This article intends to make a contribution to the knowledge of retailing in Brazil, integrating theoretical and empirical aspects of trading area - a fundamental retailing concept. The methodology encompasses a review of the existing concepts and develops an empirical investigation about the trading area phenomenon within Brazilian supermarkets. The discovery of certain regularities occurred when the analysis was conducted through cumulative distribution curves of clients. It was verified that the size of the stores and the population density seem to be determinant factors of the trading area dimensions.
Retailing; marketing; trading area; retail site location; new stores