Wal-Mart and the geography of grocery retailing

Why are Walmart and Target Next-Door neighbors?

“…PUMAs are chosen as the unit of geography for this analysis because they most closely approximate the expected market size of Big Box retailers (average population 100,000). 6 Non-Big Box retail firms are classified either as "mom-andpop" or "chain" based on the number of establishments associated with the parent firm (Haltiwanger et al, 2010;Ellickson and Grieco, 2013). For this analysis, firms that operate fewer than 20 establishments at a single point in time are designated as mom-and-pop, while firms with at least 20 establishments are chains.…”

Assessing the principles of spatial competition between stores within a retail network

“…7. Ellickson & Grieco (2013) found that a Wal-Mart entry in a local US grocery market has an observable spatial effect on competitors up to just 2 miles, again confirming that proximity to the customer is an important driver for store choice specifically in the grocery market.…”

How does the entry of large discount stores increase retail employment? Evidence from Korea

“…Haltiwanger et al (2010) find that the entry of big-box stores has a substantial, negative impact on small chains and local mom-and-pop stores, particularly stores in the same sector and immediate area. In contrast, Ellickson and Grieco (2013) find that Wal-Mart's entry into groceries left small stores essentially unaffected. Our finding that medium-sized supermarkets are negatively affected is consistent with their findings that the impact of entry by large discount stores is largest among stores that compete directly with large discount stores, that is, medium-sized supermarkets in the case of Korea.…”

“…In a study focusing on the impact of Wal-Mart on the geography of grocery stores, Ellickson and Grieco (2013) find that the effect of Wal-Mart is highly localized and limited within a 2-mile radius of its location. Furthermore, Haltiwanger et al (2010) find that the entry of big-box stores is more likely to affect smaller chain stores within 1 mile or 1-5 miles from big-box stores.…”