Instructor: Dr. James C. Saku

Office Phone: 301-687-4724, Secretary: 301-687-4369

Office Location: FA 224

Office Hours: 9:00-9:50 MWF, 9:00-11:00 T, or by appointment

Lecture Hours: TR 11:00-12:15

Email: jsaku@frostburg.edu

Course Objectives

1. Introduce students to advanced spatial economic theories and models
2. Introduce students to planning, market research and spatial decision making techniques
3. Examine consumer behavior and analyze trade areas
4. Provide a practical understanding to the location of retail and service facilities

Required Text:  Jones, Ken and Jim Simmons (1993) Location, Location, Location: Analyzing the Retail Environment. Nelson Canada.

Academic Dishonesty: Note that academic dishonesty including plagiarism and cheating during examination is a serious offense and carries severe penalty. Refer to the Pathfinder for details.

Disruptive Student Behavior: The University will not tolerate disorderly or disruptive conduct which substantially threatens, harms or interferes with university personnel or orderly university processes and function. A faculty member may require a student to leave the classroom when his/her behavior disrupts the learning environment of the class. A student found responsible for disruptive behavior in the classroom may be administratively withdrawn from the course.

Policy

Students are expected to attend classes regularly and participate actively during class discussions. To participate actively in class, students are required to read assigned materials prior to class. Attendance will be recorded and failure to attend classes will result in the loss of marks. Students are responsible for informing the instructor of their presence if they arrive after attendance has been taken. Class assignments and term essays are to be submitted promptly on the due day. Late submission of term essays carry a penalty of 20 points per day for a maximum of 5 days. No essays will be accepted after the 5th day without a reasonable cause. A reasonable cause is defined as serious illness (doctor's report required) or tragedy within the family (a note from family member required).

Grading

All texts including the final examination will consist of short questions and essays. Prior approval is required for missing an examination. No make-up examination will be granted if you fail to seek prior approval.

The final grade will consist of the following

Class attendance and participation = 25 points

Class assignments (2) (To be announced) = 50 points

Field Trip (April 27, 2000) = 10 points

Presentation of research paper (May 2) = 25 points

Research project (May 4 at 3:00 p.m.) = 100 points

Midterm (To be announced) = 100 points

Final examination (May 19, 11:15-1:45) = 100 points

A = 90-100%

B = 80-89%

C = 70-79%

D = 60-69%

F < 60%

Each student is required to review and provide critical comments on the following articles. These materials are available on reserve in the library. Your review should be limited to four pages. Personal comments about the articles are strongly recommended

1. Johnson Dennis B. 1991. " Structural features of West Edmonton Mall" The Canadian Geographer 35:245-261
2. Christopherson, Susan 1996 "The production of consumption: retail restructuring and labor demand in the USA" In: Wrigley, N and Lowe, M. ed. Retailing, consumption and capital. Essex: Longman Group Limited

Term Project

Each student is required to undertake an independent practical project involving a local business or service facility. The project should be limited to 10 pages doubled space. Example of topics include Wal-mart, Martins, Food Lions, Seven Eleven, Rocky Gap Resort, Comfort Inn etc. You are encouraged to build a strong bibliography from journals and periodicals for your essay. Example of journals include Annals of the Association of American Geographers, The Professional Geographer, Canadian Geographer, Economic Geography, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Marketing, Progress in Human Geography, International Journal of Retailing.

The internet is a very good source of information. You may want to use Maryland University System Access (MdUSA) in the library to search for more recent periodicals on your topic.

Your paper will not be returned to you after grading. You may submit two copies if you want your graded paper returned to you.

Headings and sub-headings are strongly recommended. You will lose marks if you do not use sub-headings.

The purpose of the project is threefold:

1. Provide students an opportunity to apply geographic concepts to market analysis
2. Familiarize students with local economic base
3. Experience in primary data collection

The focus of the project is market analysis. The paper should address the following: the type of product, customers, how long in operation, corporate structure, growth, employment capacity, impact on local economy.

It may be necessary to collect primary data through formal or informal interviews of both suppliers and consumers.

The project will be graded based on the following criteria:

1. format - clear, concise, rational and logical
2. grammar and typos - proof read your paper. A paper with several typos is unpleasant to read.
3. presentation - effective use of data, charts, maps and visual aids
4. background of your work - linking your paper with existing literature
5. relevance of topic to course
6. effective use of concepts and theories
7. overall integration of the paper - that is, one paragraph flows into the next
8. practicality and ability to provide usefulness solutions to the problems identified in the paper
9. strong bibliography (at least five including either 2 journal articles or internet work)

1. Introduction (Reading: Chapter 1 of text) Why study retail location? the importance of marketing, the role of location analysis, the social context
2. Industrial location, Weber's Industrial location model (Reading: Smith, D.M. (1981) Industrial location: an economic geographical analysis Chapter 3. "The Location Factors" and "Approaches to theory: spatial economic analysis") (On Reserve)
   Land and its attributes, capital: finance and equipment, materials and power, labor and management, market and price, transport and freight rates, agglomeration, linkages, and external economies, public policy, planning and the state 
3. Spatial Diffusion Theory (Reading Morril, R., G.L. Gail and G.I. Thrall (1988) Spatial Diffision Sage Publication and Graff T.O. andD. Ashton (1994) Spatial Diffusion of Wal-Mart: Contagious and Reverse Hierarchical Elements, The Professional Geographer 46:1, 19-28 ) (On Reserve)
   Importance of space-time in diffusion, the nature and manner of spatial diffusion, basic concepts of diffusion as a spatial process, Hagerstrand Model of Diffusion, Application of diffusion model to retail. The case of Wal-Mart - origin of Wal-Mart, spatial diffusion of retail firms, diffusion of Wal-Mart, Phase 1 to 3.
4. Planning and retail environment (Reading: chapter 14 of text) land use conflicts, economic competition, specialized shopping areas, business improvement areas, commercial redevelopment
5. The Geography of Demand (Reading: chapter 2 of Text)
   Spatially defined markets, location, income, demographics, lifestyle, the spatial demand curve
6. The Geography of Supply (Reading: chapter 3 of text)
   Who is involved in the distribution process? The store, the retail chain, franchising, shopping center developer
7. Consumer behavior (Reading: chapter 5 of text) households, product mix, commercial cluster, distance and variety, consumer preference
8. Retailing and the settlement pattern (Reading: chapter 6 of text)
   The settlement pattern, the commercial hierarchy, distribution system, retail chains
9. The changing distribution system (Reading: chapter 7 of text) population, income and transportation
10. Commercial structure within metropolis (Reading: chapter 8 of text)
    Commercial clusters, intra-urban commercial hierarchy, shopping centers, specialized retail environments
11. The changing commercial structure
    Factors affecting metropolitan trade, decentralization, planned shopping centers, changing store size
12. Marketing decisions (Reading: chapter 10 of text)
    Forecasting, monitoring, simulation
13. Site selection (Reading: chapter 11 of text)
    Rules of thumb, ranking, ratio methods
14. Trade area analysis (Reading: chapter 12 of text and "Sales forecasting and store assessment methods" Ghosh, A. and M. McLafferty (1987) Location strategies for retail and service firms. MA: D.C. Heath (On Reserve)
    The concept of trade areas, measuring the size of trade areas and degree of market penetration, assessment methods (proximal, break-point)
15. Location strategy (Reading: chapter 13 of text)
    Marketing strategy for retail chain, fending off competition, corporate environment
16. Location of multinational firms (Reading: "The growth of multinational firms" Hayter R. (1997) The dynamics of industrial location: the factory, the firm and production system. New York: John Wiley and Sons (On Reserve)
    Perspectives on international firms, direct foreign investment, factors that affect the location of international firms
17. Looking to the future (Reading: chapter 15 of text)
    consumer demand, changes in the production function, the actors
18. Course Review

Graff, Thomas O. 1994. Spatial Diffusion of Walmart: Contagious and Reverse Hierachical Elements. The Professional Geographer 46: 19-28.

Graff, Thomas O. 1998 The Location of Walmart and Kmart Supercenter: Contrasting Corporate Strategies. The Professional Geographer 50: 46-59.

Miller, Nancy J. and Kean, Rita C. 1997 Factors contributing to in-shopping behavior in rural trade areas: implications for local retailers. Journal of Small Business Management 35:2, 80-94.