A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand , central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many parts of the world. A franchise retail establishment is one form of a chain store. In 2005, the world's largest retail chain, Walmart , became the world's largest corporation based on gross sales.
47-599: A big-box store , a hyperstore , a supercenter , a superstore , or a megastore is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The term "big-box" references the typical appearance of buildings occupied by such stores. Commercially, big-box stores can be broken down into two categories: general merchandise (examples include Walmart and Target ) and specialty stores (such as Home Depot , Barnes & Noble , IKEA or Best Buy ), which specialize in goods within
94-478: A $ 1 billion joint venture with Tanger Factory Outlet Centers to develop 10-15 centres in Canada. RioCan was significantly affected by the sale of Zellers to Target , and the resulting closure of Zellers stores in Canada, as well as the closure of Target Canada. Target eventually paid RioCan $ 132 million to get out of its leases. Starting around 2015, RioCan entered the residential real estate market, due to
141-549: A chain of teashops which became a staple of the High Street in the UK, and at its peak, the firm numbered around 200 cafes. The displacement of independent businesses by chains has sparked increased collaboration among independent businesses and communities to prevent chain proliferation. These efforts include community-based organizing through Independent Business Alliances (in the U.S. and Canada) and "buy local" campaigns. In
188-407: A large range of sizes RioCan tries to ensure that no one tenant makes up more than 10% of its rental revenue, in contrast to some other retail REITS (such as Choice Properties REIT ) whose revenues are dominated by a single tenant. As of 2017, its largest tenant was Loblaw , with about 5% of rental revenue. As of 2017, 66% of revenue was from Ontario, 15% was from Alberta, 9% was from Quebec, 8%
235-439: A mammoth manner. Saravana Stores operating format is said to be the inspiration for Big Bazaar's Kishore Biyani. Similarly, conglomerates, such as Raheja's, Future Group, Bharti, Godrej, Reliance, and TATA, have over the last decade ventured into large-format retail chains. However, most of the stores opened in large malls and not as independent big-box format stores, even though small and medium enterprises (SMEs) still account for
282-492: A market value of more than $ 1 billion, and was Canada's largest REIT. In 2006, RioCan announced a planned expansion into the United States, through a $ 1 billion joint-venture with Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust . However, this deal fell apart before closing. In 2010, the firm launched a successful expansion into the United States, taking advantage of low real estate prices there. By 2012, 15% of RioCan's revenue
329-490: A specific range, such as hardware , books , furniture or consumer electronics , respectively. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, many traditional retailers and supermarket chains that typically operate in smaller buildings, such as Tesco and Praktiker , opened stores in the big-box-store format in an effort to compete with big-box chains, which are expanding internationally as their home markets reach maturity. The store may sell general dry goods , in which case it
376-592: A store in suburban Perth . IKEA began operation in Australia in 1975. Bunnings followed in 1995 and Mitre 10 adopted the model with the "Mitre 10 Mega" stores first opening at Beenleigh , Queensland in 2004. Costco has since expanded across Australia since opening its first store in 2009. Apart from major American big-box stores such as Walmart Canada and briefly now-defunct Target Canada , there are many retail chains operating exclusively in Canada. These include stores such as (followed after each slash by
423-466: A tea distributor based in New York, into a grocery chain that operated almost 200 stores. Dozens of other grocery, drug, tobacco, and variety stores opened additional locations, around the same time, so that retail chains were common in the United States by 1910. Several state legislatures considered measures to restrict the growth of chains, and in 1914 concern about chain stores contributed to passage of
470-560: Is a general merchandise retailer (however, traditional department stores , as the predecessor format, are generally not classified as "big box"), or may be limited to a particular specialty (such establishments are often called " category killers "), or may also sell groceries, in which case some countries (mostly in Europe ) use the term hypermarket . In the U.S., there is no specific term for general merchandisers who also sell groceries. Both Target and Walmart offer groceries in most branches in
517-534: Is generally inaccessible to pedestrians and often can only be reached by motor vehicles, the big-box store has been criticized as unsustainable and a failure of urban planning . Chain store In 1792, Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna established W.H. Smith as a news vending business in London that would become a national concern in the mid-19th century under the management of their grandson William Henry Smith . The world's oldest national retail chain,
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#1732780619585564-456: Is the last remaining music chain store in the United States and has shrunk from over 1,000 at its height to 270 locations in 2018. In 2019, Payless ShoeSource stated that it would be closing all remaining 2,100 stores in the US. A restaurant chain is a set of related restaurants in many different locations that are either under shared corporate ownership or franchising agreements. Typically,
611-419: Is the second-largest real estate investment trust (REIT) in Canada. As of 2024, it has an enterprise value of approximately $ 14.3 billion and owns 188 properties with a net leasable area of 33 million square feet. The company properties are located across Canada. The current chief executive officer is Jonathan Gitlin. RioCan was founded in 1993, by its former CEO Edward Sonshine, as Counsel REIT . It
658-820: The Federal Trade Commission Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act. Isidore, Benjamin and Modeste Dewachter originated the idea of the chain department store in Belgium in 1868, ten years before A&P began offering more than coffee and tea. They started with four locations for Maisons Dewachter (Houses of Dewachter): La Louvière , Mons , Namur and Leuze . They later incorporated as Dewachter frères (Dewachter Brothers) on January 1, 1875. The brothers offered ready-to-wear clothing for men and children and specialty clothing such as riding apparel and beachwear. Isidore owned 51% of
705-995: The U.S. Big-box stores are often clustered in shopping centers, which are typically called retail parks in the United Kingdom. In the United States, when they range in size from 250,000 square feet (23,000 m) to 600,000 square feet (56,000 m), they are often referred to as power centers . In Australia, the retail category is known as "large format retail", encompasses bulky goods showrooms and more specialised retail categories within service or Highway commercial type land use zones. In 1969, Kmart Australia opened its first five Big-box type stores across Australia. The first opened in Burwood East , Melbourne in April, followed by Blacktown in Greater Western Sydney , two stores in suburban Adelaide and
752-492: The U.S. Supreme Court in 1931. Between then and 1933, 525 chain-store tax bills were introduced in state legislatures, and by the end of 1933 special taxes on retail chains were in force in 17 states. A chain store is characterised by the ownership or franchise relationship between the local business or outlet and a controlling business. While chains are typically "formula retail", a chain refers to ownership or franchise, whereas "formula retail" or "formula business" refers to
799-689: The U.S., trade organizations such as the American Booksellers Association and American Specialty Toy Retailers do national promotion and advocacy. NGOs like the New Rules Project and New Economics Foundation provide research and tools for pro-independent business education and policy while the American Independent Business Alliance provides direct assistance for community-level organizing. A variety of towns and cities in
846-679: The US), or as exceeding municipal zoning authority (i.e., regulating "who owns it" rather than the characteristics of the business). Non-codified restrictions will sometimes target "chains". A municipal ordinance may seek to prohibit "formula businesses" in order to maintain the character of a community and support local businesses that serve the surrounding neighborhood. Brick-and-mortar chain stores have been in decline as retail has shifted to online shopping , leading to historically high retail vacancy rates. The hundred-year-old Radio Shack chain went from 7,400 stores in 2001 to 400 stores in 2018. FYE
893-415: The United States whose residents wish to retain their distinctive character—such as San Francisco ; Provincetown, Massachusetts and other Cape Cod villages; Bristol, RI ; McCall, Idaho ; Port Townsend, Washington ; Ogunquit, Maine ; Windermere, Florida and Carmel-by-the-Sea, California —closely regulate, even exclude, chain stores. They don't exclude the chain itself, only the standardized formula
940-405: The big-box variety, selling big screen TVs, computers, mobile phones, bicycles, and clothing. Many foreign names appear, such as Carrefour , Auchan , Tesco , Lotte Mart , and Walmart , as well as dozens of Chinese chains. Most stores are three stories with moving sidewalk-style escalators. Some stores are so large as to have 60 checkout terminals and their own fleet of buses to bring customers to
987-555: The chain uses, described as " formula businesses ". For example, there could often be a restaurant owned by McDonald's that sells hamburgers, but not the formula franchise operation with the golden arches and standardized menu, uniforms, and procedures. The reason these towns regulate chain stores is aesthetics and tourism. Proponents of formula restaurants and formula retail allege the restrictions are used to protect independent businesses from competition. RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust
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#17327806195851034-466: The characteristics of the business. There is considerable overlap because key characteristic of a formula retail business is that it is controlled as a part of a business relationship, and is generally part of a chain. Nevertheless, most codified municipal regulation relies on definitions of formula retail (e.g., formula restaurants ), in part because a restriction directed to "chains" may be deemed an impermissible restriction on interstate commerce (in
1081-444: The city of Hyderabad, and subsequently, in the city of Navi Mumbai. In Ireland , large merchandise stores in the style of U.S. superstores were not a part of the retail sector until the late 20th century. Dunnes Stores have traditionally had a supermarket-plus-household-and-clothes model and now have some large stores. Tesco Ireland now runs upwards of 19 hypermarkets across the country. The big-box phenomenon hit New Zealand in
1128-524: The company plans to focus on the six largest Canadian cities of Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. At the time of the announcement, RioCan had 299 properties, and it plans to sell about 100. RioCan's six largest markets already accounted for 75% of revenue, and it plans to increase that percentage to 90%. RioCan invests primarily in supermarket and junior department store-anchored, neighbourhood, convenience-oriented shopping centres. It owns both enclosed malls and power centres, in
1175-420: The company, while his brothers split the remaining 49%. Under Isidore's (and later his son Louis') leadership, Maisons Dewachter would become one of the most recognized names in Belgium and France with stores in 20 cities and towns. Some cities had multiple stores, such as Bordeaux, France . Louis Dewachter also became an internationally known landscape artist, painting under the pseudonym Louis Dewis . By
1222-720: The damaging competition that a large Walmart penetration would inflict on Canadian-based retailers. In the early 21st century, commercial developers in Canada such as RioCan chose to build big-box stores (often grouped together in so-called " power centres ") in lieu of traditional shopping malls . Examples include Deerfoot Meadows ( Calgary ), Stonegate Shopping Centre and Preston Crossing ( Saskatoon ), South Edmonton Common ( Edmonton ), and Heartland Town Centre ( Mississauga ). There are currently more than 300 power centres, which usually contain multiple big-box stores, located throughout Canada. Most large grocery stores in China are of
1269-487: The early 1920s, chain retailing was well established in the United States, with A&P, Woolworth's , American Stores, and United Cigar Stores being the largest. By the 1930s, chain stores had come of age, and stopped increasing their total market share. Court decisions against the chains' price-cutting appeared as early as 1906, and laws against chain stores began in the 1920s, along with legal countermeasures by chain-store groups. State taxes on chain stores were upheld by
1316-638: The employees of such stores are usually not unionized. Unions such as the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 and the Joint Labor Management Committee of the Retail Food Industry have expressed concern about the grocery market because stores such as Kmart , Target , and Walmart now sell groceries. Unions and cities sometimes attempt to use land-use ordinances to restrict these businesses. Because it
1363-596: The firm took advantage of the railway boom during the Industrial Revolution by opening news-stands at railway stations beginning in 1848. The firm, now called WHSmith, had more than 1,400 locations as of 2017. In the U.S., chain stores likely began with J. Stiner & Company, which operated several tea shops in New York City around 1860. By 1900, George Huntington Hartford had built The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company , originally
1410-668: The first fish and chips restaurant (as opposed to a take-away) in London, and its instant popularity led to a chain comprising 22 restaurants with locations around London and seaside resorts in southern England including Brighton , Ramsgate and Margate . In 1864, the Aerated Bread Company (ABC) began operating a chain of teashops in Britain. ABC would be overtaken as the leader in the field by Lyons , co-founded by Joseph Lyons in 1884. From 1909 Lyons began operating
1457-507: The global concept of a hypermarket , although they do not always have a grocery section, and the term "hypermarket" is not in common use in the United States. "Discount store," "megastore," and "superstore" are sometimes used in addition to the industry term "general merchandise retailer." The category began in 1931, when Fred G. Meyer opened what he called a "one-stop shopping center" in Northeast Portland, Oregon. Meyer's format
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1504-719: The large out-of-town supermarkets which have waned in popularity. The term "big-box store" is not used in the UK. "Superstore" is sometimes used, but with a slightly different meaning: on road signs it means "large supermarket"; in self-service shop names it denotes an outlet larger than that particular chain's usual size. In the United States , some big-box stores may specialize in categories of merchandise (" category killer "), such as Best Buy in electronics and appliances and Kohl's , Burlington , and Nordstrom Rack in apparel and home furnishings. Big-box general merchandise retailers such as Target and Walmart are similar to
1551-632: The largest superstore network in Hong Kong . The first Wellcome superstore opened in 2000 and it has only 17 superstores. In addition, CRC has four superstores in Hong Kong. Because Hong Kong is a very densely populated city, the sizes of superstores are considerably smaller than those in other countries. Some superstores are running at deficit, such as Chelsea Heights which therefore has stopped selling fresh fish . Furthermore, some ParknShop superstores and megastores, such as Fortress World, belong to
1598-724: The late 1980s, with the introduction of Kmart Australia and later the " Warehouse " superstore, a local company. Mitre 10 New Zealand opened their first Mega in 2004 at Hastings six months before the Australian Mega store; it opened to great success with 20 more stores opening within two years. Australian-owned Bunnings Warehouse opened its first store in New Zealand in 2006. In the United Kingdom , Makro and Costco membership-only warehouse club stores have been around for four decades. General merchandise shops along
1645-450: The lines of U.S. superstores are not a large part of the retail sector, but this has been changing in recent years, with the creation of extra-large supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda selling a broader range of non-food goods, typically in out-of-town shopping centres or retail parks. As in the US, such large shops are sometimes called anchor tenants . The growth of online retail and budget retail has led to these chains moving away from
1692-598: The majority of the daily consumer transaction needs. However, the most successful consumer retail chain that took the market and penetrated also to tier 2 and tier 3 cities was D Mart, owned by Avenue Supermarkets Limited. An attempt was made to allow international large format retailers such as Walmart into the country. However, it was successfully opposed by small retailers citing job elimination due to increased efficiency and lowered prices due to fewer losses and lower costs. Big-box format stores in India were opened by IKEA in
1739-537: The newly enlarged population of customers with cars, being located in suburbs and surrounded by ample parking lots. They were enabled by the decline of laws which prevented large retailers from getting bulk discounts. Warehouse club stores are another category of big-box general merchandise stores, such as Sam's Club , Costco , and BJ's Wholesale Club . They require membership to purchase and often require purchasing larger quantities of goods at once. Big-box development has at times been opposed by labor unions because
1786-478: The owner) Hudson's Bay , Loblaws / Real Canadian Superstore , Rona , Winners / HomeSense , Canadian Tire / Mark's / Sport Chek , Shoppers Drug Mart , Chapters / Indigo Books and Music , Sobeys , and many others. The indigenous Loblaw Companies Limited has expanded and multiplied its Real Canadian Superstore (and Maxi & Cie in Quebec) branded outlets to try to fill any genuine big-box market and fend off
1833-430: The restaurants within a chain are built to a standard format through architectural prototype development and offer a standard menu and/or services. Fast food restaurants are the most common, but sit-down restaurant chains also exist. Restaurant chains locations are often found near highways , shopping malls and densely populated urban or tourist areas . In 1896, Samuel Isaacs from Whitechapel , east London opened
1880-425: The same corporation, Hutchison Whampoa . India has been going through a retail revolution since the late 1990s, following the introduction of Big Bazaar in 2001. However, even before that, large retail stores were not uncommon in India. Spencer's, a popular hypermart, traces its history as far back as 1863. Likewise, Saravana Stores operating as a large independent showroom format since 1969, continue to grow in
1927-467: The store at no charge. Many configurations exist: the hypermarket that sells many kinds of goods under one roof (like French chains Carrefour , Auchan , and E.Leclerc ), most of which are integrated within a shopping mall ; the supermarket that is a smaller version of a hypermarket; the market located in city centres; the department store , which first appeared in Paris, then opened in other parts of
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1974-570: The threat from e-commerce to traditional retail. The company plans to re-develop many of its malls with high-rise apartments, including Westgate Mall in Ottawa. By March 2018, when the company announced the RioCan Living Brand, it had 2,800 units planned in eight of its shopping centres. In October 2017, the firm announced it would sell about $ 2 billion worth of properties by 2019. The sales would mainly be in smaller urban centres;
2021-618: The world; the "category killer" superstore that mainly sells goods in a particular domain (automotive, electronics, home furniture, etc.); and the warehouse store , like Metro Cash and Carry (for professionals only) and Costco , who opened its first store in June, 2017. To contend against Carrefour , ParknShop opened the first superstore in 1996 based on the concept of a wet market . Most superstores in Hong Kong emphasizes one-stop shopping, such as providing car park services. Today, ParknShop has more than 50 superstores and megastores, making it
2068-438: Was achieved in part through acquisitions. In 1995, it acquired five shopping centres in Ottawa from Ivanhoe Inc. for $ 42.5 million, almost doubling the size of the company (at the time, it had 29 properties). In 1998, it acquired nine shopping centres from Burnac Inc, its largest acquisition up to that time. Also in 1998, the company launched an ultimately successful hostile takeover bid for Realfund REIT. The new company had
2115-485: Was from the United States, and it planned to expand the percentage to 20%. In December 2015, RioCan sold its U.S. portfolio to Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII, for C$ 2.7 billion. The deal was triggered by the low value of the Canadian dollar. RioCan used some of the proceeds of the deal to fund its previously announced buyout of Kimco Realty 's joint venture stake for $ 715 million. In 2011, RioCan announced
2162-461: Was imitated by Meijer in 1962 and later by Walmart, Kmart , Target (the discount brand of Dayton department store), and Woolco (the discount brand of the Woolworth department store) all opened. These were called " discount stores " — still an industry term for this type of store — and which between the 1960s and 1980s started to open larger-format stores called "megastores." These stores served
2209-570: Was one of the first real estate investment trusts in Canada. The company held an IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1994. In 1995, it re-structured to internalize its asset management responsibilities, in return for a $ 5 million payment. As part of the re-structuring, the company was renamed RioCan REIT, a short form for "Retail Industrial Office Canadian". RioCan achieved significant growth in its early history, with an annualized 16% return from its IPO to 2013. This growth
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