What shop does a cafe, bubble tea shop, clinic or salon need?

Most of these trades fit one standard ground-floor unit of about 1,400 to 1,800 sq ft (a 20x70 to 22x80 lot). A bubble tea shop needs frontage and queue space more than floor area. A sit-down cafe uses the full depth and needs water and power. Clinics and salons can trade one row in. A pharmacy wants frontage, ideally a corner. The catchment matters more than the size.

The size bands below are planning guides from what we see in standard shoplot rows, not industry rules. Your own layout, menu and equipment list decide the final number. For how lot sizes are measured, read how big is a ground-floor shop.

For a cafe with seating and a small kitchen, plan on the full depth of a standard unit. The front half takes the counter and seats, the back half takes the kitchen, storage and toilet. A takeaway coffee counter can work in far less space, but very few prime landlords will split a unit for you, so you usually pay for the whole floor anyway.

Check before you sign:

• Water inlet, floor traps and drainage at the back
• Power capacity for the espresso machine, chillers and air-conditioning
• Exhaust route if you plan to cook rather than reheat
• Side space or five-foot way for outdoor tables, if the council allows it

If you are deciding between PJ hubs, our guide to the best areas to open a cafe in Petaling Jaya compares SS2, SS21, Damansara Uptown and Taman Paramount on rent.

Bubble tea sells across the counter. You need a clear frontage, room for a queue that does not block the five-foot way, and a spot where delivery riders can collect quickly. Seating is optional. That is why a small intermediate unit on a student or office walking route can beat an expensive corner.

The catch: brands with a dine-in format want more. Chagee's 200th Malaysian store, its largest, opened over two floors in Bukit Bintang (EqualOcean, 24 Oct 2025). Check which format your brand is planning before you decide on size. Our post on bubble tea near colleges or housing covers the location side.

Clinic. A ground floor is ideal because patients include elderly people, parents with prams and wheelchair users. Depth is useful for consultation rooms. Clinics also need approvals from health authorities on top of the council licence, so confirm the requirements with your professional body before you sign.

Pharmacy. Visibility drives walk-ins, so frontage matters. Landlords know this: one Cheras Jaya corner ground floor at RM 13,000 a month was advertised "prefer pharmacy, Family Mart, coffee franchise, mamak". Pharmacies also like being close to clinics.

Beauty salon. Most clients book ahead, so an inner-street unit at a lower rent can work well. Spend the money on plumbing, hot water and power rather than on the front row.

It depends on when your customers come.

The strongest sites have both, plus an office or hospital crowd. Listings in SS15 Subang Jaya advertise "college & residential area" and "facing SJMC" for exactly this reason. For trade ideas around each anchor, see shops near schools, hospitals and wet markets.

• Search the unit on Google Maps and list every school, college, hospital, clinic, office tower and condominium within a 10-minute walk.
• Visit at school-out time, lunch and 8pm on a weekday, then again on Saturday.
• Count delivery riders waiting outside nearby F&B shops.
• Note the anchors on the row: banks, convenience stores, pharmacies.

Chains use the same logic at scale. 99 Speedmart, for example, designs each store to serve about 1,500 to 2,000 households (Apex Research via The Star, 21 Oct 2026). Our post on how chain brands choose locations explains more.

MCE does not publish household counts for each street. If you are serious about a unit, we prepare a site report on request covering nearby schools, colleges, hospitals, offices and competing trades. Tell us your trade on the brands page or WhatsApp us.

Written by Tok Ginstee (REN 37505), CID Realtors Sdn Bhd (E (1) 1855). Updated November 2026.