New Store Opening Checklist Template

What the New Store Opening Checklist Covers

1. 1
   Phase 1

   Phase 1: Plan, Budget & Opening Date

   4 tasks

   Answer the setup questions on the first task: where the store is, whether it will sell alcohol or other age-restricted products, and whether it is a franchise. Every due date counts back from the opening date.

   • Record the store, the opening date and the opening team — the store and its address, the target opening date that every due date counts back from, the owner or senior manager who approves the budget and the go/no-go, the project lead who runs the opening and the store manager
   • Set the range, opening hours and staffing model — the departments and ranges, the sales floor and stockroom space, the opening days and hours, and how many people each shift needs; these drive the layout, the stock order and the rota
   • Build the opening budget — rent and deposit before opening, the fit-out, fixtures and signs, IT, tills and security, opening stock, wages before opening, launch marketing and a contingency, with how each is funded
   • Owner approves the budget and the target opening date — before the lease is signed or a shopfitter is booked; a date that leaves too little time for the fit-out, consents or recruitment is moved now, not in the last month
2. 2
   Phase 2

   Phase 2: Lease, Premises & Permissions

   7 tasks

   Check that the unit can trade as you plan before you sign. Consents, the business rates account and any registrations have lead times of their own, so start them here.

   • Franchise: get the franchisor’s approval of the site and the store plan — the site criteria in the franchise agreement, the franchisor’s sign-off of the unit, the layout and the opening date, and the brand standards manual the fit-out must follow
   • Check the unit can be used as a shop — ask the local planning or zoning office whether a shop is allowed in the unit, and whether the sign, shopfront changes or any outside display need permission
   • Agree the lease terms with a solicitor — rent, length, break clauses, the permitted use, any limits on opening hours or signs, repairs and service charges, and who pays for the fit-out
   • Survey the unit and record its condition — a measured survey for the layout, dated photos of the condition at handover, the power, water, drainage and data connections, and the building’s asbestos information from the landlord before anyone drills or cuts
   • Apply for consent for the shop sign — the fascia and any projecting sign, their size, height and lighting checked against the rules where the store is, and consent applied for if they need it; a listed building or conservation area needs extra care
   • Set up business rates or local business taxes — the account for the property’s business taxes from the day you take it on, any relief you can claim, and the payment dates in the budget
   • Check the licences, registrations and permits the store needs — everything the products or services need before the first sale, such as a premises licence for alcohol, a food registration or the registrations for tobacco, each with its lead time and owner
3. 3
   Phase 3

   Phase 3: Fit-Out & Shopfitting

   6 tasks

   Agree the layout before the shopfitter starts. Escape routes, the fire alarm and step-free routes are designed in, not added at the end.

   • Design the store layout — the sales floor, fixtures and displays, the till point and queue, fitting rooms, the stockroom, the staff area and toilets, with step-free routes, a checkout that wheelchair users can use and escape routes kept clear
   • Appoint the shopfitter and agree the programme — quotes against the layout, the contract, the start and handover dates and weekly progress meetings, with time left for snags before the stock arrives
   • Get building approval for the work — building regulations approval or a building permit for structural work, new walls, electrics, drainage or fire safety changes, applied for by the shopfitter or your designer, with the completion certificate kept
   • Fit out the unit — walls, floors, ceilings and lighting, shelving fixed so it cannot topple, fitting rooms and the stockroom, checked against the programme each week
   • Fit and test the fire alarm, emergency lighting, extinguishers and exit signs — a fire detection and warning system, emergency lighting, fire extinguishers and exit signs installed, tested and certified, with the store manager shown how each one works
   • Install the shop sign and window graphics — the fascia, any projecting sign and the window graphics fitted as designed or consented, with opening date posters in the window once the date is certain
4. 4
   Phase 4

   Phase 4: Utilities, IT, Payments & Security

   6 tasks

   Order connections early: broadband and card terminals often have the longest lead times. Test every system with real transactions before the soft opening.

   • Order the broadband, phone line and store network — a connection fast enough for the tills, card terminals, CCTV and back office, a backup such as a mobile router, and staff Wi-Fi kept separate from the tills
   • Set up electricity, water, heating and waste collection — accounts in the business’s name from the day you take the unit, meter readings at handover, and a contract for commercial waste and recycling
   • Arrange insurance for the store — buildings or contents cover as the lease requires, stock, business interruption, public liability and the cover the law requires for employees, in place from the day you take the keys
   • Install the intruder alarm, CCTV and door locks — the alarm and its monitoring, keyholders and codes, CCTV covering the tills, entrances and stockroom with signs saying it is in use, and locks and shutters handed over with every key recorded
   • Install and test the EPOS tills and card terminals — products, prices and tax codes loaded, receipts, refunds and voids tested, staff logins and permissions set, a test card payment and refund on each terminal, and the end-of-day report checked
   • Set up cash handling and the safe — till floats, a safe with limited access, till limits, how cash is counted and banked or collected, and who holds the safe keys or codes
5. 5
   Phase 5

   Phase 5: Stock, Suppliers & Merchandising

   5 tasks

   Count back from the delivery dates. Stock arrives after the shopfitter hands over and before the team is trained on it.

   • Plan the opening range and stock levels — the lines for each department, opening quantities based on sales at similar stores, enough to fill every fixture on opening day, and a reserve for the first weeks
   • Set up suppliers and delivery slots — an account with each supplier, delivery days and times the landlord allows, where deliveries are received, and who checks them in
   • Place the opening stock orders — orders timed to arrive after the shopfitter hands over and before merchandising starts, with each delivery date confirmed in writing
   • Receive and check the opening stock — each delivery counted against the order, damage and shortages reported to the supplier the same day, and the stock booked into the stock system
   • Merchandise the store and price every line — fixtures filled to the layout or planogram, shelf-edge labels and prices that match the tills, signs and promotions in place, and the stockroom tidy with nothing stored in escape routes
6. 6
   Phase 6 — If you sell age-restricted products

   Phase 6: Alcohol & Age-Restricted Sales

   5 tasks

   Shown only when the first task says the store will sell alcohol or other age-restricted products. The licence tasks appear only when it will sell alcohol.

   • Decide the age-restricted products and the hours you will sell them — each product with a minimum age, and for alcohol the days and times you will sell it, which go on the licence application
   • Appoint the designated premises supervisor or licensee — the person named on the licence as responsible for alcohol sales day to day, with the personal licence or qualification the rules require
   • Apply for the premises licence — the application form, fee, plan of the premises and operating schedule, sent to the licensing authority and to anyone else the process requires, with any public notice displayed for as long as the rules say
   • Receive the licence and record its conditions — every condition copied into the store procedures and the staff briefing, and the licence or its summary kept at the store
   • Set up age checks and a refusals log — a written age-checking policy, the forms of ID you accept, till prompts on age-restricted lines, a refusals log and a briefing for everyone who serves at the till
7. 7
   Phase 7

   Phase 7: Recruitment & Training

   6 tasks

   Recruit early enough to train the whole team before the soft opening. Right to work checks come before anyone starts.

   • Plan the roles, hours and wage budget — each role, how many people, their weekly hours and start dates, checked against the opening hours and the wage line in the budget
   • Recruit the team — adverts, interviews and offers, with start dates that leave time for training before the soft opening
   • Set up as an employer — payroll, the tax registrations and the insurance an employer must hold, all in place before the first person starts
   • Check every hire’s right to work — the check done before each person starts work, with copies kept as the rules require
   • Run the health and safety induction for every starter — fire procedures and exits, first aid, reporting accidents, lifting and handling stock, working alone, and what to do about violence or abuse, with the training recorded
   • Train the team on the tills, stock and service — sales, refunds and age-restricted sales on the tills, receiving deliveries, replenishment, opening and closing the store, and helping customers who need assistance
8. 8
   Phase 8

   Phase 8: Safety Checks, Soft Opening & Go/No-Go

   7 tasks

   Assess the finished store, not the plans. A failed pre-opening check adds a fix task, and the owner’s go/no-go holds launch day until it is given.

   • Complete the fire risk assessment for the finished store — by you or a competent person, on the store as fitted out: escape routes, alarms, emergency lighting, extinguishers, how stock and packaging are stored, and the people at risk, with every action given an owner
   • Complete the health and safety risk assessment and first aid arrangements — the risks in the store, such as handling stock, slips and trips, work at height in the stockroom, deliveries and violence towards staff, the controls for each, a stocked first aid kit and a named first aider or appointed person
   • Walk the store with the shopfitter and check it is ready to open — snags, fire exits and signs, alarms and CCTV working, tills and card terminals tested, stock on the shelves with prices matching the tills, and every certificate handed over
   • Fix the snags and failed checks, then check again — each item fixed by its owner and checked again before the soft opening; anything still open goes to the owner with the go/no-go
   • Run the soft opening — a limited opening for invited customers, friends or staff, with real sales, refunds, age checks, a delivery and closing up, and a list of what went wrong
   • Franchise: complete the franchisor’s pre-opening checks — the franchisor’s pre-opening visit or checklist, the brand standards signed off and any conditions on opening recorded
   • Owner gives the go/no-go to open — consents and any licence in place, fire risk assessment actions closed, the team trained, systems tested and soft opening problems fixed
9. 9
   Phase 9

   Phase 9: Launch Day & 30-Day Review

   4 tasks

   The first month shows what the plan got wrong. Review it while the opening is fresh, then hand the store over to its daily routines.

   • Run launch day — the store open on time with the full team, the opening and closing checks done, the cash-up recorded, and problems noted for the first-week review
   • Review the first week — sales against plan, best and worst sellers, stock gaps, queues, staffing levels and customer comments, with changes agreed for week two
   • Compare the first 30 days with the plan — sales, margin, stock, wages and opening costs against the budget, snags still open, and the daily routines handed over to the store’s opening and closing checklist
   • Owner signs off the 30-day review — the opening closed as a project, open actions given owners in the store’s normal routines, and lessons recorded for the next opening