Store Layouts -  Arranging your store to influence customers

Store layouts vary from store type to store type but there are some basic standards. There are traditional layouts that feature island gondolas lined up like toy soldiers. You will often see this type of layout in small grocery and variety stores because it is an effective use of floor space. End caps usually anchor the terminal points of the aligned gondolas. Although as I mentioned these layouts use space effectively, they can be boring and certainly do nothing to distinguish the stores that use them. 

A racetrack layout is a store layout style that was popularized several years ago. A racetrack layout consists of gondolas lined in orthodox fashion around the perimeter of a building and then an aisle that runs parallel with but inset from the perimeter walls that forms the “racetrack”. Inside the racetrack the gondolas are once again aligned in a traditional pattern. The racetrack design is not practical with a small building but can be used effectively in a larger one. This design, by virtue of gondola placement and the racetrack-circumscribing aisle has a more open feel than does the traditional alignment mentioned above.

Many stores today benefit from a store layout that creates a feeling of stores within a store. For example a Home Center I recently designed now creates the illusion of shopping a Cabinet Design Center, a Decking Specialty Store and a Paint and Decorating Specialty Store all within four common walls. The store sells all of the other traditional offerings but these departments are featured. The store design creates the illusion of a store within a store by using angles, lighting, varying floor treatments and cascading aisles. Using offset terminal points for the ends of the gondolas creates cascading aisles. Cascading aisles open better viewing vistas and exposes shoppers to much more variety. Make sure that your gondolas remain parallel to the walls however or you will “chew up” valuable floor space.

In the book Discovery-Based Retail, store layouts are discussed at length. In addition the book contains numerous tips and systems to help make your store produce more effectively. Interested in learning more about store layouts? Then get your copy of Discovery Based Retail today!