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Market Thresholds of Major Retail Chains In Canada: 2004

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Market Thresholds of Major Retail Chains In Canada: 2004

By  Dr. Tony Hernandez, Tansel Erguden and Philip Bermingham

This research letter examines the spatial distribution of major chains across Canada by size of ‘market’. It provides an overview of the locational strategies of a selected number of major chains operating in Canada between 2001 and 2004. The straightforward approach adopted in this study is to analyze retail chains’ portfolios by the size of the resident population of the ‘markets’ within which they operate. The research letter starts by defining market and market size, detailing the spatial surrogate used within this study (‘urban areas’). It then identifies trends in market size and location preferences for the selected chains as an entire group before providing examples of specific retail chains. The store portfolios of these
chains are compared by market size and location type between 2001 and 2004 to identify emerging locational strategies. The research letter provides
evidence of increasing interest amongst a number of major chains in ‘small town’ (or ‘C’) markets and points to a future in which these
smaller markets will become more competitive with an increased presence of major retail chains. The findings reported can be seen as the locational
imprint of the processes of corporate concentration taking place across Canada, fuelled by the interplay of increased competition, concerns
over market saturation and the need to sustain growth.


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