What Affect has the outward movement of retailing office

a. ) The Retail Revolution that has been occurring in waves since the 1970’s was such a shift in the way in which our services are provided that consequences for surrounding areas were inevitable. With the first wave of decentralisation of the inner city areas supermarket food industries left to edge-of-city sites causing much strain on the need for corner shops which in comparison to the mega-stores were of low variety and unattractive to shoppers.

This coupled with the fact that the residents of rural areas were increasingly becoming more mobile meant that there was an overall decline in general store and corner shops in many rural areas that neighboured large cities. With a decline in services available close by there are always going to be people who lose out. For instance older residents that perhaps have lived in these villages for a long time may not be car owners. Consequently these people will decide to move to a place that has the services they require close by and there will be a decline in population.

Any area in a cycle of declining population and loss of services often continues to do so until the process of dilapidation is out of control. We saw this process in Caistor, a rural settlement outside of Grimsby, where the introduction of a Morison’s Super store 7 miles away had caused great decline. Also a Tescos 10 miles away from Caistor provided a bus service to and from the village meaning the rate of decline is intense. Evidence we found showed that for a town of population of 3,500 the village still had adequate services.

However, the roots of the village were of a prestigious schooling reputation, which had fuelled much growth in the area at one time. Now the supermarkets have a firm hold in the neighbouring area the growth has subsided to what we see today. Many stores closed down, being converted back into residences in many cases. Only some specialist functions survived. Mainly those that rely on the village image to sell their product, for example Sandham’s Wine cellars. Large losses in services and shops have clearly occurred though and from the looks of the village it will have difficulty in attracting outside investment.

You can read also Waves

This is a common problem in rural areas today, the problem has spiralled into disrepair and only a large cash injection to make the area seem more attractive will solve the problem. In more suburban areas including rural areas that have become suburbanised due to urban sprawl another consequence of decentralisation is apparent. Along the edge of Leeds places like Moortown and Headingly we noticed that District centres were catering for their local communities. In Moortown there was a clear Jewish presence in the area and in Headingly a student orientated district centre.

Both examples of how the change in retail provision is affecting change. People can afford to be more demanding and to go farther afield to find what they want so retailers are responding by getting closer to the communities they cater for. b. ) Inner city areas in light of the mass decentralisation have understandably tended to decline with the closure of smaller shops drawing the public away from the city centre and many traditional high street areas have become very run down places. This has caused somewhat of a response from city planners who finally admit that decentralisation is a bad thing and doesn’t simply relieve congestion.

The American response to the decline of their inner city areas was to convert the CBD to specialist shopping areas that offer something the out of town malls and plazas do not. Many schemes including the adaptation of high rise foundations to custom shopping centres have been paid for in order to rescue America’s city centres from desertion. In Britain however, city centres have declined still, but not nearly as much as America due to planning controls put in place and less suburbanisation.

Still the major movements of decentralisation have created a pull factor away from the city centre and high street units. There were five main changes to the high street: 1. ) Large companies having standard image, large stores were broken into smaller units and a core and frame of the CBD itself was emerging, where it was clear that in the frame area refurbishment of shop fronts and insides was no longer economically viable 2. ) Functions became more varied with an increasing number of personal consumer services, financial, household, medical, leisure, and government services. . )

The perception of the high street as the focus for the community has become less strong 4. ) Land rental price increases and there was increasing competition for non-retail investors to maximise profits through office blocks etc 5. ) The highs street’s position in the urban structure is under threat as retailing diversifies in character and location Another affect that the changes have brought about, are the planning responses in Britain. We saw how America specialised its CBD in order to make it more attractive again.

British city councils have taken action to combat the decentralisation and many schemes have been tried, some worked, others failed, in any case the answer usually requires a large monetary input. In Leeds for example full pedestrianisation of large blocks has made for more pleasant shopping environment attracting shoppers making the land more desirable for retailers again. Attractive indoor centres are an extension of this with places like the Trinity centre, which have clearly had large investment and the heritage based Granary Wharf and Corn Exchange that link a tourist attraction in to bring in the shoppers.

Mass shop front refurbishment like that of the Victorian quarter, which has also been roofed over, attract prestigious shops into the area and breathe life into the city centre again. The costs involved for these type of schemes are no doubt enormous and one can only expect to see retail prices rising as a result. But Leeds is just one example of where the schemes have worked, many other British cities to this day are suffering the affects of decentralisation brought about by the Retail Revolution.

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Website comparison

In comparing the websites for Departure and Rubberier, the biggest difference I noticed was that one was geared more for selling their product and the other was aimed at acquiring their customers to sell for them. When viewing Rubberneck’s website I noticed that it is very user friendly. If you are looking to purchase their products, there is a link for that. Inside this link is every type of solution you are looking for, from bathroom to kitchen to garage and even outside storage. It’s all very accessible.

Once you click on the product you are looking for it gives you the price and allows you to buy It right then and there. They also have links for “Tips and Solutions”. This gives you Ideas on how to better organize yourself and what other people have done. Now as for promotions, they do have a link but you have to first register. This is a good tactic to keep you informed on all things Rubberier. They get you to sign up to receive a coupon or special deal, but they will continue to send you emails with news of anything Rubberier has to offer. It keeps Rubberier fresh in your mind.

I think that Rubberneck’s target market is the consumer and how they can best serve them. When rating Rubberier on a mouse click scale of 1 TTT, I would give them a 4. Also on a personal consumer level I would stick with that 4. They had everything you were looking for and made it easy to find the next product or promotion. It even made me want to continue shopping for things I didn’t need. Overall I would say that Rubberier has done a great Job at implementing the racketing mix and trying to incorporate all of their customers’ needs and wants.

It was very easy to maneuver through their site and I constantly wanted to search for more things and see what products I could use. While reviewing Departure’s website, I came too much different conclusion. The site seemed more geared to getting me to sign up to be a consultant and/or host a party then to actually sell me the Departure itself. It is definitely a different approach. I was still able to look and buy their product, but it wasn’t as easy. I had to mind the right catalogue and once I did that It wasn’t where I could purchase their product.

Once I found the link to buy It still seemed like a cluster of products. It was barely broken down Into sections but more based on catalogue end times and sales. It was a lot easier to “Host” a party and find a consultant or even to become a consultant then to actually buy their product. They do however offer nice benefits for hosting a party. Depending on how much people would spend on your behalf would determine how much free product or discounted product you would receive.

Free always sounds like a good number. However I don’t think Departure reaches as many potential consumers as they could. Besides being able to sign up to be a consultant I didn’t see a place to register for new promotions or get email notifications, or if there was a place it wasn’t easy to access. They are depending on new recruitment to spread the word. Even though Departure has been around for a long time, I have had very few interactions with its products.

In giving a Departure a rating for mouse clicks I would have to give it a 4 because I did try to investigate more of the company and product but my overall rating would have been Overall I think that Departure targets the entrepreneur instead of the consumer. They still implement the marketing mix approach but in a very different way than Rubberier. They want the consumer to sell the product for them and spread the product by word of mouth and in home sales, whereas Rubberier focused on conveniently selling and mostly from local stores. Departure was interesting but I think Rubberier did a better Job.

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Comparison Shopping Project

I think the first and foremost purchase consideration is the price, next is the quality and then is the convenience. Every consumer desires the quality of the product is good and the price is lowest. If that desire meets, the consumers will choose the more convenient way to get the Item they would Like to buy. So now there are two ways for me to get the poll fleece Jacket. The market price of the poll fleece Jacket now Is 99 ARM. But In the UNIQUE online shop Is sold 106 ARM, more 7 ARM Is for the express fee. Shopping Comparison If I choose to buy in the UNCLE physical agent, I need select a day when I am free to go to the mall by bus.

It takes me about 1 hour to arrive there. And I will use about 20 minutes to find the UNIQUE physical agent. Unfortunately, the shopping mall is open at 10:00 am. It may occupy all of my forenoon time. It is not a good thing for a student who is busy with her study. When I get the physical agent, there are many poll fleece jackets for me to select and fit. I can touch every of the poll fleece Jacket to decide which one should I purchase. Meanwhile I can select many colors of a same style poll fleece Jacket to fit and finally pick the right color and size to purchase.

Once I change my mind, I can change anyone I want before I pay. And then I will go back by bus with my new poll fleece Jacket. The bus tickets cost me for 4 ARM, and when I get back is almost the time of the afternoon. If I choose another way that purchase poll fleece jacket online, I would pay more 7 ARM for the dispatch fee. I open my computer, and enter the UNIQUE online shop. Then I need to go through all of the electronic catalogs and try to find the poll fleece Jacket entry. And then click the poll fleece Jacket links to access to the interface.

In the interface I can find many kinds of the poll fleece Jacket. Subsequently, I should scan of the information about the product. Firstly, I will select some attractive product such as better mode or color and put in my electronic shopping cart. Secondly, I will scan the information of these products and carefully analyze and compare with them. There is a zone that I can see the referral or recommendation from other consumers who has bought the product. Finally, after I Identify all these products, I will come to a best choice and purchase the desirable poll fleece jacket by online banking.

To use the online banking, I must my bank card is security. The process totally wastes me for merely 2 hours. In the other side, I am watching the computer all the time in the duration of buying. My eyes may be tired at end. Unfortunately, my decision is should not be changed. Once the order of the product is submitted and come into force, I must accept the product. Although there are something I am not satisfied with, such as the color is dimmer Han I see online or the size is not my size etc, I cannot return it to the seller except pay the additional dispatch money.

If I am not willing to pay the extra fee, the product is a waste thing. It will be a bad shopping experience. Recommendation All of above is about the two ways to purchase. As we can see, there are spaces for the two purchasing process to improve. Buying in physical agent is not convenient for the consumer, and it wastes time. The price in the shop is the market price and may be higher than online shop. But consumers can select among many kinds of the olla fleece Jacket and purchase one they most satisfied.

Foremost the quality of the product is assured. To attract more consumers to buy in the physical agent rather than online, the shop should carry out some activities such as give some presents or trial packs of the shop. Buying online is convenient to the customers, but rate of online fraud is increasing. Consumers may not always get satisfied product, and the online bank payment is also has some risks and problems. The digital certificate is not protect well, the bank need to research a new technical invention to do that well.

It is regrettable that not every product online is in good quality. So there need a third-party in the process of buying online, the third part should inspect every product selling online to assure the quality of them. It will make many consumers buying online instead of purchasing in the physical agent. With the development of technology, buying online may be completed the same as the physical agents in the future. The consumers can choose which purchasing process they like. And each process might not cause problems.

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Middlebrook leisure and Retail Park coursework.

For my first aim I had to collect results to prove that the Middlebrook is located on the outskirts of a main town or city. I found out that the main town the Middlebrook is located to is Bolton. From my map I obtained off the Internet I measured the distance between the Middlebrook and Bolton by using the scale. I found that it was approximately four miles east of Bolton center, proving that it is located on the outskirts of a main town or city. Using my results I have proved that the Middlebrook fits the description of a typical ‘out of town’ shopping center.

For my second aim I had to prove that the Middlebrook is split into two main areas of leisure and retail. For this I produced a colour coded land use map to see if there was an obvious split. The map shows that to the left of the Middlebrook there is a domination of Household goods shops and a couple of clothes shops showing that this area is the retail area. When I visited the Middlebrook I saw that the household goods shops were mostly furniture shops such as CSL and D.F.S. There were also DIY shops and bed shops. To the right of the map the leisure isn’t so dominant. It obviously shows that it is the retail area but there are some clothes shops and sport shops too. The leisure consists of a bowling alley, cinema, arcade and resteraunts and bars etc.

The sports shops which are also located here are JJB, JD and Sports Soccer. There are also Fast Food outlets such as MacDonalds, Burger King and KFC. These are dotted around the car parks and I have put them under leisure. To work out the percentage ratio of Leisure and Reatil I found the amount of stores each had and divided them by the total and multiplied them by one hundred. The percentage of retail stores is 78% and leisure 22%. SO this shows that there is a ratio of 1:3.5, one leisure store to every three and a half retail stores. Most importantly I proved that the Middlebrook is split into two areas of leisure and retail. While at the Middlebrook I took pictures of the parking areas (see photographs) to see if it had aspects of safety. As from my photos I could see that safety was respected very well. Pedestrian paths were sign posted, as well as colour coded, very well. Steel bollards were in place around the parking area and there were also pedestrian crossings. The overall parking area was very large.

For my third and final aim, ‘does the Middlebrook have a large sphere of influence’, I obtained answers for my questionnaire, obtained a map of the internet to show my results and also create graphs to also show my results. The Middlebrook is located right next to the M61 motorway at junction 6. This massively increases the sphere of influence because it allows people from far away to get to the middlebrook more quicker with ease. The middlebrook also has a Railway Station platform which further increases the sphere of influence.

One link is between Chorley, which is about 7 miles from the Middlebrook. There is also a bus stop onsite at the park which is a popular form of public transport. Another aspect which could increase the sphere of influence is the Bolton Wanderers football stadium. This could just be an attraction where people come and view the stadium, but more importantly it pulls in thousands of people from different cities on match days who might be tempted to shop at the Middlebrook before or after a match. To complete my other maps I obtained of the internet I used my questionnaire I took to the Middlebrook with me.

My first question was

* What town do you live in?

From my results of this question I was able to produce a graph and a map. For my graph I created a cylinder bar chart to show the number of people from a town. The towns which were on the bottom axis were in the order of distance from the Middlebrook. So the closest was first and farthest away last. This gave me some idea of where most people came from who visited the Middlebrook. From the same map I got off the internet I was able to show the towns where most people come from who visit the Middlebrook. To do this I used a circles, where every 1/2 centimetre radius was one person, to show the amount of people. I coloured each circle different so it wasn’t to complicated. On the same map I was also able to show from the results of my first question the sphere of influence on the middlebrook.

To do this I marked off each town that was given to me using pencil. The towns which were close to the Middlebrook I connected up to show the Core sphere of influence and the towns which were further away I connected up to show the outer sphere of influence. I filled each of these areas with different colours and added a key to the side. All the results I obtained off this question proved that the Middlebrook did have a large sphere of influence. Close towns were those such as Bolton, Wigan, Hindley and Chorley. These were all about the same distance away, which is 4 miles.

My second question was

* What transport did you use to here?

a) Car

b) Bus

c) Train

d) Other

For this question I produced a pie chart of the different modes of transport used. The pie chart shows that nearly everyone uses a car to get to the middlebrook. 27 people traveled by car, 1 by bus, 1 by train and 1 by an ‘other’ form of transport. This result shows me that the sphere of influence is large for the Middlebrook because most people use cars. People are more likely to use cars if they live far away because bus routes often don’t exist over long distances and walking is just two far. Also the car is more quicker and more convenient.

My third question was

* How often do you visit the Middlebrook?

a) Daily

b) Every few days

c) Weekly

d) Less often

e) First time

I also produced a bar chart for this question. I labeled the axis from daily-less often. My graph shows a negative correlation which means that people visit less often rather than regularly. I think these results are correct for an ‘out of town’ shopping center because it is a place that isn’t visited regularly by shoppers like a place such as a small towns prestinct. This is because there are no housing sites around the Middlebrook as there is in a town which most people visit daily. People that might visit the Middlebrook regularly would be employees of shops.

My fourth question was

* What is the purpose of your visit here?

a) Business

b) Retail

c) Leisure

For this question I produced another pie chart. I thought I could also relate this question to my second aim, ‘Is the park split into two sections of retail and leisure’, because the ratio of leisure to retail was 1:3.5. So I investigated the ratio of the purpose of visiting the Middlebrook between the leisure and retail. From the results I obtained four people visited in purpose of leisure and 16 visited in purpose of retail. I found the ratio of this was 1:4, which is very similar to my first ratio in my second aim. This means that for every four retail visitor, there was just one leisure visitor. The amount of people who visited in purpose of business was 10.

My last question was

* Do you use any other retail and leisure parks?

For this question I produced another chart of different parks visited. Most people replied “no” and the most popular park was the Trafford center which is a shopping center in Manchester. This was probably because the Trafford centre is a lot more popular and has more publicity. Also it has a much larger range of stores which are more popular than some of those at the Middlebrook.

From all my results I found that the Middlebrook leisure and retail park does have a large sphere of influence.

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Has Bluewater shopping centre been a benefit to the surrounding communities?

Retail services (shopping) are so important in people’s lives because it means that people can purchase luxury goods it can also be a socialising meeting point for people. Retail services sell useful products that the community needs and would benefit from. Some retail services provide conveniences goods. This is important to people because they have the opportunity to get their daily needs. Other retail services provide people with clothing, entertainments, and home furniture’s etc. heses are all important in people’s lives without clothes people will be cold during the winter.

Not all shopping centres provide the same goods and services. Smaller shopping centres provide everyday essential goods for people. They also supply their goods in smaller quantities. Whereas, larger shopping centres provide a wider range of products and in bigger quantities. Shopping centres located in a smaller settlement supply their customers with fewer goods. Villages are a good example of small shopping centres.

This can be because there are fewer people to provide products for as not a lot of people live in the villages. However, most large settlements are located in cities, in the central business district. ‘Out-of-town’ shopping centres are being built because it makes money for the business that owns it. There are also larger areas that are cheaper to buy or rent for business use. There is more space for development for a bigger shopping centre. The advantages of and ‘out-of-town’ shopping centre is that it provides costumers with a free parking space, which is more convenient for people.

Land on the edge of cities is being used to build houses, schools, roads and car parks for the shopping centres. It is also being used to build other useful facilities such as parks and leisure centres. There is a conflict about how such areas of lands called `development sites` are used because some developments cause harm to the land such as cars and factories pollution. When deciding how land should be developed, the factors that planner has to take into account are the residents living nearby also whether the development would effect the environment and all its inhabitants.

They also have to put into account the advantages and disadvantages it would bring to the public. When a new shopping centre is proposed, many different groups of people might be affected by this development. The elderly, teenagers, middle class, lower class and working class might be affected but the way each group is affected is different. The elderly would find living next to a shopping centre difficult this is because many people would visit the shopping centre that means a lot of noise would be made disturbing the elderly.

However, for some elderly it could be a chance for them to keep themselves busy by strolling down to the shopping centre. Teenagers would see it has a opportunity to go shopping regularly which would make the retail services more money also the teenagers would go the shopping centre as a place where they could go and talk to friend and keep themselves warm in the winter. The shopping centre would also give some teenagers an opportunity to earn money as they could work there. It would keep teenagers entertained. Aims

I will begin my investigation by showing the location of Bluewater by including maps and descriptions of where Bluewater is also which other places it is linked to. Then my investigation is going to include what range of services, and types of services are provided at Bluewater. I am also going to write about who uses Bluewater and where they come from. Then my investigation is going to question how successful has the Bluewater development been. I am going to explore the benefits and the costs of the development and find out which sections of the community have been benefited and who has lost out.

My investigation will then be followed by the question whether the development of shopping facilities at Bluewater has been more desirable than any other uses that they could have used for this site/ land, for example housing or industry. Then I will be giving my opinion as to whether I think that the local planning authority was right to allow the shopping centre to be developed. The investigation would then consider future developments in the area and finally I will reflect on how I could do things differently if I was to do this investigation again. Data used

I needed information to carry out my investigation as to whether Bluewater shopping centre has been a benefit to the surrounding communities. I obtained some of data’s from my fieldtrip to Bluewater. I needed to interview people at Bluewater to find out how often people come shopping to Bluewater, how long their journey was and what is the most important reason why they people come to shop at Bluewater. I used the information collected from the interview to help me answer the question of has Bluewater shopping centre been a benefit to the surrounding communities.

I also did a visitor profile sheet to help me investigate the age and gender of Bluewater’s visitors. I collected images of maps and pictures of Bluewater to help me locate where Bluewater is and the surrounding areas. Some of the evidence that I used was from the Bluewater downloaded student pack. Using this helped me answer questions and get extra information about Bluewater that I needed. The student pack also provided the number figures and percentages that e couldn’t get from other sources. I gathered extra information about Bluewater from the Internet e. g. he Bluewater official website. Presentation This information was from the Bluewater student pack. “Bluewater is a shopping centre containing about 360 shops, which is built in a 50 meters high chalk quarry.

It is located in Greenhithe in the borough of Dartford. ” The development of Bluewater has enabled the local communities surrounding Bluewater to get jobs and earn money. It has also provided shops for businesses to use. (see next section about jobs. ) Local retailers have also benefit from the development of Bluewater because they use the open spaces at Bluewater to sell products. at Christmas)

According to the Bluewater student pack, the site of Bluewater provides an easy access route, as it is just a mile away from M25 junction 2, between Dartford and Gravesend on the A2 London to Canterbury road. Travellers from the south can get to Bluewater using the A2 or from the north using the new south Thames development route or STDR. This indicates that people from local communities can reach Bluewater easily. Bluewater is approximately 4 kilometres from the planned Ebbsfleet station on the new high-speed rail link between the channel tunnel and London.

This is an advantage for people that live further away but it does not benefit the local communities. The location of Bluewater gives it a large catchments area. The fast motorway links attracts almost 10 million shoppers within an hour’s drive and 4. 8 million people in the principal catchments. Going back to my introduction, retail services sell useful products that the community needs and would benefit from. Bluewater as a retail services provides useful products that the community needs and would benefit from. It also supplies different range of shops and services.

From the Bluewater student pack, Over 14 hectares are for retail space and nearly 1. 5 hectares are for indoor leisure use and the rest of the site is occupied by parkland, lakes and car parking. Approximately 330 shops unit are located at Bluewater including large flagship stores. Bluewater offers the finest products from top shops like John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and House of Fraser. These anchor shops sell wide range of goods that people will need in their lives. This benefits the local communities because they have the opportunity to purchase the luxuries goods from Bluewater without having to travel very far.

Bluewater is a shopping centre that is developed to cater for everyone’s need because this means selling some products at more affordable prices for other people. While I was at the shopping centre I could see that Bluewater has Variety of products. These include clothes, accessories, electronics, home wares, games, media and many more. From my trip to Bluewater I could see that there were many catering services that provide shoppers and staffs with quality cafes, restaurants, fast foods and bars. Bluewater is a benefit for people because it contains many shops that sell all kinds of different goods under one roof.

This is an advantage for shoppers because they don’t have to travel far to get what they need. Bluewater also contains mini convince stores to get daily goods at reasonable prices for everyone. The local communities benefits from this because they could do their shopping all in one go at Bluewater saving valuable time. While on the field trip to Bluewater I could see that they provide shoppers and the local communities with entertainment services such as leisure centre, cinema, and ice rink for use in winter etc. As well as making sure that shoppers have the best range in products.

In my opinion I think that Bluewater focuses on services that would help make shopping at Bluewater easier and convenient for people. These services includes a valet parking which would make life easier for shoppers as they don’t have to worry about where to put their car because it is being done for them already. Bluewater also provides disabled people with toilets just for them and convenient parking spaces for them to use. The shopping centre includes elevators that will make life easier for disabled people and mothers using prams. Toilets are put inside the centre for people to use.

Baby changing have also been placed in the store to make it stress free for parents. Banks and CCTV are in the site and these are useful towards the shoppers and staff. A good thing about ‘out- of-town’ shopping centre from my introduction such as Bluewater is that they provide free parking space for visitors. From my survey, shoppers travel from different locations and distances to get to Bluewater. Some travel further than others while people that live near Bluewater do not travel very far. To help me figure out how long the journey to Bluewater was I interviewed shoppers and workers.

This would help me with my investigation because with the results I would be able to see clearly who benefits most from the development of Bluewater. It would help me to see roughly how many of the local people visit Bluewater. From the chart below, I could see that people that come from areas such as Tunbridge, Bexley, Bromley, Dartford and Medway are the people that live locally. It would take them less time to travel to Bluewater. While I was at Bluewater I could see that most of the shoppers were adults this could be because they were off work and decided to start buying Christmas present as it was getting close to Christmas.

It could also be that they were on break and they wanted to get lunch from the food court provided. While I was at Bluewater I interviewed a elderly woman who said the reason why she comes to Bluewater is because of the leisure centre which, her and her husband attend she also did not live very far from the shopping centre which means that she does not have to travel far. Bluewater has attracted many people for different reasons. Not everyone at Bluewater go there to shop some people go there for the entertainments while others go there to work.

I think that Bluewater would attract mostly adults because they would have money and they would feel like buying things that they need. It would also attract teenagers because they would want to go there for window-shopping and for the entertainments available. Bluewater would attract less elderly people because they would not have enough money or energy to go and shop at Bluewater. I believe that the Bluewater development has been successful for the following reasons. Firstly, according to “wikipedia” it shows that around 30 million people visit Bluewater every year.

I also think that the development of Bluewater has been successful because the developers spent around 30 million on making roads better for visitors. For Bluewater to spend so much money on roads it shows that it might earn lots of money. Bluewater has been designed to cater for all sections of the community. This includes the structure of the building, facilities, prices, shops etc. all of these were made to make shopping easier, affordable and enjoyable for everyone. The shopping centre placed elevators in the shop to make it easier for disabled people to get around the shop and also for the fit able people to make them not get stressed.

It also provides lockers for shoppers to use while shopping at Bluewater; this enables visitors and staff to put their belongings in it without losing it or carrying it around. There are comfortable sofa’s placed in the shop for people to sit and feel relaxed. Bluewater has 13,000 parking space including separate spaces for disabled people and elderly to use. This will make life easier and safer for them. As well as catering for the elderly, Bluewater also caters for young people that visit the site. There are fun activities for them to take part in while staying at Bluewater, these activities includes boating, ice-skating and cycling.

As shown in the Bluewater mall guide, there is also a cri??che room that allows up to 250 children to play in. this is to keep them entertain while shopping. Source used to obtain this information is the downloaded student pack. The site also caters for both genders visiting Bluewater. Female and male stores are provided to ensure that both genders get what they need to keep up with fashion. Even though Bluewater has some expensive stores in the centre. It also has some affordable stores for the majority of the people that do not own a lot of money.

These shops also sell quality products but just at more reasonable price. In my opinion Bluewater is a development that has helped most of the local economy. According to the Bluewater’s student pack. Bluewater has provided thousands of jobs for the local community both during and after construction. While Bluewater was being developed it brought approximately 6,500 jobs for constructing it only. When Bluewater opened in March 1999, it created about 7,000 permanent jobs on site. About 4,000 of these are in retail trades. These jobs include sale staff and store management.

Around 40% of these jobs are full time and 60% part time. The remaining of the workers is involved in non-retail jobs. This includes occupations such as cleaning, catering, Security, warehouse staff, ground staff and administration. Bluewater has been a benefit to services and the local communities. A reason for this is that it has invested lots of money in proving roads and transportations. This has made road safer and transportations better. Local communities have benefited from this. To help me with investigation of do other services and local businesses benefit from Bluewater.

I used the downloaded student pack, which says that Bluewater is designed to help local businesses win contracts at Bluewater. So Bluewater has been a benefit to local businesses. However, many local businesses near Bluewater have not really benefit from Bluewater. The reason for this is that Bluewater is a large shopping centre designed to provide many services for people and make their visits enjoyable all under one roof. Local businesses do not provide enough ranges as Bluewater does. This means that many people will rather go to Bluewater for the shopping’s.

The local businesses will therefore, loose out on money due to the lack of customers that shop in their shops. They might also end up going bankrupt. Though local shops lose out on money, Bluewater will provide more money for hotels. This is due the amount of tourists and people that will visit Bluewater and need a place to stay. Jobs in Bluewater have helped the local community. It has given them the opportunity to earn money. It has also helped them to work, undergo training and obtain formal qualifications, which can help them in the future.

Jobs in Bluewater have reduced the mount of unemployed in the local community. From my interview with a worker at Bluewater, I have some knowledge as to whether people that work there like it. The person that I interview said she liked working there and the salary is good. Workers at Bluewater can also take the advantages of the food court and services provided at Bluewater. The development of Bluewater has affected the environment in many ways. It has benefited the environment as well as harming the environment. I will start off by explaining the problems Bluewater causes for the environment.

Firstly, Bluewater increases the amount of carbon monoxide in the air. This done by cars and Bluewater is a place that attracts many visitors with cars. The number of cars that visit Bluewater gives off carbon monoxide, which is bad for the environment, but if fewer cars visit Bluewater each day, there will be less poisonous gas in the air. Secondly, Bluewater causes noise pollution for the surrounding environment. Noise pollution is caused by the number of people that visit Bluewater this could make the place really loud and also cars that drive by make lots of noises.

This affects the peace and quietness of the environment and also it disturbs the local people. Thirdly, the development of Bluewater has brought more attention to its local environment. This is because people from all over the place visit Bluewater and this can be very disturbing for the neighbourhood and very dangerous for children that play outside because they don’t know who might harm them. However, even though Bluewater causes many problems for the environment. It also benefits the environment. Bluewater is located in a stunning location.

It is situated among cliffs. Bluewater is surrounded by landscape of lakes, parkland and trees. This shows the more nature side of the environment and makes the environment calming and attractive. Bluewater also brightens up the environment at night with its bright lights. Conclusion In my opinion I think that the local planning authority was right to allow the shopping centre to be developed because firstly it provided many jobs for people, something that would benefit everyone rather than living it as a chalk quarry, which would not benefit people.

It also makes life easier for the local community as they do not have to travel far to get what they need. The development of Bluewater was also better for the community because it earns more money for business people, which they could use to make more businesses and offer more jobs to people. Furthermore, the local planning authority was right to allow the development because it means the majority of the people can go and shop in Bluewater rather than high streets where it would be too crowded and stocks would go quicker due to the amount of people.

“Has Bluewater shopping centre been a benefit to the surrounding communities? Looking at all the information I have investigated and written. I believe that Bluewater has been a benefit to the surrounding communities. My reasons for this are that it has provided jobs for people that live there. It has also improved the roads, which the surrounding communities have benefited from. Although some people might disagree with my answer because of the environmental issues that Bluewater the shopping centre causes. I believe it has been a benefit because looking at all the different aspect; Bluewater has brought more advantages than disadvantages.

Personally I think that there are lessons to be learned about future developments in the area nearby. Firstly, there should be more traffic lights and zebra crossing surrounding the developments. This is for the local community and other people to be safer and for drivers to drive with care. Secondly, it should be developed in a place where it will benefit the community without disturbing them or causing trouble for them. Finally, it should not be built near a school or places that contain many children. This is to prevent children wandering off and being safe.

If I were to repeat this investigation again, I would have the courage to go up to people in the shops for interview. This is because I feel like I did not interview enough people therefore; I did not get as much information as I needed. I should have also paid more attention in filling in the visitor profile sheet because this would have helped me to make a rough judgement has to what gender attended Bluewater more on the day I visited. It would also have helped me to see what majority of age group visits Bluewater.

In addition, I could have interviewed more than one worker at Bluewater and I should have asked more logical questions that would have helped me with my coursework. Finally, while on the road to Bluewater I should have paid more attention on to the amount of cars that were passing by. This would have increased my knowledge of how many people visit Bluewater and I should have been more aware of the houses and shops that were near Bluewater. This is to help me figure out exactly what advantages and disadvantages Bluewater cause for the local community.

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Geography Coursework

Pickering is a historic market town located in North Yorkshire, between York and the North Yorkshire coast. Pickering has many tourist attractions like, the steam railway, Pickering castle, the market and the countryside. It is the gateway to the North York Moors National Park, with its appealing scenery. We are interested to find out what it is that specifically attracts tourists to that area.

This is a map of Pickering along with the attractions of Pickering

Two groups took a geography trip to Pickering on two separate days and. Both groups created their own questionnaires and we asked random members of the public these questions. These are some of the questions we asked people while we were in Pickering. Once we had received our results from our questionnaires we compared them with the other group’s results

1.Do you live in: A. Pickering

B. the area around Pickering

C. or are you a tourist

2.What would you say is the main tourist attraction

A. The castle

B. The steam railway

C. The countryside

3. What method of transport did you use to get here today

A. Walk

B. Car

C. Bus

D. Other

4. How long did it take you to travel here today

A. Less than 15 minutes

B. 15 minutes – 1 hour

C. 1 hour +

5. If you are local:

Do you do most of your shopping in Pickering

I Yes

ii No

6. If you are a tourist: A Is this your first visit to Pickering

I Yes

ii No

B. Would you visit Pickering again

Table A

Where people live Wednesday Thursday

Pickering 58% 52%

Around Pickering 26% 18%

Tourists 16% 30%

With these results you can clearly see that a majority of the interviewees were mainly from Pickering. This is somewhat unexpected as Pickering relies on tourists to visit the area. I think the groups went at the wrong time of year because if we went during the school holidays then you should see that there would be an increase in the number of tourists because they would have the time off school and work. :

Diagram A

My first hypothesis is that on the day that I went on the trip to Pickering I thought there were more local people than tourists. I can prove this with my results from Diagram A and Table A from our questionnaires we asked. However if we had visited Pickering on the market day then we would have seen an increase in the number of local people as the market would attract more local people rather than tourists.

Table B

The main tourist attraction Wednesday Thursday

Castle 12% 15%

Steam railway 64% 55%

Countryside 17% 15%

Other 7% 15%

Diagram B

The results above show that the on both days the steam railway is the favoured tourist attraction with the majority of the percentage. These results are not exactly unexpected for the reason that the steam railway travels through the countryside so people would still catch a glimpse of the countryside, but because they are on the steam railway they would maybe think that the attraction they are seeing is the steam railway when actually they are viewing the countryside as well.

This is a picture of the favourite tourist attraction the steam railway.

With my second hypothesis I can say that people preferred the steam railway to the other attractions. I can show this with Diagram B and Table B for the reason that my results show that on Wednesday 64% of people preferred the railway and on Thursday 55% of people favoured the steam railway to the other attractions.

Table C

Transport Wednesday Thursday

Walk 20% 30%

Car 56.5% 36%

Bus 14.5% 18%

Steam train 6.5% 10%

Other 3% 6%

With these figure we have collated you can clearly see that the main method of transport was the car. This isn’t surprising seen as people rely too much on cars at present, with the majority of people owning one. This is surprising seen as the main tourist attraction is the steam railway so they must have left their cars in the car park while they travelled on the steam railway. After the car, walking was next on both days. With the groups both going during school time and not in a holiday, there would have been more interviewees that are local to the area of Pickering and would have been able to walk there.

My group’s results were:

Diagram C.

For the third hypothesis I can say that the favoured method of transport would be the car. I can back this up with Diagram C and Table C because 56.5% used a car on Wednesday and 36% on Thursday. However on Thursday only 36% travelled by car which maybe suggest that on Thursday there were more local people in Pickering but if you look at my results they show that on Wednesday there were more local people in Pickering.

Diagram D

Table D

Travelling time Wednesday Thursday

Less than 15 minutes 48% 42%

15 minutes- 1 hour 31% 36%

More than 1 hour 21% 22%

On both days it took more people less than 15 minutes to travel into Pickering.

The majority of people took less than 15 minutes to travel to Pickering. This is mainly because most of the interviewees were from Pickering and the area around Pickering. This is surprising as Pickering is a tourist town and most of the people we asked were either from Pickering or the area around Pickering and were not actually tourists.

My fifth hypothesis is that with the travelling time I can say that a majority of people questioned on both days were from Pickering as it took them less time to travel into Pickering. I can back this up with the results from Table D and Diagram D which both say that the people questioned took 15 minutes or less to travel into Pickering.

We also asked people whether they did most o their shopping in Pickering. Our results were;

Diagram E

These results show that most of the interviewees didn’t do most of their shopping in Pickering. This isn’t surprising as Pickering doesn’t have a major shopping store or any big name stores. So the local people will have to travel out of Pickering to buy all of the luxury items. But the shops that Pickering has are selling the basic goods.

With these results they show that a majority of people on both days do their shopping outside of Pickering.

Table E

Do you do most of your shopping in Pickering? Wednesday Thursday

Yes 33% 44%

No 67% 56%

These results show that most of the interviewees didn’t do most of their shopping in Pickering. This isn’t surprising as Pickering doesn’t have a major shopping store or any big name stores. So the local people will have to travel out of Pickering to buy all of the luxury items. But the shops that Pickering has are selling the basic goods.

With these results they show that a majority of people on both days do their shopping outside of Pickering.

My sixth hypothesis is that I can say that the people questioned would rather do their shopping outside of Pickering and I can establish this with Table E and Diagram E with both of these showing that people prefer shopping outside of Pickering. Along with only 33% on Wednesday and 44% on Thursday saying they do most of their shopping in Pickering.

Table F

Is this your first visit to Pickering? Wednesday Thursday

Yes 12% 33%

No 88% 67%

Diagram F

Most of the interviewees said that this wasn’t their first visit to Pickering. I think with this question we should have asked if they were a tourist or not. That way we would have had a better idea of who were tourists and who were local to the area this way we would have had different results from the people we interviewed. With a lot of people saying that it wasn’t their first visit to Pickering shows that if they were tourists then they enjoyed visiting Pickering and they decided to travel there again.

For my seventh hypothesis I can say that people the people questioned had visited Pickering before and as a consequence of this they visited Pickering again. I can prove this with my Table F and Diagram F. Table F shows that on both days a majority of people had visited Pickering before. However there were a small number of people who hadn’t visited Pickering before. I think that if people said that it was their first visit to Pickering then we should have asked them if they enjoyed their time in Pickering and if they would visit the area again.

Diagram G

Table G

Would you visit Pickering again? Wednesday Thursday

Yes 96.5% 82%

No 3.5% 18%

With these sets of results they show that a lot of the people questioned said that they would visit Pickering again. That shows that Pickering is a pleasant place and is a delightful experience. It seems that on Thursday there were more people that wouldn’t visit Pickering so maybe the people on Thursday thought that Pickering wasn’t an enjoyable place to visit. Whereas Wednesday’s results prove that people visiting Pickering was satisfied with the area.

My eighth hypothesis is that I’m able to say that given the chance people would visit Pickering again. I can provide evidence to this with Table G and Diagram G which both say that the majority of people enjoyed their visit to Pickering and would take another trip to the town of Pickering

A semi-conclusion would be that a majority of people on both days was fond of Pickering and many of the interviewees had visited Pickering before our visit there and would gladly visit again. Although, there isn’t a large shopping centre nearby to attract the tourists or for the locals to do their shopping, people still flock to Pickering for the market on Wednesdays and the steam railway. A lot of people who had travelled to Pickering didn’t travel for a lengthy amount of time which suggests that a lot of people who were visiting Pickering were from nearby and didn’t have to travel very far.

Recently I took a trip with a few of my class-mates to Beverley and asked people there the same questionnaire with a few alterations. We did that so that we could compare the results from Pickering to those of Beverley.

We found that a majority of people asked were from the area around Beverley unlike that of people asked in Pickering as most of them were from Pickering itself. Unlike the Pickering survey, were over half the people asked didn’t do their shopping in Pickering. The Beverley survey recorded that half of the people in question did their shopping in Beverley.

We asked if people would visit the designated town again given the choice and in Pickering there was a few people who said no but in Beverley everybody in question would visit Beverley again.

To conclude my study I can say that the reason people are specifically attracted to Pickering is that most people are interested in the steam railway or the market which are both located in Pickering. Where as, in Beverley people were attracted to visiting Beverley because they were visiting or have visited Beverley Minster.

A few ways in which I could have improved my study is that I could have included a plan of the shops and businesses of Pickering. Also, I could have written about the shops and businesses and say if they were high, medium or low order businesses. I could have also asked more people the questionnaire which would have made a difference to my results. Also I could have visited Pickering or Beverley on multiple days and then compared the results to see what differences there would be and I could compare each day with one another.

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The Advantages and Disadvantages of Discounting Goods

Discounting is reducing the selling price of goods. Many retail stores use this method to try to sell more products and gain more profits. The advantages and disadvantages of discounting have brought a drastic debate. Some supporters believe that it has noticeable benefits, while others suggest that it perhaps does more harm than good. In this essay, I will review both the comments for and against discounting goods to boost sales.

The advocators encourage discounting goods to attract more consumers and make more profits for the stores. For example, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the United States. It is the time when retail stores give the most discounts in a year . On evidence of research conducted by Miller , “nearly 20% of annual retail sales occur in November and December.” By presenting and offering excessive discounts, the customers’ willingness to participate in this shopping feast is drastically encouraged. Since Black Friday leads the Christmas shopping season which is right before the end of the year, most of the retailers view this discounting holiday as an important opportunity to push for a profitable year and break the sales records. To accomplish their goals, retail stores may sell out a blouse which is originally $40 USD for $5 USD , and a big number of shoppers are likely to be motivated by the low price to do the purchase so that the margin of the retail stores can be increased.

However, some researchers indicate that discounting goods has effects that are less beneficial. Because of the large number of consumers, safety problems may occur. A stampede happened on November 29th, 2008 and caused one death and four injuries . In addition, three people were killed and more than thirty injured at the supermarket Carrefour in Chongqing, when the shop was offering 20% discounts on cooking oil. Customers may have a high expectation for the low price, so many shoppers stand in the queue waiting for the store to open since midnight in order to get the discounted goods at the first time. Therefore, those who have waited for several hours cannot wait to enter the store when it opens. Stampedes are likely to happen while the impatient and frustrated crowd is pushing forward, especially in countries with high population density. Safety problem is usually a potential risk when there is a chaos.

Despite having the risk of causing safety problems, some researchers believe that giving discounts can give a short-time boost in the economy . The growth in profit of the retail stores is advantageous to the economy. For example, Black Friday attracts numerous customers to spend a massive amount of money over the entire course of the Christmas shopping season following up. Data submitted by Ridgway  showed that “Americans spent over $11 billion in 2011 on the Friday following Thanksgiving”. The influx of money seems to improve the economy swiftly. Not only is there a rapid increase in GDP, but these stores hire part-time employees during the busy shopping season to meet the soaring demand for workers. Therefore, there will be an overall improvement in the economy. According to Davidson , it is essentially to have discounts because they bestow economic stimuli and create jobs.

Nevertheless, these positive consequences may happen, but not regular. Discounting goods may contribute to the growth of profits of large retail stores, but may put these small family enterprises out of business. Brennan and Lundsten noted that the volume of customers had seemingly dropped since large discount retail stores opened in town. These discount stores, such as Wal-Mart and Metro, can be overwhelmingly more favourable than tiny grocery stores in price and force them to bankruptcy. Therefore, the number of small shops will decrease and citizens will have to get to the suburban district where large retail stores centralize. It is especially inconvenient for the old and families without private cars. In addition, this phenomenon may result in monopoly that is against the law and cause a lack of substitute goods. In the long term, discounting goods may possibly spark off monetary disorder.

Obviously, there are both advantages and disadvantages of discounting goods. It enables retail stores to attract more customers as well as make more profits. In addition, it stimulates consumption and gives a boost to the economy. However, these benefits cannot suppress its deleterious effects. There may be safety problems, and small shops are likely to be weeded out by large discount stores and cause inconvenience to the citizens.

Taking these arguments into account, discounting goods to boost sales has both positive and negative effects. It has been the necessity because both individuals including retailers and shoppers and the overall economy may get short-term benefits. In the long term, however, it may cause some troubles. Therefore, the degree of discounting should be reasonable so that it will not result in the rat race. Retailers should decide the proper price to avoid a possible scenario that the sales volume rises but the profit drops. In addition, retail stores should strive to avoid public disorder and minimize the risk of having safety problems. By handling these potential threats appropriately, discounting goods can be an effective approach to boost sales.

References

  1. L. Simpson, L. Taylor, K. O’Rourke and K. Shaw, “An Analysis of Consumer Behabior on Black Friday,” American International Journal of Contemporary Research, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-5, 2011.
  2. Richard K. Miller ; Associates, “Christmas Holiday Shopping,” in The 2006 Retail Market Research Yearbook. Loganville: Richard K. Miller ; Associates, 2005, pp. 101-102.
  3. J. B. Thomas and C. Peters, “An exploratory investigation of Black Friday consumption rituals,” International Journal of Retail ; Distribution Management, vol. 39, no. 7, pp. 522-537, 2011.
  4. J. Gould, C. Trapasso and R. Schapiro, Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Friday stampede, 2008. [Online] Available: http://articles.nydailynews.com /2008-11-28/local/17910475_1_wal-mart-worker-long-island-wal-mart-jdimytai-damour [Accessed November 23, 2012].
  5. BBC, Three die in China sale stampede, 2007. [Online] Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi /asia-pacific/7088718.stm [Accessed November 27, 2012].
  6.  B. Milavec, An Analysis of Consumer Misbehavior on Black Friday. Newark: University of Delaware, 2012.
  7. S. Newell, The Emergence of Black Friday as an American Retail Holiday. Apopka: University of Florida, 2012.
  8. N. Ridgway, Black Friday Sales Hit Record, 2011. [Online] Available: http://money.cnn.com /2011/11/26/pf/black_friday_sales/index.htm [Accessed

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