When looking at various studies on the failure rates of new businesses of any type, attempting a start-up is risky to put it mildly. The numbers are widely varied, but everywhere you look the percentages of casualties are brutal and the wipe-outs happen quickly. Anywhere from 24% to 50% of new businesses don't make it past 2 years. Indicators suggest as many as 80% of companies will go belly up within 5 years. Enterprising souls still exist in this increasingly digital world willing to do business in the very tenuous world of retail, where small business owners face the hardest work and greatest risk in business start-ups.

The retail industry is particularly vulnerable to sudden collapse because they must process and move inventory constantly. There are a full range of bills to pay: rent on a pedestrian-rich street will be exorbitant, employees must be paid, utilities, taxes, invoices for inventory, and so on. All it takes is a few slow weeks to get behind for many stores. Their competitors are all around the same street where the pedestrians shop - they would be foolish to open anywhere else. The business volume just has to be shared with nearby stores.

Women's clothing stores are plentiful; they represent the typical retail environment, where customer service is offered at the door by the salesperson who will help in suggesting clothes and try to move some merchandise. Turning on the charm is of the utmost importance to make the customer feel at home and trigger the impulse buy. Subconsciously people feel a bit obligated to buy once they have taken up the time of the nice store personnel.

If the new store owner is convinced that the business plan is sound, the first step is renting the square footage in the right location. The second step will be to equip the space as a retail store with the appropriate fixtures. The next step is to arrange inventory, an accounting system, and cash register. Then the right employees have to be hired to smile and speak on your behalf. CATV security cameras need to be set up to prevent shoplifting. Much of the budget after that will be needed for advertising, advertising, and more advertising so that the world will know you are open for business.

This article focuses on the second step - the retail store fixtures. Walls and dividers can be rearranged from time to time to liven up the look of the store; special grid wall panels and slat walls are provided by companies who supply all the items necessary for displaying goods in retail stores. A wide variety of tools are used to hold, hang, reflect, or display all the merchandise the store wants to sell to the public.

Retail displays are more than glass display cases or racks for clothes. Mirrors are often used to make the store's interior look much bigger. Mannequins in strategic places can draw attention to clothing items and they produce a strong 3D advertising effect. One Toronto store fixtures company has mannequins for sale or rent and bust forms that can compete with department store mannequins for style and erectness, as well as necessary items like tagging guns, clothes hangers, and floor racks.

A retail store is a time consuming and risky endeavor but when things go well the profit margin can make it all worthwhile. Not everyone will end up in a dark room with a bottle of whiskey and his arm around a mannequin after crashing and burning…the success stories are perhaps 20% after 5 years and many companies can show enough value to sell the business or merge with another to expand into a truly profitable future.