The Marketing Book 5th Edition

Retailing 783

Retail parks are more utilitarian groupings
of ‘retail sheds’ and are also termed ‘retail
warehouse parks’. They offer convenient access
and car parking arrangements but lack the
indoor malls and many of the other comforts of
the major, out-of-town shopping centres. The
first such scheme opened in the UK in 1982; by
2000, there were 537 in operation. They involve
far lower development costs than the major, full
service shopping centres, which typically
include extensive leisure and catering facilities.
The trading format of the retail park has proved
fairly resilient to varying economic conditions
and they have continued to evolve, some
adding cinemas, bowling alleys, fitness centres
and pubs/restaurants to their mix. A parallel
development in the USA, albeit typically based
on larger units, is the ‘power centre’, defined by
Hahn (2000) as ‘an agglomeration of big box
retailers’.
Factory outlet centres increased their pres-
ence in the UK in the 1990s and, by 2001, 34
were trading, with another 18 in the planning/
development pipeline. One of the largest, Che-
shire Oaks, includes 300 000 sq. ft of retail area
and 120 factory outlets. Designer names such as
Calvin Klein, Ted Baker, Nike and Reebok tend
to predominate with their discount outlets, but
high street names are also there in force, such as
Principles, Marks & Spencer, Diesel and Next
(Key Note, 2000b).

Department and variety stores

In most new shopping centres, developers seek
to ensure that they attract key ‘anchor tenants’
in the form of major department and variety
stores. Ironically, the market shares of both
these retail formats have tended towards
decline in most European countries. According
to the International Association of Department
Stores, a department store must have at least
2500 m^2 of space (26 900 sq. ft). Furthermore, it
must offer a product range that is both wide
and deep in several product categories.
Table 30.6 estimates the shares of non-food
sales of department stores in various countries.

In the USA, traditional, full-line department

stores continue to decline in number, although

the leading-edge operators, such as Federated,

May & Co. and Dillard’s, have made gains

through acquisitions and more focused strate-

gies. In the UK, John Lewis and Debenhams

lead among the traditional department stores,

Marks & Spencer holding the largest share of

the variety store category.

Many European variety stores were foun-

ded in the 1930s by department store operators,

in order to offer a lower priced, lower service

and lower assortment format. Examples

include Prisunic by Printemps and Priminime

by Bon Marche. In the UK, there are few such

links between the department and variety store

sectors, and variety stores hold a relatively

strong 18.4 per cent of non-food sales. Many

variety stores have traded up and diversified;

on the other hand, department stores have

Table 30.6 Department and

variety stores

Country Share of non-food sales (%)

Department

stores

Variety

stores

Australia 8.8 7.5

Austria 6.9 3.8

Canada 16.1 6.7

Denmark 6.7 11.3

France 2.9 0.8

Germany 5.9 0.7

Hungary 5.9 26.2

Ireland 13.4 –

Netherlands 9.7 3.4

Russia 36.8 –

Spain 8.0 –

Sweden 2.5 1.4

UK 3.6 18.4

USA 8.6 10.2

Source: Euromonitor (2000).