Site Selection

Site selection is more of a science than an art, but still requires a creative touch at times. Our team has successfully executed site selection services for some of the most globally recognized and local brands alike. Contributing to the growth of brands such as P.F. Chang’s China Bistro/Pei Wei Asian Diner, Dunkin’, Grimaldi's Pizzeria, Phoenix Wine of Scottsdale, Arrowhead Health Centers, Redirect Health, and Fender Musical Instruments just to name a few. The ultimate goal for a successful market, is to build or acquire sites, spaced strategically so as to not cannibalize each other, spaced efficiently to allow for continued long term growth and market penetration in order to reach the maximum top line revenue and saturation for that market. The ultimate goal for a successful site, is to deliver a profitable and sustainable asset, with a high level of service from a facilities support standpoint, to your operations team while giving your investors a strong return on investment. 

When starting the site selection process, a more analytical approach will help you zero in on trade areas that meet the criteria for your specific business needs. Starting with a market study looking at any existing sites if any. Looking at spatial impacts and cannibalization of existing sites. Identifying new and existing target trade areas that fit your business and customer criteria. Then finally identifying sites within those trade areas that match the physical site criteria.

Once those trade areas have been identified, there is no substitute for boots on the ground. Data can tell you a lot about the trade area and whether your business will possibly succeed; but it cannot show you the physical characteristics of the building, visibility, ingress/egress, traffic patterns/volume, etc. Those physical characteristics are as important, if not more important, to a successful site as the characteristics of the trade area. 

Site selection also varies greatly by industry and business type. Retail might need traffic, visibility, co-tenancy and ease of access to be high; whereas auto collision, which has very specific zoning regulations, just needs to be accessible to their customer while meeting zoning requirements. Manufacturing and Distribution needs to be strategically placed to efficiently serve your customers regionally, nationally, or globally in an acceptable time frame. 

Lease expiration management is another important aspect of a businesses market strategy and in turn site selection strategy. Using cash-flow vs capital expenditure financial modeling to determine whether you renew a lease at an existing location, renegotiate your lease terms based on market rates and conditions, or find a new site is critical to a business market strategy. 

All these factors are equally important when developing a market strategy for your business. Nobody knows your business better than you, but nobody knows how to apply that knowledge to an actionable strategy better than us. 

Site Selection Process:

Criteria Discovery

Market Strategy

Spatial Impacts

Cannibalization Study

Targeted Trade Area Identification

Targeted Site Selection Identification

Lease/Purchase Negotiation

Lease Expiration Management