Assignment

Today's consumers want to enjoy a good cup of coffee or have lunch at a café while shopping. However, hospitality entrepreneurs often face challenges with current regulations. In The Hague, for example, only 20% of a shopping street can be occupied by hospitality establishments. Once this limit is reached, no new hospitality establishments are allowed. RMC was tasked with investigating the desirable ratio of hospitality to retail in shopping streets in The Hague.

Approach

• Desk research on consumer, retail, and hospitality trends.
• Analysis of the current hospitality situation and regulations.
• Benchmarking with other cities (hospitality share, types of hospitality, vacancy rates).
• Research on the positive and negative effects of hospitality in shopping streets.
• Fieldwork scan of five shopping streets in The Hague.

Result

This approach resulted in a report outlining a vision for hospitality in the shopping streets of The Hague. Recommendations were made for the ideal hospitality-to-retail ratio for three types of shopping streets. The suggested ratio allows hospitality to positively contribute to the character of the area while maintaining the identity of the shopping street.