Navigating the Decision for a Main Street Business Storefront

A Main Street storefront is available. Should you go for it? 

There are, after all, a lot of reasons to be wary about opening a business in a storefront downtown:

• Many people work remotely, so there are likely fewer customers downtown who might need or want your products or services.
• Online shopping isn’t a fad that's going away.
• Some downtowns simply don’t have much foot traffic. 

On the other hand, there can be reasons to be excited:

• Everybody’s stronger in numbers. If you’re near other businesses, their customers can become your customers and vice versa.
• Your future customers may have a newfound appreciation for getting out and experiencing the world and downtown, away from their devices. 
• Many municipal governments are working tirelessly to improve their downtowns.

So should you move into a downtown storefront, or go elsewhere? You can answer some other questions first.

1. How is your downtown doing?

You can dig into how your downtown is doing, what plans may be in the works to revitalize it, and what resources are available for business owners.

"Crime and disorder are the main reasons some downtowns across America have done so poorly over the years,” says Dan Biederman, an urban redevelopment expert and president of Biederman Redevelopment Ventures, a consulting firm with offices in New York City and San Francisco that creates, redevelops, and operates places like parks, public spaces, and neighborhood streetscapes.

Biederman says if there’s open drug use and assaults in your city’s streets, understandably, investors, residents, and tourists can be reluctant to visit. There can be other reasons as well. 

“We went through an era of the last 70 years in which highway interchanges and big box stores pushed a lot of foot traffic away from downtowns, essentially emptying out our cities,” says Ilana Preuss, founder and CEO of Recast City, a consultancy based out of Washington, D.C. that specializes in working with city, community, and business leaders to revitalize cities.

According to Preuss, other factors include e-commerce, the pandemic, and inflation, as well as people moving from urban areas to the suburbs.

Still, a trend of revitalizing downtowns has been at play since around 2008, Preuss says.

“Developers were already seeing a demand, but what we found is that people really wanted to live close to stuff that they could walk to. For a lot of cities, that wasn’t an option,” Preuss says.

Perhaps your downtown is part of that rebuilding and revitalizing trend. If it isn’t, then you may have reasons to be wary about filling a storefront. If you don’t know how your downtown is doing, consider asking around.

“If there aren’t a lot of businesses around you attracting customers, and if the city isn’t doing what it can to attract people to come downtown, then it’s all on you. You’re the one putting everything out there, in ads and on social media. It isn’t easy.” —Ilana Preuss, founder and CEO, Recast City

“It's important to understand what support, if any, cities provide to brick-and-mortar businesses. Sometimes it's worth doing some legwork and speaking with city officials or local chambers,” says Natalia Levey, a founder and partner at Hi Hospitality Group, a restaurant group with several locations in Florida.

2. Does your business have the potential to attract foot traffic?

In other words, will you have an insurance agency, or are you planning on opening up a candy store that makes homemade fudge?

It isn’t that your insurance agency won’t work well downtown. But an insurance agency could be anywhere. If somebody’s going to make an appointment, they can meet you wherever your office is set up. Fudge, on the other hand, tends to be just the type of thing a passerby or tourist might impulsively buy.

If Preuss were making the plans, she'd have you selling insurance on the second floor of a building, and on the bottom would be the candy store, hopefully set up in a way so passersby could see the staff making homemade fudge through the store window.

Preuss says small-scale manufacturers who also sell online can do particularly well downtown. Small-scale manufacturers, Preuss says, are businesses with about 20 employees – maybe 50 in a big city – who make some or all of what they sell. Think of the candy store, microbrewery, or a jewelry maker.

“Those storefronts can work there and do production and retail. They attract foot traffic, but because they’re also selling online, they aren’t dependent on it,” Preuss says.

3. Does your business lend itself to networking?

Even if you're not a retail business, a storefront downtown could still benefit you and your local community.

“Despite headlines, downtown isn't dying but rather changing at a fast pace,” says Anna Stella, founder of BBSA, a global marketing agency headquartered in Dover, Delaware.

She sees a downtown area as “an excellent place for businesses and people to connect. Today, most people use restaurants, cafes, hotel lobbies, libraries, and more as office spaces, with almost a big portion of remote workers spending part of their day working in coffee shops and co-working spaces.”

4. Can people get to your business easily?

This is an important question for any business. If you have a doughnut shop, for instance, you probably want to be on the side of the street where morning commuters pass by as they head into town; if morning commuters have to dodge traffic to get to your place, they may not bother.

Janine Smalls-Gueye is co-founder of VeganHood, a vegan restaurant located in Harlem. She and her business partner, Lanise Herman-Thomas, feel like they lucked out in finding the right location.

“We’re only two blocks away from public transportation and about 15 minutes from the famous Apollo Theater, so we get lots of walk-ins, carry-out orders, deliveries, catering requests, and group reservations from both locals and tourists,” Smalls-Gueye says.

5. How will your business fit in with other businesses?

Think of your downtown as a puzzle, with your business as a piece of a puzzle. Do you fit? The better the fit, the more profitable you’re likely to be.

“Make sure you're bringing something new, valuable, and different, especially if there are similar businesses nearby,” Herman-Thomas says.

If your business is likely to bring in that foot traffic, that’s a good start toward determining if you're a good fit, Levey says. A variety of businesses, like cafes, medical, and fitness businesses, she notes, seem to be doing well near Kojo, the Modern Asian restaurant her company owns in downtown Sarasota.

6. Does the lease work for you?  

It's important to analyze a lease closely before signing it.

“You need to make sure your lease is a good deal. You’re going to need revenue numbers that make it viable for you to stay in that location," Preuss notes.

It can go both ways. Not every landlord will necessarily welcome you into their empty storefront if they think you won’t last.

"We considered many locations, but we couldn’t find a landlord who believed our vision could be successful and profitable, despite earning over six figures in our ghost kitchen,” Smalls-Gueye says.

7. How does the storefront look?

As in, will it meet your needs? Smalls-Gueye and Herman-Thomas didn’t rush into the first empty storefront they were able to get. Herman-Thomas says they wanted a space that had foot traffic to attract new customers, like tourists, but also in an area where they believed would be convenient for regulars to return to.

8. Will the community have my back?

That may be the most important question.

“If there aren’t a lot of businesses around you attracting customers, and if the city isn’t doing what it can to attract people to come downtown, then it’s all on you. You’re the one putting everything out there, in ads and on social media,” Preuss says. “It isn’t easy.”

The Takeaway

When a downtown is working, it can be great for small businesses. If a downtown is dynamic, the energy tends to spread – even to other cities. Thinking it through first can be helpful to decide whether a Main Street business storefront will work well for your company.

Photo: Getty Images