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Supersize It: The Growth of Retail Chains and the Rise of the "Big Box" Retail Format

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Abstract

We offer a theory for the complementarity between the size of a retail chain and the scope of its business to explain the growth of general-merchandise firms and the expansion of the "superstore" format. The complementarity results from an interaction of the retailer's economies of scale and consumer gains from "one-stop shopping." We find support for our model in micro data from the Census of Retail Trade for 1977-2002. Retail chains with more stores carry more distinct product lines and as retail chains grow they add both stores and product lines. On average, we find that a chain adds one product line, such as shoes, computers, or jewelry, to an existing store with every new store it opens. For the average large chain, adding a new product line throughout the chain is correlated with adding 400 new stores, competing in over 8,000 new markets and increasing its competitive pressure in more than 10,000 additional markets.

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  • Emek Basker & Shawn Klimek & Pham Hoang Van, 2008. "Supersize It: The Growth of Retail Chains and the Rise of the "Big Box" Retail Format," Working Papers 0809, Department of Economics, University of Missouri, revised 30 Sep 2010.
    • Handle: RePEc:umc:wpaper:0809
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    1. Bliss, Christopher, 1988. "A Theory of Retail Pricing," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 375-391, June.
    2. Emek Basker, 2005. "Job Creation or Destruction? Labor Market Effects of Wal-Mart Expansion," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 174-183, February.
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    5. Emek Basker & Pham Hoang Van, 2007. "Wal-Mart as Catalyst to U.S.-China Trade," Working Papers 0710, Department of Economics, University of Missouri.
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    8. Ross, Thomas W, 1984. "Winners and Losers under the Robinson-Patman Act," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(2), pages 243-271, October.
    9. Emek Basker & Michael Noel, 2009. "The Evolving Food Chain: Competitive Effects of Wal‐Mart's Entry into the Supermarket Industry," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 977-1009, December.
    10. Roger Betancourt & David Gautschi, 1990. "Demand Complementarities, Household Production, and Retail Assortments," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 146-161.
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    1. Basker, Emek, 2011. "The Causes and Consequences of Wal-Mart’s Growth," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 5, pages 110-134.
    2. John Haltiwanger & Ron Jarmin & C. J. Krizan, 2010. "Mom-and-Pop Meet Big-Box: Complements or Substitutes?," NBER Chapters, in: Cities and Entrepreneurship, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Jonathan Haskel & Raffaella Sadun, 2012. "Regulation and UK Retailing Productivity: Evidence from Microdata," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 79(315), pages 425-448, July.
    4. Emek Basker, 2012. "Raising the Barcode Scanner: Technology and Productivity in the Retail Sector," NBER Chapters,in: Standards, Patents and Innovations National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Jenny Schuetz & Jed Kolko & Rachel Meltzer, 2010. "Is the 'Shop Around the Corner' a Luxury or a Nuisance? The relationship between income and neighborhood retail patterns," Working Paper 8513, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    6. Nathan Yang, 2012. "Burger King and McDonald’s: Where’s the Spillover?," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 255-281, July.
    7. Daniel Hanner & Daniel Hosken & Luke M. Olson & Loren K. Smith, 2015. "Dynamics in a Mature Industry: Entry, Exit, and Growth of Big‐Box Grocery Retailers," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 22-46, March.
    8. Emek Basker, 2012. "Raising the Barcode Scanner: Technology and Productivity in the Retail Sector," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 1-27, July.
    9. Emek Basker, 2011. "Does Wal‐Mart Sell Inferior Goods?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 49(4), pages 973-981, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Retail; Chain; Big Box; Superstore; Economies of Scale; General Merchandise; One Stop Shopping;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce

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