The changing retail industry and retail landscapes: The case of post-1980 Turkey

by Nebahat Tokatli and Yonca Boyaci

Cities Volume 15, Issue 5 , October 1998, Pages 345-359

Abstract
This article investigates the spatial expression and manifestation of the recent restructuring of the retail industry in the Turkish context. Over the last decade, the retail industry has gone through major changes which has resulted in the emergence and strengthening of domestic and international corporate power within retailing. Here we focus on this recent drift, implying a consequent trend towards increasing retail concentration and size of individual retailers, both with numerous consequences for the society. We analyze some of the structural changes in the industry, review spatial behaviors of large retailers which are different from those of small retailers which they have started to replace, and discuss the new spatial imprint that large retailers seem to introduce to the cities with their large and free-standing stores, multiple establishments scattered throughout the urban system, and large purpose-built shopping center developments.

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