OPTIMAL CONTINUOUS LOCATION OF A RETAIL FACILITY, FACILITY ATTRACTIVENESS, AND MARKET SHARE - AN INTERACTIVE MODEL

In this paper a model for the location of a retail facility anywhere i n the plane is presented. Existing location papers suggest that market ers can evaluate a set of potential sites for the location of a new fa cility. The site that maximizes the market share captured is selected. However, the best site for the new facility may not be included in th e user provided set of potential sites. Finding the best location anyw here in the plane requires the analysis of the market share function w hich is addressed in this paper. In addition, a sensitivity analysis o f both the best location and the market share captured is provided. Co mputational experiments illustrate the properties of this function and its sensitivity to the data parameters. The analysis shows that the m arket share captured by the facility (existing or new) is sensitive to both facility location and attractiveness.