How Small Shops Economize by Sharing Space
A smart storefront and the right location are vital in retailing, but commercial real estate in eye-catching urban corridors can be expensive and hard to find. Add to this a tough economy, and many startup retailers find themselves bunking up both to economize and build their businesses.
Retail space sharing isn’t new. Big-box stores began subletting a few years ago to reduce real-estate expenses, and benefit from store-within-a-store branding. Some examples: Wal-Mart and Target offer Apple ministores, Sears sublets to clothing retailer Forever 21, and a health-care uniform boutique called Scrubology operates inside some Sears and Kmart stores.
Space sharing can offer benefits to retail entrepreneurs, too. Here’s what some independent retailers have learned from their experiences.
