Update… so i closed the deal and bought all of the equipment from a local pizza place got everything in the store. was able to buy out the lease for a small fee and also separated from the franchise. and now im planning for my own store!! for 5k!
anyhow the question (S) at my local mall (a very big one that is always busy because its close to the Canadian border) has some food court space available to me my competition would be Sbarro ( if i can call them that) and subway.
my idea is to offer pizza subs and salads at higher quality…has anyone here ever had a store based in a mall i really think this would work.
option number 2 im also looking at a space that is in a very busy shopping center on one of the most traveled roads. it would be 2 miles away from a little Caesars and their is a papa Murphy s in the same shopping center
I just read about Sbarro being a strong candidate for Chapter 11 this year. Mainly because they are so heavily invested in mall store fronts. Might be something to look closer at. Are you sure this mall is still as busy as it was?
what state are you in? I was just wondering because I am also close to the border and am about 45 minutes from 2 malls right across from the border, just curious if you were close
California Pizza Kitchens used to be in upscale malls in MetroAtlanta and surrounding. I don’t know if they still are, but I recall them taking hits even before the major retail downturn. This sconomic environment may be more challenging than before for opening a higher position place in a mall food court. Do you due diligence, find the traffic count at the food court, and ask other proprietors their experiences.
AS always, your market will differ radically from mine.
Malls = very high rent and really you are just subject to “impulse” buys. Bad economic times for malls. Advertising is hard as it is – how would you do it in a mall?
Personally I think a shopping center with seating is the way to go. If you are going the quality route I think you have to have seating as a delco is a lot tougher in that niche.
You need to be very very clear what you typical customer would be - do people go to the mall specifically for something to eat? imo no - food is something done as part of the shopping experience and as such people choose where to eat based on different needs.
While you may want to pitch yourself as better quality shoppers at the mall go to shop and normally want a quick meal that that they know is going to be to a certain standard. For this reason places like Subway etc will always do well in mall’s as people know who they are, what to expect etc. Where as people don;t know what to expect from ‘Jimmy place’. Sure you can grow your reputation but its a much harder and expensive enviroment to do that.
You need to be very certain of your business plan as the cost of mall space is typically much much higher than out of mall space so if your not hitting your numbers you’ll be closed before you know it.
Whenever I go I always look at who is busy and who isn’t and this normally has little to do with food quality and more about value and speed - which is why places like KFC/Mc’d/Subway are always busy.
so i just moved all of the equipment into storage and now its time to figure out what to do ( normally i would of done this before i made the purchess but hey i got a good deal so who cares)
I have started my counts at the local mall
heres what the numbers looked like
( slow tuesday night at 640 pm)
average of 4 pepole ordering per restraunt with a count of 30 pepole eating
i watched for 5 min
then came back 15min later
had about the same average of 4 pepole per restraunt
and 78 pepole eating in the food court
i plan on doing counts every day for about 2 weeks ( waiting for the malls monthly traffic report to come so i can combine that data) and get a good idea
im also continueing conversations with my broker how do you know if hes just feeding you a line of bull?
I have to figure out to make a map so i can explain the second location to you guys
anyones city have a traffic increse fee my city does and its 6-8k (dont have to pay if in mall)
I’m surprised that Sbarro’s doesn’t have a no compete clause with the mall. Does the mall have a movie theater? The busy nights typically in a mall are Friday through Sunday. If it does have a theater, you may be able to do cross advertising.
McDonald is another tough one to compete with, especially when people can’t afford alot. One thing you need to watch for is how some of these mall businesses are filing bankruptcy like Ritz Camera. As places leave or make changes, the traffic may decline.
I’ve worked in the malls for almost 5 years at Sbarro’s and Villa Pizza, if you have any questions, let me know.
Actually, I never eat at the mall because it’s always such low quality. If you can provide a better quality food at similar prices, it seems like you could at least take out Sbarros (assuming they don’t take themselves out first).
I can’t see ‘averages’ really telling you much. An average of 4 customer could mean (and from my experience at mall food courts) a big line at MC’Ds a few people at the other big names and several places with no-one at all!
On the same basis 78 people spread across 11 restuarants could well mean 70 customers of Subway and Mc’Ds and 8 spread amoungst the other 9 places.
Just because another business gets x number of customers has very little to do with the number of customers you will get.
If I tell you that one of my shops has 2 competitors either side of me and between us we have an ‘average’ of 6 drivers on a Friday night what does that tell you?
You’d be better off finding a similar mall with a similar operation to what you are after and seeing what kind of business they do!
I would honestly stay out of the malls where there is already one pizza place. Besides, malls are a dying breed in my opinion. And as people have stated, malls and quality food do not go hand in hand.
how do you know if hes just feeding you a line of bull?