Renting in a busy shopping street is the right choice when your retail concept benefits from high foot traffic, brand visibility, and impulse purchases. For retailers who depend on spontaneous visits, a prime location on the high street is not a luxury — it is a prerequisite for success. The sections below answer the most frequently asked questions about choosing retail locations, rental prices, and negotiating.
What makes a busy shopping street different from other retail locations?
A busy shopping street — also known as a prime or A1 retail location — is distinguished by a consistently high volume of foot traffic within walking distance of the core shopping area. This automatically generates visibility without you having to drive traffic yourself. In secondary and tertiary locations, a retailer must actively invest in marketing to bring customers through the door; in a prime location, the location itself acts as a marketing tool.
What further sets a shopping street apart from other retail locations — such as shopping centers or standalone units — is the combination of factors at play: the mix of surrounding stores, accessibility by public transport and on foot, consumer recognition, and the presence of strong anchor tenants nearby. All of these elements together determine the street’s appeal and, with it, the value of your specific location within it.
Not every busy street is equal. Within a single city, rental prices and foot traffic intensity can vary significantly from street to street — even from one side of the street to the other. Specialist retail agents understand these nuances at street level and can assess whether a given location is truly A1 or merely borders the prime zone.
Which retail concepts are suited to a prime high street location?
A prime high street location is best suited to concepts that rely on impulse visits, brand experience, or a broad customer base. Think fashion, footwear, accessories, beauty, food-to-go, and concept stores. For these categories, visibility on a busy shopping street is directly linked to revenue and brand reputation.
Concepts where customers seek you out intentionally — such as a specialist in a niche category or a service provider — benefit less from an expensive prime location. These businesses can perform just as well in a secondary location or a specific neighborhood, but at considerably lower rental costs.
Several factors determine whether a prime location is right for your concept:
- Revenue potential per square meter: Can your concept generate enough additional turnover from foot traffic to justify the higher rent?
- Brand positioning: Does a visible location on a top shopping street strengthen the perception of your brand?
- Target audience alignment: Does your target audience actually walk through that street?
- Dependence on spontaneous visits: Do you need passing trade, or do customers seek you out directly?
For e-commerce brands making the move into physical retail, a prime location offers the opportunity to build brand awareness quickly. At the same time, the risk is greater if the concept has not yet been proven in a physical environment.
What are the true costs of renting in a busy shopping street?
The true costs of renting in a busy shopping street involve more than just the base rent per square meter. In addition to rent, tenants pay service charges, marketing fund contributions in shopping centers, VAT on the rent, and costs for fitting out and adapting the premises. The total occupancy cost can therefore be considerably higher than the initial offer suggests.
Base rent at a prime location varies significantly by city and street. In the largest retail cities, top rents on the most sought-after streets are structurally higher than in medium-sized cities. Within those cities, there are also major differences from street to street and from one side of the street to the other. Assessing what is in line with the market is therefore not straightforward without access to current comparable transactions.
In addition to the monthly rent, these are the cost items you need to account for:
- Service charges: Contribution to shared costs such as cleaning, security, and property management
- Marketing fund: Applicable in shopping centers and sometimes in organized shopping streets
- Security deposit or bank guarantee: Often three to six months’ rent as security for the landlord
- Fit-out costs and alterations: Depending on the condition of the premises and the landlord’s requirements
- VAT: Rent is subject to VAT in most cases, unless an exemption applies
KroesePaternotte holds lease transaction data going back to 1984, covering virtually the entire Dutch retail market. This historical and current data makes it possible to quickly assess whether a requested rent is in line with the market, so you do not overpay for a location.
When is a less prominent location the better choice?
A less prominent location is the better choice when your concept does not depend on foot traffic, when the rental cost of a prime location exceeds your revenue potential, or when your customers seek you out directly. For specialists, artisans, professional service providers, and niche retailers, a secondary location or an up-and-coming neighborhood is often the more rational choice.
A lower rent in a secondary location frees up more financial capacity for marketing, staffing, and inventory investment. If you use those resources effectively to actively attract customers, a secondary location can deliver a higher net margin than an expensive prime location with high fixed costs.
Consider a less central location if one or more of the following situations apply:
- Your concept has a loyal customer base that seeks you out intentionally
- The rent at a prime location would account for more than 15 to 20 percent of projected turnover
- You need more space than is available or affordable in the prime zone
- Your concept is better suited to a specific neighborhood or district than to a generic shopping area
- You want to validate your concept before committing to a long-term lease in an expensive location
How do you negotiate lease terms at a prime location?
Negotiating lease terms at a prime location requires knowledge of current market rents, insight into what comparable transactions on the same street have achieved, and an understanding of the landlord’s interests. Without that information, you are negotiating blind and risk overpaying or accepting unfavorable contract terms.
At a prime location, the landlord generally holds a stronger position than the tenant — but that does not mean there is nothing to negotiate. There is often room on incentives, rent-free periods, break options, and indexation arrangements, particularly in the current market where vacancy remains a factor at certain locations.
What can you negotiate?
The base rent is not always the most flexible element. Landlords are sometimes more willing to make concessions on additional terms than on the headline rent, which serves as a reference for their investment value. Consider negotiating a rent-free period at the start of the lease, a contribution toward fit-out costs, a reduced security deposit, or a shorter initial lease term with an option to extend.
What are the risks of negotiating on your own?
Without knowledge of market-level rents by street and access to current transaction data, there is a real risk of accepting a price above market level or signing contract terms that restrict you later on. A specialist retail agent negotiates on your behalf based on objective data and knows the room for maneuver that landlords offer in practice.
How do you find available retail space in prime shopping streets?
Available retail space in prime shopping streets is not found exclusively through public listing portals. A significant share of prime location supply circulates through direct networks of owners, developers, and specialist agents, and is never publicly advertised. Those who rely solely on public platforms see only a fraction of what is actually available and frequently miss the best locations.
Public portals also have a well-known limitation: properties sometimes remain listed after they have already been let, which distorts the picture of what is truly available. For a retailer seriously searching for retail space at a prime location, this is both misleading and time-consuming.
A more effective approach combines multiple channels:
- Engage a specialist retail agent with direct relationships with owners of prime locations
- Define your search criteria precisely in terms of location type, floor area, rental budget, and target cities
- Be proactive by approaching owners of properties that are not actively being marketed
- Act quickly when prime locations become available, as the letting period is typically short
KroesePaternotte is a specialist retail agent in daily contact with owners, developers, and shopping center managers across the Netherlands — from Amsterdam and Rotterdam to Groningen and Eindhoven. This network provides access to retail spaces that never appear on public platforms. View the current retail listings or get in touch directly for a tailored property search.
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