Geographical Studies on Retail Chain Development and Restructuring of Retail Systems in Japan

Abstract

This study reviews geographical studies on Japan's retailing systems. Retail system studies encompass several topics: 1) economic growth and retail development in the 1960s, 2) retail format diversification beginning in the 1980s, 3) informatization in Japan's distribution systems, 4) suburban retailing development in the 1990s, and 5) Japan's distribution system internationalization. To explain these themes comprehensively, this study sets up two domains, "retail store location" and "retail chain management, " both of which are related to each other. For example, information and delivery networks have influenced store locations, because chain stores try to reduce total delivery costs as far as possible by store location strategies, for instance, high density store networks for convenience store chains. This study aims to explain how retail chains developed their own networks in Japanese consumer markets and impacted and restructured Japanese retailing systems.