Buyer’s Guide
What to measure first, what to buy in what order, and what it actually costs — real numbers from over a thousand full store buildouts shipped from our Texas warehouse.
By the TX Store Fixtures Team • Fitting retail floors since 2009 • Updated July 23, 2026
Since 2009 we’ve shipped fixtures to 558+ stores nationwide, and we still walk first-time owners through their floor plans by phone every week. The same three mistakes come up almost every time: a checkout counter that’s too small for the register and the bagging, gondola shelving that’s too tall for the ceiling, and a freight pallet that won’t fit through the front door. This is the checklist we wish every new owner had before spending a dollar — the four measurements to take first, every fixture category in the order you should buy it, real budget ranges from our order history, and a week-by-week timeline to opening day.
Nearly every fixture problem we get called about traces back to a measurement nobody took. Grab a tape measure and write these four down before you order:
This sets your fixture count and your budget tier. A useful planning rule: one gondola run or one major display grouping per 100–150 sq ft of selling space, once aisles are accounted for. Don’t count the stockroom.
Walls are your cheapest display real estate, and wall systems are bought by the panel — slatwall and gridwall panels are 4 ft wide, so usable wall footage divided by 4 gives you the panel count. Measure every stretch of wall that isn’t glass, door, or fitting room.
Ceiling height decides how tall your fixtures can go. Under a standard 8–9 ft drop ceiling, keep island gondola low enough that staff can see over it and put your height on the walls. Tall units in a low room block sightlines to the corners of the store — a real security problem if you sell anything worth stealing.
Display cases ship assembled, strapped to 40×48-inch pallets, delivered curbside with a liftgate. A residential 30–32-inch door will not take a pallet. Measure the narrowest door between the curb and the sales floor — and note any stairs — before you order glass.
This is the same boutique and retail store equipment list we quote against every week, split into three buying phases so it reads like a plan instead of a catalogue dump. Prices are live from our store and update as the catalogue does.
The non-negotiables. If it’s not on this list, it can wait until after opening.
Once the bones are in: density, wall programs, and (for apparel) racks and forms.
The layer that raises average ticket once you’re open and watching how customers move.
We pulled every buildout-sized order in our system from the last three years — over 1,100 of them across 5,800+ invoices — and they fall into three clean tiers:
For calibration: the largest single buildout in our books is a beauty supercentre at just over $90,000 — and the median first order is under $600. Plenty of stores start with one showcase and grow.
Two things that stretch the budget: Free freight shipping on orders over $1,999 (LTL freight; excludes slatwall, gondola shelving, gridwall, custom, and assembled items), and automatic bulk discounts — 10% off at 5+ units, 15% off at 20+. A full buildout almost always lands in the 15% tier.
Our in-stock fixtures ship in 1–3 business days from our Texas warehouse, but freight transit, wall installs, and assembly all take real calendar time. This is the countdown we recommend to first-time owners:
Take the four measurements above, sketch your floor plan, and get quotes. Send us the floor plan — layout advice is free with a fixture quote, and this is the moment it saves you the most.
Order Phase 1 — especially anything moving by freight (gondola, multiple cases). LTL transit adds roughly 3–7 days on top of our 1–3 day ship, and you want slack for assembly, not a pallet arriving opening week.
Order Phase 2 wall systems and racks. Book any electrical work for the checkout area and case lighting now — electricians are the long pole, not the fixtures.
Walls first: slatwall and gridwall mount into studs and go up before any floor fixture is in the way. Then assemble gondola runs per your floor plan.
Place cases and counters and dress the floor. Budget 1–3 days of assembly with 2–3 people for a 1,000–2,000 sq ft store — gondola takes the longest, cases arrive assembled.
Phase 3 finishing: acrylic, signage, LED kits, stock the shelves — then walk the store like a customer, from the door to the register, and fix what bugs you.
The register, card terminal, bagging area, and an impulse display all fight for the same surface. If your counter run is under about six feet, something loses — and it’s usually the impulse display, which is the one piece of that counter that makes you money.
Display cases arrive assembled on 40×48-inch pallets, curbside with a liftgate. Every month someone with a 30-inch back door ends up unboxing glass showcases on the sidewalk. Measure the delivery path before you order — it’s a 60-second fix at quote time.
Tall gondola under a low drop ceiling makes a sales floor feel like a stockroom, and staff can’t see over it. Keep the middle of the floor low, put your height on the perimeter walls, and the whole store reads bigger and safer. See the gondola shelving buying guide for standard heights.
One page: every fixture category in this guide in buying order, the four measurements, and the week-by-week countdown — with checkboxes. Print it and walk your space with it. No email required, it’s just a PDF.
Download the Store Setup Checklist (PDF)Measure first, buy in phases, and put your money where customers touch the merchandise. If you’d rather not plan it alone: send us your floor plan and store type, and we’ll send back a fixture plan with an itemized quote — free, based on what stores like yours actually ordered. You can also lay your store out yourself with our Build My Store tool.
Based on buildout orders in our system from the last three years: small shops around 500 sq ft typically land between $2,000 and $6,000 in fixtures, and a standard 1,500 sq ft store runs $6,000 to $15,000. The merchandise mix matters more than the square footage — glass showcases cost several times what shelving does per foot of frontage, which is why a small jewelry store can out-spend a grocery store twice its size. Send us your floor plan for an itemized quote.
Every retail store needs the same core equipment list: gondola shelving for aisles, display cases for high-value items, slatwall or gridwall for wall displays, a checkout counter with POS space, and acrylic risers and sign holders for presentation. Apparel stores add clothing racks and mannequins. This guide covers each category in the order you should purchase.
A boutique equipment list starts with floor racks — single and double bar, round, and 4-way racks — plus mannequins or dress forms, slatwall wall systems with faceouts and hangers, a checkout counter, and a fitting area with mirrors. A typical 1,000 sq ft boutique runs 8 to 12 racks and 4 to 8 mannequins.
In-stock fixtures ship in 1–3 business days from our Texas warehouse. Freight (LTL) orders add roughly 3–7 days of transit depending on your region, and every freight delivery includes a liftgate. For a new store, order your freight items about six weeks before opening so assembly never blocks your opening date.
Qualified businesses get Net 30 terms. Bulk discounts apply automatically — 10% off at 5+ units, 15% off at 20+ — and orders over $1,999 qualify for free freight shipping (LTL freight; excludes slatwall, gondola shelving, gridwall, custom, and assembled items). For a full buildout, request a package quote and we will price it as one order.
Most owners do it themselves. Display cases arrive fully assembled; gondola and racks bolt together with basic tools; a 1,000–2,000 sq ft store takes 2–3 people about 1–3 days. The one exception is slatwall — panels must be anchored into wall studs, so if you are not comfortable finding studs and driving lags, that is the piece to hire out.
Yes — layout consultation is free for customers purchasing fixtures. Send us your floor plan dimensions and store type and we will recommend a fixture plan based on buildouts like yours, or use our Build My Store tool to lay it out yourself and get an instant quote.