Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
outcomes for the retail environment, for
consumers and the built and natural environment
generally (Marsden
et al
. 1998).
A major deficiency in much of the retail
locational literature is perhaps its detachment from
mainstream economic and social theory. Both
'central place' methods and spatial interaction
modelling have been criticised many times for
their simplistic assumptions and their lack of a
sound theoretical basis. The subject has also in
recent years failed to follow mainstream
geography into more subjective and experiential
areas of investigation. If there is a need to develop
a 'new' applied retail geography, the following
avenues may offer ways of enlightening our
understanding of the retail environment:
Such investigations are growing in popularity
at present, although their immediate relevance
to commercial pressures and public policy
making appears to this author to be less strong
when compared with the two other research
areas noted above. Research methods include
discussion in focus groups, and the
interpretation of contemporary accounts,
factual or fictional, on the experiences of
retailing and consuming.
Retail locational analysis remains an important area
of applied geography. Its basis lies in an
understanding of relationships between retail
outlets and consumers in space. That understanding
can be enhanced if research in the three areas
mentioned above continues to blossom. The danger
here is that the conventional description and
understanding of retail location and its relationships
with patterns of consumption might be regarded as
somehow less important than social or cultural
interpretations. Marketing geography methods
remain vital in providing an understanding of retail
patterns in space and have considerable value as an
area of applied research. All these approaches need
to be maintained in geographical teaching and
somehow brought together to enhance our
understanding of retail geography.
•
A focus on retailer strategy, developing at
national and international levels from theories
of the firm and an understanding of methods
of investment appraisal (for example, Wrigley
1996; Guy 1995; 1997). At local level,
knowledge of geodemographics, property
market features and local demand-supply
relationships are needed in the search for the
investigation of issues such as trading impact,
sectoral growth and decline, and saturation
(Langston
et al
. 1997; Guy 1996a). The
research methods necessary include digesting
company publications, analysts' reports, etc.
and carrying out semi-structured interviews
with leading experts and decision makers (as
inWrigley 1997).
GUIDE TO FURTHER READING
Bromley, R.D.F. and Thomas, C.J. (1993)
Retail
Change: Contemporary Issues.
London: UCL Press.
This edited collection of papers is particularly
useful in exploring questions of retail impact and
the advantages and disadvantages of 'out-of-town'
shopping.
Brown, S. (1992)
Retail Location: A Micro-Scale
Perspective.
Aldershot: Avebury.This topic discusses
retail location from geographical and economic
perspectives, and it contains a massive bibliography.
Guy, C.M. (1994)
The Retail Development Process.
London: Routledge. This topic describes both
traditional and modern retail developments and
relates these to property markets and land-use
planning processes.
•
A focus on those consumers who have been
disadvantaged and marginalised by retail
change, the problems they face daily as
consumers, and their coping strategies. This
would relate to ongoing work on nutrition
and health, household budgeting and the
nature of 'food poverty' among the poorest
sectors of the population (National
Consumer Council 1992; Dobson
et al
. 1994).
Research methods include participatory
investigation and discussion in focus groups.
•
A focus on cultural interpretations of retail
spaces and consumption (Shields 1992;
Wrigley and Lowe 1996; Miller
et al
. 1998).
