A shop refit is any planned programme of work that changes the fixtures, finishes or layout of a trading store. The phrase covers everything from swapping tired display units over a few nights to stripping a unit back to the shell and starting again. That is a problem when you are comparing quotes, because one contractor’s refit is another contractor’s refresh. This guide explains the levels we use at Norsemen so you can ask for the right thing and compare like with like.
Refit or fit out?
A fit out is a new store, or an empty unit being set up to trade for the first time. A refit is work in a store that already trades. The two overlap, and we do both, but a refit brings an extra challenge: the work has to happen around customers, staff and stock. That is why the levels below are defined as much by how long the store is disrupted as by what gets replaced.
Refresh
A refresh is the lightest level. The store keeps its layout and most of its fixtures. We replace or re-clad the pieces that look tired and bring the store back to standard. A refresh is typically completed over four nights, with the store trading normally during the day. It is the quickest way to make a store look cared for again without a big budget. [CONFIRM: typical refresh scope]
What a refresh does not do is change the floor, the layout or the services. If those are the problem, a refresh will not fix it, and it is better to say so at the quoting stage than to find out after four nights.
Light refit
A light refit goes further. New fixtures replace old ones in the main areas of the store, and the work may include a new floor. Because the floor is involved, the sequence matters: fixtures come out, the floor goes down, and fixtures go back in or new ones are installed. A light refit usually takes longer than a refresh, and the exact programme depends on the size of the store and whether it stays open. [CONFIRM: typical light refit duration]
Light plus refit
A light plus refit sits between a light refit and a full refit. It covers the scope of a light refit and adds more: more of the store’s fixtures, more of the finishes, or works to areas such as the till point and the back wall. [CONFIRM: light plus scope] The store still keeps its basic layout and does not usually need to close for the whole programme.
Full refit
A full refit is the store rebuilt. Fixtures, floors and finishes are all in scope, and the layout can change completely. [CONFIRM: full refit scope, including ceilings, lighting and services] A full refit often means the store closes for a period, or trades from part of the floor while the rest is behind hoarding. [CONFIRM: typical full refit duration and closure arrangements] It is the biggest investment, and it is also where having the fixtures made by the installer pays off most, because everything has to arrive on programme and fit first time.
Because so much changes, a full refit needs the most planning: drawings signed off, a programme agreed with the store team and the landlord, and the fixtures manufactured before the first night on site. The planning is where most of the risk is taken out.
Day-to-day works
Not every job is a refit. Day-to-day works are the small jobs that keep a store trading well: a display unit replacement, a damaged counter panel, a call-out to fix a fixture. These are often a few hundred pounds and are turned around quickly. [CONFIRM: typical response time] Because we make the fixtures ourselves, we can reproduce a matching unit rather than telling you the original is no longer available.
Which level do you need?
- Does the layout work, or does it need to change?
- Is the floor in good condition, or is it part of the problem?
- Which fixtures are structurally fine and only look tired?
- Can the store close, trade from part of the floor, or does it need to stay fully open?
- What budget and programme have been approved?
Honest answers to those five questions usually point to one level. If you are unsure, send us photos and a plan and we will tell you what we think the store needs, not the biggest job we could sell you.
Keeping the store trading
Most refits happen in live stores. Night working, phased areas and clean handovers each morning are the normal pattern for us. The fixtures are made in our Oadby workshop before the programme starts, so the team on site is installing, not waiting for deliveries from a subcontractor. That is what makes a four-night refresh possible.
A typical night runs the same way each time. The team arrives after close, protects the stock and the fixtures that are staying, completes the planned section, cleans down and hands the store back before opening. The store manager knows what will happen each night before the programme starts. [CONFIRM: night-working routine and handover arrangements]
How Norsemen deliver refits
Norsemen are shopfitters with our own joinery workshop in Oadby, Leicester. We manufacture the fixtures and install them with our own team, nationwide. We have worked as a main contractor on multi-year refit programmes for retail groups, and we take on single-store refits for independents at every level described above. Whatever the level, the fixtures come from one workshop and the people who made them are the people who fit them.
Read more about our retail fit out and shop refurbishment work, or contact us to talk through a refit.