Geography and the retail industry : A literature review with a special focus on Sweden

The changing nature of the retail industry is something that has been widely studied during the last few decades. On a more general level, these changes have involved, on the one hand, despite recent economic crises, a rapid expansion and growth of the retail industry, increased market entries and representation of transnational retail chain stores, and a growing interest in consumer behaviour and awareness. On the other hand, these changes also show clear spatial characteristics pointing to the importance of not only location, but also a wider geographical understanding of what, how and where these changes are taking place. This has come not least to involve numerous studies trying to understand the complex spatial nature of production/commodity chains of goods and services as well as the embeddedness of local and global networks of stores and retailers, but it has also generated inputs to a seemingly never-ending debate concerning the relocation of retail activities – foremost from inner-city, or high-street, locations to external retail establishments. In the Swedish media, this debate has come to focus on the availability of, and accessibility to, retail and services. This would typically involve discussions concerning the demise or impoverishment of the inner city, the closing down of rural or country stores, or an overall diminishing supply of necessary services. Besides a few governmental reports, the geography of changing retail conditions concerning the above is not a widely studied topic however. As Sweden is a sparsely populated country, it is not farfetched as to assume that these are important questions, especially when and if the availability of and accessibility of retail opportunities are being jeopardized. Thus, the purpose of the literature review at hand is to provide a general overview of the characteristics of and recent progress in the retail industry, and to give a short account of developments in Sweden.Detaljhandelns förändrade geografi: Brytpunkter för ett attraktivt butiksutbud i den regionala handelsorten och lokala tillgänglighetskonsekvense