Are there any retail rules of thumb for things like sales/sq ft, overhead as percent of gross, etc? Mrs Blather has a store and I’d like to see how we compare with similar businesses. Would the Small Business Association or some other organization be able to help?
You could try the National Retail Federation.
Another source is the International Council of Shopping Centers. I could’ve sworn they had an annual publication that specifically listed average sales per square foot per tenant type, but I’ve looked through their site and can’t find anything like that. Perhaps a phone call to them could lead you in the right direction.
Could you provide a little more info about the type of store, i.e., what products she sells, as well as whether it’s located in a mall (local, regional, superregional), unanchored strip center, grocery anchored strip center, etc? I used to be an asset manager looking after two malls so maybe I could provide some anecdotal insight with more info.
Like Bike Rider said, it depends on a number of variables. Years ago I worked as a manager in a big box retail store. Each department had a different sales per square foot goal based on the type of merchandise and the margin. You know the displays on the end of the counters and in the middle of the aisles? Each of those had its own sales per hour goal depending on where it was located. Endcaps and displays in the front of the store had to generate much more sales per hour than those in the back corners.
Even overhead/gross will vary tremendously by store type - for example, a chain grocery will have a much higher overhead-to-gross than a convenience store.
So, what type of store are we talking about?
Just back from a trip. She has a knitting/yarn shop in the downtown retail core. About 1000 sq ft of retail space.
That’s a tough one! I have not been able to find any data for knitting/yarn shops specifically, but for niche/specialty retailers I have seen $300 per square foot per year described as “healthy”.
Hope that helps some.