Shopper City

The bulk of the literature on retail location looks at the topic from the perspective of either the retail firm or the individual shopper. Another branch of the literature examines the spatial distribution of retail activities within a city or region, drawing on either central place theory or the Lowry model, neither of which incorporates either markets or agglomeration economies. This paper looks at retail location from the perspective of a general equilibrium model of location and land use, with agglomeration economies in retailing. In particular, drawing on the Fujita-Ogawa (1982) model of non- monocentric cities, it develops a model of retail location, assuming that retail firms behave competitively, subject to spatial agglomeration economies. Locations are distinguished according to the effective variety of retail goods they offer. Shoppers are willing to pay more for goods at locations with greater effective variety, and in their choice of where to shop trade off retail price, product variety, and accessibility to home. Retail prices and land rents at different locations adjust to achieve spatial equilibrium.retail, agglomeration, variety, land use

An Agent-based Model of Retail Location with Complementary Goods

This paper examines the emergence of retail clusters on a supply chain network comprised of suppliers, retailers, and consumers. An agent-based model is proposed to investigate retail location distribution in a market of two complementary goods. The methodology controls for supplier locales and unit sales prices of retailers and suppliers; a consumer's willingness to patronize a retailer depends on the total travel distance of buying both goods. On a circle comprised of discrete locations, retailers play a non-cooperative game of location choice to maximize individual proÞts. Our Þndings suggest that the number of clusters in equilibrium follow a power-law distribution and that hierarchical distribution patterns are much more likely to occur than the spread-out ones. In addition, retailers of complementary goods tend to co-locate at supplier locales. Sensitivity tests on the number of retailers and retailers' sequence of moving are also performed.clustering, agent-based model, location choice, power-law distribution pattern, retailing

Determining an optimal retail location by using GIS

Reengineering of retail networks is a continual process that has been in the forefront of management attention worldwide. The central question is how to achieve positive business results under high costs, but at the same time maintain the attained service quality. This reengineering process may be implemented successfully only if preceded by detailed preparations concerning, primarily, the analysis of business results, market potentials and retail outlet location. GIS tools offer a strong support to this process. Apart from theoretical considerations, this paper will also present the use of GIS as a tool in determining the optimal locations of the Serbian post retail

A Simple Theory of Smart Growth and Sprawl

This paper considers the simultaneous determination of residential density and the supply of local versus remote retail services. Possible equilibrium development patterns either correspond closely to what anti-sprawl activists describe as smart growth, or to its opposite. Equilibrium and optimal patterns of development do not always coincide. When equilibrium and optimal patterns of development diverge, optimal density is always discretely (as opposed to marginally) higher than equilibrium density. This occurs in the absence of congestion externalities, and is due to a free-rider problem and a coordination problem. The analysis indicates that a tax on large lots or a subsidy for small lots may be welfare improving under certain conditions.urban sprawl, residential land use, lot size, retail location, urban economics

The Evolution of Corporate Location Planning: A Survey Approach

The unprecedented growth of big data has provided opportunities for the enhancement of retail location decision-making (RLDM) activities. Through a survey of Canadian retail location decision makers, this study examines the current state and progress in: (1) the type and scale of location decisions that retail firms undertake; and (2) the availability and use of geospatial big data and analytics within the decision-making process. The study finds significant increases in the usage of geospatial big data and analytics within corporate location planning. RLDM approaches have expanded to include new data sources, such as social media and mobile location data. With technology redefining consumption behaviors, the retail sector is looking to better understand how best to serve consumers in a market experiencing significant changes to the ways consumers shop. With granular level data being integrated into RLDM a skills gap is emerging in terms of handling and analyzing geospatial big data

Modelling virtual urban environments

In this paper, we explore the way in which virtual reality (VR) systems are being broadened to encompass a wide array of virtual worlds, many of which have immediate applicability to understanding urban issues through geocomputation. Wesketch distinctions between immersive, semi-immersive and remote environments in which single and multiple users interact in a variety of ways. We show how suchenvironments might be modelled in terms of ways of navigating within, processes of decision-making which link users to one another, analytic functions that users have to make sense of the environment, and functions through which users can manipulate, change, or design their world. We illustrate these ideas using four exemplars that we have under construction: a multi-user internet GIS for Londonwith extensive links to 3-d, video, text and related media, an exploration of optimal retail location using a semi-immersive visualisation in which experts can explore such problems, a virtual urban world in which remote users as avatars can manipulate urban designs, and an approach to simulating such virtual worlds through morphological modelling based on the digital record of the entire decision-making process through which such worlds are built

Spatial Big Data Analytics: The New Boundaries of Retail Location Decision-Making

This dissertation examines the current state and evolution of retail location decision-making (RLDM) in Canada. The major objectives are: (i) To explore the type and scale of location decisions that retail firms are currently undertaking; (ii) To identify the availability and use of technology and Spatial Big Data (SBD) within the decision-making process; (iii) To identify the awareness, availability, use, adoption and development of SBD; and, (iv) To assess the implications of SBD in RLDM. These objectives were investigated by using a three stage multi-method research process. First, an online survey of retail location decision makers across a range of sizes and sub-sectors was administered. Secondly, structured interviews were conducted with 24 retail location decision makers, and lastly, three in-depth cases studies were undertaken in order to highlight the changes to RLDM over the last decade and to develop a deeper understanding of RLDM. This dissertation found that within the last decade RLDM changed in three main ways: (i) There has been an increase in the availability and use of technology and SBD within the decision-making process; (ii) The type and scale of location decisions that a firm undertakes remain relatively unchanged even with the growth of new data; and, (iii) The range of location research methods that are employed within retail firms is only just beginning to change given the presence of new data sources and data analytics technology. Traditional practices still dominate the RLDM process. While the adoption of SBD applications is starting to appear within retail planning, they are not widespread. Traditional data sources, such as those highlighted in past studies by Hernandez and Emmons (2012) and Byrom et al. (2001) are still the most commonly used data sources. It was evident that at the heart of SBD adoption is a data environment that promotes transparency and a clear corporate strategy. While most retailers are aware of the new SBD techniques that exist, they are not often adopted and routinized

Retail location and urban resilience: towards a new framework for retail policy

This article reviews the literature on the interactions between retail activities and urban economic resilience with a primary focus on the U.S. The social, economic and environmental impacts of large-scale retail outlets on existing retail and urban systems and their sustainability have been extensively discussed in the urban planning literature. However, the survival of retail venues as a major land use, in a competitive, dynamic urban environment, has been discussed less. In particular, the adjustment of traditional city-center retailers facing an influx of new shopping venues is a timely issue. The literature offers a wide range of examples, from their disappearance to their role in the successful revitalization, vitality and viability of city centers, and their increased economic resilience. At the same time, the number of dead malls has been increasing in developed and developing countries, and in particular in the U.S., showing that large-scale shopping venues also need strategies for adaptation and change. This review explores the issues and policies that have altered urban dynamics in favor of traditional retailers and contributed to their resilience, identifies the role of the public sector in supporting city center revitalization, and develops a framework for the effective integration of retail planning into urban policy to enhance urban economic resilience

Retail location preferences: a comparative analysis

There is widespread criticism that gambling retailers are concentrated in deprived communities and that the concentration is deliberately targeted. However, this study opines that before deliberate targeting can be supported, a comparative analysis of gambling locations with a more conventional retail group is necessary. Hence this study examined the location preferences of gambling and food and grocery retailers (FGRs) to evaluate the notion of deliberate concentration of gambling retailers in deprived communities. Comparative analyses assessed relationships between FGRs floorspaces and overall gambling locations compared to socio-economic deprivation. Results showed similarities and disparities in retail locations, but gambling provisioning were more concentrated in deprived areas compared to food provisioning. Implications for policy and practice are presented