Enquiry: Investigation into Retail.

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Enquiry: Investigation into Retail.

Rotherham and Sheffield are two of the boroughs that make up South Yorkshire, the others being Doncaster and Barnsley. Heavy industry in Rotherham and Sheffield has declined in importance. Steel is still a fairly important factor; especially in Sheffield, but the coal industry has almost disappeared.

Rotherham and Sheffield are in the north of England, close to two motorways. These are the M1 (near junctions 33 – 35), the M18 (near junction 1), and major A-roads (including the A630 and A631), putting other major cities within easy reach.

The location and pattern of the retail industry has changed over the recent years. We looked at two separate areas using Rotherham to investigate the characteristics of shopping centres and to see if the following hypotheses were correct.

Some things that I used in the investigation will be put in the appendix, as they would take up too much room in the investigation (e.g. the questionnaire answers). These are in italics underneath each hypothesis.

Central Business District (CBD) - Rotherham Town Centre:

  1. Services, major chain stores and shops selling low order goods dominate the CBD.

Original map produced on trip

  1. Most people were found where there are major stores and this corresponds to the highest land values.

None

  1. Shopping quality and street appearance deteriorate away from the town centre.

Map of where shopping quality/street appearance locations were

  1. Rotherham attracts people mainly from within the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough.

Questionnaires (stapled together)

Retail Park – Parkgate Retail World:

  1. The nature of retail units on a retail park is different to those within a town centre.

None

  1. A retail park attracts people from a wider area than a town centre.

Questionnaires (stapled together)

Out of Town Shopping Centre – Meadowhall:

  1. There are more chain stores and specialist shops selling high order goods than in the CBD.

        ‘Meadowhall’s Christmas Map’ leaflet – map of Meadowhall

  1. There is a more even distribution of shoppers.

        None

  1. Shopping quality and street appearance is similar throughout.

        None

  1. Out of town shopping centres attract people from a much wider area than Rotherham or Parkgate.

        Questionnaires (stapled together)

OVERALL CONCLUSION

Rotherham Town Centre (CBD):

The Rotherham CBD is in the top left box of the map below, represented by the orange arrow. It has easy access from the M1 (coming off junction 33, and then going along the A630 to the CBD), and also has easy access from the M18 (coming off junction 1, and then going along the A631). It also has easy access to the rest of South Yorkshire, with the A630 giving access to Sheffield, and the A633 giving access to Barnsley (Doncaster is easiest to get to via. The M18 AND the A631).

The motorway linking to the M18 (in the top right hand box) is the A1(M). This would give access to anyone who lives within easy reach of this, although it would be unlikely that someone who lives at either end of it would travel that far to get to Rotherham.

The large A-Road network surrounding Rotherham would also give access to anyone who doesn’t live within easy reach of a motorway.

Map source: www.streetmap.co.uk

Hypothesis 1:

Services, major chain stores and shops selling low order goods dominate the CBD.

We decided to investigate this, to see what type of stores dominate a CBD, and how they are distributed. Beforehand, we presumed that chain stores would dominate a CBD, because they have a larger income from their numerous stores, meaning they could easily afford the higher land and/or property values (see hypothesis two). We also presumed that shops providing services and shops selling low-order goods would dominate the outskirts of the CBD, because they wouldn’t earn as much money, meaning they wouldn’t be able to afford the higher land and/or property values.

To investigate this hypothesis, we used a street map with each shop plotted, and coloured these according to their use. The key alongside the map shows we classified the shops in the following categories: shops selling low-order goods; shops providing services; and major chain stores. A map of our results can be seen on page five.

We had to create a new category, on the trip, as some units were empty. Our group never accounted for shops being empty prior to the trip.

Also, it was sometimes difficult to distinguish between services and lower-order goods shops where there was no clear sign or window display. We solved this problem by entering the units, and enquiring in order to determine the shop type. This was especially a problem if the shop was on the second floor of a building.

Overall, there was nothing that could have flawed our results, as it was simple to solve any problems we had when on the trip.

Findings:

We found that the CBD is made up entirely of services, major chain stores and low order goods stores (except for where shops weren’t being used). A pattern of where the different types of stores are located emerged.

There is a much higher density of major chain stores in the centre of the CBD. This is where the streets are mainly pedestrianised and the units are larger. As we approached the outskirts of the CBD the dominance changed, as there was a higher density of services and shops selling low order goods.

Conclusion:

Services, major chain stores, and shops selling low order goods dominate the CBD. Therefore, this hypothesis is correct and leads me on to hypothesis two, as I would expect most people to be shopping in the centre of CBD, near to where the most well known chain stores are located.

Hypothesis 2

Most people are found where there are major stores and this corresponds to the highest land values. 

We investigated this hypothesis, so that we could se how pedestrians were spread over a typical CBD. Beforehand, we were expecting most people to be nearer to the major stores (which are in the centre of the CBD as I proved in hypothesis one), because they have money to burn, meaning they can advertise their stores heavily.

We were also expecting the land values to be highest where major stores are (in the centre of the CBD), because the shops there would make a larger profit, as more people passing by are likely to purchase more, and therefore creating a larger profit for the owners of the shop.

To investigate this hypothesis we used a blank map of Rotherham Town Centre and agreed on ten different locations, where we would complete a tally chart to record how many people were found there. Our intention was to see if more people were found near the major stores.

The locations and times are specified on a tally chart (on page nine). We counted for three minutes at each location and covered both sides of the street, by having two people standing in the middle of the street back-to-back, so that the number of people would be easier to count. We used the results to produce an isoline graph that provided us with the information we needed. This is on page 10.

The only problem we had was that when we came to Wellgate, we found it harder to count, as it wasn't pedestrianised. This meant that we had little space on the pavement to manoeuvre ourselves, so that we didn’t get in the way of pedestrians. The noise from cars also made it hard for us to signal to the person counting on the opposite side of the road to stop counting (after three minutes had gone).

This is the only way in which our results could be flawed. However, it would be easy to tell if the result on Wellgate was an anomalous result, as it wouldn’t fit in with the rest of the results on the isoline map.

Findings:

According to the isoline map, it is clear to see that the majority of people were found along Effingham Street and lower Howard Street. This is where there is also a high density of the town’s major chain stores.

One exception to the rule was upper Howard Street. The fact that the market entrance is on the left hand side of this street led us to the conclusion that these people were going to the market, rather than the ‘ordinary’ shops on the rest of the street.

According to our survey, the larger streets with a higher density of chain stores attracted more people. For example, Effingham Street has a high density of chain stores, and attracted the most people. However, Church Street, which has a lower density of chain stores, attracted fewer people. Therefore, we found most people where there are major chain stores proving this part of the hypothesis to be correct.

The highest land values correspond with the location of the major chain stores. On this page and the next page, there are three properties available to rent. As you can see, the properties on College Street and Upper Millgate/Corporation street are the most expensive to rent, at £15,000 p.a. and £11,500 p.a. respectively. These both attracted 75-100 pedestrians in three minutes.

Although the prices are different, I think that the rent would fall on Millgate, as there were workmen repairing the street, which would perhaps make less people want to visit the street (because of the noise pollution), and generating less income for the stores. In other words, people wouldn’t want to rent it for as much if the workmen would make the store lose profit.

However, on Wellgate, the rent price is £8,000 (presumably per annum), which is less than the other two. Wellgate only attracted between 50-75 pedestrians in three minutes, which is also less than the other two. Therefore, I have discovered a link between the rent price, and the number of pedestrians who visit the street.

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Conclusion:

More people are to be found where there are major chain stores (in the centre of the CBD), and the land values for the centre of the CBD are higher, in relation to the higher number of people who visit them.

This leads me onto hypothesis three, as the number of pedestrians may affect the shopping quality and street appearance of the streets.

Source: www.rotherham.towntalk.co.uk

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