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Mel

Delving into any kind of retail development process can be tricky, especially sorting just where you need to start. From small everyday products to full on retail development projects, they all have a feasibility process.

What is a “Feasibility” study?

Really the name does say it all, but we need to look a little closer to really understand what goes into a successful retail feasibility study. Carrying out this process will allow you to look at whether your “grand plan” is actually possible.

One of the most important points to look at, and a good basis for any retail feasibility study, is whether or not there is a need for your product or service to begin with. I mean, if a town already has four 100,000 sqft supermarkets, do they really need or want a fifth one?

Anything from the aspect of a new building to the colour of a label, needs careful consideration to make sure that they are the best for your purpose. Then, whether for a product, service, site, or your own special project, the possibilities can be explored and planned out in as many versions as necessary until the “ eureka” moment. That’s when you know that you have done all you can to eliminate what does not work, or is not possible, and you can feel confident that you have the best scenario with which to proceed.

Being well prepared is the key to success, so an investment of time and funds in retail feasibility can reap rewards when your project is a roaring success!

Julia & Andrew

Retail Planners – CADS Retail

During a recent retail consultancy visit to Dubai, I was looking forward to challenging my preconceptions of retail in the Middle East and finding out for myself what progress looks like. The purpose of the trip was to meet with a major value fashion brand and report back on their in store design, layout and customer journey.

Part of the itinerary was to visit several of the new shopping malls and then take a trip to the Sharjah, one of the neighbouring Emirates, to get a flavour for the high street. The first mall we visited in Dubai was Ibn Battuta, the World’s largest themed shopping mall design that’s named after a medieval traveller who travelled at least 75,000 miles in his quest to visit the lands of every Muslim leader – that’s probably further than my Gran has driven in her lifetime and she has the benefit of a car to assist her, so a themed mall in Dubai can only be a fitting tribute to him. Nonetheless, once you are in from the heat you are transported to a labyrinth of halls representing China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia and Andalusia.

The quality of the shopping mall fit-out is fantastic; the ceilings are painted up as azure blue skies, there’s a serious investment in mood lighting, the walls are clad in a suitable vernacular and the scenes are dressed with palm trees, chandeliers, fountains and mosaics. The Elephant clock in ‘Persia’ is like nothing you’d see in a UK mall and I can only imagine what the costs would have been to erect this 20ft plus piece of visual theatre.

Overall though, I was more surprised to see the dominance of the fashion stores and the regular brands you’d see on any UK high street, such as H&M, New Look and French Connection. Equally amazing and perhaps the real missed opportunity, is that once you pass the threshold from ‘Egypt’ into one of these mega brands, you could be anywhere in the world.

My guess is that it would have been nice to see some investment from the retailers in the drama of the shopping mall design and development, taking the themes in-store to create some real theatre for the customers; what do you think?

More reports from the Middle East coming soon.

Ross