Folia gcograpliica 8 PreJoI' 2005

SOME METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES IN CLA~SIFICATlO1( OF RETAIL STORES

(WITH EXAMPLES FROM EUROPEAN COUNTRIES)

JUflll FERTAEOvA

.. \bstract: III this article (in the first parr) we try tQ sholl- SO/1/(' methods ill c1as,~ificatiol1 of retail Sfores and (in the second olle) wetlllalyze the variOIlS ways in wlllch retails have been classified. We show alsQ some examplesfmm United Kingdom ond1'"om Slovakia.

When we assess the situofion 0/ retail network problems, we can ifll'cstigafe follow­ing tendellcies. At the beginning a/the 1990s IVOS rhe simation ofretailllelwork ill Slo­mkio marked by 0 dynamical development. Allhe end a/the last decade began the concentration %rgl1ltiSOlions. sporiaf arrangement of the retail network al1d it is sill characterized by globalisarion mechanisms. Key words: retail geography, retailoulfels, classification of retail stores, cOl'llcnicnce goods. copmarisoll shopping

Introduction /I, familiar issue in geographical stlJdics of retail development and change is the classi­

fication of retail outlets. Classification is essential as a means of understanding and ana­lysing relationships in the world of retailing. ror us are wcll~known debates about "central place" systems tYP1cal of retail geography up to the 19805 (Christaler, 1966; Berry, 1967; BC[lvon, 1977; Beaujeu-Gamier and Delobez, 1979). The treattnent of classifications is found­ed largely in the more recent geographical literture relating 10 three aspects of retailing: consumer behaviour and ChOlCC; rctaller strategy; and property development and town planning (Bromlcy and Thomas. 1993; Brown, 1992; Davies, 1976, 1984; Guy, 1980. 1994; Jones and Simmons, 1990; o Brienand Hams, 1991: Wrigley and Lowe, 1996).

The classification ofretail stores IS necesary: rirslly, a logical and appropriate classifcation should assist in systematic and well­mfonncd discussions of research in retail geography, development trends, instItu­tional influences, retailer behaviour or customer behaviour. This suggests in turn

that thl: means of classification involoved should be influenced in some way by the pcrspective of thl: research. (ror example, \Vhl:n assessing elements of customer behaviour in a particular region, the classification of retail outlets should respect both common practice in that region and the main criteria wh!ch shoppers use when choosing where 10 shop.) Secondly. a consislent and comprehensive classification system a!lows reserches to compare and contrast empirical tindings across a varieiy of spaces, cultures and time periods. It is easier, for example. 10 compare the impacts of different land use planning systems on retail change ifmodem shopping develQpments in the various

Mgr. Jana Ferlal'o\':\, Kalcdra gcografic a regionalncho rOlvoj .. Fakulty humanitnych a prirodnych vied Prdov~keJ univcrzity v Presovc. VI. 17. novembm 1. ~.~ 1 16 Pre~ov. e-mai l: jankageo@umpo.sk

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Folia geographica 8 Prdov 2005

countries concerned are classified in a consistent way (Guy, 1998a). Important is this clasifieatlOn also when one is analysing phenomena such as retail internation­alisation, or long-term changes in customer shopping behaviour within a region.

I Retail outlets-definitions :lod classifications We try to assess what is meant by a retail outlet or .. store". and show some methods of

classification. These draw upon established notions of customer attitudes and retailing organisation and melOd and in the next part also issues ofclnssifyir.g and defining .. shop­ping centres" . The vcry important queslil)n is addressed first of whether all retail outlets are eligible for inclusion in systems of shopping centres, or whether the tenn implies cer­tain minimum standard~ of size. internel organisation, planning or cwnership. We analyze the various ways in which centres have been classified.

A retail outlet can be defined as a building from which retailing is carried out (Guy. 1998). In order to exclude buildings concerned solely with mail order sales, etc. A retai l outlet should nonnally store retail goods which can be sold to members of the public from the premises, without prior appoinunent. Guy (1998) made the classification of retail outlets and he analysied four of them.

J.l Clan-ijiculioll by type of goods Classification in everyday use relates to the types of goods sold by retail outlets. Many

widely recognised types of shops sell coherently organised "bundles" of goods, such as furniture or shoes.

In Slovakia PuJpit!ov3 (2002) made the classification according to the Branch classifi­cation of economic activities . On the basis of this classification she ::valuates the situation of retail network in Nitra. She made it with the follows codes and definition.

521 - retail in non specific outlets 522 - ~pecial retail outlets with food, tobacco and drinks 523 - retail outlets with phamlaceutical products and medical equipment. toilet articles

and perfumery 52 4 - other retail outlets with new goods in special outlets 525 - retml outlets with second hand goods and antiques 526 - retail localized out ofToutlets 50J - cars and theirs accessories selling, filling station She assesses numbers and outlets area of each mentioned sort of retail outlet in each

mdividual city district in Nitra. She evaluates chosen shopping centrs and she spoke to 300 purchaser in each of them. In summary she found out that respondents are very con­tented with localization of retail oullets and shopping centres (75%) and they agree with building of new retail centres (78%).

A typical official classification of such bundles of goods in U'1ited Kingdom is next table. This classification of retail goods made by UK government is published as Unit for Retail Planning Infonnation (1994) in URPllnfonnation Brief.

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Convenience goods rood Alcoholic drink

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Tobacoo Other goods:

newspapers and magazines cleaning materials and matches

Comparison goods Clothing and Footwear Do-it-yourself goods Ilousehold goods

furniture, pictures. etc. carpets and other noor-covenngs major appliances textiles and soft furnishings hardware

Recreational goods radio. television and other durable goods television and video hire sports goods, toys, games and camping equipmem other recreational goods books bicycles

Other goods phannaceutical products and madical equipment toilet articles and perfumery Jewellery. silverware, watches and clocks other goods

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Thts approach causes problems however when shops sell a v2.riety of goods which apparently have little in common. For example the modern food superstore (in the UK) or hypennarket (France) might sell cooking utensils, children's ehlothlng, and compact discs as well as the food and groceries which arc its main type of merchandise. The store might also offer services such as a phannacy, post office, cafe, banking or dry cleanmg.

J.2 ClassificQtion by shopping trip purpose Ln marketing literature we find a distiction between shopping tTlpS which are intended

for purchasing ruoline necessities and those which are more occasional and directed more towards personal gratification (Brovn. 1992),

COI'lIelliellce goods have been defined as "goods which the consumer usually purchases frequently, immediately and with a minimum ofefTort" (AMA, 1948), A convenience outlet should therefore attmct shopping tTips which are short In lenbrth and frequently made. The shoppers use the store on a routi.le basis and may often know exactly what they intends to purchase there. The most obviously example is the supennarket and also the other types of store which ,mrz,ct routine trips from a mainly local catchment area. sucha s fresh food shops, newsagent, Tobacconists. chemIsts and post offices are often classed as convenience outlets (Guy, \998). Copmarisoll shopping has traditionally involoved an eleme ... of personal gratifica­tion- comparing goods between difTcrent shops IS part of the process of choise.

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Foha gcographica B PreSOl' 2005

which is made on the bases of .. suitability. quality, price and style" (AMA, 1948), Comparison outlets are thus the destination for occasional shopping trips, often carried out in famIly or other groups, which are held 10 be more enjoyable than rou­tine convenience shoppping, Clothing, footwear and personal accessories sucha s jewellery are the most commonly ciled fomls of comparison outlet. Comparison shopping has also for many year.> been associated with the department store, which began 10 appear well over 100 years :lgO in major European and north American cities,

Firstly i tis not unreasonable to state that supennarket shopping for weekly family food supplies involo\'es comparinons on the bases of .. suitability, quality, price and style", Sec­ondly, it is often the case nowadays that copmarasion shopping takes place within one large specialist outlet rather than between several small ones, as for example In fumilure or carpet retailing, (Guy, 1998),

Household goods arc nowadays oftenbought in large free-standmg stores. Known as rerai/lVareulir)!lses m the UK (Hillier Parker, 1994) and Fachmarkten in Germany (Kulke. 1996). The shoppmg process might still be described as "comparison", but the methods of display and in-store service which have proved so successful in the convenience sector are applied, Personal goods still tend to be sold in smaller stores. often grouped together to aid the process of comparison.

1.3 C/ussijicutifm by ,\';:.e Qlld type of stort! In the last 40 years has been one of the most discussed features the developmenl of

large stores. usually selling either convenience or household goods. The stores which arc generally on one level and provided with ample car parking space, have grown up in the suburban areas of many north American and European cities: in convenience retailing, the supennarkcI, superstore :md hypermarket; in household goods re,ailing, the retail ware­house or fachmarkct, also known as "noll-food superstore" or "big box store", These tenns all denote a certain simplicity in store construction and disign: building and maintenance costs need to be kept low, and the interior functions rather like a warehouse with priority given to clear slgnpostlng and easy of restocking the display shelves. A problem with much of recent literature In retaIl geography IS that when discussing types of store it reviews a limited numbcroflarge purpose-built outlets while ignonng the more traditional small retail outlet. I tis very complicated 10 give a delinition of "small shop". Ifwe attempt to relate shop type and size to the typology of shopping trips discussed above, then the role of small shops becomes clearer. An attempt to classify retail outlets along these lines is show in next tables, (But with a such classification by size we can have some problems, either to use sales area or total floor area).

The first table lS shown according with Slovak and Czech criterions and the second one according British.

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Table J,' S)'mbols terms a/ld cflarQC'leri~/i£' of ol/Ilets ill SIOI'ak alld C·eel! republic . SYmbols terms characteristic HP hypermarket sdf-serve retaIl outlet \10 IIh food and non-food range.

similar to dcoartment store NHP, small~r and • sale~ area 2501 - 5000 m-VHP bigger hypermarket • sales area over :'000 m~ SM supermarket self-serve retail outkt. preponueranee of food rallge MSM. smaller and • sales arc:} 40 I - J 000 m-VSM bigger supermarket • sales area 1001 - 250J rn! SO self-serve outlet self·serve retail outlet WIth foocl ull400 m-PP ! ,ro,.,,), small t'Ounter groce with iek'n'mix range 01S discount outlets run on the pnnciple WIth narrow range. sImple

furnish and low orices SP special food retail butcher shop. delicatessen, drugstore ..

outlets TZ tobacco tobacco. new~ a rs :lI"Id m:l 'almes DG tOIlet articles. drugstore self-scrve retail outlet or counter outlet

and perfumery 00 dcpanmcnt store multi-floor store in eentre of the city with wide choice

of r.tnjle (clothes. household 11.00ds. ~rocery) NS shoppmg centre mulu-floor store WIth limited range and with smaller

sales area NPP non·food retail outlets self-serve retail outkt or counter outlet WIth various

range I SO sp<:~ial retail outlets

VPP lar e retail outlet outlet \10 ith various r.1O c HB do-it-yourself goods outlet with range for house, garden ZO mall order sho MO retail retail outlets CC cash&cany wholesale outkt WIth paymg cash and taking goods by

oneself - cany VO wholesale wholesale with distribution

Source: Rocenka ce.fkeho a slownskeho obchodu, 2001

Table 1: Examples v/shop types classified bJ' /rip purpose alld size

Sales area (m-) Convenience sho m Household shoppmg Personal/fashion shoppmg under 250 Convenience store FashIon houtuque

Butcher Shoe shop Pharmacy

251 1000 Small supermarket Hardware store Bookshop Video hire Spo", ",.,,, ",",

1001 2500 Large supemlmet Retail warehouse Fachmarket

over 2500 H rmarket Retail warehouse De art men! store

Source: Guy, (1998)

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Classification by size also implies the use of arbitrary boundaries. For examples, hyper­markets are generally recognised in Europe as having a lower limit of2500 m1 sales area, but in Gemlany a lower limit of 1500 m2 is sometimes used. In the UK. a lower limit for food superstores (the equivalent ofhypemlarkets) of 25000 ftl (2323 011) is often used. Austria has the following conditions for c1assificaton by size. The sales area have to be more than 800 m~, or tOlal noorarea more than 1200 ml.

1.4 Clas.{ijicati/JII by Store OWllership Another common method of classIfication retail outlets is according to the means of

ownership. The simplest distinction is between independent and mult'ple retailers. the former owmng one shop (or a small number of shops). and the latter owning severnl or many shops. The dividing line between the two categories often varies according to the country con­cemed or even the statistical serie sused.

Conclusions We tried to show several sons of retail oUllets classifications. In some systems we

assessed also this problematic on examples from choosen countries (Great Britain. Slova­kia. C7ech, Austria and Germany).

Some generally recognised types of outlet imply a number of dimensions of classifica­tion, for example the food superstore or hypermarket. which can be defined by its range of merchandise. ownership type, size and internal design, or some combination of these at­tributes. For most purposes paniculary examinations orretail structure at national or local level. a clnssification based upon Types of goods sold seems most appropriate. This can with advantage be grouped according to shopping trip purpose. In many investigations, a second dimension. probably ownership type or size, needs to be used.

Prispevok v::niko/ l' ramci ridenia vedeckeho projeklu V£GA c. 110367/03 - Vyvojovc lel1dencie regiomi/llyeh komplexov vjchodncho Slovellska v Obf/obi globalizcicie a rral/s(o/,-lIukie slovenskej sp%cnosri a ich po/cl/cMl pre do/oH ~o::voj

References Americ:m Marketmg Association { 1948): Repon of Definitions Committee, J. Marketing I). P.202-

217. BROWN. S. (1992): Rctail Location. A micro-Scale Perspective, Avebury. Aldershot. GUY. CM. (1998): ClassIfications of retail stores and shopptng centres. GeoJoumal 45: p. 255 264. PULPITLOVA. M. (2002): Dimenzie maloobchodncj sicle v mcste Nitra. (rukopis) p.6. ROCENKA CESKEHO A SLOVENSKEHO OBCHODU. 200) SCHOU, C. M. (:"S9): Ein Verglelch zweier integrieJ1er Emkaufzenlren Selbslverlag. Frankfurt

am Main. ISBN )-92)184-12-),p.229. S~OLOV A.!. SZCZYRBA, Z. (2000): Large commercial eenlers in the Czech republic. landSl:a­

pe and regionally aspects of development (contribution 10 thc study oflhe problematic). Geo· graphlea )6. p. 81 87.

STADTENTWICKLUNGSKONZEPT der Landeshauptstadt Graz (200). Magistrat Oraz - Stadt· planunssamt, Oraz. s.90

WRIOLEY, N. - LOWE, M. (2002): Reading RetaIl: A Geographical Perspective on Retailing and Consumption Spaces. N Y: O~ford Unlv.Press, 2002. [London: Amold. 2002. IBSN: 0 )40 70661 9 (hb). 0 )40 70660 0 (ph). 280 pp.

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VYBRA>~ METODOLOGICKEPROBLEMY MALOOBCHODNYCHPREDAJNi (VYBRANE PROBLEMY Z EUR6psKEJ lrNIE)

Zhrml1ie

Vyznamnym I)'som slovcnsH:ho obchodu zaclatkom 90"tych rokov 20. storoCia bo!i roz5iahlc zmcny fonnou rozvoja novych domacich podnikatefskych aktlVit a v druhcj polovici 90tych rokov 20. storocia to bolo prcdovsetkym posihi.ovanie trhovej poziclc naJviWlich obchodnych rct'azcov. Vy...oj sa v pos]cdnych rokoch vyznamnc zdynamiloval a k rydzo obchodnym konceptom, klore reprezcntujli diskonty. supcrmarkety. hypermarkety a d'aHie vefkopredajne, pribudaju na trhu nove rnodernc n.ikupne centra. ktorc sa najcastejiie profiluju ako muhifunkcne. V poslcdnych 5 rokoch doch.idza vsak k intcnzivnyrn kooperacn}'m a in tegracnym tendenci.im rnalych podnikatcfov. co JC ich rcakciou na rast vel'!cYch ret'azcov, inlemacionalizaciu a globalizaciu !rhu.

V tomto prispcvku smc sa poklisili nacrtnut' prob!cmaliku gcografic maloobchodu a kla.~ifik.icie maloobchodnych prcdajni podl'a roznych kriterii. A 10 druhu lovaru. ucelu a frekvcncie nakupov, verkosti a typu prcdajnc a v!astnickc podmlcnky. Porovnali smc snidic z viaccrych krajin a pri nick­tory-ch srne pouk.izali na mcn!iic, ci viWiic rozdic:ly v hodnotcni vybrancho krileria. Napr. v prcva~ncj casli curops,",:)'ch suitov jc ako vcfkostnc kritcrium hypcnnarkctu limit rninim.ilnc 2 SOD rn', alc v Nemecku je 10 I 500 rn1 predajnej plochy. Vo vel'kej Britanii jc to napr. 25 000 IF (2 323 rn'). V Rakusku mus! byt' rozloha predajncj ploehy vac~ia ako 800 rn' alebo celkova plocha viae ako 1200 m1 Toto vefkostne krilcrium nieje posudzovane samostatne, vac~inou sa hodnOlJa viacere dimen"lie a kri!cria maloobchodnych predajni a n;\lcupnyeh cemicr. napr. potraviny alebo hyper­market moze byf charakterizovany nie !cn na zakladc vcrkostncho hradiska, ale aj sonimenlOm tovaru, vlastnickymi podmienkarni a pod.

Recenzovali: Doe. Ing. arch. V:icJav Kohlrnayer, PhD. Doe. RNDr. Rent!Matlovi~, PhD. mim. prof. PU

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