Business is weather dependent, with
average set-up season
running from March to October. Depending on its
location, a
DECO tent sees anywhere from 10-40 customers each day. DECO
groups its tent
locations together by region and calls them PODs. Each POD has a manager. Students who start out as a site operator, often get promoted to POD and regional managers. Part of the company’s branding strategy is to bring
some fun to something that is relatively boring. “We have a great mascot, DECO-man, and we provide kids color books onsite to keep them entertained, in case a parent shows up with kids for a repair. Our marketing efforts are almost exclusively online and we have a great following and engagement on all our social media channels,” Laura Horne says. She adds that feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
Since DECO calls convenience one of business priorities, the mall locations are an especially good fit. Shopping center parking lots are busy but large enough that they can easily lease up to three spots at the far perimeter of a parking lot without taking away customer parking. DECO pays for a lease at every location and in some cases even meet percent rent requirements. “Especially in the months that may not be as popular with specialty lease managers—such as summer—we provide great revenue towards the specialty leasing budgets,” Horne says.
its
In the beginning, Horne says DECO had to be pioneers for this type of specialty retail and overcome stereotypes that a lot of people have about parking lot set-ups. “We realize that often
parking lot set-ups can look grungy and sloppy so from the start of the company, we made sure that DECO was going to be different,” Horne says. DECO refreshes its bright orange tent tops every year to keep them looking crisp and clean.
DECO is looking to continue expanding its model across
Canada in the near future, and is discussing launching U.S. operations in the long term.
For more information, please visit
decorepair.com.
Cody Lyon is a New York City-based freelance reporter who covers retail, commercial real estate, start-ups, public policy and transportation. Lyon’s work has appeared in numerous national and local publications. Lyon is also an avid cyclist who spends hours photographing the city he loves, New York.
SpecialtyRetail.com Fall 2013 n Specialty Retail Report 103
Courtesy of Google Courtesy of Google
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