How To Pick Your Next Location

Evaluate the Fit Between Space and Strategy

Once you’ve confirmed the landlord is solid, shift your focus to the space itself. It’s easy to get excited about being offered a spot in a prestigious development or buzzy part of town, but remember that location within location matters. Just because a shopping center or district sees high traffic overall doesn’t mean your specific unit will benefit from it. You might end up in a tucked-away corner or basement level where customers rarely go.

That’s why it’s important to dig into the fundamentals and make sure the exact space you’re considering sets you up for success.

Key factors to evaluate:

• Foot traffic and visibility: Does the area get consistent foot traffic? Can people see your storefront from the street or parking lot? A good landlord helps maintain a destination that draws people in, but it’s up to you to drive them to your unit.
  
  

• Parking and access: Is there convenient parking for customers? For restaurants especially, make sure delivery drivers can easily pick up orders without delays or confusion.
  
  

• Co-tenancy and nearby businesses: Are there complementary businesses nearby that help drive shared traffic? For example, a smoothie shop next to a gym tends to work well. The inverse can also be true: being next to a high-volume anchor like a grocery store doesn’t always help if customers are primarily focused on visiting that area for quick in-and-out trips.
  
  

• Customer base: Who lives, works, or shops nearby? Are they the type of people who would buy what you're offering? Look at demographics, household income, and population density. Sophisticated operators compare their best-performing locations to new markets and look for similar audience profiles. This is why chains like SoulCycle, Trader Joe’s, or Whole Foods tend to land in the same types of neighborhoods across different cities — because they understand their customer base and build around it. Tools like Placer and Mapzot can help you assess whether a location aligns with your customer base.
  
  

• Square footage and scale: Make sure the space matches what you actually need. Too much space drives up costs unnecessarily. Too little, and you will struggle to operate efficiently. If you’re aiming to open a flagship location or significantly upgrade your brand, know that this usually means a larger, more expensive build-out. Be sure that level of ambition is backed by the economics of the deal and by what the landlord is investing to help you succeed.
  
  

• Affordability: Can you afford the rent while maintaining healthy margins? A good benchmark is to keep rent between 5-10% of your projected top-line revenue, depending on your business type.
  
  Pro tip: Be especially cautious when a landlord offers free or deeply discounted rent. One of our team members ran a coffee shop that received two years of free rent in an office building. The deal looked great on paper, but the building never had enough foot traffic to sustain the business, and it eventually shut down. In other words, you get what you pay for. Make sure any incentives actually support your long-term success.
  
  

• Comparable performance data: Ask if the landlord is willing to share revenue comps or other performance data from similar tenants. These can be incredibly helpful when assessing whether the location makes sense financially.

If there's a downside to a property, there needs to be some mitigation, usually through negotiating better lease terms.