How to find the best location for our restaurant?

Today I’m standing inside a store that is going to be transformed into the newest Chi’Lantro restaurant. I want to share with you five reasons why I chose this location to be the newest Chi’Lantro restaurant.

1. Location

It is important to choose a great location like our newest Chi’Lantro, which is located in the Mueller shopping center. This location is in an awesome neighborhood. We have a children’s hospital right behind us, apartment complexes in back of us, on the south side and north side there are homes, and across the bridge there are more homes and office buildings. We are in the heart of a lot of activity so we will have both a day time and night time population coming into the restaurant.

2. Parking

All five of our Chi’Lantro locations are easy to access and there are plenty of parking spaces. I keep this in mind when choosing a location so that our customers feel like they can easily go into the restaurant and pick up their food and go back to their office or their house.

3. Competition is good

We love great competition! We love to be in a shopping center that people enjoy coming to because they get to be entertained by other restaurants, coffee shops, and dessert places. They get to enjoy us along with other amenities. We love being in a competitive shopping center where we are inspired to stay on top of our game.

4. Trust your gut feeling

When choosing a location, I ask myself, “Do I feel like we are bringing something unique to this neighborhood that they don’t have and that they are seeking”? If the answer is yes, my gut feeling is, “yes I want to be a part of this neighborhood”.

5. Occupancy cost to be at 5% – 8% of revenue

Numbers! I want to make sure that our occupancy cost is going to align with what I think that we are going to do in sales at this location.