Spatial structure of store location and delivery system in a home center chain

Abstract

This paper aims to clarify the spatial structure of store location and delivery system in a home center chain. Chain K, a home center, which basically handles low-turnover merchandise was selected as the case enterprise in this study. The headquarter of this chain with 313 stores is located in Shirone city, Niigata Prefecture. These 313 stores are distributed in larger regions centering on Niigata Prefecture. The store locations extend to adjacent prefectures including the Tohoku, Kanto, and Kansai regions. Chain K stores are located in a comparatively small-scale trading area where land prices are relatively low. The stores outside Niigata Prefecture especially tend to avoid competition with existing, older chains in the selection of locations. It was found that the headquarter and distribution center of chain K were integrated into facilities in a suburban area due to progress in information technology and strengthening of the physical distribution function. Next, the delivery system of chain K was investigated. The merchandise delivered through the distribution center of chain K comprises 70% of the total sales amount. This merchandise has the characteristics of being "freshness-free", "available for mixed loading", and "low merchandise turnover". As a result, it was confirmed that delivery through the distribution center of chain K occurred in three delivery time zones: nighttime; morning; and afternoon. As examples of direct delivery merchandise to stores, gardening-related goods and building blocks were focused in this study. It was clear from the analysis that the delivery area was functionally subdivided due to the characteristics of merchandise since the former goods require freshness and strict form maintenance, and the latter incur high transportation costs because they are heavy. Based on the above discussion, an attempt was made to examine the formation factor of the spatial structure of the store location and delivery system. Because of progress in information technology, order information indicates a unipolar pattern concentrated in chain K headquarter, regardless of the extension of the store network and merchandise characteristics. On the other hand, merchandise delivery shows a multilayer spatial structure because the delivery area differs based on merchandise characteristics. As the home center operation attempts to decrease delivery costs, this has a great influence on the decision-making on the spatial structure of the store location and delivery system.