The project requires each student to document and analyse the retail supply (up to a maximum of 100 stores) within the designated cluster of shops.  From these data, you can describe the nature of the retail specialization and assess how well the retail mix reflects the image the area wishes to project in making itself a unique and desirable retail destination.

A. Site Visit For Data Collection

Each Student is required to make at least one site visit to the chosen area.
This study is to focus primarily on storefront retail supply exclusive of the non-storefront services in offices within the cluster.

• Examining “ethnic” shopping areas should note particularly whether or not each business is “ethnic” or “non-ethnic” with ethnicity determined by signage and/or product (goods or services) provided.  “Ethnic” shops and services are to be identified by the specific ethnicity or ethnicities of their products and/or the ethnicity/ethnicities they are meant to serve.

Analysis Of Retail Supply

Each retail area is, or at least wants to be, a specialized magnet for certain shoppers seeking certain kinds of shopping experiences.  Assess the extent to which the retail supply in the cluster reflects that specialty.
Describe and calculate the proportion of business serving an identifiable ethnic group or providing ethnic-specific goods and services to the broader public.
Provide details of the key attractions which serve as magnets for shoppers in the retail area.  Note which stores, if any, serve as anchors. Assess how these attractions and anchors help define the specialty of the shopping district.
Describe efforts to enhance accessibility – both mobility-related (parking, transit access, escalators/elevators) and and accommodations for people with disabilities.  Note improvements to the physical attractiveness of the shopping district (renewed frontages, urban aesthetics, design features, banners, etc.)
Describe promotional activities meant to enhance the image of the cluster as a specialty shopping district.

Report

The written report will describe in some detail nature of the specialized market focussing on the retail mix, i.e., the nature of storefront retail supply within the chosen retail cluster.  Include the detailed analysis of the shopping destination as described above, including an assessment of the extent to which the retail supply in the cluster reflects the desired specialty.