Megastores are the latest phenomenon in the retail industry's evolution. This new form of retailing can be categorized by three main retail types: category killers, superstores and membership clubs. The arrival of megastores into British Columbia brings with it a variety of issues including economic, environmental, employment, aesthetic, social and planning. North American examples described in current literature detail these issues but do not directly address the role of the planner vis a vis megastores. Given that megastores are changing the retail geography and community development patterns of British Columbia, planners must have a comprehensive knowledge of their quantitative and qualitative impacts. To assist in an understanding of these impacts, two British Columbian megastore host communities are considered - Prince George and Courtenay. These case studies are assessed according to impacts delineated from the North American examples to determine the applicability of other research findings. Findings from this thesis show that megastores will become an important issue for British Columbia's planners and decision-makers in the years to come. The short history of megastores in the evolution of retailing make it difficult to evaluate their impacts. While some of the impacts found in the literature hold true for the British Columbian case studies, others do not. This divergence be attributable to the focus of available literature or the difference in exposure time to the megastore phenomenon. Further observation, research and analysis will be required to provide municipality specific data on which elected officials can base decisions. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Retail geography is a field of study that is growing in significance and importance within the academic, business, economic, and governmental realms. This study's main focus is on the changing retail environment with regards to business location and function within a small Midwestern city. The research focuses on Port Huron, Michigan because of the growth and shift of the retail community within the city over the past twenty years. The study specifically examines the changing influence and roles of Port Huron's central business district and of Birchwood Mall a retail development opened on the urban area's north end in 1990. The study uses the chi-squared, ANOVA, and cross tabulation statistical tests to analyze the changing geography of retail functions in the city. These statistics are used along with relative entropy equations to distinguish areas of high diversification, changing area functions, and common locations for multiple retail types.

Although Costco operates over 580 warehouse stores throughout North America, their location strategy remains relatively unexamined in the economic geography literature. A cursory examination of Costco’s network makes it clear that the firm chooses to locate primarily in the suburbs of major cities, where income levels are somewhat higher than the national average. However, what is not clear is the extent to which other demographic and geographic factors adequately account for Costco’s store locations, and what strategy underlies the geography of the firm’s warehouse stores, especially in relation to its distribution network. This research studies Costco in order to decode the location strategies that have guided the company’s North American and international expansions. The investigation attempts to identify key elements of Costco’s multinational retail network, including this network’s evolution over time. This paper seeks to benefit both retail business and public policymakers by highlighting elements of Costco’s location strategy that have contributed to the firm’s success.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Regional shopping centres play an important role in the South African economy, especially by providing location services to retailers (large and small) and non-retailers. One of the main value propositions of regional shopping centres is to attract a large number of customer footprint to a central location where a group of retailers can market and sell to a larger customer market. Independent retail jewellers have numerous channel options available, in South Africa the preferred channel for independent jewellery retailers is a physical retail outlet within regional shopping centres. The purpose of this research is to determine the value proposition quality of Cape Town Metropolitan regional shopping centres as a preferred location to independent retail jewellers. The location value proposition analysis was performed by evaluating a set of location criteria as prescribed by available literature. Furthermore, this research also explores the antecedents of relationships and trust between shopping centre management and independent retail jewellers. This research followed a mixed-method approach and the focus is a sample of regional shopping centres and independent retail jewellers within the Cape Town Metropolitan area. Information was gathered through interviews by using structured questionnaires, which was prepared from literature on location value assessment criteria for shopping centres, relationship management and building trust within relationships. The research shows that although regional shopping centres are the preferred channel for independent retail jewellers there are some location value proposition elements that require improvement. A key concern for shopping centre management should be the imbalance in power created by contractual agreements that mostly favour regional shopping centres. This imbalance in power negatively influences relationships and trust between shopping centre management and independent retail jewellers. Furthermore, the feedback from independent retailer jewellers is that rental costs charged for location services are miss-aligned to the value received from these services. This study is limited that it only surveyed regional shopping centre management and independent retailer jewellers within the Cape Town Metropolitan area in South Africa. The limited scope and focus of this study confines the generalisability of this study for other types of retailers and / or other metropolitan areas within South Africa. The value of this study is that it tested location criteria from international literature within the South African context and set the foundation for future research, which is currently limited in South Africa.

published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Master / Master of Science in Real Estate and Construction

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

At the turn of the years 2009 and 2010 the structure of supply chain of the company operating in the Czech and Slovak republic has changed through Warehouse Change Project. The goal of this diploma thesis is to evaluate changes caused by this project in term of mathematical modeling and multi-criterial decision making; eventually, propose appropriate changes in the logistic system.

Thesis. 1975. M.C.P.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. / by Brian Yoneoka. / M.C.P.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design