Retailers! Your Square Footage is Precious – Don’t Waste it on Bad Design!

Posted on by lehuabrands

Pot retailers in our state are in a fascinating situation: if they’ve won the lottery, found a 502-compliant location, worked out details with their landlord, city and county officials and their neighbors, they still have to line up inventory, set up security and cash management systems, and oh, right: open their doors. In all this hullabaloo, it’s certainly understandable that many retailers aren’t thinking much about the design of their space, how to maximize flow and avoid bottlenecks, and how to make sure every square foot is earning its keep.

But it’s fair to say that time will come. And whether you’re renovating an existing dispensary space, a local flower shop or bakery or even an old gas station (true story), sooner or later you’ll need a design that is functional, gets people in and out smoothly, minimizes risk of theft, helps people feel safe and comfortable, and utilizes the space efficiently.

I’ve got a couple of designs in process that seek to do all of the above and as soon as I can get them out of Sketchup and onto this site or my soon-to-be-revamped web site, I’ll post and describe why I made the design decisions I did.

Here’s to our intrepid retailers in WA State – good luck as your march toward your store openings!