Opening a new retail location in Toronto will require a lot of planning. Although you might already have experience doing this in other areas, there will be differences if this is your first store in Canada. You will need to think about the local practices, relevant workplace legislation, and workplace norms.
However, once you have all of these aspects straightened out, the practical work can begin. This post provides you will essential information that you must remember when opening a new store in Toronto, from choosing the right location to planning a soft opening.
Choose and Secure Your Location
A foundational decision that can impact every aspect of your new store’s potential success is selecting the right location. Opening a brand-new store in a poor location puts a business at a serious disadvantage, even if other efforts are perfected. Such a decision will affect the business’s brand perception, market presence, and profitability.
There are certain aspects to consider when choosing your new store’s location. For a lot of retailers, most customers will live or work within a 20-minute radius. This means you can easily attract and retain customers by choosing a location that is near your target demographic. The location you select must also be in a high-visibility spot, like on a busy street or in a popular shopping center.
Finding the best location should be completed in person. For many business owners, this means renting short-term accommodation to explore the preferred area of the city. You can book with DelSuites when visiting Toronto for this reason, as this allows you to stay for more than 30 days. This should be plenty of time to find and begin securing your new store.
Build the Right Team
With your new store location secure, you should then start building a good team. As the retail landscape in Toronto can have unique regional differences, a skilled and adaptable team is vital for pursuing success. It is key to remember that your employees will be the primary face of your brand, and they should be able to create loyalty and reflect your values.
The first step to hire a reliable team of employees is defining your core values. There will be a vision that you want for your store and a culture that you want to build, and your team’s values must align with and reinforce this culture. Your employees will need to have the traits that can deliver the customer experience you want, and knowing this can simplify the hiring process.
To ensure you hire individuals who fit the vacancies available, you need to create clear job roles. Detailed job descriptions are required for each position, with clearly outlined responsibilities, skills, and expectations. This ensures candidates understand the role’s contribution to the overall success of the store.
Plan Your Soft and Grand Opening
Soft openings and grand openings serve different strategic purposes when opening a new store, but they do complement each other. While the soft opening acts as a controlled trial run with a limited audience to work out any operational issues, the grand opening creates marketing buzz and attracts the initial customer base. Doing both is a necessity.
The soft opening will require a set budget, a defined scope, and an invitation list. This will ensure you get the most out of the experience, with guests who will provide honest and valuable feedback and the opportunity to test your technology. Offering incentives during this opening, like free samples and one-time discounts, can motivate attendees to make purchases.
After analyzing and refining your business operations, you can then prepare for the grand opening. This is the official debut of your new store to the general public, and you will need to promote this event from six weeks out.
To conclude, opening a brand-new store in Toronto is not for the weak. Not only will the market be relatively competitive, but expanding a business is never easy. Thankfully, this post outlines three key tips to ensure your store opening goes without a hitch.
