Willard Bishop’s latest Competitive Edge provides insight into some existing and potential ways retailers can maximize their store space to drive efficiency and differentiation and increase sales and shopper satisfaction.

My Store Is Too Big – What Do I Do With The Extra Space?

With the evolution of Supercenters, Dollar, Specialty, and Limited Assortment stores, grocery retailers have added space to accommodate a plethora of services, enhanced the perimeter of their stores, and increased assortment in order to drive differentiation and fend off competitive pressures. Unfortunately, despite these efforts, grocery’s overall market share (of dollars) has declined by 49% (1988 – 90% to 2010 – 41%). Based on these trends, retailers now have too much square footage to support their businesses and are unsure what to do with the excess space.