I was in a retail toy store the other day and the owner randomly asked me what I thought he could do to improve his sales. He is leasing a nice store front in a small strip mall but off the beaten path. I told him that his location sucked. He looked shocked but ultimately agreed. I also told him that that’s OK. “I have successfully run plenty of retail store fronts in lousy locations.” I assumed he got a screaming deal on the lease and he had.

I then started browsing around for a game that I had read about in a business journal earlier. This store had been recognized by a game manufacturer because of a report from a consumer about the owners nine year old son. He was playing a new game and literally talked the potential customer into playing with him. They bought the game and sent an email off to the manufacturer. Amazingly, the store owner had no clue that there was a story about his store and son. After looking around I decided buy a “stomp rocket”. No up-sale suggestion like extra rockets was offered however.

“Every brand isn’t for everybody, and everybody isn’t for every brand.” -Liz Lange — In other words, do what small businesses do best and focus on a niche — and then own that niche. Be at the top. – American Express Open Forum

Continuing the business conversation… I explained that I see leasing as a marketing cost. You pay a higher lease to get a busier location that draws more traffic… store marketing. You save on your lease but the location isn’t that great your skimping on marketing unless… you market in other areas. Maybe that’s part of the solution? So I asked what he was doing in other marketing venues. Word of mouth, coupons and website was his answer. Wow. I looked at the coupons, delivered in a coupon pack, boring and no real stimulating offer. Later I looked at his website which was basically a business card with no call to action. As I was leaving I told this floundering store owner I would get back with him with some ideas and did.

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