You’ve decided in favor of a metal retail building. With their lower long-term costs, superior durability in regards to wind and fire, and energy efficiency, you’ve chosen fewer maintenance dollars and hours wasted on repair. Now you’re trying to brainstorm what to do for your floor plan. The first step is always an account of your business’ needs. How much space will you need to meet customer demand?

Making the Space

This first step requires quick research. Reference industry standards to arrive at an expected sales volume and sales per square foot. Your sales volume is how much you can expect to bring in in sales per year and depends on location — competing stores in your area are one of the best references. Divide this number by industry’s sales per square foot, the sales value of your goods as a factor of square feet. This quotient gives you an estimate of how much selling space you’ll need.

Designing the Space

Retail building layout is a science. Work with the customer here to create something engaging — a space that makes your customers feel welcomed and excited to shop. A sales-conducive space needs to create a pipeline to the register that showcases as much of the inventory as well as possible. Large frontal windows with enticing displays draw customers into retail stores. Since customers tend to look left and then right upon entering a space, consider adding walls that drive counterclockwise movement. Exits are better placed near the register or other concentrations of staff to facilitate loss prevention.

Legal Compliance

This especially comes into play when designing a warehouse or retail building for large merchandise. In general, when hiring building contractors and project management for anything, make sure you’re well-versed in the relevant zoning laws and ordinances. The outside height of your building and distances from the next building and sidewalk will surely be dictated by a set of standards.

With a metal structure, your goods and mastermind floor plan are sure to remain safe and cost-effective. The last step between you and Main Street dominance is finding the right project management.

Disrupt your future market. Corner your existing one. BHI General Contracting will design and construct a retail store that makes the sales for you. Learn from the greats: successful brands such as Jimmy John’s, Verizon, and Sally Beauty have all trusted BHI General Contractors with their retail stores. Set yourself up for success by calling BHI General Contracting at (513) 330-5686 or visiting their website.