Field Experiment 3 – FIM 460 Assignment. Management Essay.

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General Information
Store Name: 7-Eleven
Address: 311 Grove St., East Lansing, MI 48823, United States
Type: Local convenience store
Store hours: 24 hours
Trade Areas
A trade area, also known as the market area, refers to the city or region where the retail store or a commercial enterprise manages the business. This serves as the sales territory of a specific company since this is where the majority of its purchases, deals, and/or transactions occur.
Moreover, this is the area where customers are willing to travel to acquire or procure goods and services. Its size depends on the merchandise that the specific community is offering and on the proximity of its rival arcades. A Primary trade area is where the business has the majority of its consumers, with around 50% to 80% of the population in the area, and this is included in the primary trade area (MTA). A secondary trade area is where 15%-20% of the consumers come from, which makes it the second component of MTA. Lastly, a tertiary trade area is where an additional 5%-15% of the consumer population is located (Barry, 2003).
As seen in Figure 1 (see Appendix), 7-Eleven is in proximity to Michigan State University and other establishments where consumers come such as the Michigan State University Apartments, where approximately 15, 000 of students reside, The Forest Akers Golf Course, Spartan Village, East Lansing High School, John M. Patriarche Park, and many others CITATION CBR13 \l 1033 (CBRE, 2013).
Figure 2 (see Appendix) shows the primary and secondary areas in Michigan, where it can be seen that 7-Eleven is in between the overlapping primary and secondary trade areas, as pointed by the red arrow. It can be seen that the primary trade area covers Michigan State University up to the State Road. In contrast, the secondary trade area overlaps with it, as seen from figure 2, where it includes Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo St., Pennsylvania Avenue, Aurelius Road, and extends to the far east in the area of Okemos, bypassing Michigan State University CITATION CBR13 \l 1033 (CBRE, 2013).
Factors Affecting the Trade Area
Several factors can affect 7-Eleven as a business. The following are the advantages of this store: 1) It is a convenience store which is a minor retail store that sells day-to-day necessities such as groceries, snacks, drinks, coffee, items for pleasure such as condoms and lubricants, toiletries, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, newspapers and magazines, and over-the-counter drugs. This makes it convenient for people to shop since they can only buy what they directly need for the day.; 2) It is in a favorable location which is near the major establishments, most notably the schools mentioned above (refer to figure 2).; 3) Consumers do not have to wait for long lines as compared to big shopping centers and wholesalers.; 4) It provides ready-to-eat meals which are of big help especially for university students.; 5) It does not have parasite stores or store within its stores, unlike department stores.; and lastly, 6) It is less prone to natural disasters such as cyclones that cause flash floods, volcanic eruption, and earthquakes. Therefore, this state will have a continuity of supply, for most cases, all year round. USA.com provides information that proves that East Lasing, or generally, Michigan, has a fewer natural disasters and weather extremes since the said area has a 0.01 earthquake index, relative to the 0.04 volcanic index of Michigan as a whole and 0 volcanic index. It has also been recorded that from 1950 up to the present, Michigan only suffered 1, 945 thunderstorms, 98 flash floods, 3 b...