Between the 1970s and 2014, Winnipeg experienced dramatic change in the distribution of healthy food retailers in inner-city neighbourhoods. Winnipeg’s “active core” neighbourhoods identified through Dr. David Gordon’s research on Canadian suburbs (Gordon & Jean 2011), have undergone a decline in accessible healthy food options and a rise in food deserts. This practicum identifies the causes of food retail decline and possible strategies for improving accessible healthy food retail options within Winnipeg’s active core. The changes in the distribution of food retail over time in Winnipeg are displayed through a series of maps: one for 1971 and every five years thereafter until 2011, and the year 2014, using data collected through telephone directories. Spatial data of Winnipeg’s active core is compared with population density data, informational maps, and other statistical data. Finally, various stakeholders, including planners, current and former business owners and other experts are interviewed to discuss these trends, lessons learned, and possible solutions. / October 2015

Temporary price reductions (sales) as a means of promotion have become an increasingly important tool in the marketing mix of food retailers around the world. This paper investigates the retailers' pricing strategy by explicitly accounting for the multi-product nature of retailing. We find that retailers systematically adjust the breadth and depth of sales over time and they respond aggressively to their rivals' promotional activities. Finally, the breadth and depth of sales are found to be substitutes in the set of the available strategies to increase the store traffic. (authors' abstract)

O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar a competição entre supermercados. Contrapondo parte da literatura econômica segundo a qual o crescimento rápido de grandes redes de supermercados gera poder de mercado e redução do número dos demais formatos de lojas, esta dissertação baseia-se no argumento de que a expansão de grandes cadeias varejistas produz conseqüências complexas, podendo resultar na coexistência de uma grande variedade de formatos de negócios. A pesquisa está dividida em duas etapas. Inicialmente são examinadas as relações de concorrência entre hipermercados e supermercados de vizinhança. Evidências para o Município de São Paulo indicam que estes varejistas formam mercados distintos uma vez que preços não estabelecem entre si um equilíbrio de longo prazo. A segunda etapa aprofunda a análise sobre supermercados de vizinhança. Analisa-se o impacto do tamanho sobre a estratégia de precificação das lojas e comparam-se os supermercados vinculados a redes às lojas independentes. Contrariando a crença geral, supermercados independentes estabelecem preços menores em comparação a supermercados de rede. Argumentos que suportam este resultado são então examinados. / This research analyzes the competition among supermarkets. In contrast to part of the economic literature which suggests that the fast growth of supermarket chains gives rise to market power and reduction in the number of other retailing formats, this dissertation is based on the argument that growth of supermarket chains produces complex consequences and can result in the coexistence of a huge variety of retailing formats. The research is divided in two parts. In the first part, the competition between hypermarkets and supermarkets is examined. Evidences for Sao Paulo Municipal district indicate that these retailers form separate markets. Prices do not establish long term equilibrium. The second part is focused on neighborhood supermarkets. It analyzes the impact of size on price strategy and compares chain supermarkets to independent stores. The results differ from the general belief that independent supermarkets establish higher prices in comparison to chain supermarkets. The results are supported through econometric evidence.

Linnaeus University, School of Management and Economics, 5FE00E, Spring 2010 Author: Hana Hulthén Tutor: Helena Forslund Title: Information integration between retailers and manufacturers in Swedish food retail supply chains; The manufacturers’ perspective.  Background: According to study conducted by Brege in 2007, in Swedish food retail supply chains there is lack of external integration between retailers/wholesalers and manufacturers. This fact indicates that there are gaps in information integration between them which have consequences mainly for the manufacturers. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe gaps, from the manufacturers´ perspective, in the information integration between Swedish retailers/wholesalers and manufacturers, and analyze what are the consequences of these gaps for manufacturers as well as propose how these gaps can be alleviated. Method: Multiple - case study as research method has been applied. Specifically, three case companies, Swedish meat manufacturers, have been selected. Three one-hour long focused interviews combined with open-ended interviews have been conducted with two sales managers and one sales representative. The empirical evidence has been analyzed by using cross-case analysis method and pattern-matching method.   Results, conclusion: Firstly, Swedish meat manufacturers do not have access to real-time demand or POS data on store level. Instead, they receive orders from retailers based on updated demand forecast. As manufacturers do not have perfect demand information it leads to information asymmetry between retailers and manufacturers. As a consequence of inaccurate demand signal processing a Bullwhip effect can occur. Implementation of integrated information systems using EDI for exchange of POS data could solve the gap. However, small-scaled manufacturers have neither enough resources nor incentives to invest in an expensive business-to-business system. Furthermore, manufacturers with restricted production flexibility cannot utilize provided information on very detailed level; such as POS data. Thus, in these cases implementation of integrated information systems seems not to be reasonable. Secondly, it has been found that information integration between retailers and manufacturers has been significantly improved the last three or four years. The Swedish retailers are willing to provide information to manufacturers. Future Work: The result of this thesis is based only on findings from meat manufacturers. Other sectors could be also included as well as opinion of retailers and wholesalers to identify common problems related to information integration in Swedish food retail supply chains.

O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar a competição entre supermercados. Contrapondo parte da literatura econômica segundo a qual o crescimento rápido de grandes redes de supermercados gera poder de mercado e redução do número dos demais formatos de lojas, esta dissertação baseia-se no argumento de que a expansão de grandes cadeias varejistas produz conseqüências complexas, podendo resultar na coexistência de uma grande variedade de formatos de negócios. A pesquisa está dividida em duas etapas. Inicialmente são examinadas as relações de concorrência entre hipermercados e supermercados de vizinhança. Evidências para o Município de São Paulo indicam que estes varejistas formam mercados distintos uma vez que preços não estabelecem entre si um equilíbrio de longo prazo. A segunda etapa aprofunda a análise sobre supermercados de vizinhança. Analisa-se o impacto do tamanho sobre a estratégia de precificação das lojas e comparam-se os supermercados vinculados a redes às lojas independentes. Contrariando a crença geral, supermercados independentes estabelecem preços menores em comparação a supermercados de rede. Argumentos que suportam este resultado são então examinados. / This research analyzes the competition among supermarkets. In contrast to part of the economic literature which suggests that the fast growth of supermarket chains gives rise to market power and reduction in the number of other retailing formats, this dissertation is based on the argument that growth of supermarket chains produces complex consequences and can result in the coexistence of a huge variety of retailing formats. The research is divided in two parts. In the first part, the competition between hypermarkets and supermarkets is examined. Evidences for Sao Paulo Municipal district indicate that these retailers form separate markets. Prices do not establish long term equilibrium. The second part is focused on neighborhood supermarkets. It analyzes the impact of size on price strategy and compares chain supermarkets to independent stores. The results differ from the general belief that independent supermarkets establish higher prices in comparison to chain supermarkets. The results are supported through econometric evidence.

This research examines the percentage of imported foods sold in stores at three levels of the food retail hierarchy—small-sized retail food stores, known locally as colmados; medium-sized food retail stores, or super-colmados; and the large supermarkets, or supermercados —in the Dominican Republic. It also considers variations in sources of imported foods for the three types of stores. Data were collected during fieldwork conducted in Verónâ a small town located in the province of La Altagracia on the eastern end of the Dominican Republic—over a three-week period from August 15 to September 9, 2009. A stratified random sample was selected along the primary highway in Verón consisting of 15 stores. At these stores, the principal investigator collected inventory data and conducted interviews with storeowners and employees. The findings suggest that food import dependency increases as the level in the food retail hierarchy, or store size, increases. / Master of Science

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / INTRODUCTION: This research report investigates the feasibility of an innovative food outlet in Cape Town called HOME CHEF. The food and groceries industry is continuously changing to suit the needs of individuals and to respond to current economic and health trends. Charles Darwin observed, “It‟s not the strongest nor the most intelligent creature that survives. It's the one that is most responsive to change” (Goodreads). HOME CHEF is a new business concept with a unique approach to assist people with the acquisition of their groceries and the preparation of their home-cooked meals, whilst providing a variety of different meal options for a typical family. With Darwin‟s theory in mind, HOME CHEF will respond to the changing environment by taking advantage of evolving food and retail trends. HOME CHEF will target a large market that includes the typical fast food, online retail and grocery segment. Because of the demographic variety of the customer base and due to the innovative nature behind the HOME CHEF concept, little information regarding, market trends, operations and existing strategies was available. Innovative approaches had to be used to acquire the information required for a suitable business plan.

Food retail with large supermarkets consumes significant amounts of energy. The environmental impact is also significant because of the indirect effect from CO2 emissions at the power stations and due to the direct effect arising from refrigerant leakage to the atmosphere. The application of trigeneration (local combined heat, power and refrigeration) can provide substantial improvements in the overall energy efficiency over the conventional supermarket energy approach of separate provision of electrical power and thermal energy. The use of natural refrigerants such as CO2 offers the opportunity to reduce the direct impacts of refrigeration compared to conventional systems employing HFC refrigerants that possess high global warming potential. One approach through which the overall energy efficiency can be increased and the environmental impacts reduced, is through the integration of trigeneration and CO2 refrigeration systems where the cooling generated by the trigeneration system is used to condense the CO2 refrigerant in a cascade arrangement. This research project investigates experimentally and theoretically, through mathematical modelling and simulation, such a system and its potential application to supermarkets. A small size CO2 refrigeration system for low and medium food temperature applications was designed and constructed to enable it to be integrated with an existing trigeneration system in the refrigeration laboratory at Brunel University to form an integrated trigeneration and CO2 refrigeration test facility. Prior to the construction, the design of the system was investigated using mathematical models developed for this purpose. The simulations included the CO2 refrigeration system, CO2 evaporator coils and the integration of the trigeneration and CO2 refrigeration systems. The physical size of the design and component arrangement was also optimised in a 3D AutoCAD model. A series of experimental tests were carried out and the results showed that the medium temperature system could achieve a very good COP, ranging from 32 to 60 due to the low pumping power requirement of the liquid refrigerant. The low temperature system performed with average steady state COP of 4, giving an overall refrigeration system COP in the range between 5.5 and 6. Mathematical models were also developed to investigate the application of the integrated trigeneration and CO2 refrigeration system in a case study supermarket. The models were validated against test results in the laboratory and manufacturers’ data. The fuel utilisation efficiency and environmental impacts of different trigeneration and CO2 refrigeration arrangements were also evaluated. The results indicated that a system comprising of a sub-critical CO2 refrigeration system integrated with a trigeneration system consisting of a micro-turbine based Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit and ammonia-water absorption refrigeration system could provide energy savings of the order of 15% and CO2 emission savings of the order of 30% compared to conventional supermarket energy systems. Employing a trigeneration system with a natural gas engine based CHP and Lithium Bromide-Water sorption refrigeration system, could offer energy savings of 30% and CO2 emission savings of 43% over a conventional energy system arrangement. Economic analysis of the system has shown a promising payback period of just over 3 years compared to conventional systems.

Historicamente, as indústrias conquistaram espaço no mercado a partir do aumento de seu volume de produção e da redução no preço dos produtos. Tal estratégia, no entanto, não se mostrou eficaz nas últimas décadas, visto que a mesma foi copiada por todos os fabricantes. Dessa forma, uma nova estratégia foi adotada pelas indústrias com o objetivo de diferenciar seus produtos da concorrência, especialmente no âmbito varejista. As indústrias passaram, então, a criar novas linhas de produtos, com o propósito de atingir esse objetivo. Todavia, mais uma vez as estratégias adotadas pelas indústrias não tiveram o impacto esperado. Em especial no setor de bens de consumo não duráveis, os espaços varejistas passaram a ficar super abastecidos, sendo que muitos dos produtos comercializados apresentavam baixo giro e baixa rentabilidade, além de muitas marcas possuírem pouco apelo junto ao consumidor final. Diante desse cenário, o varejo começou a ditar os produtos e marcas que seriam comercializados em seus estabelecimentos, elevando seu poder frente à indústria. Essa inversão de poder no mercado varejista obrigou os fabricantes a reverem a maneira como desenvolviam o relacionamento com seus clientes de canal, principalmente com o varejo. Antes preocupada em atender apenas as necessidades dos consumidores finais, a indústria buscou atender também as demandas de seus clientes de canal, criando, então, os departamentos de trade marketing. As atividades de trade marketing foram inicialmente aplicadas pelas indústrias de bens de consumo não duráveis em grandes redes varejistas. Esse fenômeno se reflete na academia, aonde a maioria dos estudos sobre trade marketing tem como objeto de pesquisa essas indústrias, com poucos estudos realizando uma abordagem a partir da visão do varejo. No entanto, os poucos estudos que abordam a visão do varejo sobre o trade marketing não são aplicados no segmento alimentar, no qual ocorreram as transformações varejistas mais intensamente. O pequeno varejo, apesar de possuir considerável importância na economia brasileira e na comercialização de muitas categorias de produto, é pouco explorado na literatura de trade marketing. Dessa forma, torna-se interessante compreender como funciona o trade marketing quando desenvolvido em pequenos varejistas do segmento alimentar e, se não for desenvolvido, quais as razões para esse fenômeno. Diante dessa oportunidade de pesquisa, esta dissertação foi conduzida com um referencial teórico abordando os grandes tópicos \"canais de distribuição\" e \"trade marketing\". A pesquisa, do tipo exploratória e qualitativa, utilizou-se do método de estudo de casos múltiplos. Foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas com três pequenos varejistas da cidade de Piracicaba, e tiradas fotos do interior dos estabelecimentos. Os resultados proporcionaram a conclusão que as atividades envolvendo comunicação e promoção são realizadas tanto em conjunto por indústria e pequeno varejo, quanto individualmente pelo varejista; que a definição de preços é realizada individualmente pelo varejista; que o relacionamento estabelecido entre indústria e pequeno varejo é eficaz, apesar dos varejistas não acreditarem na existência de cooperação entre ambos; que o compartilhamento de informações é pessoal, sem o auxílio de ferramentas eletrônicas e que a gestão por categorias é desenvolvida pelo pequeno varejo sem o auxílio da indústria. / Historically, industries have gained market space by increasing their production volume and reducing product prices. Such a strategy, however, has not proved effective in recent decades since it has been copied by all manufacturers. In this way, a new strategy was adopted by the industries with the objective of differentiating their products from the competition, especially in the retail area. The industries then started to create new product lines, in order to achieve this objective. However, again the strategies adopted by the industries did not have the expected result. Particularly in the non-durable consumer goods sector, retail spaces became overcrowded, with many of the products marketed presenting low rotation and low profitability, as well as the fact that many brands have little appeal to the shopper. Faced with this scenario, the retailer began to choose the products and brands that would be marketed in their establishments, which increased their power. This exchange of power in the retail market forced manufacturers to review how they developed the relationship with their channel partners, particularly retailers. Previously concerned with meeting only the needs of shoppers, the industry also began to meet the demands of its channel partners, creating the trade marketing departments. Trade marketing activities were initially applied by non-durable consumer goods industries in large retail chains. This phenomenon is reflected in the academy, where most of the studies on trade marketing have as object of research these industries, with few studies taking an approach from the perspective of the retail. However, the few studies that approach the retail vision about trade marketing are not applied in the food segment, where the retail transformations occurred more intensely. Small retailers, despite having considerable importance in the Brazilian economy and in the commercialization of many product categories, are little explored in the trade marketing literature. In this way, it becomes interesting to understand how trade marketing works when developed in small retailers in the food segment and, if not developed, what the reasons for this phenomenon. Faced with this research opportunity, this dissertation was conducted with a theoretical framework approachig the major topics \"distribution channels\" and \"trade marketing\". The research is exploratory and qualitative and used the multiple case study method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three small retailers in the city of Piracicaba, and photographs were taken of the inside the establishments. The results provided the conclusion that the activities involving communication and promotion are carried out jointly by industry and small retail and also individually by the retailer; that the pricing is carried out individually by the retailer; that the established relationship between industry and small retailers is effective, although retailers do not believe in the existence of cooperation between them; that the sharing of information is personal, without the help of EDI and that category management is developed by small retailers without the help of industry.

A responsabilidade social corporativa (RSC) é um conceito que a cada dia está mais presente no cotidiano das empresas em diversos países do mundo. Nota-se um crescente número de estudos sobre o assunto, principalmente com foco nas grandes empresas, líderes de seus setores de atuação. Contudo no Brasil a RSC ainda se apresenta em estágio inicial de desenvolvimento, sendo o varejo um dos setores que mais têm se engajado nessa prática. Destaca-se que, assim como no restante do mundo, são as grandes empresas que vêm liderando tal movimento. Sendo assim, abre-se uma lacuna para pesquisa sobre como esse assunto tem sido abordado também por empresas de outros portes, com menor abrangência de atuação. Dado esse contexto, este trabalho teve como principal objetivo entender as práticas de responsabilidade social corporativa, realizadas pelos diferentes varejistas de alimentos, buscando identificar as principais características do desenvolvimento dessas ações, em empresas de diferentes portes. Para atingir esse objetivo, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativo-exploratória, utilizando, para a coleta dos dados, o método de estudo de casos múltiplos. Os dados foram coletados por meio de 11 estudos de caso de empresas do setor do varejo de alimentos. A análise dos resultados foi feita por meio da técnica de análise de conteúdo, bem como com a utilização da ferramenta de mapas mentais. Os principais resultados encontrados mostram que, mesmo com muitas diferenças entre os portes de varejistas estudados, as práticas de RSC estão cada vez mais integradas ao dia a dia e agenda das empresas. Apesar disso, as empresas de atuação local ainda focam mais suas ações nas comunidades ao redor das lojas, realizando ações com características ainda filantrópicas. Já os varejistas regionais começam a associar suas práticas, principalmente, com a preservação do ambiente e com os funcionários da empresa. Nesse grupo, mesmo as empresas apresentando práticas de RSC um pouco mais avançadas, percebeu-se que os valores dos donos ainda são presentes na elaboração das práticas. O último grupo analisado foi o dos varejistas de atuação nacional/global. Nesse grupo, percebeu-se que as práticas de RSC estão cada vez mais desenvolvidas e integradas com suas estratégias. O número de stakeholders envolvidos nas atividades é o que torna a gestão da RSC um pouco mais difícil. Provavelmente por isso, nesses varejistas já seja possível observar cargos específicos para a gestão da RSC. Desse modo, uma das teorias utilizadas para a realização das análises foi a teoria dos stakeholders, a qual se mostrou adequada para o entendimento e o estudo da RSC nos diferentes portes de empresas estudados. Com base nos resultados encontrados, foi possível a criação de uma agenda de ações estratégicas para o desenvolvimento de ações de RSC para varejistas de diferentes portes. Além disso, ao final do trabalho, com base no referencial estudado e na validação com os especialistas entrevistados, foi possível a proposição de uma sequência de passos para a implementação de práticas de RSC. Apesar de não ter sido testado empiricamente, esse método poderá ser base para a realização de estudos futuros. Como contribuição desta pesquisa, destaca-se a realização de um estudo comparativo entre diferentes portes de varejistas, bem como o avanço em teorias como a teoria dos stakeholders. / Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an ever increasing concept in the daily routine of companies all over the world. There have been more and more studies about that, mainly focusing on big, leading companies. However, CSR is still at its inception in Brazil, with retail businesses as the sector which has been more engaged in such practice. The biggest companies here, as everywhere else stand out as the ones which have been leading that movement. Therefore, how companies of different sizes, with lower performance, have approached that topic came up as a study objective. Given such context, the main objective of the present study was to understand the practices of corporate social responsibility performed by food retailers and seek to identify the main characteristics of the actions developed by companies of different sizes. In order to achieve that goal, a qualitative-exploratory study was conducted using the multiple-case method to collect data. Data were collected through 11 study cases on Brazilian food retail businesses. Analysis of results was performed using the content analysis technique as well as by means of mind maps. The main results show that CSR practices have been increasingly incorporated into companies daily routine and agenda in spite of the many differences in size among the retailers studied. Despite that, local companies focused their actions on communities surrounding their stores, still developing actions with philanthropic characteristics. Regional retailers have been associating their practices with environmental preservation and their employees mainly. In this group, even the companies with more advanced CSR practices, the owners values have been found to be still present when designing practices. The last group to be evaluated was the national/global retailers. In this group CSR practices have been found to be increasingly more advanced and integrated with their strategies. The number of stakeholders involved in those activities has made CSR management a little more difficult. Perhaps that is the reason why specific CSR manager positions have already been seen at such retail businesses. Thus, the stakeholders theory was one of the theories used for the evaluation, which was shown to be appropriate to understand and to study CSR in the different-sized companies evaluated. Based on the results, it was possible to create an agenda of strategic actions for the development of CSR actions targeting different size retailers. Besides, at the completion of the study, it was possible to suggest a sequence of steps for implementation of CSR practices based on the literature studied and validation with the experts interviewed. Although such method has not yet been empirically tested, it can serve as basis for future studies. As a contribution, this study has presented a comparative study between different-size retail companies as well as a development in theories such as the stakeholders theory.