Retail Classification – Small Business

Overview:  This section contains manuscripts examining topics on retail classification- small business.

Rayman, Dale and David J. Burns, “Small Retail Businesses: If They're So Important, Why Isn't Anyone Looking at Them?”.Survey of existing literature revealed a surprising dearth of scholarly work focusing exclusively on small retail businesses. This article reviews such articles as do exist, offers possible reasons for the apparent oversight of this important economic segment, and presents a case for additional attention to small retail businesses.

Fiorito, Susan, Raymond W. Laforge, and Kathryn Greenwood, “Patterns in Marketing Strategies of Small Apparel Stores”,ACRA, Spring 1985.A study of the patterns of marketing strategy of small apparel retailers which relates those strategies to net sales and sales per square foot. The results suggest the use of different strategies at different stages in the firms life cycle. The number of sales personnel was found to be significantly related to the measures of success.

Fiorito, Susan and Katherine Greenwood, “An Empirical Investigation: The Growth of Stages of Small Apparel Retail Firms”, ACRA, Winter 1986.An attempt to relate the operating characteristics of small apparel firms to the life cycle stages spelled out by Davidson, Bates, & Bass. A useful look at the marketing, behavior of a select group of small apparel retailers.

Fiorito, Susan,Laforge, Raymond,  and Kathryn Greenwood, “Patterns in Marketing Strategies of Small Apparel Stores” ,ACRA, Winter 1985.The purposes of this article are to report the results of a study that identified patterns in marketing strategies of small apparel retailers, and investigate the relationship between those marketing strategy variables and two financial performance measures.

Fiorito, Susan and Katherine Greenwood, “An Empirical Investigation: The Growth of Stages of Small Apparel Retail Firms”, ACRA, Winter 1986.An attempt to relate the operating characteristics of small apparel firms to the life cycle stages spelled out by Davidson, Bates, & Bass. A useful look at the marketing, behavior of the select group of small apparel retailers.

Frazier, Barbara J, “Marketing Competencies as Predictors of Rural Retailers' Performance” ,ICSC / ACRA Las Vegas  May 2002 .This study focused on one dimension of distinctive competencies for retailers - marketing competence.  The aim of this paper was to identify specific marketing competencies that predict performance for small, rural retailers.
 

Lavin, Marilyn, “Not in My Neighborhood: Community Resistance to Chain Drugstores” ,ICSC / ACRA Las Vegas  May, 2002.The present paper compares the protests that CVS experienced as it attempted to establish a new store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with those Walgreen's encountered in a neighborhood shopping area in Madison, Wisconsin.

Niehm, Linda S. and Brenda Sternquist , “Achieving Service Quality in Rural Markets: What it Really Means to Consumers and Retailers”,ACRA Spring , 1998 (Washington, DC) .This research attempts to identify the perceived meaning of service quality for rural customers and retailers in three economically diverse community settings. The study incorporates existing service and retailing literature, together with data from a 12-state study on rural retailing.
 

Niehm, Linda, Linda Fernandes-Plank, , and Patricia Huddleston, , “External Information Search and Entrepreneurial Orientation: A Pilot Study” ,ACRA, Spring 1999 .This research focuses on success strategies for small-scale retailers. Small retailers must react to constant and rapid change in order to maintain and build market share, requiring development and support of strategies using monitoring and scanning of the environment. This study investigates the relationship of individual dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation, such as innovativeness, proactiveness, competitive aggressiveness, and risk tolerance, with the extent to which micro-retailers use information sources.

Niehm, Linda, Barbara Frazier, Linda Plank, and Patricia Huddleston, , “Does Entrepreneurial Orientation Predict Technology Adoption for Small Retailers?” ,ACRA, Spring 1999 .Small retailers face heightened competitive pressure with changes in economic and demographic trends over the past decade, emphasizing a need for innovation. Technology is a key tool in the innovation process, enhancing decision making, operational efficiency, market knowledge, customer service, and ultimately the bottom line. This study examines the relationship between small retailers’ individual levels of entrepreneurial orientation and their patterns of technology adoption.

Soldressen, Lorna S.,“Textile Artists' Home Based Businesses: Personal Success Factors”,ACRA April, 1996.The purpose of this study was to determine which factors contribute to the success of textile artists who operate home based businesses. Two factors that were considered were textile artists' business practices and demographic profiles. It questions whether there is a relationship between business practices/ demographics identified by the respondent and the percentage of financial family support provided by the textile artist through their home based business.

Stoel, Leslie, “Group Identification, Frequency and Relationship Effectiveness of Recent Hardware Cooperatives”,ACRA Spring 2000  Toronto.As a result of the intense rivalry faced by independent hardware retailers trying to co-exist with the "big-box retailers", retail hardware cooperatives enjoyed increased membership. It is unknown as to whether these cooperatives will have an influence on the structure of this industry as their competitive edge grows. The purpose of this study was to determine whether these cooperatives will be influenced by the same dynamics, with regard to size, as social groups do.