Publication Date

2021

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Chen, Xuwei

Second Advisor

Walzer, Norman

Degree Name

Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)

Legacy Department

Department of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment

Abstract

This dissertation examines important activity occurring in the retail industry related to the widespread transformation occurring throughout it. Specifically, it analyzes store closures, spatial accessibility’s role in retail decision making, and the potential market that could be served by a drone delivery system. Store closures of the movie rental chain Family Video, and three department store chains (Macy’s, Sears, and JCPenney) are analyzed through a binary logistic regression. Findings show that the contributory impact of variables toward store closures are different for small businesses like Family Video compared to the large scale department stores. Some of the major differences include smaller Family Video stores being less likely to close, while department stores benefitted from being large in size. Family Video stores with food cotenants were less likely to close. Department stores do not rely on other nearby tenants as much as the smaller cotenants in shopping malls rely on them to attract people to the center. In order to measure the relationship between department store closures and accessibility, a 2Step Floating Catchment Area method was conducted. This showed that the impact accessibility has on store closures varies by chain but is heavily influenced by things like existing store locations, store size, and nearby stores. The concept of last mile delivery via drone was examined through geoprocessing and a suitability analysis of 180 potential drone delivery sites. The results showed some highly populated urban areas would be served. However, many nearby smaller urbanized clusters and rural towns would not be within range of a drone delivery service area. The studies were motivated by the widespread change occurring in the industry, and the findings are important in our understanding of the processes driving these changes and their ramifications.

Extent

190 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

Download

Included in

Geography Commons

Share

COinS