Site Selection Criteria for Sports Retail Sector: Istanbul Case

Abstract

The retail sector has been greatly developing in Turkey, especially with the addition of foreign investments in the last few years, which has resulted in a considerable increase in the number of stores. This increase is also evident in the number of stores in sports retail, as is the case in other sub-sectors of retail. The aim of this study is to determine what decisions and criteria are taken into consideration in the sports retail sector regarding the selection of store locations. With this aim in mind, first a survey was conducted and given to customers, the most important component of retail. Second, in order to determine the sporting habits of customers, another survey study was done with users of sports centers, and the results of these two studies were considered together. The third survey study was done with the employees of sports retail stores to see if their points of view supported the results of the first two surveys. According to the results of the surveys, the most convenient locations for the sports retailers seem to be shopping malls because they provide various facilities, are easily accessible and provide a wide range of stores which have almost every product one would look for. And also like other retailers, sports retail stores prefer locations that are easily accessible and that can be reached by great numbers of people.