By Bruce Smith, Business Strategy Director, DMD Retail Design Ltd.

Stores are the ultimate brand expression, but building or renovating stores on time, controlling costs, and ensuring consistency can be challenging. Retailers also are challenged with justifying significant capital investments on leasehold improvements only to walk away when the lease expires. Adaptive retail design (ARD) programs allow retailers to open, renovate, and reconfigure multiple stores with a consistent theme while addressing these challenges. The concept involves designing a "skeleton" and adaptive prefabricated elements that can be easily installed, minimizing custom construction.

ARD programs afford a number of advantages:

• A shorter timeframe. It can take months off the process of getting into a market and generating revenues.
  
  
• More favorable budgetary allocation. Key store elements become assets rather than leasehold improvements that get left behind when the store is vacated.
  
  
• Cost savings. Onsite labor and waste associated with opening a retail location is reduced.
  
  
• Sustainable use of assets. Store elements can be reused repeatedly in various locations.

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