The new Ohio Franchisee for a fast-growing restaurant group approached Juniper to assist them with a multi-location rollout strategy for Northeast Ohio and Columbus.  As a new brand entering the market, the challenge was to find strategic “first-to-market” locations for the brand without having existing store and customer data to build from.  Without the brand awareness, the Client needed to select locations that had a significant trade area in order to expose as many people as possible to their concept.

Using sophisticated psychographic, demographic, and geo-spatial data, Juniper created various heat maps based on their target clientele, spending habits, and daytime employment density to identify markets that would support each store.  Once the target markets were identified, Juniper performed an in-depth analysis of the underlying real estate markets to identify sites that provided the Client ultimate visibility in the trade areas and accommodated their special build-out requirements with features such as a patio area, end cap, ceiling heights, and roll-up doors.

Once the final locations had been identified, Juniper led the lease negotiations with the Landlord’s to secure the most favorable terms, free rent, and tenant improvement allowances.  Juniper also was intimately involved throughout the interior construction process by assisting with permitting, signage, and governmental approvals.