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Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2999-01-01

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1981.

published_or_final_version / Economics / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Detroit Mercy, 2009. / "24 April 2009." Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-109).

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1990.

M.Tech. / The study explores the role of interior designers in the design and implementation of retail stores. Through application of case study methodology, the process of retail design within the Group Property Development Department of Edgars Consolidated Stores (Edcon) was established and the role of interior designers within this process determined. The context of the case is the clothing and footwear retail market in South Africa. Presently, this market is dominated by several large holding companies that constitute the greater part of the leading retail brands in the country. The foremost South African clothing and footwear retailer is Edcon. The case study for this research study is the Group Property Development Department of Edcon that manages the leasing, conceptualisation, design development and construction of all new and refurbished retail stores for all of Edcon’s retail chains. Literature describes retail design as a complex activity that involves many role players who make use of expert knowledge and a variety of skills that contribute to the successful implementation of a retail brand identity through the design of retail stores. The literature review further indicates that most of the published research on retail design is in retail management, marketing and psychology. However, the consideration of the contribution of interior designers, as role players in retail design, is not documented or described in existing literature. Retail design is a field of practice that is well established in the interior design profession. Interior designers are able to support retailers by increasing the benefits of retail design in the course of retail differentiation and strategic leadership. The importance of retail design in the interior design profession is confirmed through this research study as it reveals that nine higher education institutions, affiliated with the South African Institute of the Interior Design Professions (IID), include retail design projects in the interior design curricula.

Convenience retailing in South Africa is currently experiencing a unique evolution due to the inception of modernised garage convenience stores. Little is known about the actual impact this has had on the fast-moving-consumer-goods market. Furthermore, even less research has been targeted at the young consumers growing up in this digital and more demanding Millennium. This report investigates the role that convenience stores play in the market place with regards to children. It examines the various influences that affect a child’s preferences in store patronage and what retailers can do to maximise their offerings to young consumers. Garage convenience stores and traditional cafés are the primary store targets whilst children aged 9 to 12 (The Millennium Generation) are the specific consumer targets. The research results revealed how children have become more street savvy and that retailers cannot easily pull the wool over their eyes. Kids have become more knowledgeable and demanding, making it that much tougher in the convenience store industry. The fact that younger consumers also have more spending power, are extremely safety conscious and are aware of kid discrimination adds to the pressure. Surprisingly, cafés seem to be more popular with the Millennium Generation than one would initially think. The empirical study verified these findings, leading to a proposed strategic agenda for guiding convenience retailers on how to approach the Millennium Generation and strengthen consumer ties. Consistency, uniformity, loyalty programmes and pricing schemes are some of the typical areas that are addressed. With the implementation of this study’s suggested recommendations, convenience stores should be able to appeal to the Millennium Generation and ensure a healthy mutually advantageous relationship. Failing to heed the importance of the Millennium Generation will inevitable lead to serious business complications in the future. / Prof. C.J. Jooste

A new retail institution type has emerged in South Korea that is unique in comparison to any previous retail institution type. The study of this emergence and its growth has implications for the future structure of retail both in South Korea and in other parts of the world. To proceed with a study of this new retail institution type, appropriate theory base and research findings about past retailing in South Korea were needed; however, a search of literature indicated that South Korean retailing has been the subject of limited and mostly fragmented research. Historically, many researchers have endeavored to study retail evolution in Western countries. Although extensively studied, used in conceptual work, and applied as foundation in empirical work, some limitations exist with previous retail evolution theories: inability to cover all types of retail institutions, lack of geographic universality, and limited quantification. In conjunction with these limitations, the historic evolution and current structures of retail institution types in South Korea, on the surface, appear to be very different from the evolution and structure of retailing in the Western hemisphere. Several reasons for this difference appear to involve the unique features of South Korea and its culture: retailing types were imported to South Korea within a very compressed time period, unique geography includes small land size and high population concentration in South Korea, the government control and the political insulation of South Korea are different from Western cultures. The purpose of this study was to examine the evolution of retail institution types in South Korea with a proposed model. To examine the evolution of retail institution types in South Korea and to develop a more universal research model to explain this evolution, a qualitative research design was used. Specifically, a modified grounded theory type of design, with a historical/ comparative analysis method, was used in this study. First, the grounded theory process was used to develop a graphical representation or model using information from previous research. Second, the researcher collected publicly available data in South Korea from government offices, trade and industry associations, public libraries, and websites on the Internet. Through comparative analysis, data from the South Korean retail industry were examined and compared to the working model. According to the data analysis, the CREM was partially supported. Regarding the spiral evolution, all types of indicators (e.g., sales, profit, market share, operating cost) did not continuously increase as retail institutions mature, which was in contrast to the CREM, but fluctuated whenever environmental influences interrupted the growth. Four spiral endings were found: (1) upgrade, (2) stay and eventually go out of business, (3) downgrade, and (4) change types of retail institution. In the conflict part, a new retail institution type started competing with its own type, other traditional retail institution types, and a new retail institution type; therefore, the conflict portion in the CREM was also supported. Environmental influences affected not only the emergence of a new retail institution type but also the conflict among retail institution types and the evolution process. In addition, a new reciprocal relationship was found between environmental influences and a new retail institution type and between consumer preference of store/product attributes and a new retail institution type. The environmental influence part was therefore partially supported. The consumer influence variables in the CREM were also supported. For future research, the final CREM could be the base of research in many types of retail institution and in any countries that have unique retail environments. Using the CREM from this study of retail evolution in South Korea, current and future retail institutions could predict both consumers' changes depending on environmental influences and what competitive advantages they must achieve to provide benefits to these consumers. In addition, researchers, both academic and retail, could use the final CREM to study the emergence and characteristics of a new retail institution type by analyzing current retail institution types / Ph. D.