In recent years, the suburbanization of retail activities in the metropolitan area has made rapid progress. The supermarket (super) is one of the main facilities in this trend. The aim of the present article is to examine the growth, location and trade area of the super. The results are as follows.
(i) Since the 1960's, the establishment of the supers has proceeded, and especially in the 1970's the supers have increased remarkably. With the growth in number, a change has come in the quality of the stores. The number of tenants, kinds of goods and parking lots which the stores hold have increased.
(ii) The establishment of the supers has been expanded from the metropolis to the suburban area in accordance with the population growth. When supers are expanded, the sites of the store location are mainly classified into three phases: from “intra-shopping districts” to “railway station and its surroundings” and then to “street-oriented”.
(iii) The distribution of the supers corresponds to the structure of the metropolitan area and its urbanization. In the metropolis and its built-up area, the middle-sized stores (floor space 1, 000-3, 000m2) are higher in location quotient, and the large agglomeration of stores can be found in the intra-shopping districts along the railway stations on the urban fringe. The greatest number of supers are located in the suburbs among the metropolitan areas. The types of store location are varied. Among them, is the new one which increased in 1970's, the street-oriented type with a large parking lot detached from the existing retail facilities. In the metropolitan fringes the establishment of the stores is less in number than in the two areas just mentioned above in accordance with the smaller population growth. But the changing pattern of the store locations can be recognized in this area too.
(iv) Generally, the trade area of the supers is composed of two areas in view of the consumers' behavior. The primary trade area is the one supported by the consumers who do their shopping at the store each day. The secondary trade area is the one supported by the consumers doing their shopping once per week or less. In addition, in the case of SC type stores (street-oriented location) their trading range on holidays is broader than that of week days, being supported by the consumers who come to the store in their own cars.