As we have been driving all over South Florida and the Florida Keys, I have noticed a theme going on between all Florida businesses. First of all, a lot of the stores and shops seem to be exactly the same as each other. The large majority of them seem to just sell tacky little nick-nacks for an absurd price that will only sit on a shelf and collect dusk for the next twenty years. Yet, thousands of people will buy these items, including me and most of our group. So what draws people to these shops to waste money. In a word, "pizazz". I have noticed that the most popular businesses down here, have the most exciting and entertaining exteriors.
In order to draw more people in, a good business needs a snappy name. Any sort of word that describes Florida, such as "tropical," "paradise," "ocean," or "divers," should be included in the title before what the store is selling. Secondly, bright colors all over the outside of the shop are absolutely mandatory. If you do not have bright colors, it will not draw the attention of tourists. It seems as though the brighter the colors the better. Bonus points are given for stores with painted murals that tourists can take pictures with. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, if you really want to bring in the boat loads of tourists you need some sort of giant object by the road with your sign. At the bare minimum the business needs a big plastic fish hanging by the sign.
As we drove, I tried to take note of all of the stores with large objects to draw people in. I saw oversized beach chairs, giant beach balls, huge snorkels, and even a massive lobster as pictured above. I even saw a Bank of America with a big cannon out front of it.
In short, if you are opening a new business in Florida all measures should be taken to make your store stand out from all of the other businesses. In the end, you will probably just end up selling over priced sea shells and pictures of mermaids like every other store, but if your store looks fantastic people will pay anything to buy those shells.
https://sunnysideretreats.com/destinations/the-florida-keys/10-best-places-to-shop-near-the-florida-keys/
Great post! I feel like we're all like fish in the sense that we're attracted to big, shiny objects. Who wouldn't want to stop at places with giant lobsters or extravagant murals painted on their walls?
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