How far will retail customer's travel to your store?

McGraw-Hill publishes one of the few Retailing textbooks that contains a report from the North American Retail Highlights, a study conducted by Colliers (Colliers.com) that helps provide NORMAL DRIVING (trade area) DISTANCE (remember the 80/20 rule) for distance traveled to the retail store.

Here is the summary from Chapter 7 of the McGraw/Hill Retailing text by Levy&Weitz:
TYPE of Structure: Square Feet Size Trade Area (effectivenesslimit)
Free Standing (single units) varies 3 - 7 miles!
Think Kohl's, gas stations, 7 / 11

Neighborhood/community
shopping centers 30,000-350,000 3 - 7 miles!!!!
Usually grocery stores plus some

Power center
(Stonebriar or Grapevine Mills) 250,000 - 600,000 5 - 10 miles!!!

Enclosed Malls 400,000 - 1,000,000 5 - 25 miles!!!
Willowbrook, Galleria

Theme/Festival centers 80,000 - 250,000 25- 75 miles!!
Cabella's, Bass Pro, IKEA

This list makes you think about all the mail you receive, all the printed advertisements you see in newspapers-- Wasted! Business owners that are not combining the power of knowing their target with the power of knowing how effective their location is as far as its potential for physical reach, often winding up closing their doors fairly quickly. So what if you have a truly unique resale shop, if you just leased a space in the neighborhood center with the grocery store, chances are just the neighbors will know you are there and frankly all the advertising in the world would not cause your target to drive to see you at that neighborhood location.

Think and plan the way they do on Top Shot, its not just the aim, its the conditions at the location as well!