A Report on the Suitability of New York City for Retail Investment

Student Name

Institutional Affiliation

Contents

Introduction 3

Background on Retail Industry in the U.S. 3

Types of Retail Outlets 5

Specialty Stores 7

Supermarkets 7

Convenience Stores 8

Discount Stores 8

Factors to Consider When Setting Up A Retail Outlet 9

Challenges to Setting Up Retail Stores 10

Retail Industry In New York 12

Why New York? 12

Employment trends 14

E-Commerce 15

Job Statistics in New York Boroughs Comparison 16

Comparison of New York to the Rest of the U.S. 16

Retail Real Estate Trends New York 18

Tourists and Native Consumption in New York 18

Conclusion 19

Retail Investment in New York City

Introduction

Retailing is the most essential of economic activities, providing end-users with direct access to commodities. Customers can purchase goods and services from various merchants, and in affordable quantities. In America, the first retail outlets were trading outposts and general stores where Native Americans could exchange goods they made for imported commodities from Europe. With time, and as villages and towns grew out of these unchartered frontiers, the trading posts began engaging in the selling of food, clothing, and farm necessities. Cities typically would form around these posts, owing to their ability to provide necessities to those it served. As a result, most of the early retail outlets doubled up as post offices and became economic and social centers of their communities. After industrialization, specifically in the period following the Second Great War, giant retail outlets like supermarkets, chain stores, discount stores, and shopping malls emerged. These centers giant retail centers thrive on their ability to give customers a wide range of products while still retaining a personal and well-informed service. For this reason, they remain popular with personal shoppers. Presently, retail is a diverse and complex field often involving the buying and selling of physical commodities including food, clothing and apparel, healthcare products, consumer electronics, automobile parts, pharmaceuticals, and books (Sorescu, Frambach, Singh, Rangaswamy, & Bridges, 2011). Retail also covers a small subset of services that are useful to everyday users like rug cleaning and car repair. 

Background on Retail Industry in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that total retail sales in 2011 were around $3 trillion, a marked increase from the previous year’s estimates by 4.2 percentage points, with retailers employ more than 25 million people in the U.S. alone (Bureau of Economic Affairs, 2011; Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011). Moreover, within the United States alone, over one million retail outlets were operational in 2011 (Marcus & Millichap, 2011). Retailing of goods, and services, typically requires the existence of both a retailer and a wholesaler, with the wholesaler acting as a middleman between the manufacturers of the products and the retail stores. The wholesaler buys goods directly from producers in bulk based on the orders of his or her buyers, warehouses the products, and arranges for delivery of the merchandise. The wholesaler’s clientele typically consists of retail outlets, so in a way, retailing creates the need for wholesaling (Zentes, Morschett, & Schramm-Klein, 2007). Retail consists of department stores, supermarkets, chain stores and franchises, specialty stores, mail order houses, and even online and door-to-door merchants. These retailers buy the goods from the wholesalers, repackage them where necessary, and sell them in smaller quantities to the direct consumers. Retailers should thus know and be able to anticipate the needs and wants of their customers for effective sales. At the same time, the retailing outlets should advertise their products and display them attractively to draw in customers. 

Retailing can be divided into five categories based on its primary functions. These are buying and merchandising, store operations, advertising and sales promotion, accounting and book-keeping, and personnel management (Zentes, Morschett, & Schramm-Klein, 2007). Merchandising and buying are integral in the determination of the amount and assortment of merchandise that a retailer has stocked in their shop for sale. Store operations take the form of all the processes that a retailer essentially does to maintain his or her enterprise. Advertising and Sales Promotion refers to the activities that inform consumers and potential customers on the goods available with a retailer as well as their nature and utility to the client. Book-keeping entails the keeping of records of the money spent as well as received in the discharge of commerce at the store. Accounting also covers records of payments on the salaries and wages, corporate taxes, and any monies due from customers. Finally, the personnel department is charged with the engagement of qualified staff at the store.

Types of Retail Outlets

The retail sector is enormous, accounting for over $4 trillion in revenue last year alone. Within the retail segment, numerous sub-categories exist that cover the exchange of goods in everything from internet sales to convenience stores and even vending machines. Several different types of retail stores, each distinct from the others in their product assortment, price range, the level of service, and the requirements of its target market (Zentes, Morschett, & Schramm-Klein, 2007). The various types of categories each have their unique qualities like fragmentation or sales volume transacted. Fragmentation in the retail field depends solely on the particular sub-field that one chooses to engage in. For example, groceries tend to be highly concentrated, while convenience stores are highly fragmented. Since retail is rife with different sub-categories, these sub-sectors define their alternative expectations on the business. Still, Retail is the biggest employer in the United States accounting for over fifteen million jobs. Owing to the dependence of retail sales on personal income, interest rates, and consumer confidence, retail is a good indicator of economic performance (Sorescu, Frambach, Singh, Rangaswamy, & Bridges, 2011). Conversely, it is also affected by the economy at large. Larger stores are afforded the advantages of marketing, superior merchandising with the resulting economies of scale that ensues, and supply chain management. Retailers on average earn between 30-40% in profit margins compared to the other commerce segments. Smaller retailers have lower profit margins than the larger shops and thus, have to rely on larger volumes to make up for the differences in returns. Large retailers have bigger margins from smaller quantities of goods.

Department Stores

A department store usually has some sections with each section carrying a different product line. Usually, such stores have a wide assortment of property with specialty products like apparel, consumer electronics, cosmetics, and household products. Purchases are made by the individual departments, with each department functioning as an independent part of the autonomous whole. A department head manages the daily running of his or her department while broad policies that set with the scope of the entire store responsible for maintaining a uniform image of the shop. The policies in place may be regarding the pricing strategy, merchandise carried within the store, advertising and product promotion strategy, credit policies, and customer service. Recently, however, department stores have come under stiff challenge from specialty stores that offer the same selection but with better prices due to their lower overheads. Price conscious consumers, especially at this time that the economy is coming out of the depression are wary of the premium priced commodities offered by a department store. At the same time, many manufacturers are now selling their products directly to the consumers to drive sales and offset the falling demand that has been occasioned by the economic crisis (Reynolds, Cuthbertson, & Bell, 2004). Department stores can thus reposition themselves as specialty outlets, dividing their operations into mini-boutiques that feature a different product category (Sorescu, Frambach, Singh, Rangaswamy, & Bridges, 2011). Similarly, they could upgrade their service to shift the attention away from the prices at which they offer goods to their clientele. 

Specialty Stores

Specialty stores sell merchandise targeted at specific markets or market segments. Specialty stores thus have a deeper but narrower assortment of stock than a typical department store. For this reason, they have to engage knowledgeable personnel at the stores to cater to their clientele’s needs erstwhile offering better customer service (Reynolds, Cuthbertson, & Bell, 2004). Thus, most customers take price to be a secondary consideration in specialty outlets. The unique range of commodities, the physical appearance of the store, and the knowledgeable and qualified staff are of more importance, and as such determine the popularity of a specialty store. As a result of their attention to the unique needs of the customer and limited product lines offered, specialty stores are the perfect place to introduce new products before they are brought into the larger retail market and department stores. Most manufacturers favor the low-risk testing ground that specialty stores provide for any new products. Specialty stores are very popular in the apparel market. An apparel store could, for example, specialize in children’s, men’s, or women’s clothing. Alternatively, they could offer sports commodities or specialty apparel like wedding dresses. 

Supermarkets

Supermarkets are big, departmentalized, self-service stores serving foods and non-food items to everyday consumers. In the United States, supermarkets are facing declining sales since dual-income families much rather prefer to eat out or taking already-prepared foods to the raw produce served in most supermarkets. The unprecedented increase in takeaway food is largely as a result of families with both parents working. Such families are willing to pay for the convenience of ready-made food due to the paucity time. However, since supermarkets can offer one-stop shopping, consumers are still willing to frequent supermarkets since the convenience, and time-saving is unrivaled. Supermarkets have responded to this potential new area of business by increasing the size of their operations to match up to the needs of their customers for convenience, assortment, and service (Sorescu, Frambach, Singh, Rangaswamy, & Bridges, 2011). Consequently, most superstores currently offer the convenience of one-stop shopping for both food and non-food items, as well as pharmacies, flower shops, bakeries, video rentals, dry cleaning, and sit-down restaurants. 

Convenience Stores

Convenience stores are the same as supermarkets, only that they are miniaturized in that they carry only a limited range of convenience goods. The products that they stock are typically high-turnover goods that are in acute demand by the consumers. For this reason, most convenience stores are located within or in proximity to residential areas and are usually open for longer hours. Owing to the convenience they bring to the customer regarding their closeness, long hours of operation, and efficient service, these stores typically offer a surcharge on their products. As a result of competition from discount stores and supermarkets, most specialty stores presently stock non-food items as well.

Discount Stores

Discount stores compete with the other retail outlets by lower prices, higher prices, and higher volumes of goods. Discounters are roughly divided into two subcategories, the first being full line discounter, and mass merchandisers, and the second being specialty discount stores which are informally known as category killers. Full-line discounters or mass merchandisers refers to the discounters that offer a limited service while having a broad range of well-known and easily identifiable brands of hard goods. Typically, these stock clothing, beddings, toys, sporting goods, and hardware (Spector, 2005). A small range of the full-line discounters also carry some non-perishable food items like canned food, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages. Full-line discounters and mass merchandisers adopt their retail strategy so as to affect moderate decreases in price with larger quantity orders, especially on high-turnover products (Spector, 205). Specialty discount stores, on the other hand, stock a single line of goods. Category killers offer an almost complete selection of single-line merchandise, applying the use of discount prices on high volume and high turnover products as well as self-service to draw in customers (Spector, 2005). Walmart is an example of full-line discounter while Staples and Home Depot are examples of category killers. 

Factors to Consider When Setting Up A Retail Outlet

Several factors emerge as principal concerns when setting up a retail store. The factors are those that have an instrumental role in the success or the failure of the enterprise. As such, any competent retailer should put these factors as the centerpiece of his strategy. Barring this, he or she cannot be assured of success in this rapidly changing and challenging business environment. The most highly regarded of the factors to consider when establishing a retail business are location, the knowledge and expertise of the retailer, market demand, the total project costs and the financial capital that the consumer has available, competition, laws, rules & regulations governing the industry, the technology requirements, and the return of investment in the business. These are the most important factors to consider before establishing a retail business. Looking at the location, for example, a retailer has to factor in how much they can afford in rent as well as the space requirements for their particular clientele. A similar consideration derives from the exposure a location provides the retailer. If for example the retailer chooses to set up base in a location that is prime but at a higher rent on the real estate, they may still enjoy savings in advertisement and product promotion from the exposure the site provides them.

Before venturing into retail, it is essential to reach the determination on whether the business one looks to engage in is best served as a brick and mortar store, online business, or an effective combination of the two. Online businesses have the advantage of catering to a wider cross-section of the market since physical restrictions do not limit it. Another consideration before starting a business lies in how well the entrepreneur knows his preferred business since such know-how is crucial in the determination of future success in their enterprise. In a similar vein, the technology requirements are essential as they may prevent or encourage entry into a particular sub-field. At the same time, market forces also determine whether entry into a particular segment is viable or the market is so saturated as to bar entry. Competition, particularly from the larger manufacturers may also determine what type of retail business one ventures. Even more important, a retailer may be limited by the total projected costs of the firm, especially if they do not have access to adequate financial capital. Additional considerations may arise from the expectations on the returns on investments, and the time it takes to make a recap the initial investment. Finally, retailers have to consider the existing legislation on carrying out the business in their preferred area of operation and how well these suit their particular business. 

Challenges to Setting Up Retail Stores

Presently, it remains unclear whether the current bout of consumer confidence will last, but Americans are shopping. Retail sales growth have experienced positive growth for fifteen consecutive months, with the National Retail Federation pegging the expected growth for 2012 at 3.4 percent (Marcus & Millichap, 2011). While retailers all around are hoping for a good year, some challenges are still expected. Retailers should, therefore, focus their efforts on getting the right merchandise and preparing for the litany of problems that they may face in 2012. The greatest of these difficulties arises as a result of the struggling economy. The fragile economy forebodes slow growth into the first half of the year 2012. Still, with the decrease in unemployment rates, and burgeoning consumer confidence, the economy is set to pick up later in the quarter. As consumers begin to spend more, sales in the retail segment are expected to increase. Another challenge that retailers will likely face is the seasonality of the retail sector. The retail business is highly seasonal with most sales usually occurring in and around the holiday season (Reynolds, Cuthbertson, & Bell, 2004). As such, this presents a steep challenge in the handling of finances and planning as a result of variable levels of working capital, especially if the availability of the capital is reliant on sales.

Another challenge that doubles up as an opportunity is technology. Most retailers are at pains when it comes to deciding the extent of technology they incorporate into their business. Technology plays an integral part in widening the market base as well as streamlining the business operations. In this day of social media, technology can also help further the drive to market one’s products. Many of the retailers that are currently in the marketplace have to find out what role technology will play in their business and how to tailor it for maximum benefit. A prime example of the use of technology in business presents in E-commerce (Reynolds, Cuthbertson, & Bell, 2004). E-commerce allows businesses to reach a wider market that they cannot reach from brick and mortar stores. Also, e-commerce makes for savings since it eliminates need for redundancies in the employment of personnel. Another example of the use of technology presents in the use of email and social media accounts for advertising, mass marketing, and promotion of products. Companies that effectively engage their clients on the social media have better sales than those that do not. E-commerce and social media can thus be beneficial to those businesses that have implemented it while proving to be a steep challenge to those that have not. As such, any prospective retailer should have a clear plan on the use of technology in their business.

Retail Industry In New York

Retail has long played an integral part in the growth of the economy of New York City. Retail defines the streetscape of New York City. From the Ladies’ Mile on Sixth Avenue, to the Fifth Avenue, ranked among the most affluent shopping streets in the world, all the way to iconic shopping corridors such as Orchard Street, Arthur Avenue, and Queens Boulevard, retail has had a persevering impact on the Big Apple and provided a livelihood for countless New Yorkers. Retail in the city dates back to the post-World War II period when suburban bargain hunting alternatives including shopping malls, lifestyle centers, big box stores, and discount store emerged. The new form of shopping had the effect of drawing retail trade to the suburbs, a trend that continues to date. With the advent of the ongoing financial depression in 2007, retail sales shrank considerably, with the downtown districts of the city along with smaller towns vanishing altogether. In the preceding two years, New York has picked up from the slump and retail is once again a promising venture. 

Why New York?

Despite the effects of the Great Recession felt most acutely over the years 2007 to 2009, New York City has had a resurgence in retail sales over the last few years. Even though the city’s retail industry the nation in the share of total private sector jobs, that gap is closing quickly. With the increase in population experienced over the last couple of years, heightened public safety records, and historical levels of employment, the retail industry in New York has expanded to more than 2,300 businesses and over 50,000 employees between 2001 to 2012 (Bureau of Economic Affairs, 2011; NY State Labor, 2011). The increase has been accompanied by an improvement in shopping options citywide, most notably in lower-income areas outside Manhattan. The National Retail Industry Index has consistently ranked New York favorably among the top retail metropolitan areas in the nation (Marcus & Millichap, 2011). The index based on the “technology, energy, trade, and diversity” of each market, with big retail being a key driver (Marcus & Millichap, 2011). As such, New York is a good place to invest.

Despite any aspersions on the impossibility of small businesses succeeding in the city, these are just not true. While New York may seem as disadvantageous to small firms, this is simply not true, a fact that is testified to by the existence of more than 2 million small businesses within the city. The sales firms are evenly distributed and located in every region of the city and within the State limits, marking New York as a fantastic place to start any franchise. Moreover, New Yorkers suffer more relaxed taxes than the residents of most other states in the nation. State legislation has always looked out for the small business owners with laws enacted giving small retailers access to capital and credit. Recent changes in the legislation that have pushed the tax rate for small businesses down from a modest 6.5% to 2.5% make it the lowest small-business tax ever imposed since the introduction of the said tax. Another relatively recent move has been the elimination of the MTA payroll tax for the smallest businesses, a move that is likely to improve the bottom lines.

While New York City has a large number of industries, there are certainly other areas that small businesses can thrive. The large population in most of New York’s boroughs makes it possible to start a business away from the city. Buffalo, the second biggest town in the state of New York, boasts over 260,000 people. Albany, the state capital, in turn, has over 100,000 people and a thriving economy. Along with Rochester, a bustling city in the western part of the state, these three form a strategic point of establishing a retail business. New York is also one of the few states in the U.S. with “Nano Metro” clusters, that is states in the nation with the largest concentration of nanotechnology companies, universities, research laboratories, and organizations. Small businesses make up 99% of the companies in New York. Demographics also point to the equal likelihood of minorities and women being successful at a business in New York City, with 537,838 minority-owned and 594,492 women-owned businesses in the city (NY State Labor, 2011). The merely statistic is testament enough to the reason why the U.S. Chamber of Commerce placed New York among top 10 states for business.

Employment trends

The employment data from New York State Labor Department points to the suitability of New York as a business hub. Between 2001 and 2011, jobs in retail industry of New York City grew 16.25%, translating to an average annual rate of 1.5% (NY State Labor, 2011). The Bureau of Labor and Statistic points to an expected increase in retail employment for the year 2012 by 4.1%, almost two and a half times the average annual growth of the past decade (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011). Since the economic recovery efforts began in 2009, the retail industry has contributed over 47,000 jobs to the New York economy, just over 15% of all new growth in jobs over the period. Retail accounts for 10% of the total employment in the city, and moving on to become the third largest employer in the city, after Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services and Health Care and Social Assistance sectors. In 2012, the number of people engaged in the retail sector is expected to surpass those that are employed in Finance and Insurance for the first time (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011; NY State Labor, 2011). The employment figures point to the increasing potential of the sector. 

Figure 1: Share of New Private Sector Employment June 2009-October 2011

E-Commerce

In as much as brick and mortar establishments account for close to 90% of retail sales, ecommerce is proving to be a disruptive technology. The emergence of ecommerce has prompted the integration of virtual and physical stores into a single channel shopping experience. The single ever present channel presents a unified channel that consumers can access products, whether they are online or offline. As such, a business can incur large profits as a result of transferring some of the responsibilities that were typically handled by store owners and their staff to the consumers through digital enhancement (Doms, Jarmin, & Klimek, 2004). Where the size of retail units in New York fell over 9% since 2002, e-commerce stores that exist solely online saw employment gains of 90.4%, adding over 1000 jobs to the city’s economy (NY State Labor, 2011). Even with the growth in online sales stores, having a physical presence has its advantages. The greatest of these advantages is that it complements the online store by enabling customers to get physically acquainted with a brand before they commit to buying the brand items online. 

Job Statistics in New York Boroughs Comparison

Following Mayor Bloomberg’s ‘Five Borough Economic Opportunity Plan’ that was aimed at seeing all the five boroughs of New York emerge from the financial crisis unscathed, there have significant economic gains.  The targeted economic development initiatives have led to all the boroughs registering strong retail employment growth after their initiation in 2009. The strong figures were in keeping with the consistent increase from 2001 (Zukin et al., 2009). Employment growth rates in Brooklyn and the Bronx over the three-year period leading up to 2011 have been higher than in Manhattan, despite the latter location posting over 60% of the new growths in retail over the period (NY State Labor, 2011). The growth in employment rates has been as a result of the support the city has given to retail development projects. Bronx, for example, constructed the Bronx Terminal Market that created over 2,100 new jobs in the area and cheap real estate space (NY State Labor, 2011). The Willets Point in Queens, Charleston Municipal Site in Staten Island, and the City Point Mall in Brooklyn are all expected to do the same for these boroughs. 

Comparison of New York to the Rest of the U.S.

Retail employment has grown at a faster rate than any other industries in New York city over the last decade. The retail sector has also grown faster in New York than any other place in the U.S. Evidence gleaned from the national retail employment figures indicate that the retail segment grew at similar levels to the overall U.S. employment figures between the years 2002 through to 2011, and the trend is expected to continue into the oncoming year (Marcus & Millichap, 2011). Between 1950 and 1990, retail employment rates in the nationwide grew at an average rate that was 42% faster than the private sector workforce overall (187.8% to 132.5%). Approximately one in nine Americans that are actively employed today work in retail industry. While the national average of workers in retail has fallen since 1990, in New York, retail employs around 19.2% more people than it did in 2000 (Marcus & Millichap, 2011). Employment in the retail sector in New York (24.1%) has grown faster than the private sector workforce (12.7%) as a whole since 1990 (Rigby, 2011). Much of these figures being linked to increases in the number of retail establishments within the city. 

A ready for much of the growth that has been experienced can be tied to an accompanying rise in the number of retail outlets, which increased by 6.4 percent from 2000 to 2012. The firm performance in the retail industry has been instrumental in the creation of jobs in the state. New York has recovered over 300% of the jobs lost during the financial recession that peaked between 2007 and 2009. Presently, New York employs more people than it has at any other time in its history, with the retail industry being the key driver. Compared to the national average, New York is also faring much better. The U.S. has been unable to get gainful employment for over one million of those who lost their jobs during the recession (Marcus & Millichap, 2011). And where the national increase in retail employment averages at 4.2% since recovery efforts began, in New York, the figure stands at an unprecedented 15% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011) Over the last decade, average retail wages have declined in New York, but not as steeply as in other areas of the nation. In New York, the average retail wage decline has been 5.6% to the country’s 9.3% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011). Evidently, New York is faring much better.

Retail Real Estate Trends New York 

With the strong demand in retail, rental prices in New York City have risen to reflect the increased demand. Across the city, a 34% increase in the median sales value for retail properties was recorded over the last year (Marcus & Millichap, 2011). Median rent paid for retail outlets in Brooklyn and Queens rose by 24% relative to the rise of 5% in the entire real estate sector (Marcus & Millichap, 2011). The rise in rents due at prime shopping locations have resulted in the growth of the perimeter, a result of which has been the expansion of prime shopping areas to include the retail corridors that previously did not fall under it (Marcus & Millichap, 2011). Broadway, in Flatiron and SoHo as well as Bleecker Street between 7th Avenue South and Hudson Street are examples of some of the residential corridors that have benefited from an increase in commerce (Zukin et al., 2009). The expansion of a technology sector in Manhattan has resulted in the increased demand for retail. Positive demand for residential real estate has however not been limited to Manhattan alone since the Bronx, Staten Island, and Queens posted growth in the region of 7.3, 12.5, and 13.5 percentage points.

Tourists and Native Consumption in New York

Retail sales have doubled in Manhattan over the last decade. The figures point to increased spending by consumers in the area, both from the tourists who frequent the region and New York natives (Travel, 2011). Just under 51 million tourists visited New York City in 2011, up 4 percent from 2010. A good section of this increase is from overseas visitors who account for 10.6 million visitors coming to New York City from abroad, up from 6 million in 2005. Together, tourists contributed an estimated $34.5 billion in spending to the New York City economy in 2011, an increase of 8.69 percent over the previous year (Travel, 2011). New Yorkers also played a part in the transformation of consumer spending. New York population rose to a record-high of more than 8.3 million residents. The figures translate into increased demand for necessity retailers, most especially in neighborhoods experiencing unprecedented growth in residential property development (Marcus & Millichap, 2011). Since 2010, New York City has documented over 110,000 new residents with the figure expected to cap off at over 160,000 by 2012. The increase in population has coincided with the establishment of over 500 new drug and pharmacy stores and over 400 new grocery and supermarket stores. The statistics point to the two largest establishment gains in the entire retail subsectors over the two-year period, with experts pointing to the figures as indication of better success in retail enterprises targeted at residents rather than tourists.

Conclusion

The report points to New York City as being a prime location for setting up a new franchise. The highlights of the report include growth in retail employment by 4.1% in 2011, with Discounters and E-commerce being the New York City’s fastest growing retail subsectors. The retail industry also accounts for over 15% of private sector jobs that have emerged within the New York since the financial crisis and the economic depression that followed. Retail rents have exceeded the $2000/SF ceiling set last year along the Madison Fifth Avenue. The report is also indicative of the high economic recovery that the city has undergone in the aftermath of the Great Recession. The city as a whole is experiencing a strong revival in retail, with the growth no longer confined to the bounds of Manhattan.  For example, the Bronx has outpaced Manhattan in the annual retail employment growth figures, while Brooklyn had the greatest gains in the number of retail establishments. The retail sales figures along with the job numbers and the sum of retail outlets on the rise, robust asking rents, and a lot of residential properties under development, New York has a real foundation for lasting growth in residential trading. Evidently, New York is one of the best places to set up a retail store.

References

Bureau of Economic Affairs,. (2011). Bureau of Economic Affairs. Retrieved 8 May 2016, from https://www.bea.gov/regional/pdf/rims/RetailSales.pdf 

Bureau of Labor Statistics,. (2011). Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. Bls.gov. Retrieved 8 May 2016, from http://www.bls.gov/cew/ 

Doms, M. E., Jarmin†, R. S., & Klimek‡, S. D. (2004). Information technology investment and firm performance in US retail trade. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 13(7), 595-613.

Marcus & Millichap,. (2011). National Retail Report. Calabasas, Carlifornia: Marcus & Millichap. Retrieved from http://www.marcusmillichap.com/services/research/ webreports/National/Retail.aspx

NY State Labor,. (2011). New York State Department of Labor. Retrieved 8 May 2016, from https://labor.ny.gov/stats/

Reynolds, J., Cuthbertson, C., & Bell, R. (2004). Retail strategy. Amsterdam: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.

Rigby, D. (2011). The future of shopping. Harvard Business Review, 89(12), 65-76.

Sorescu, A., Frambach, R. T., Singh, J., Rangaswamy, A., & Bridges, C. (2011). Innovations in retail business models. Journal of Retailing, 87, S3-S16.

Spector, R. (2005). Category killers: the retail revolution and its impact on consumer culture. Harvard Business Press.

Zentes, J., Morschett, D., & Schramm-Klein, H. (2007). Strategic retail management. Wiesbaden: Gabler.

Zukin, S., Trujillo, V., Frase, P., Jackson, D., Recuber, T., & Walker, A. (2009). New retail capital and neighborhood change: boutiques and gentrification in New York City. City & Community, 8(1), 47-64.