i know nothing about retail, but i know a few people who do and they all agree on one thing; its all about footfall
the whole idea behind retail is rather than slaving away in obscurity for years you pay the landlord the premium they demand, you open the doors, and there is a stream of people flowing past
a percentage of those people passing by will come in out of curiousity if nothing else, and if you do a good job of the presentation you can flex this percentage upwards considerably
having got a customer to venture in for a look, whether they return again is down to the experience that the customer has when they were in the shop
but if youve got very low foot traffic the best offering in the world is a non-starter, unless you are able to secure very low rent and sit in for the long run and build your location as a destination experience that people are willing to make a specific trip too
almost everyone who looked remotely like a prospective customer came in and at the end of the day that number about 6 or 7 people from memory. yes, we took a complete pasting
but rather than go back for a beating every saturday for the next 2 months we have withdrawn and will look for somewhere else to try out
but the lesson has been driven home hard: you must have foot fall!