Christer Strandberg

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Glesbygdsbutiker

THIS IS A study of establishment and development of conveniencestores. The test specimens are two stores established in the northern parts ofSweden during the second half of 1975.The study consists of two parts. In the first part the interest is concentratedon the establishment of the stores and their development during the firstbusiness year. The development afterwards, i.e. up to and included the stores'sixth business year, is taken up in part two.In the first part a model is produced on variables of importance when stores insparsely populated areas are established and developed (chapter 2). Theoreticallythe model is based partly on the marketing mix approach, with theinterest concentrated on the design of marketing mix measures in order to meetthe households' demands, and partly on establishment studies.The empirical studies of the first stage have mainly consisted of personalinterviews with the store owners and their potential customers. Eurther, thestores' potential customers have replied to an inquiry on two occasions. Theplanning and realization of the empirical studies are shown in chapter 4.The results of the first studies are shown in chapters 4-8. In chapter 4 the testareas are presented. The establishment and development of the stores duringtheir first business year are accounted for in chapters 5 and 6. The households'buying behavior, with emphasis on store loyalty and attitudes towards the newstores, is taken up in chapter 7. The results of these studies, which aresummarized in chapter 8, show that the establishment processes of the newstores were in no way unique. An important factor in this connection is the useof local resources. Eurther, the results showed that the two stores differed intheir development of the marketing mix. Here the aim of the activities was ofimportance. There was also a certain connection between the marketing mixpolicy and the households' store loyalty.In the second part the theoretical reference frame is extended to include alsothe social aspects of food supply in sparsely populated areas (chapter 10). Theplanning and realization of the empirical studies, which on the whole agreedwith those of the first stage, are shown in chapter 11. The results of thesestudies show that the development of the stores' marketing mix as well as thehouseholds' store loyalty and attitudes towards the local stores, only hadchanged marginally (chapter 12). The social exchange between sellers andbuyers were of great importance in this connection (chapter 13).In the final chapter (chapter 14) the results are summarized and analyzed. Theimportance of developing the social exchanges between sellers and buyers isstressed here. However, these social exchanges can change over time. In thischapter the importance of continued research in this field, also includingdensely populated areas, is commented on. Einally some alternative perspectiveson food supply in sparsely populated areas are shown.