Regardless of your business size – any retail store has stock that they need to store. In coffee, you have the cups, beans, syrups and merch. In fashion you have the clothes. And in every branch of retail there is always the promotional signs and decorations, seasonal decor, and spare equipment and furniture. But where to store it all? It does depend on the size of your business, and the reach it has as to the size of your storage. If you have multiple branches, you might have to consider whether multiple smaller storage spaces are better than one larger one with a longer delivery route.
In Store
If you are one store then all the storage space you need might be available in the shop. You do still have a few things the consider; the most important being food products. You need to make sure that they are stored safely and in accordance with EHO regulations. Most places are encouraged to store all stock off the floor in case of rats or mice coming along. In store storage is great because you don’t have to wait for a delivery – it’s all right there. It might get a bit full over the Christmas period when you order in extra stock, but at that time you might consider the next option on a temporary basis.
Storage Unit
This is a good option for a temporary solution for cases like we mentioned in the above paragraph. It also works for a long term solution for things that you don’t need access to regularly. A storage unit isn’t a place that you can trade out of, so you can’t use it as a base for shipments. However it can be registered to your business and hold anything rom company records to those fake presents that sit under every retail tree every year.
Office
Most retail stores, once they start to multiply across the country, have a head office. Where the CEO, their team and all the creative brainiacs work. It makes sense to have space here to store some stock. It can work out well for the creative and marketing teams to have products there on hand for reference, and it’s less likely t get stolen from an outsider due to the staff surrounding it throughout the day. You are limited though to the size of your offices. And you don’t want your staff to feel like they are working in the middle of a warehouse. You could move to a warehouse with an attached office, but that option doesn’t work for everyone.
Warehouse
Onto warehouses now. You can buy a pre-existing structure, or build an aluminium warehouse from scratch. The former comes ready made, and often ready-equipped, but it can also come with structural or electrical issues that need addressing. The later can be designed to your exact wants and specifications, but could take longer to have ready for use. Either way, you need to secure CCTV for your warehouse, and perhaps even a security guard throughout the day and night.