the owner. Unfortunately, at this time, the visual doesn’t reflect the time, effort and capital invested. I would venture to guess that sales will reflect this over time. In most things in life, the finishing touches are the most noticeable. The polished diamond, the painted house, the landscaped yard and the well-dressed man or woman are always noticed first. The same is true in retail. The well-planned, well-organized and attractive store where form follows function will always be the “purple cow” standing out in the crowd.
Have you had similar experiences in a store, in which you finish construction, merchandise the store and open the doors—and yet it doesn’t feel finished?
Have you ever had a remodel or new-to-industry store completed, and you have to figure out the details of the flow and function within the store after it has been built?
Where does the [fill in the blank with what was missed on your last store] go? These are common, preventable situations.
I am fond of saying that you should not ask a plumber to do brain surgery. We all should do what we are good at. By establishing a diverse design team with the right skill sets, you will eliminate many of these pitfalls.
Unfortunately, the missing piece in this case was that there was no retail designer to make these stores all that they can be. Where the heck was I? I must have been at the beach. I guess it is time to get back to work; I have some unfinished business to attend to.
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