Stock per square foot...

[Maria102]

I'm not sure if this is a "how long is a piece of string" type question...but how do you work out how much stock you need to display to align with your floor space? We are trying to work how how much we will need to buy and store for a womenswear boutique.

[retailworld]

Welcome Maria :)

There's no real pre-determined template to work from, just a case of adding up your space and working out what stock you'd need to fill it.

For example:

1 wall metre would probably take a 1m bar, and 2 arms. Therefore proably 20 garments on the bar, and a further 8 on each bar would give you 36 garments for a wall metre.

An island metre would be one or other other, so take an average of 18 garments. Multiply the number of garmets by the price, and you'll get a rough idea of how much you need to fill the shop.

As a rule of thumb though, we usually base our stockholding on weeks forward stock. It depends totally on the business (and I'm not an expert on clothing, ask m8internet), but my WFS target is about 4 weeks. So if I sell £5k of stock a week, I aim to have no more than £20k tied up in stock at any one time.

[retailworld]

Maria,

Worth taking a look at this topic too:
http://www.retailforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1584

You'll find some better answers further down that page.

Also just read this on topic on Shell Livewire
http://www.shell-livewire.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=20318

[Maria102]

Hi Richard

Thanks for this, there certainly a lot to digest! I do wonder about the experience in retail though, I haven't got any for working in a clothing shop, though have spent hundreds of hours in them over the years!

[retailworld]

To be honest, if you can think like a comsumer, with a bit of effort you'll soon pick up how to sell to a consumer. Go into any given shop... what do you like/dislike? What what you do differently, what ideas would you stick with?

Have a think about what you've bought - did you get what you wanted? Did you buy something else on impulse? What made you buy certain items?

[m8internet]

Working out the stock per square foot covers quite a lot of variables

Firstly it depends on the type of stock
If you take jewellery and womens accessories, this can be a lot in terms of quantity or volume, but very low in cost per square foot
Compare that to say furniture and you could be at the other end of the spectrum!

Secondly, it depends on how intensively used the floor space is
Remember, you need to leave not only adequate walking space, but if your shop is new since 2007 you also need to leave space for a wheelchair user (unless you have an exemption certificate from your local authority, under the DDA)

However, I will consider a basic womens fashion store
Let's say the dimensions of the floor area are about 25 x 25 foot
The frontage is a window display, comprising three maniquins
Two of the entrance walls have hanging displays, equivalent to two hanging rails
The rear wall has artwork, hats, accessories, the till point, and a door to the stockroom and staff areas
The centre of the shop has enough room for three hanging rail gondolas

A typical hanging rail can hold between 80 and 120 items of stock
A typical hanging rail gondola can hold between 150 and 200 items of stock

This gives your shopfloor (based on the above example) a stock item holding of between 610 and 840 items, excluding items on the back wall
Assuming it is the lower figure, then that would be 34 items per square foot

I suggest you visit local chain stores and compare these
You should find that high value chains (like Karen Millen) will have less items per square foot, compared to low value chains (like Primark), but the value per square foot will be about the same!

If you have room dimensions, post these up

[Maria102]

Hi Guys

Just want to say thank you for these, I didn't appear to receive the notifications of the responses, so have only just read whilst visiting.

The shop we were interested in has now been assigned to someone else by the leaseholder. No worries, we still have the option of a few other smaller shops. I'll keep you updated and value your advice :)

Kind Regards

Maria

[retailworld]

Maria,

Just checked your settings and you should hopefully have received email notification - if you didn't then let me know and I'll have to check it out. I got one through when you replied so think the system works ok though?

[Maria102]

Hi
Just to fleece you for your knowledge a little bit more, both of the shops that we have been looking at are around 420sq ft.
Kind Regards
Maria

[retailworld]

Hi
Just to fleece you for your knowledge a little bit more, both of the shops that we have been looking at are around 420sq ft.
Kind Regards
Maria

Whats that in metres? :rolleyes:

I've do doubt m8 will give you a better indication, but I'll go through some rough figures and come back to you.

[m8internet]

420 square feet
er, that could be many things, so I will assume :
20 x 21 feet
That would be equivalent to 7 metres x 7 metres
That's slightly larger than my living room!

A typical fixture is about 1 foot in width, in effect that would give you about 18 bays on each wall, allowing for doors and obstructions
The centre of the shop would then probably support four middle gondolas also of four fixtures

[retailworld]

That's slightly larger than my living room!


Well it's quite a bit larger than my living room! ;)

[m8internet]

My living room is 12 feet x 17 feet
That works out at just 204 square feet
or
4.0 metres x 5.5 metres which is 22 square metres
Blimey, that is half the floor space, so either it is a very long and narrow shop or square with plenty of room

[Maria102]

My living room is 12 feet x 17 feet
That works out at just 204 square feet
or
4.0 metres x 5.5 metres which is 22 square metres
Blimey, that is half the floor space, so either it is a very long and narrow shop or square with plenty of room

Retail Sales Area 39.75 sq metres
Store/WC 6.37 sq metres

Doesn't look that big though in reality...:confused:

What am I talking about! I'm a woman, that bit of my brain doesn't function, I wouldn't know what that space looked like, hence the problems with parking! :eek:

[Maria102]

Oh, BTW, still not getting email notifications regarding responses from M8internet....

[m8internet]

If you are not getting eMails, then blame your ISP
Personally I use the "posts since last visit"

[retailworld]

Maria, do you get them when I've responded? Either way, which email provider are you using? I'll see if we can be added as a safe sender or something.

Don't get me started with woman and parking! ;)

[Maria102]

Maria, do you get them when I've responded? Either way, which email provider are you using? I'll see if we can be added as a safe sender or something.

Don't get me started with woman and parking! ;)

I'm using googlemail....and they don't seem to hit the spam either - I do get some responses, but not all, even if I've visited after the notification.

[Maria102]

Righto, we are going to look at a shop on Friday afternoon that we have had our eye on for ages, and it has now come up for rent....Its double fronted and is larger than I had in mind, but its next to two busy wine bars that get very busy with young professionals and there is outside seating, which I don't know why, but reasoned as a plus...

Anyhoo, its 607sq ft or 56.4 sq metres - so can I rais the stock question again? :confused:

[m8internet]

As above, provide actual room dimensions, rather than floor space

[Maria102]

As above, provide actual room dimensions, rather than floor space

Ah, ta - they don't seem to provide that with the particulars, so I will need to take a tape measure with me when I go on Friday :o

[m8internet]

Any person or company offering a property to rent, lease, or for sale should provide at least basic room dimensions
The original advert may be in sq ft but the property details should include a list of all rooms and dimensions of each
There should also be details of the rateable value and what the rates were in 2007

[retailworld]

I can't see the reasoning for outside seating being a positive? ;) Actually I can, offer the space to the wine bar in the evening for a small fee :)

Your other points (Double front and next to a wine bar) sound positive. Where is it specifically? (Email me if you wish)