The classic mantra of the three most important factors in retail: “location, location, location“.
When it comes to Gelato that’s even more important because nowadays Gelato and Ice Cream are considered products for impulsive buy.
So they often tell you that the foot traffic rate is very important: shopping mall, cbd or the beach are usually the best place to set up a Gelato shop.
Is that true?
I think we have to consider different factors, starting from the product. Are you producing quality putting a lot of effort in research of the right ingredients, maybe work with local producers, selecting fresh ingredients or your product is more commercial and for the mass?
The value proposition is very important when it comes to decide the location. Gelato is a product with a very high approval rating, so the offer is potentially for everyone but if you are making high quality, the Gelato shop should be a destination where your customers love to go with friends and family and live the atmosphere of the shop, not only live on impulsive buys. Customers come to you because they want you and your product.
If you are making an average product, very commercial, probably it’s better to choose an high traffic location. But you know I’m not for average products 😉
Other factors to consider are:
- Traffic: when? morning, afternoon and evening
- Type: city or suburb
- Visibility: open space or narrow street
- Accessibility: parking
Taking my Gelato shop, (La Macelleria in Brisbane) as an example, we chose a very narrow street with almost no foot traffic. Why is that? Were we crazy? No, we simply knew that our product is so good that once people taste it, they would come back and come back with more people. Obviously a good marketing helped.
We produce high quality Gelato from scratch and we count on loyal customers that love our product and the atmosphere of autenticity of the shop and spread the voice to friends, friends of friends, family, etc.
Demographic was also very important in the choice: we selected a residential suburb very near to the cbd and that can count on 3 other very closed suburbs. That makes the total population of the area around 20.000 people with an high density, a lot of families and young, and high personal income.
We also considered the fact that the area was already a very renowned dining precinct with very good restaurants and cafes.
Be near a cinema and a school is also very helpful.
The cost of the location is also very important because obviously the rent in a shopping mall or in the cbd would be way more expansive than a residential suburb (depending on the suburb), because they guarantee an high traffic rate but that maybe can’t justify the cost! Be careful!
So, recapping, for me the best location if you are producing an high quality product should be: residential with a good density of population, families and high income, dining precinct, better if there’s cinema or schools around. Lower rent than shopping malls, cbd or seaside.
La Macelleria in Brisbane. A destination for our customers
A bus full of people stopped by the shop recently because they heard about the quality at La Macelleria
