Towards a contemporary perspective of retail location

Abstract

Much of the existing literature on location does not address the problems faced by retail organizations at a strategic level, largely because it has tended to concentrate on the technical and policy issues relating to the evaluation and development of new sites. The reason for this lies largely in the geographic origins of most previous work, and while marketing has borrowed many of these concepts and approaches, it has not yet fully developed additional ones appropriate for a strategic management audience. Reviews research in the geography and marketing traditions, and builds on recently published work to outline two new conceptual models which serve to link strategic and monadic (individual site) decisions. Discusses the development of a more holistic perspective which underlines the strategic role of retail location and emphasizes key areas for research relevant to many of the issues currently facing retail organizations.