Product Description

This innovative book exemplifies the importance of sophisticated and intelligent spatial analysis techniques in dealing with the range of location, distribution and channel management issues which face today′s retail and service businesses.

• Explores some of the trends taking place within the broad consumer–retailing sector, drawing on research undertaken in grocery, supermarket retailing, financial services, travel and leisure in Europe, North America and Australasia
• Numerous global case studies are used to show keys issues
• Details how retailers can begin to develop information and analytical frameworks to better understand what is happening in the retail environment
• Describes how retailers can plan their cross channel network strategy for the future

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #282834 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 296 pages

Urban Studies Journal, Vol 41(4), April 2004
"...an excellent introduction...offers a valuable insight on the development and commerical application of modelling techniques..."

From the Back Cover
Retail Geography and Intelligent Network Planning demonstrates the importance of geographical thinking in a wide variety of situations. The book exemplifies the importance of sophisticated and intelligent spatial analysis techniques in dealing with the range of location, distribution and channel management issues which now face retail and service businesses. This technology is especially crucial in an age when traditional channels of physical distribution such as bank branches and shops are increasingly complemented by electronic and virtual channels.

Building on the success of Intelligent GIS (1996), which set out the principles and applications of GIS and spatial modelling for strategic planning, this new title concentrates on the concept of retail intelligence applied to retail planning by presenting examples relating to a wide range of business problems.

Retail Geography and Intelligent Network Planning is an innovative book in several ways:

• Explores some of the key retail trends impacting on retail location and store location studies by drawing on research undertaken in grocery and supermarket retailing, financial services, travel and leisure in Europe, North America and Australasia

• Examines the role of e–commerce and its growth, and argues that geography will still be crucial to its success in the retail sector

• Presents readers with various spatial analysis methods and their usefulness for addressing retail growth strategies such as branch optimization.

• Draws examples from the authors′ own expertise over the past fifteen years in retail consultancy

This book is invaluable reading for professionals working in retail location teams and consultancies, and for students studying retail geography, GIS , marketing and management.

Excerpted from Retail Geography and Intelligent Network Planning by M. Birkin. Copyright © 2002. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 3 – Retail Locations and Distribution Channels: Past, Present and Future

3.1 Introduction
In this chapter, we wish to explore the major transformations in the retail landscape, partly brought about by the broad trends identified in Chapter 2. We also wish to look at the future of traditional retail locations, especially the high street, shopping centres or malls and retail parks. Although we have pointed out new planning legislations that prevent certain types of growth (Section 2.4), we argue that the traditional locations still have a lot to offer retailers and that much growth will take place in these environments (Sections 3.2 –3.6). However, we also introduce new retail formats and distribution channels, and attempt to understand why geography or location is still crucial in understanding new distribution channels and why it forms a crucial part of the framework for successfully managing change and creating future retail landscapes (Sections 3.7 –3.9).

3.2 The High Street or Town Centre
Despite the huge increase in out-of-town retailing (see next section) the high street still remains the retail heart of most towns and cities in Europe and will undoubtedly be a major retail landscape of the future. According to Field (1997), three quarters of all shopping is still done on the high street. That said, it is also true that the nature of retailing on the high street has changed considerably since the 1960s. An historical look at a range of European cities in the 1960s reveals a retail landscape dominated by clothing, footwear, jewellery, furniture and electrical goods. Food, fresh meat and vegetables were also prevalent. For example, an examination of the high streets of Leeds in the 1960s reveals the dominance of clothing, footwear and jewellery in the heart of the city centre, whereas away from the central area were increasingly larger numbers of wholesale food outlets, decorations products (DIY)and furniture stores. As more bulky goods such as DIY and electrical goods moved out of town (along with food), the nature of many high streets changed. It is now difficult to buy any of these goods on the high street. Today clothing and footwear is joined on the high street by a range of more niche outlets such as music shops, travel agencies, cafe bars and sports shops.

The buoyancy of fashion retailers, in particular, has helped maintain, and in many cases increase, the levels of rents and rates in many European high streets, and also make them popular destinations for other retailers. In the United Kingdom, for example, the growth of Next in the 1980s and 1990s almost parallels the growth of high street rents as they were prepared to pay very high premiums for the best pitches (which did, however, cause them some financial problems in the mid-1990s). Fernie et al. (1997) note how the recent influx of top fashion stores in the West End of London has shot rents to more than £250 per sq.ft. Figure 3.1 shows the current rents for many top European cities to be high and buoyant.

However, the future of the high street has long been a concern to planners, especially as fears of the competitive effects of out-of-town developments increased. In Europe, for example, there are fears that cities may follow US dynamics, where downtown cores are office and service centres as opposed to core retail areas. Therefore, there is now much interest in what makes a successful city centre, and how the city centre can remain an important future retail landscape. Peter Shearman Associates (1996) undertook an exercise to try and answer this question by comparing the cities of Hanover, Bordeaux and Bristol. They concluded that a successful city centre must:

1. Create a broad retail offer to consumers
2. Provide a thriving leisure environment
3. Maintain large-scale office development
4. Build high-quality public transport access
5. Maintain accessibility for car owners
6. Create compact, pedestrianized cities

7. Restrict out-of-town developments

Thus in a sense, town and city centres need to reinvent themselves (Field 1997). The appointment of town centre managers in the United Kingdom will undoubtedly help implement such action plans in the future. It is clear that many city centres are fighting back. It is interesting to note that rents in Sheffield increased by 25% in 1997–1998, suggesting finally that the centre may be coming to terms with Meadowhall, the large regional out-of-town shopping centre only a few miles away.

The action plans identified by many city authorities are likely to indicate that the high street remains as a core retail landscape of the future. Opportunities will continue to appear as local planners revitalize older, more run-down areas of the city centre and build new arcades and waterfront developments. The latter is becoming a phenomenon in most modern world cities (see Goss 1996). Leeds has recently announced a £8 million redevelopment of Granary Wharf, while Manchester’s canalside developments have transformed a run-down industrial environment into one of United Kingdom’s most trendy bar and restaurant areas. In addition to the list of factors identified by the Shearman Associates in the preceding text, many would argue that residential (re)development is also crucially important. It is clear that city centres outside the United Kingdom have had a head start in this respect. Many cities such as Hanover and Bordeaux have always had a significant residential population, often living in flats above the main shopping arteries. These types of development are laying the foundations for concepts such as the 24-hour city. The combination of office development, residential development and more leisure facilities means that people can enjoy the attractions of the city at all hours of the day.

It is likely that the high street will continue to see new fascias and perhaps more stores of traditional fascias. Many traditional and new high street retailers in the United Kingdom have announced ambitious growth plans. In 1999,Debenhams announced plans to open a further 15 stores over the next four years. Oasis stores…