The Importance of Location

I have made an interesting observation during my grocery shopping trips to the El Gouna downtown: One fruit and vegetable shop (left image) is full of customers anytime of the day, the other fruit and vegetable shop (right image) is empty at all times of the day. 

Even more interesting is that both fruit shops have the same owner and the same name : 'Abu Amer - Fruits and Vegetables'! They sell the same products from the same sources at the same prices.  They are roughly the same in size, with customers in the 'full' shop always scraping past each other in very tight confines, making the selection of produce experience tedious. In the 'empty' shop, the rare customer has the whole place to him or herself. 

The shops are only 250 m. from each other. 

For this reason, I have only gone shopping for fresh produce at the 'empty' shop. I enjoyed the space and time it took to find what I was looking for. I paid without waiting for anyone ahead of me in line. 

It was therefore with disappointment that I went last week only to find the 'empty' shop was this time, very very empty. Empty even of produce and empty of the lone employee! A sign on the door said 'shop is now closed'. 

I learnt later that because no one ever went there, it grossed only about 500 EGP a day, and with rent and utilities of approximately 7,000 EGP a month. It was not profitable and Mr Abu Amer decided to close it down. 

It got me thinking, Location IS important in the world of retail. A shop can lose out to its carbon copy only because it is slightly off the main. People may not want to walk the extra 250 m even when guaranteed a better shopping experience once there? Or is it a case of 'out of sight, out of mind'? Or is it a question of habit, once in one shop, why change?

I don't know all the answers, but I lament the closed shop and must now hone my skills in speed shopping in tight confines.