A retail location is a business decision first and a lease second. For most retailers and restaurants, the site has more influence on sales than almost any other choice the business makes. The rent, the term and the build-out matter, but they only make sense measured against the revenue a location can produce.
A business decision first
That means the evaluation starts outside the space. Who lives and works nearby, how they travel, where they already shop, and how easily they can see and reach the storefront are the questions that decide whether a location works. The lease then protects the conditions that made the site attractive in the first place.
Understanding the trade area
The trade area is the geography from which a store draws most of its customers. Its size depends on the concept: a coffee shop or convenience use may draw mostly from a short walk or drive, while a destination retailer or specialty grocer may draw from much farther. Start with the customer your business serves, then look at how many of those customers are within a realistic trip of the site.
Useful measures include the residential population and households, their income and age profile, the daytime population of workers, and expected growth from new housing or offices. Look at drive-time boundaries rather than simple radius rings, since highways, rivers and traffic patterns shape real trips. Then map the competition and the complementary businesses that already draw your customer to the area. Landlords and brokers can often share trade-area data for a property; your own sales data from existing locations is usually the best guide of all.
A retail location is a business decision first and a lease second.
Visibility, access and signage
A space customers cannot see or reach easily works against the business every day. Look at frontage, sight lines from the main road, and where the space sits relative to the anchor and the center's entrances. Check access: curb cuts, traffic signals, turning movements and whether the site is on the going-home or going-to-work side of the road, which matters for convenience uses. Parking should be close, visible and adequate for peak hours, and drive-through uses need queuing space.
Signage is set by the lease, the center's sign criteria and local code. Confirm what is allowed before signing: building signage, a panel on the monument or pylon sign, window graphics and any temporary signage at opening. Ask for your sign rights to be written into the lease rather than left to later approval.
Co-tenancy and exclusives
Many retailers choose a center because of who else is there. Co-tenancy clauses protect that choice. An opening co-tenancy clause can delay your obligation to open or pay full rent until named anchors or a set level of occupancy are in place. An operating co-tenancy clause adjusts rent, often to an alternative rent based on sales, if those anchors or occupancy are later lost, and may give the tenant a right to terminate if the shortfall continues. These protections are negotiated, and landlords typically grant them more readily to tenants whose presence drives traffic.
An exclusive use clause stops the landlord from leasing other space in the property to a competing use. Define your exclusive precisely: too broad, and the landlord will resist; too narrow, and a competitor can fit around it. Equally, check the exclusives other tenants already hold, since they limit what you can sell. Your permitted use clause should be broad enough to allow the business to evolve its offering over the term.
Testing a site in person
Data narrows the shortlist; visits decide it. Visit each finalist at different times: a weekday morning, a weekday evening and a weekend afternoon, and at the hours that matter most to your concept. Watch how traffic moves, how full the parking is, which neighboring businesses are busy and how customers walk between them. Approach the site from each direction and note how easy it is to turn in and how early the storefront becomes visible.
Then look at the space itself with your operation in mind. Check the frontage width, the depth of the space, ceiling height, the location of rear doors for deliveries and where trash and recycling are handled. For restaurants and food uses, confirm utility capacity, venting routes and any existing grease interceptor before you fall for a space. Ask about the center's plans as well: upcoming renovations, vacancies that may be filled and any redevelopment that could affect access or parking during your term.
Percentage rent and lease economics
Retail leases are commonly triple net: base rent plus your share of property taxes, insurance and common-area maintenance. Some include percentage rent, an additional rent equal to a percentage of gross sales above a breakpoint. With a natural breakpoint, the threshold is set where the percentage would equal the base rent; with an artificial breakpoint, it is set at a negotiated figure. Agree clearly what counts as gross sales, since online orders fulfilled in store, returns, gift cards and sales tax all need a defined treatment.
Build-out often matters more in retail than in other property types. Restaurants need grease traps, venting and utility capacity; specialty uses need storefront and infrastructure work. Compare the space's condition and any allowance against the full cost of opening, and test the occupancy cost as a share of projected sales, the measure most retailers use to decide whether a location can work.
If you are evaluating a market or a specific site, send your criteria through the inquiry form or call +1 (307) 309-3800 and choose retail. We share the trade-area information we have for our properties to help you decide.
General information for businesses considering commercial space, not legal, tax or financial advice. Every lease is different; your lease's own terms govern.
