Free vendor space in new malls

Recently I started taking advantage of free space offers from new mall owners. I am beginning to have enough experience with this to form my own opinions as to its success from a vendor's point of view. But I would prefer to hear your opinions of this practice.

As a vendor, do you feel it is worth the effort to set up a store in a new mall even if it is free for a while?

Have you seen some of these places that were successful and others that were not? If so, what do you think the successful ones did that caused that? And what did the failures do wrong?

How do you measure success in a case like this?


I would also like to hear from the mall owners. Is this business model working for you? Are you making money after the initial free vendor time runs out? What have you done right? or wrong?


What about questions I didn't ask? I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this one.

A vendor has little to lose by setting up in a free mall, a group space and time are the two that spring to mind but other than that it's worth a shot.

If I was offering free vendor space at a mall the first thing I'd do is make sure the TP point isn't fixed, allowing vendors to run adverts if they so choose, with the cost savings they make on rent . If the TP point is fixed that advert isn't worthwhile in my opinion.

measure success as making profit from vendors placed in the malls, if there is a profit, there is success. straight forward.

Now setting up the store is an interesting thing, for me it takes little to no time at all. Creating all the store material before hand for cookie cutter stalls is smart.

But being a free stall in a mall dose not mean I would want to put a store there! There are tons of crappy malls, would look at the property, advertisement, traffic (NO bots please!), flow of foot traffic, viability of stalls, and surrounding stalls. That is just me though, try and crunch the invisible numbers in my head

So a month without profit is about the time I would pull out.

i started a mall, and to fill it up i offered free vendor space. unfortunately, it's very hard to retract the free spots (for me) because then i feel like i'm cheating someone.

from a landlord's perspective, i think it really depends on the purpose of the mall. for me it is a combination of things. naturally, i would love the mall to support itself (via tier fees), but that can't happen if i'm giving away free space. i like to help my friends out, and so i offer free space to only select people. my intention is not to make a profit, and for awhile i didn't even care about the tier, because i was able to recover those monies from other sources. unfortunately, circumstances change, and then so does the opportunity to give away free space.

but after all that, my main reason for starting the mall is because i wanted to have MY things in a nice themed mall. there are a few out there like mine, but very few. most are very commercial. i just wanted to have a place that felt good to me when i'm there, and it does.

The group space is a problem. I now have 6 group spaces taken up by my various locations. I keep having to remove other groups that I like, so I won't be adding any more locations.

The fixed TP point is an excellent point. I just got into a mall that has a fixed TP, so if I wanted to run a classified ad or something, it would not set my newly found customer down in front of my vendor spot. Also, if they decide they might want to come back later and take a landmark they will end up back in the fixed tp spot. ouch





It's easy to say that anything I sell in a free space is profit. But what about when the free time is up and the landlord (rightly) wants me to pay rent? I can track my sales by region. I'm thinking that if I come anywhere near selling per week what the rent is, I should stay. Sales could increase, plus I am getting some exposure. In fact, I often think of these satellite locations as advertisements for my main store. If sales fall off, I can always leave the next time the rent is due.

I hadn't really thought about it from the point of view of how the crappy mall reflects on my business. That is an excellent point. I will have to think about that next time.

I pretty much ignore bots and campers. I try not to look at traffic numbers at all. My best satellite location has no bots or campers, but they constantly have Treasure Hunts, and a dance floor that my stall faces. Surprisingly to me, the treasure hunters actually buy stuff. I know because I have watched them. I renew that rent every time it comes due.

And I have started creating cookie cutter stalls as you suggested. I just make a copy of one I have set up and I will use it again later in a different place.

I don't think you should feel like you are cheating someone just by asking then to pay rent. As a business person, I know why you offered free space at the beginning. My decision now is whether to stay at the rent you set.

Your decision about keeping your mall is more complicated because you are renting mall space to others while generating traffic for your own store. I uess you have to look at it as an overall picture? Is the mall plus the store turning a profit? That sort of thing?

Just to answer the question of when it is not free, my original statement still stands, free or not free.