Hi again.  I hadn’t planned to be away for so long, but with all the shopping, decorating, baking, entertaining, employee vacations and the flu, it all adds to too much to do and too little time and even less energy.  I’m sure a lot of you are in the same boat as me.  The Holidays are such a great time but I’m always happy to see them go so I can get back to normal.

It’s never too early to start planning how you are going to be making money this summer and now is a good time to start exploring the possibilities.  I thought first we would explore setting up a kiosk in a mall.  I will look at all the aspects of running a kiosk in a mall.  This week I will focus on selecting a mall.  I would suggest that you take the time to read the article on malls by Kirk on our website. On the left side of our home page, scroll down and click on “Articles”.  Click on the second article “How to Make Money in Malls”.

I have two malls in the geographical area where I live.  Both malls are pretty busy and I enjoy shopping at both malls.  How would I decide which would be a better mall to sell my product – airbrush tattoos?

When I make contact with the mall office I would ask to speak to the leasing agent.  The initial information I would request is:

1. What is the total square footage of the mall?
   One million square feet would be the minimum requirement.
2. What is the annual traffic of the mall?
   12 million people per year would be good.
3. What are the sales per square foot?
   You are looking for $400 or more.
4. What are the demographics of the mall?  Do you have a high percentage of teen traffic or tourist traffic?
   “Yes” to both would be peachy but “yes” to one is mandatory.
5. How much do you charge for rent?
   Hmmmmm, let’s negotiate.

All malls are different and the amount they charge for rent is negotiable.  Let me say that you are going into a mall at the “dead” time for the mall.  Christmas time is the prime time when demand for retail space is high.  Use this fact to your advantage to negotiate your rent.  Just because the mall says the rent for the summer months is $1,500 per month doesn’t mean that’s what you should pay.  Another fact you can use to your advantage is the current state of the economy.  Retail, especially malls are hurting now, they may be open to any ridiculous offer for rent especially in their dead season.

The time for you to be up and running in the mall is about two weeks before the kids get out of school for summer vacation and one or two weeks after the kids go back to school in September.

Let the leasing agent know that you are looking for a space by the food court.  Usually there is only one main entrance to the food court.  You will want to be as close to that entrance as possible.  95% of all people who go to the mall will end up in the food court.  They will walk by your kiosk when they enter, they will watch you demonstrate your product while they eat, and they will hopefully stop and get a tat before they leave the food court.  Kirk seems to think that it is important if a theater is near the food court.  I disagree, when people go to the mall to see a movie, their focus is getting to the theater.  They are not going to be easily distracted by anything.

The last issue you need to explore before making your decision on a mall is insurance.  Here again I will refer you to the article written by Kirk on malls.  Also I would ask you to check the Forum for insurance references from other customers.  I think I would also ask the leasing agent at the mall you are considering, to recommend an insurance agent.  Shop around for the best price.  The cost for insurance can vary greatly.

By asking the leasing agent the above questions I have eliminated one mall in my geographic area and given the other the thumbs up for my location.