How transport shapes the landscape of large-format food retail trade? Retail geography in Poland – An interactive measure

Abstract

What does the landscape of the large-format food retail industry look like? Is there a uniform pattern in the distribution of large-format food retail facilities? What is the role of the road transport system in shaping the food retail landscape in Poland? The authors provide answers to these questions by analysing large-format food retail facilities using the location of their catchment areas rather than their physical location. When studying the spatial differentiation of large-format food retailers, the authors assess the factors for the transport component not only in terms of infrastructure, but also regarding its efficiency. The analyses demonstrated the differences between the distribution of large-format food retail facilities (over 200 sq. m., classified as ‘food stores’), presented in two ranges – static and interactional. It employed, inter alia, the authors' own model of private car speeds and an interactional measure of density based on a regression model and a model of potential accessibility. A distinctive aspect of the study is that it assessed the impact of the transport system on the development of the food retail industry. The methodology to address the research questions was implemented to achieve the following major objectives: to describe the spatial structure of the food retail industry and to show the role of transport accessibility in its development. It can be concluded from the analyses that the food retail industry in Poland is diverse, with differences observed at both the national and intraregional scale. The study revealed that the rise in the level of territorial accessibility translates into an increase in the differentiation of the analysed market, thereby proving that a higher efficiency of the road transport system promotes spatial differentiation for the structuring of the grocery market by large players.