Title: What Causes a Store to Go Out of Business? | Small Business - Chron.com
Headings: What Causes a Store to Go Out of Business?
What Causes a Store to Go Out of Business?
Physical Causes
Economic Causes
Marketing Causes
Other Causes

Content: Common symptoms of a bad location include inadequate parking, less-than-desirable surroundings, confusing street layouts, little pedestrian traffic and lack of other retail stores in the area. If your store’s exterior signage or window displays have a poor design, people may be less likely to set foot inside even if the location gets plenty of traffic. Poorly designed interiors can also contribute to a store’s demise. For example, if your store plays music at an earsplitting volume, potential customers may leave the store due to physical discomfort. People may also leave if a store lacks a bathroom or if a clothing store lacks adequate fitting rooms. Economic Causes
Stores sometimes go out of business as a direct result of economic causes, such as shifting demand or excessive overhead. Even if your store is thriving by industry standards, it may go out of business if its overhead is too high. Caution in management decisions can help you avoid excessive overhead, such as signing a lease for more rent than the business can afford or hiring more employees than necessary. Shifting demand can sink a store by causing a major drop in sales. For example, if your store sells only a certain clothing label and that label goes out of style, the store may suffer a drop in sales and be unable to meet its staffing and overhead obligations, causing it to eventually go out of business.