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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/5908 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Baker, Sarah Renee |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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