Location, Location, Location…. At Least Mine That Is

Here is a picture of the location I picked out to start my first Fru*t3alic*ous cafe. (I’m changing the letters to avoid random googling of my brand to lead to this blog.

After weeks of driving around through the Dallas “metroplex”, I ended up choosing this location over other potential sites. I was attracted to this site due to a few good indicators and circumstances involving the space:

1.) The entrance of my store is within 100 feet of the entrance of the largest Albertson’s (regional supermarket chain) in Dallas. You can’t see it in the picture, but it’s right where the picture cuts off on the left side. There is a ton of foot traffic generated from this store alone since there really is not another grocery store within a 4 mile radius.

2.) There is a McDonald’s located across the street.  Figuring Mcdonalds does their homework when it comes to demographics and potential future growth in property values when selecting locations. Traffic count was approx 100K vehicles/ day. Average household income was approx. $80K… off the top of my head within 5 miles.

3.) Also, on that intersection where my store is at, there is a CVS, Walgreens, Subway, Quiznos, Home Depot and a Blockbuster there.  So there are lots of reasons to drive and park next to my location. These Anchor tenants would really help my business.

4.) The local high school is within half a mile from my store.  Since it is within walking distance, I can make it a local afters chool hang out. Every weekday at approximately 3pm (school gets out at 2:30) all the kids go to Mcdonalds to eat and hang out. I count approx. 50 kids or so everyday when I am there. From what people have told me, they used to come to the coffee shop. Good news for me!

5.) The public library and community senior center is about a block away… lots of great resources for me and my business plus libraries can draw people from farther away.

6.) The police, fire station and city hall is within a 1/4 mile from me. I’m pretty much in the center of town. Carrollton is a suburb of Dallas with a approx. population of about 110,000 people.

7.) I was able to negotiate 4 free months of rent and $7000 in Tenant Improvement. It took a lot of selling on my part due to my lack of experience in running a retail business, low net worth (compared to most business startups) and me being so young. But in the end I had a solid business plan and brand identity the landlord felt that he would take a chance on.

8.) The previous tenant ran a coffee shop that also served smoothies and bubble tea so there is already an existing market for it.  From my conversations with him, he was asked by his father to run their dry cleaning business so he stopped running this store. He must have made a killing since he still paid the rent without fail so the landlord did not advertise the availability until recently due to his lease term ending in 2 months.

9.) Previous tenant sold me all his equipment for $2500!  2 Fridges, expresso machine, ice machine, blenders, furniture, 3 computers, coffee makers, leftover inventory, etc. The cost of the equipment new was approximately $70K!

10.) Since the space was laid out well, it would only need cosmetic renovations which would keep my start up costs extremely low due to the tenant improvement allowance.

Here are some pics of the inside of the place prior to renovation.

In the end I felt I did pretty well to choosing a place that would set me up for success. I think I was just at the right place at the right time. Finding a fully equipped coffee/ smoothie shop that was closed for business due to reasons not stemming from poor business…. getting relatively good terms on renovation reimbursement (tenant improvement) and a good period of time to get this place open (4 free months) really made my first business venture a lot less stressful and increased my chances for success.

The last few weeks I have been in the store to meet with various contractors, insurance guys, service people, etc I always have random people pop their heads in and ask if I was reopening. They all expressed to me they loved the place prior and always asked why it closed down. The great thing is that they all seem to anticipating the opening of my store and will be first in line to try my creative drink creations.

My expected soft opening is Oct 20th and my scheduled grand opening is Halloween weekend. Lots of things to do before then, but it all seems to be coming together ahead of schedule and under budget…. just keep plugging away… there is always some fear in the back of my mind but it seems to be a positive motivating factor for me rather than something that holds me back.  I guess at this point there is not turning back anyways.. haha..

“Love what you do and you will never work a day in your life.” ~Someone who know’s what they are talking about.