9 Warning Signs Your Retail Store is Closing

Are you worried about your retail store closing? Learn about 9 warning signs that could indicate your store is in trouble and how to act quickly.

9 Warning Signs Your Retail Store is Closing

You may be feeling a sense of dread about your retail business. While it's more obvious from the outside looking in, if you're experiencing a lot of pressure to alter your motto, logo, and other aspects of your brand, it could be a sign that your store is in trouble. When a job is considered monotonous, pointless and unrewarded, good employees will look for other opportunities. You can check any business on Glassdoor to see what current and former employees really think about your job, but the number of W-2 forms you submitted last year should also be taken into account.

If there has been a significant decrease in the number of employees, it could be an indication that your employees are leaving due to stress, anxiety, and frequent boredom. I recently received a request for a consultation from a woman whose retail business was struggling. She wondered if she and her business partner should simply declare Chapter 11 and close the store. Over the weekend, before ordering the products, the owner suddenly decided that he didn't like the taste and demanded a change. Within 24 hours, the team obtained a sample that they liked, but no one else did. Do you need more specific tips to increase your foot traffic? Here are 17 proven ways to generate more store visits.

Traditional retailers often run sales and promotions to get shoppers through the door, but unless an average ticket can back it up, they're often chasing it. Stores that fail have too little energy, staff don't participate, and many simple tasks simply aren't taken care of. Bootstrapping is a way of life for small retail business owners, but if you notice that your tendencies are shifting towards greater thinness, it's time to analyze your point-of-sale system to see trends. Retail prices are rising and promotion tactics are reduced to earn more gross profits during the year. Here are the nine important signs that your retail store is closing or is in danger of closing in the near future. Both telltale signs are just vicious circles that annoy employees and customers and ultimately accelerate the retailer's demise.

She's also the author of Retail Survival of the Fittest, a free e-book to help retailers prepare their stores for the future. A more logical approach would be to understand the composition of successful stores in terms of geographical location and then compare the performance of stores with poor performance. For example, there may be too many stores within a specific sales radius to survive. Any retailer or brand that doesn't focus on delivering an exceptional customer experience will find themselves in this danger zone. ShopKeep's free Lean Retail 101 e-course will teach you how to manage your retail business as a successful, fast-growing startup. If signs appear that your retail store is closing, that's your signal to act quickly to avoid closure.

As Shannon Bedore, CEO of Sightline Retail, points out: “Some of the first signs that a buyer or category is in trouble occur when shoppers leave meetings and don't bring new products according to the category's lifecycle. While some people complain that e-commerce is taking over the market share of brick-and-mortar stores, smart retailers are busy taking advantage of the web to increase their foot traffic.

Emmett Heyduck
Emmett Heyduck

Evil food scholar. Certified food trailblazer. Infuriatingly humble zombie guru. Passionate music fan. Wannabe web aficionado.

Leave Message

All fileds with * are required