Introduction
The traditional town centre dominance of
retailing in the UK has been challenged by
innovative new retail formats located in outof-
town sites. Schiller[1] referred to these
early developments as waves, with three initial
phases – food superstores, retail warehouses/
parks and regional shopping centres. More
recently, a fourth wave has emerged of more
specialized, up-market formats, such as warehouse
clubs, airport retailing and factory
outlet centres[2]. It is the latter format which
is the subject of this paper.