As new retailers we expect to sacrifice our weekends and holidays, dry-clean-only clothing, and possibly our lower backs. But we do not have to sacrifice our mental health, personal relationships, or overall well-being.
When you're planning your business, you have the opportunity and obligation to carve out the boundaries that will make your business sustainable for the long term.
Your lease will run five to ten years, so it's critical that you build a "sustainable" model that will allow you to stay healthy, stay married (if you want), participate in your child's life, etc.
So how do you do this? Start with the ideal scenario. The realities of the numbers and the things outside of your co...
Remember the “I was today years old when I learned…” moment on TikTok where we all learned a lot of trivia like Australia is wider than the moon? Or the IRL moment when Sheila (at 35) finally figured out that Free Slurpee Day is always on July 11th (get it? 7/11!)
Today, we have one for you: big retailers are able to thrive in commercial real estate (when mom-and-pops struggle) because… retail real estate is actually a core business function for these larger companies.
Think about it -- if you’re Starbucks, your real estate is not something you have to deal with periodically… it’s an everyday thing. You’re constantly opening stores, closing stores, renewing leases, making modif...
It’s that time again. Whether you love or loathe the holidays (it’s probably a mix), we’re all about to pull out our wallets and buy stuff out of tradition, love, and obligation. This is, of course, the perfect time to put our money where our mouths are and support the small, independent businesses we so value.
Let’s take a moment to consider “Black Friday” for a second. You remember why it’s called “black,” right? November and December are the months when many retail businesses are most profitable, and their bottom line numbers appear in black (rather than red) on their P&L reports.
While the big “doorbuster” deals at giant national retailers like Best Buy and Walmart really put Bl...
🎶So no one told you life was gonna be this wayyyyy 🎶
If you clapped along, you’re ahead of the curve - today, we’re talking about friends. (With a lowercase “f” – but reply to this email if you’d like us to dissect Central Perk’s ☕️ real estate choices.)
We’ve heard it said that you find out who your real friends are when you open a business. It takes courage to go after your dreams, and you’ve got to get seriously vulnerable if you’re going to open a brick-and-mortar business because EVERYONE is (hopefully) watching 👀.
And so, it’s natural to want a bestie or two in your corner to 📣 pump you up along the way – and, it’s natural to assume your community of friends is going to be ...
I (Abby) do not have any tattoos. This will come as a surprise to many, who are surely thinking “but she SO cool and edgy. So counterculture! She really makes redlines seem punk rock.” 👩🏻🎤
I do, however, have a number of retail real estate truisms that would come in handy if I ever DID have them tattooed on my body. Chief among them? “EVERYTHING IS NEGOTIABLE”
As we negotiate our deals, Pedal Retailers learn this is true. Pedal Retailers save $115,000 on average per lease – and that’s just just the tip of the iceberg.
✅ Need three months free after you open to ramp up sales? Let’s ask for it.
✅ Need short term parking out front for online order pickup? Let’s ask for it.
...If you’re not a little nervous about signing a lease, you’re not thinking hard enough.
Truly – it should cause you some anxiety to make a multi-year, legally-enforceable commitment since you literally have no idea what the future holds. Unless you’re a regular at the high-rollers table in Vegas, making a bet valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) is pretty terrifying. And even indie retailers who have signed leases many times over still get nervous.
So how are you supposed to get comfortable with signing a lease if the uncertainty of the future looms so large?
✨ Your business plan is how. (Did you guess I was go...
Abby here, and as a new mom, "back-to-school" suddenly means something to me again. Since I graduated from college a "few" years ago, August has run into September with little punctuation. Our DC summer weather stretches into October, and now that we're all wearing our white jeans year-round (that's a thing, right?), I only notice the season change by the number of football jerseys at bars.
Until this year, that is. Baby Stella's class started daycare last week, and already we've been to orientation, a teacher meet-and-greet AND back-to-school shopping.
So as I'm looking forward to the day when my little one learns the alphabet, we thought there was no better time to remind you ...
It’s been the summer of capital budgets over here. Some clients are deep in the throes of business planning, and some are plotting expansions and relocations. But in all cases, creating the Capital Budget* is among the non-negotiable first steps.
Most of our clients come to us with an existing "how much is this gonna cost me" budget; some are pretty thorough, and some not so much, but when we take what they’ve got, stick it into our Capital Budget framework and work with them to fill in all the missing line items, one thing is true across the board…
Everyone underestimates how much it’s going to cost to get open.
Why is this the case? I’m not a licensed psychologist, but I do pla...
