Advice on renting retail outlets

starbelgrade

Hi - as the title suggests, I'm looking for advice on renting a retail outlet in the North West. I don't want to go into too much detail regarding what I plan to sell (in case someone gets in there before me!), but any advice would be much appreciated.

I've a few places in mind & have been told by auctioneers that the rents are negotiable, but I'm new to this game & not sure what to negotiate.

I've read elsewhere that some landlords are offering rent free periods, or reduced rates for the first quarter... also in terms leasing, what kind of contract / rental periods are normal.

I'll be fitting out the place, so I don't want to throw money at a short term lease & waste my money.

Thanks in advance.

Atlas_IRL

Most new centers will give a years free rent or a good incentive. If its not new than bargain! Rents should be quite reasonable at the moment.

Imo footfall is very important. If the footfall is not there you will more than likely not make much at all and may be forced to close down. I would walk around when i could at various times of the day checking out how many people are around, busiest times etc.

Good luck with it.

Sonnenblumen

Good places will command good rents and bad places well lets say the terms will be attractive. Property agents are like Secondhand car dealers, come to think of it, probably worse, because I don't know of any crash (pardon pun) precipated by wreckless rogue selling by of car salesmen.

Auctioneers/Letting agents on the otherhand have screwed a lot of people big time and for years to come. So my advice would be to treat them with contempt and what they say with suspicion.

IMO opinion, one of the worse professions to be in at the moment, and if they are hurting, may it last.

Good luck.

starbelgrade

A year's free rent? Seriously? Wow!

As for auctioneers... I've worked (or have been FORCED to work) with them for manys a year, so I know how to treat them (like the bloodsuckers they are), but I'm totally new to the retail game from a potential retailers point of view.

Still in the infancy stage of working out a business strategy / plan, but the footfall on the places I've seen is as high as it gets - quite sure the idea is a runner too, but any advice (on top of the good advice given) would be most appreciated.. (cheers to the previous posters).

jimmmy

starbelgrade wrote: »

A year's free rent? Seriously?

No....unless you are TK Max or some UK chain you are unlikely to get one years free rent.....no landlord wants to go to the trouble of setting up lease and give you a years "free " rent , etc if there is a good chance you may not be able to pay any rent in a years time....many start-ups in these recessionary times do not last that long. If you are "anchor" store status thats of course different.

Mickk

jimmmy wrote: »

No....unless you are TK Max or some UK chain you are unlikely to get one years free rent.....no landlord wants to go to the trouble of setting up lease and give you a years "free " rent , etc if there is a good chance you may not be able to pay any rent in a years time....many start-ups in these recessionary times do not last that long. If you are "anchor" store status thats of course different.

Yea a years free rent is very unlikely and even if it did happen it would be based on a long lease with a deposit and personal guarantees. I recently negotiated down a 7000sq ft showroom from 98k a year to 60k and got 6 weeks free at the start.

sneakerfreak

As said above you wont get a years free lease.You are talking a months rent and a months deposit or possible 3 months if the rent is paid quarterly,try to get it paid monthly.Monthly is easier to handle and if you need to walk away you lose less of your valuable cash.

See if you can get a rent free period (perhaps a months or so) to fit out the unit and get stock etc.This is not unreasonable but of course you will have to hand over the months rent and deposit first,you will just be paying the next months rent a month later,thus giving you time to get the place up and running.

Find out what the rates are and see if you can get the landlord to pay them (a bit of a longshot but not impossible).

Find out about signage,what can you do signs wise?Is there a limit to the space you can use for advertising on your unit.Have you got parking rights?(You need to see this sort of stuff in writing).Where is your waste disposal and how is it run?

I would recommend a 4 year 9 month lease to begin with,this should suit the landlord and you (in case all doesnt work out you wont be stuck in a lease and for him if he doesnt want you there he can get rid of you under the 5 year mark as after 5 years you get a lot more tenant rights and it would be difficult to evict you).

What is the usage?Retail,services,hot food?Make sure the unit is registered for the use you have in mind,if it is not then apply to change it,this is done at the county council offices.

Do not be too specific with your usage,its fine to just put 'Retail' if that is what you are doing for instance.If you are selling clothes and put 'Clothes Retail' or 'Apparel Retail' then you could have problems later if you find the business is no good and you wish to change but the landlord doesnt like your new line of business.What if you wanted to sell pet monkeys or parrots and he hated animals,if you have 'Clothes Retail' etc on your lease youre in trouble,keep it vague.

Ask around neighbouring units (dont tell them what you plan to open,tell them you are a letting agent looking for a suitable unit for a client,all you know is the average size and rough location of where he wants a unit and thats it.They dont need to know ****) see if there is any problems in the area,what business is like in general etc etc.

If you are a limited company let the unit in the companies name if you want as if you go out of business you cannot be chased for rent etc as it is in the company name.Same for phonelines,electricity etc.

Rents is always negotiable these days.ALWAYS.

Find out why the previous tenants left and what kind of people they were.Find out if they handed back all keys or new locks were fitted.

Check thoroughly for damage etc.Check if there is a management firm in control of the building,they are very difficult to deal with most times.

Theres more but tbh I have work to do,hope this helps.

starbelgrade

Some great advice here - a lot of stuff I didn't know about too, so many thanks for everybody's input.

drunkmonkey

is there any rule of tumb, i.e footfall versus rent.

currently looking at a few places, one is quite enough but they say the footfall is 50k per week (i'm guessing a lot of this is to just dunnes) and the rent is 45k per yr, does that sound about right, 1000Sq.ft retail.

dh0661

There are some great deals for rentals in the south & south west areas at present.
One year free and use of the empty unit next door (until someone else expresses an interest in it) deals have been done/negotiated in Killarney, Listowel and Fermoy.

newman10

drunkmonkey wrote: »

is there any rule of tumb, i.e footfall versus rent.

currently looking at a few places, one is quite enough but they say the footfall is 50k per week (i'm guessing a lot of this is to just dunnes) and the rent is 45k per yr, does that sound about right, 1000Sq.ft retail.

That is 45e per sq ft. Some Mid size Towns are quoting 30 - 35e per sq ft. with 9 months rental free on short leases.

Footfall imo is bull. Count the bags and see what Retailers they are coming from

needtodiet

Hi there,

I was in Dun Loaghaire yest and there were about 20 empty retail units in the main street. Can anyone tell me why this is if there is a catchment area of 50k between Dalkey, sandycove, Kiliney etc.
Do these people not use Dun Laoghaire? Will it be a ghost town soon and can you tell me where they all go?

Thanks for your help

regards