Tony Hernandez

The art and science of retail location decisions

Although formal techniques of locational analysis have been available for over 50 years, most retailers traditionally made no use of them, relying instead on intuition guided by experience and “common sense”. However, the simultaneous advent in the last 15 years of low cost computing and the increasing availability of retail related data of all types has given retailers the opportunity to take a much more rational approach to decision making. This paper examines the extent to which retailers have taken advantage of the potential released by these developments, and adopted more “scientific” rules based methodologies. The analysis is based on an extensive questionnaire survey of UK retailers conducted in 1998 which encompassed organisations operating altogether more than 50,000 outlets across eight sectors. The survey sought to identify the use made both of particular types of techniques, and of Geographical Information Systems, which act as a platform for them. It was complemented by a series of in‐depth interviews with location specialists in a number of major retail organisations.

Downtowns in transition

Purpose – To detail the changing nature of retail and service activity in Canadas downtowns and examine the role of business improvement areas (BIAs) in promoting downtown vitality.Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a combination of retail structural analysis and case study research. The structural analysis provides data on transitioning urban demographics and tracks retail and service activity sales change in Canadas major metropolitan downtowns. The case study reports an overview of findings from in‐depth research with the Downtown Yonge BIA. A small number of retail metrics are presented.Findings – The paper highlights the significant suburb shift in retail activity across Canadas metropolitan areas and the associated challenges that this has resulted in for the downtown. The role of BIAs are outlined, and examined with reference to operation of the BIA concept within the downtown core of Canadas largest metropolitan market, Toronto.Research limitations/implications – The resear...

Understanding adolescent sport participation through online social media

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the potential role and use of online social media to influence sport participation in youth aged 12 to 17 years by responding to two specific research questions: what is the nature of the online “marketplace” among youth?; and what is the nature of adolescent sport behavior as revealed through activities on online social media?Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines and then implements the research methodology of netnography to achieve its purpose. Netnography involves a researcher joining an online forum, e‐tribe or other open‐source social media to observe and record the discussions for analysis.Findings – The overarching finding is that online discourse related to sport participation among youth is very limited. When discussion does take place, five themes emerge: benefits, advice‐seeking, finding common interests, learning new sports, and challenges.Research limitations/implications – This research provides impetus for future work in the cont...

Exploring the Boundaries of Web Map Services: The Example of the Online Injury Atlas for Ontario

Abstract Injury from causes such as falls, traffic accidents, or violence is a major public health issue globally. Injury prevention research aims to identify vulnerable populations and places by analyzing the spatial patterns of demographic and socio-economic risk factors associated with elevated injury rates. The stakeholders in injury prevention and control are often distributed across government and public health institutions, non-profits, and even the private sector (e.g. insurance firms). While this situation calls for distributed, online research tools, their implementation may conflict with health data confidentiality and license limitations for socio-economic data. In this paper, we present the Online Injury Atlas for Ontario, which was designed with the explicit goal to make use of, and contribute to, the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure. We propose a service-based architecture that integrates publicly accessible map services with protected data layers. Thereby, we demonstrate the benefits of using spatial data infrastructures alongside private data at different levels of protection. In addition, we discuss the extensive data processing needs and specific cartographic design requirements of a Web atlas in the health and social sciences domain.

Marketing the downtown through geographically enhanced consumer segmentation

– The purpose of this paper is to identify, using a case study, whether consumers in a metropolitan area can be meaningfully segmented geographically such that it can understand the way they perceive and interact with the downtown district and to delineate the implications of the findings for business improvement area marketing initiatives from a management perspective., – A total of 650 visitors to downtown Toronto are interviewed using a pretested questionnaire. Their responses are related to their location within the metropolitan area. Correspondence analysis (CA) is applied to the data to visually identify possible market segments., – The analysis identified four distinct place‐based visitor segments. Each of these segments exhibited behaviour patterns that are distinct and intrinsically meaningful. The analysis further shows that perceptions and current interactions with the district are likely to change depending on where in the metropolis its consumers live., – Since visitor perceptions are place dependent, it is difficult to implement a single place marketing campaign that is relevant to each segment. The results suggest that it needs to develop communication strategies that are specific to each segment, incorporating an understanding of why they visit downtown, what they think of the area, what media they consume, how they get around and what their needs are in terms of lifestage., – By going beyond the traditional analysis of geographic variables and incorporating consumer response variables in the analysis, this paper provides a stronger basis for market segmentation and management action with regard to place marketing. The application of CA provides a visual way to understand the segments.

Online Map Design for Public-Health Decision Makers

Abstract Injury places a heavy burden on public-health resources that is not distributed evenly in space, making the mapping of injury and its socio-demographic risk factors an effective tool for prevention planning. In a survey of health-related interactive Web mapping applications we found great variation with respect to content, cartography, and technical aspects. Based on the survey results, input from a group of potential end users, cartographic design principles, and data-set requirements, we created a Web site with static, animated, and interactive injury maps. We mapped injury rates and possible socio-demographic risk factors for the City of Toronto. Through the three functionally different types of maps, a variety of ways to explore the same public-health data sets could be demonstrated. The results highlight the practical options available to public-health analysts and decision makers who wish to expand their data-exploration and decision-support tools with a spatial component.

Exploring the geographical dimension in loyalty card data

Considers the potential that retail loyalty card schemes offer for a more informed understanding of consumer behaviour. With the widespread introduction of loyalty card schemes across the UK, Europe and North America, retailers now have the opportunity to link detailed shopping pattern information to the individual consumer. Data gathered from loyalty card transactions can be referenced to the address of the individual, and as such, can be considered to be a particular type of potential geographic information. Based on detailed semi‐structured interviews within five UK retail organisations that have implemented loyalty card schemes, the article shows the nature of data analysis and applications at present, with data being mostly utilised in direct marketing. It is argued that recognition of the geographic nature of loyalty card data is currently lacking amongst scheme operators, yet is vital if higher order functions are to be realised. To that end, the paper presents visual frameworks that position loyalty card data within the organisational hierarchy and highlight potential techniques and applications that can be achieved via loyalty card data analysis.

Retail Development in Urban Canada: Exploring the Changing Retail Landscape of the Greater Toronto Area 1996-2005

During the last decade, rapid changes have occurred in the retail economy of North America that has brought about a functional transformation of retailing. Using data from a longitudinal database of commercial activity, this paper explores spatio-temporal patterns of retail development within Canadas largest metropolitan region, the Greater Toronto Area GTA. The paper provides an overview of the evolution of retailing in Canada and spatio-temporal analysis of the developing retail structure of the GTA. The work is situated within the branch of spatial statistics concerned with the description of spatial point processes. Bivariate kernel estimation and the G function are used to describe spatial patterns of retailing over time and by retail format type. The results highlight the wave of power centre retailing that swept across the GTA between 1996 and 2005. The paper concludes with a discussion of the gap between policy and planning and an emerging retail reality.

Network Planning and Retail Store Segmentation: A Spatial Clustering Approach

Store segmentation aims to divide a network of stores into meaningful groups, typically based on a combination of operational, site and trading environment characteristics. It is an increasingly important component within network planning activities of major retail chains due to the significant capital investment that is physically grounded in their large store networks. The paper outlines findings from case study research that has focused on developing spatial decision support tools that enable decision makers to explore, construct and visualize store segments. An integrated spatial statistical approach to store segmentation is detailed and associated benefits and shortfalls discussed. The paper highlights the potential to develop customised geospatial tools to support network planning decision making activities. It is argued that geospatial decision support tools need to be designed to accommodate the varying GIS skill-levels of potential end-users and that fundamentally more emphasis needs to be placed on creating tools that can be used by decision-makers as opposed to analysts.

Implications of Supersizing a Box Store: Localized Effects in the Inner City

ABSTRACT The impact of big box stores on existing retail systems has been subject to considerable contention. It is debatable whether midsized box stores have the same impact on local communities as that of supersized box stores. Additionally, when a box store increases significantly in size and extends the range and depth of goods and services that it offers, it seems reasonable to consider that it can noticeably amplify its impact in a community or neighborhood. This study is unique in that it examines the localized impact of a Walmart that underwent conversion from a discount store to a supercenter in Toronto, Canada, in 2009. Before 2010, property values of the store, known as Dufferin Walmart, were considerable, but they increased dramatically afterward due to its supercenter conversion. The store has had a positive impact in providing new grocery space to an area of the city that previously resembled a food desert. There have been a number of adverse outcomes, however, with storefront closures and vacancies increasing considerably in nearby surrounding areas in the years immediately following Dufferin Walmarts conversion to a supercenter format.