One of the early steps to take when opening a dollar store is to create a footprint of your store. In fact start the process of documenting the footprint of your store as soon as you sign your lease. You will be using that footprint from the moment you sign the lease and for as long as you have an open and operating store.

A footprint of your store is simply a drawing of the store and the layout. When first opening a dollar store the footprint will likely be used to determine exactly where to place gondola fixtures, dump bins, cash registers and more. That drawing will help you to insure that aisles are wide enough. The drawing helps to develop a plan for exactly what products will be displayed in each aisle within your store. It helps to insure that there is no wasted space in your store.

It is possible to use that footprint when determining expected sales levels for each department. After establishing expected sales per square foot for your store you can then establish expected sales for each department. This is done by simply using the square footage from your store footprint drawing for each department as a part of the calculation. When opening a dollar store your store footprint makes developing expected sales much easier to accomplish.

Another valuable use for the store footprint is in ordering merchandise. When opening a dollar store the footprint will greatly help in ordering new merchandise for the first time. In specialized departments such as candy and snacks using the footprint makes reordering a breeze.

One of the challenges faced by store owners after opening a dollar store is insuring that employees place the right merchandise in the right locations. Use your store footprint as a visual aid for employees as they place incoming merchandise for display. Employees can simply follow the footprint to know exactly where each department is located and thus where to place incoming merchandise.

To Your Dollar Store Success!

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Source: www.a1articles.com