Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 33.1
Retail catchment areas: (A) primary and
secondary; (B) primary, for large and small stores.
Catchment areas: where do a retail outlet's
customers live?
The first of these relationships lies between retail
outlets and the areas within which their
consumers live. Underlying much of the
methodology of retail locational analysis has been
the notion that a retail outlet will possess a discrete
catchment area,
which includes a high proportion
of the outlet's regular customers. In some cases,
this area will be largely exclusive to the store in
question, thus creating a local monopoly
conferred by the outlet's geographical position in
relation to its customers. Even where catchment
areas overlap, as is more likely to occur, the outlet
in question may have the largest
market share
of
expenditure by the local population for those
goods and services provided by the outlet. Analysts
often define a
primary catchment area,
within which
the outlet possesses the largest market share, and a
secondary catchment area,
within which other outlets
dominate (see Figure 33.1 A).
This 'traditional' model of retailer/consumer
relationships is found in many geographical texts,
usually with a warning that the use of cars for
shopping in modern societies has to some extent
undermined the simple relationships between
local stores and local residents. Up to about the
1970s in Britain, it was broadly the case that
convenience outlets and small centres served a
local population, and that a set of such centres
within an urban area would have largely non-
overlapping catchment areas. At that time, most
convenience shopping expenditure (i.e. on
routine, regularly needed items such as food and
groceries), was in fact made in the nearest
shopping area to the home. Thus it was possible
from empirical research to define such catchment
areas (e.g. Potter 1982), and local centres
themselves showed characteristics related to the
socioeconomic structure of their catchment areas
(e.g. Davies 1968). This situation has partly broken
down with the increasing use of cars in routine
shopping, and increasing differentiation between
retail outlets and shopping centres (see below). In
Britain, most convenience expenditure now takes
place in food superstores or large supermarkets
(Plate 33.1), and the small local centres (which
generally still survive, somewhat reduced in
importance) serve an ancillary function by
supplying fresh foods or 'emergency' groceries.
However, in forecasting the level of sales for a
proposed large grocery store, analysts still use the
concept of the catchment area: it is assumed to be
likely that most customers will be drawn from an
area that is closer to that store than to other similar
large grocery stores. A large store's catchment area
will include several catchment areas belonging to
small local grocery stores or groups of shops
(Figure 33.1B).
For
comparison shopping,
involving purchase of
personal or fashion goods such as clothing,
