The recent waves of immigration have dramatically changed the urban landscape of Canada’s metropolitan regions. One of the significant markers of this change are ethnic retail activities that manifest in ethnic shopping strips and centres. The dynamics of ethnic retailing pose various challenges for municipalities; yet, our knowledge of its complexities is limited, especially in terms of its relationship with and implications for city planning. Current literature on multicultural planning advocates for cultural sensitivity in planning practice based on a limited number of empirical studies. It generally overlooks planners’ professional mandate and the constraints inherent in the planning system that hinder planners’ capacity to be proactive, and is regularly disregarded in practice. This research focuses on the phenomenon of ethnic retailing and provides empirical data to bridge the research gaps. Several research objectives were pursued in this thesis, including: the exploration of ethnic retail activities among different ethnic groups in different commercial settings, the examination of the ethnic retail development process and key players in the production of ethnic retail spaces, and the identification of the role of municipal planning in ethnic retailing. The study targets the Chinese, South Asian, and Italian business communities; four case studies were conducted, including three retail strips in the inner city of Toronto, namely East Chinatown, the Gerrard India Bazaar, and Corso Italia, and one suburban Asian theme mall, the Pacific Mall in the Town of Markham. The four case studies demonstrate that planners play an inactive or a reactive role in the context of ethnic retail area development. The major reason for their limited role is that planners must abide by the legislative structure and the procedures of the planning system. They must, by the nature of their profession, focus on city-wide issues. The planning profession’s mandate confines planners’ capacity and flexibility in dealing with the multicultural challenges presented by local ethnic communities. Another major area this research explores is the nature of ethnic retailing. There are important inter-group and intra-group differences among the case studies. There are also significant differences between the inner-city retail strips and the suburban shopping mall. The relationship of the dynamics of ethnic retailing and urban planning is explored, with particular focus on community building, the relationship between the City vision and local diversity, and ethnic expression. These findings demonstrate the dynamic, fluid, and complex nature of ethnic retailing that constantly changes and evolves. Considering these dynamics, the findings indicate that there can be no templates in planning approaches to ethnic retailing. Planners must respect the local diversity and reject universal treatments of ethnic retail areas. Planners do not have authority to initiate ethnic retailing, nor is it possible for them to create a universal template to regulate the development of ethnic retail areas. Yet, there are other innovative ways for planners to balance city-wide and local interests, helping to recreate community focal points and serve the ultimate goal of “planning for all”. This study provides several recommendations for municipal planning: First, planners must reinvent themselves by adopting a proactive and holistic planning approach. Planners must think beyond the technical dimensions of urban development and consider the social and cultural aspects, especially the ethno-cultural elements, of the community, and incorporate them in the planning process. Several conventional planning tools, including ethno-racial and business data collection at the neighbourhood level, Secondary Plans that recreate community focal points, and (multicultural) public participation can be effectively applied to ethnic retail development. Another important step is to establish a Multicultural Planning Office to deal with ethnic-oriented development projects and the consequent multicultural challenges. Second, the study suggests developing strong and explicit policy statements in support of ethno-cultural diversity. Securing political backing from City councillors is as important in providing planners with the authority they need to contribute to ethnic retail development. Third, municipal planning requires interdepartmental collaboration. The two core municipal functions, the Planning Department and the Economic Development Office should set up a joint task force to work together in dealing with ethnic retail challenges. Finally, building community-based partnerships is an effective and efficient means to involve all stakeholders boarding the process. This includes outreach to the ethnic communities and alliance with community agencies.

The recent waves of immigration have dramatically changed the urban landscape of Canada’s metropolitan regions. One of the significant markers of this change are ethnic retail activities that manifest in ethnic shopping strips and centres. The dynamics of ethnic retailing pose various challenges for municipalities; yet, our knowledge of its complexities is limited, especially in terms of its relationship with and implications for city planning. Current literature on multicultural planning advocates for cultural sensitivity in planning practice based on a limited number of empirical studies. It generally overlooks planners’ professional mandate and the constraints inherent in the planning system that hinder planners’ capacity to be proactive, and is regularly disregarded in practice. This research focuses on the phenomenon of ethnic retailing and provides empirical data to bridge the research gaps. Several research objectives were pursued in this thesis, including: the exploration of ethnic retail activities among different ethnic groups in different commercial settings, the examination of the ethnic retail development process and key players in the production of ethnic retail spaces, and the identification of the role of municipal planning in ethnic retailing. The study targets the Chinese, South Asian, and Italian business communities; four case studies were conducted, including three retail strips in the inner city of Toronto, namely East Chinatown, the Gerrard India Bazaar, and Corso Italia, and one suburban Asian theme mall, the Pacific Mall in the Town of Markham. The four case studies demonstrate that planners play an inactive or a reactive role in the context of ethnic retail area development. The major reason for their limited role is that planners must abide by the legislative structure and the procedures of the planning system. They must, by the nature of their profession, focus on city-wide issues. The planning profession’s mandate confines planners’ capacity and flexibility in dealing with the multicultural challenges presented by local ethnic communities. Another major area this research explores is the nature of ethnic retailing. There are important inter-group and intra-group differences among the case studies. There are also significant differences between the inner-city retail strips and the suburban shopping mall. The relationship of the dynamics of ethnic retailing and urban planning is explored, with particular focus on community building, the relationship between the City vision and local diversity, and ethnic expression. These findings demonstrate the dynamic, fluid, and complex nature of ethnic retailing that constantly changes and evolves. Considering these dynamics, the findings indicate that there can be no templates in planning approaches to ethnic retailing. Planners must respect the local diversity and reject universal treatments of ethnic retail areas. Planners do not have authority to initiate ethnic retailing, nor is it possible for them to create a universal template to regulate the development of ethnic retail areas. Yet, there are other innovative ways for planners to balance city-wide and local interests, helping to recreate community focal points and serve the ultimate goal of “planning for all”. This study provides several recommendations for municipal planning: First, planners must reinvent themselves by adopting a proactive and holistic planning approach. Planners must think beyond the technical dimensions of urban development and consider the social and cultural aspects, especially the ethno-cultural elements, of the community, and incorporate them in the planning process. Several conventional planning tools, including ethno-racial and business data collection at the neighbourhood level, Secondary Plans that recreate community focal points, and (multicultural) public participation can be effectively applied to ethnic retail development. Another important step is to establish a Multicultural Planning Office to deal with ethnic-oriented development projects and the consequent multicultural challenges. Second, the study suggests developing strong and explicit policy statements in support of ethno-cultural diversity. Securing political backing from City councillors is as important in providing planners with the authority they need to contribute to ethnic retail development. Third, municipal planning requires interdepartmental collaboration. The two core municipal functions, the Planning Department and the Economic Development Office should set up a joint task force to work together in dealing with ethnic retail challenges. Finally, building community-based partnerships is an effective and efficient means to involve all stakeholders boarding the process. This includes outreach to the ethnic communities and alliance with community agencies.

USDA Choice (n=48) and Select (n=48) paired Beef Loin, Short Loins, Short Cut (IMPS #174) were separated randomly into one of two treatments, dry or wet aging, and were aged for 14, 21, 28, or 35 d. At the end of each aging period, short loins were fabricated in a simulated retail cutting room at Texas A&M University to determine retail yields and processing times. Upon completion of cutting tests, steaks were served to consumers to determine palatability characteristics. Retail cutting tests showed that dry aged short loins had reduced yields and increased cutting times when compared to wet aged short loins. Consumers were unable to determine differences between dry and wet aged steaks and for aging periods, however, USDA quality grade had a significant impact on consumer perception of palatability attributes. The purpose of this research was to determine palatability characteristics and retail cutting characteristics associated with dry aged beef.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Open University. BLDSC no. DX171962.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University,2008. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (p.134-141).

Thesis (M.U.D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references.

Retailing is the considerable element of today economy. This sector was rapidly developing during past years. It was easy to make consumers spend their money because they wanted to spend money. Today consumers are no longer eager to spend as much as before. Therefore retail companies should find new ways to motivate customers to expend. The aim of this research is to define to which extent retailers suffered from economic downturn and to find out which marketing tools they implemented in order to adapt to new market conditions. In order to investigate the variety of possible scenarios, two countries were taken into consideration. Sweden as one of the most stable economies in the world and Russia as country with promising perspectives but unpredictable and risky environment. The goal of taking two countries for the survey was identifying common and diverse traits of changed retailing conditions and necessary measures to follow it. Qualitative method was chosen for current dissertation embodied by case study analysis of leading retail companies in both countries. Primary data from conducted interviews and secondary data from annual reports and statistical authorities were used for analysis. The findings showed that Russian retail was stricken by economic downturn much more than Swedish. Apart from it, customer’s behavior in Sweden did not change significantly as long as Russian consumers changed their store format preferences in favor of discounters. Despite difference revealed in this issues the common characteristics of successful post-recession marketing strategy were discovered. Low price is now the key element of successful retailer. Other elements of marketing strategies play only supportive role in struggle for consumer’s wallets.

Microorganisms found in the indoor environment of retail stores are not well studied, despite potentially serious human exposure implications. In this study, filters from central heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) units were used to collect a time-integrated sample of the airborne indoor microbiome in 14 U.S. retail stores. The microbial communities recovered from the filter dust samples were analyzed with pyrosequencing to characterize the fungal and bacterial microbiome present. The objectives of this work were to: (1) characterize the microbial communities present in retail stores, (2) delineate relationships between the indoor microbiome and building or environmental parameters, and (3) evaluate the use of HVAC filter dust as a sample location for indoor microbial investigations. The microbiome in retail stores was observed to be diverse with 4,771 and 1,577 unique operational taxonomic units for bacteria and fungi, respectively. The diverse microbial community detected over time in the same store could not be fully explained by seasonal trends. That indicates that even when utilizing a long-term sampling approach like HVAC filter samples, the indoor microbiome cannot be completely characterized by a single sampling event. The bacterial community in retail stores was influenced by the outdoor microbiome and microbiota commonly associated with human skin. Physical location of the retail stores had some influence on the bacterial microbial community present and strongly impacted the fungal community recovered. Air exchange rate did not influence the observed bacterial or fungal communities. In a comparison to five other indoor air samplers, passive samplers including HVAC filter dust and settled dust captured a higher diversity of the microbial community. The collection of a more diverse sample may allow detection of potentially pathogenic microorganisms. However, there was significant difference in the microbial community structures recovered between samplers in the same sampling event which suggests sampling methodology has an impact on the inferred microbiome recovered. The overall results from this study indicate that retail stores harbor a diverse microbial community that varies over time. / text

Consumers are attracted to large assortments, but they experience negative consequences when they ultimately must make a choice form these large assortments. In Essay 1, four experiments examine whether a common retailer strategy--the use of recommendations such as "best seller" signs--attenuates or exacerbates these negative consequences. Results show that best seller signs can exacerbate decision difficulty and regret as consumers engage in a more extensive consideration of options, and these larger consideration sets are partly due to the increase consideration of non-signed options. The extent to which consumers have developed preferences is a key moderator of the effect of best seller signage on choice from large assortments. For consumers possessing more (less) developed preferences, best seller signage in large assortments increases (decreases) the size of consumer consideration sets and exacerbates (attenuates) decision difficulty and regret. The resultant choice outcome is that best seller signage is more likely to increase the overall quantity purchased when consumers have more compared to less developed preferences. Essay 2 investigates consideration set construction strategies consumers use to narrow down assortments into a more manageable consideration set, particularly when faced with large assortments. Past research proposes that consumers use two strategies to narrow down an assortment: include and exclude. Four experiments show that consumers are more likely to use an include strategy when faced with a large compared to a small assortment. It is argued that this preference for an include consideration set strategy is due to the decrease in relative effort required by an include strategy as the number of options in the set increases. The essay shows that compared to using an exclude strategy, the use of an include strategy leads consumers to (1) form smaller consideration sets, (2) express more (less) positive (negative) thoughts, (3) increase (decrease) the weighting of positive (negative) attributes, and (4) elaborate more on options in the consideration set and less on options not in the consideration set. The implications of using an include versus exclude strategy on final choice are explored and directions for future research are discussed.

For a field of social science to have usefulness, it must have a conceptual framework that explains and predicts a set of empirical phenomena not explained or predicted by conceptual frameworks already in existence in other fields (Shane 2000). This study explored entrepreneurial oppòrtunities within franchising. On the surface, franchising appears to create a system whose underpinnings are standardization, replication, and compliance with detailed long-term contracts--a seemigly unpromising environment in which to explore entrepreneurial opportunities. I argue that heterogeneity and organizational complexity exist among franchising firms, attributes overlooked in studies that characterized the phenomenon narrowly as a uniform, dyadic relationship between franchisors and franchisees. This study found that contractual provisions, franchisee obligations, and organizational hierarchies varied among franchises, and that a relationship existed between the presence of these attributes and differential performance among franchising firms. As a contractual relationship between distinct entities, franchising is governed by a variety of disclosure, trade, and intellectual property laws. Its contractual provisions and formal disclosure documents defme a formal context in which franchising is conducted. In addition to franchising's formal context, an operational realm also exists, one in which daily operations of franchised businesses take place. This study revealed that franchising's operational realm is not always contained within the defined limits of its formal agreements, suggesting greater franchisee discretion may exist than revealed in the agreement. As a result of organizational discontinuities in franchising's formal context, and franchisee discretion within its operational context, diverse opportunities for entrepreneurship exist within franchising beyond the birh of a franchisor's firm.