Novas formas de comercio

Abstract

This article deals with supermarkets, hypermarkets and shopping centers, forms of distribution which only appeared in Portugal by the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. However they have expanded very quickly during the last 12 yr. We consider the spatial dimensions, the suburbanisation of population and increasing mobility, the economic constraints related with rising incomes and economies of scale of firms, in connection with social changes which occur with easier communication, increasing freetime and, consequently, expansion of demand for recreational facilities in a society of greater individual isolation. We look especially at the factors that influence demand. On the business side we look mainly for economies of scale in relation to technological innovations. Other aspects are the fuzzy frontiers of the traditional stores, the relationship between industrial production and distribution and the strategy of building societies. The framework for analysis of stores selling groceries and shopping centers presents important differences. In the second part we study one form at a time, including the results of field work and interviews. The distribution of shopping centers is related to settlement characteristics, the social composition of the population and its level of information. We discuss a classification of centers based on functional diversity and location (central area vs. residential periphery) and discuss the main features of these structures and their customers. -from English summary