Is it time to remodel your retail business? More than just a simple paint job or repositioning of retail shelving, there may come a time when you need to do a true remodeling not only to update your interior, but improve efficiency and make your customers' shopping experiences more enjoyable, too.
The difficulties of remodeling and retail shelving projects
Remodeling is never easy, but you can do it in such a way that you don't necessarily have to gut your business's entire interior. Instead, keep the existing structure and foundation intact. You can often do remodeling while you business is still fully up and functioning. No need to close down, even if you must work with less space than usual while the remodel takes place.
Pick your contractor
- Ask friends and family
If friends or family have used a contractor recently and been happy with the work done, you can ask for a referral.
- Start on the Internet
Do an Internet search for your geographic location and look for contractors in the area.
Points to keep in mind
- Is the contractor a professional?
Make sure the contractor(s) you choose are truly qualified.
- Licensing, certification, and insurance
Check your state's licensing agency for the particular profession in question to see if the contractor you're hiring does indeed have the skills claimed, and is properly certified and insured.
- References
Your contractor should willingly provide references for previous projects completed. Make sure to check these out not only to verify that the jobs were actually done, but to find out about any problems that occurred. What happened? How quickly were problems resolved? Was the contractor reliable, responsible, and professional?
Getting the job done
- Plan the remodel
Flesh out the details of the remodel with your contractor. What does your store need? Do you need to redesign the interior so that foot traffic flow is streamlined for a better shopping experience? Is it possible to redesign foot traffic flow simply by repositioning retail shelving to create a new floor layout along with some minor structural changes, or do you need to actually redesign structurally?
- Finalize plans with your contractor
Before work starts, sit down and develop a blueprint and schedule of the project. What's going to be done, and when will each task be complete? An experienced contractor can often organize your remodeling project so that you can still conduct business in an area of your store that's currently not under construction; you'll move to another section as the remodel progresses. and be able to complete construction without ever having to suspend business.
- Plan out retail shelving configurations, too
Today's retail shelving is easy to set up and break down so that you can reconfigure a new floor layout at will, but it's still a good idea to get together with you contractor to plan out where your retail shelving and fixtures will go. This will help your contractor account for retail shelving setups that have already been decided in them. You can also play with different configurations until you find just the right one.
When unforeseen problems arise
It's almost always the case that an in-depth reconstruction project will have unavoidable delays or other problems that will make the remodel go less than smoothly. Remember that you are doing this to provide your customers with an even better shopping experience than is currently possible. The redesign facilitates improved traffic flow, and makes it possible to display merchandise in an aesthetically pleasing way; your new space will be well-lit, fresh, new, and organized, and will only improve your own bottom line in the end.
