Department of Geography
University of Toronto Mississauga
Marketing Geography, Winter 2013
Assignment #2 Topic 8

In this assignment, you will evaluate the retail strip on Dundas Street between Camilla Rd/Kirwin Ave and Given Road in the context of surrounding land uses and surrounding population. You will determine if the market focus of the retail strip reflects the surrounding population and if there are particular opportunities or threats for this retail strip arising from possible land use changes, population changes, market focus, ambience or organizational changes.

Required Tasks:
Travel to Dundas Street and gather information for the retail strip between Camilla Rd/Kirwin Ave and Given Road (both north and south sides of the street) through observation on the following: location, accessibility (by car, public transit etc.), land uses (residential type, non-retail functions, vacant land etc.), store variety (ethnic, food, clothing, clothing type, etc.), produce mix, pricing strategies (based on general observations, you should not make inquiries in individual stores), store ownership (chains, independents etc.), services (banks, restaurants and type, personal services, parking etc.), consumers (age, families, economic status, ethnicity, shopping activity through participant observation) and streetscape ambience (planters, trees, lighting, cleanliness, traffic flows, pedestrian flows, noise levels, width, ease of movement etc.). Produce a plan of the retail strip where you identify different store types, residential types, services, non-retail activity, different land uses and their locations. Consult the data you worked with for assignment 1 and the graphs that you produced for information on the local population. The combination of the plan of the retail site, the data from your first assignment and the observations from the site visit should assist you to complete the written portion of the assignment.

Structure and Grading:
Your assignment should have the following structure. The assignment will be graded according to this layout with specific marks for each section.

1. Introduction (approx. 3/4 page) (10 marks) Provide a general introduction to the topic of retail strips by explaining their function, their typical layout and the main issues that impact their effectiveness as a retail form. This is a general discussion and should not focus on your specific retail strip.
2. Plan of the retail strip (not more than 2 pages) (20 marks)
The plan should have a title, a legend and a directional arrow (North arrow). Use different colours to identify store types, services, different land uses and different building structures. The plan will be graded on design, accuracy, clarity; readability and overall presentation (see the sample illustration on the course page on portal). The retail plan must be created in excel and transferred into your word document.
To assist you in creating the retail plan one of my research students has produced two tutorial videos.
You can find them at the UTM library’s youtube channel at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/UTMLibrary?feature=mhee
Click on ‘Playlists’ and then on the ‘GGR252: Making Retail Strips in Excel’. The playlist contains two videos (Part 1 and 2 of the tutorial). You should review these tutorials before visiting the retail strip.

3. Discuss the retail strip in terms of its organization, store type and mix, pricing, product mix and its overall ambience. What is the market focus of this strip? (approx. 1 page) (10 marks)

4. Does the market focus of the retail strip (as determined by the retail plan, your observation on site) reflect the population characteristics (as determined from the data for assignment 1)? (approx. 1.5 pages) (20 marks)

5. Are there particular opportunities or threats that this retail strip may face in the future. (approx. 1.5 pages) (20 marks)
In this section, consider the following: Is the retail strip maximising its market through its current market focus? Are there opportunities to change this market focus? Are there threats posed by other retail facilities in this area? Are there opportunities related to possible neighbourhood change and/or changes in land uses? Are there threats related to possible neighbourhood change and/or changes in land uses? Does the street ambience facilitate a positive shopping experience? What changes could be made to improve the ambience? Does this retail strip have a certain or uncertain future?
Inform your discussion through analysis of the retail plan you produced, your field observations (both at the retail strip and on your journey to the location) and by your knowledge of the retail economy. Your discussion should not be organized by question and should not have a question/answer focus.

6. Conclusion (approx. 3/4 page) (10 marks)
Focus on the function of retail strips in urban retailing. What conditions result in a successful retail strip? Are there changes that retail strip may make to improve their effectiveness? This is a general discussion and should not focus on your specific retail strip.
There will be 10 marks allocated to writing and organization. Marks will be awarded based on the quality of the writing (sentences, paragraphs, grammar etc.), the clarity of the discussion and the organization of the assignment (observing the structure and page limits).

The first page of your assignment should have your name, student number, course title and number. Your assignment must be double spaced, typed in 12-point font with 1 inch margins and must observe the page limits identified above. Penalties will be imposed for exceeding these page limits.

This is not a group assignment. You should not cooperate with any other student when writing the assignment.

Submitting Assignments
This class uses Turnitin.com. Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays to Turnitin.com for a review of textual similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the University’s use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com web site.

Students are permitted, under the University of Toronto conditions of use, to opt out of using Turnitin. To ensure a uniform level of rigor in assessing the validity of the work, these student will be required to submit a detailed report to the course instructor outlining the approach, structure and content of their written assignment one week prior to the final due date. The student may also be required to present an oral summary of their work to the course instructor.

All assignments are due by 12pm. March 11th, to the turnitin.com website. Please note that this deadline is rigid and that a full day late penalty applies immediately. Please keep a back-up of your assignment even after it has been submitted as well as all rough work notes and other preparatory work.

Submission information and course codes will be available on the course web site (portal.utoronto.ca)

Late Submission of Assignments
The following steps must be completed in order to be considered for academic accommodation for late assignments:
1. Students must inform their professor in writing (e-mail is acceptable) within 24 hours of a test date/assignment due date of any circumstances that prevent them from writing a test or submitting an assignment on time.
2. Students must complete an online Special Consideration Request @ https://utmapp.utm.utoronto.ca/SpecialRequest. Students who miss a test due to circumstances beyond their control (e.g. illness or an accident) can request that the Department grant them special consideration. You must present your case to the Department (not the Instructor). Note: The system only supports Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox for the time being.
3. Original supporting documentation (e.g. a medical certificate, accident report) MUST BE SUBMITTED to the DROP BOX (labeled “Environment and Geography Petition Documentation”) located outside Room 3282, Davis Building. Note: ROSI declarations are not accepted as supporting documentation. You have up to one (1) week from the date of the missed test to submit your request and supporting documentation (late requests will NOT be considered without a “letter of explanation” as to why the request is late).
4. Medical Certificates or Doctor’s Notes MUST include the statement “This Student was unable to write the test on date(s) for medical reasons”. Documentation MUST show that the physician was consulted within ONE day of the test date/assignment due date. A statement merely confirming a report of illness made by the student is NOT acceptable (such as, “This patient tells me that he was feeling ill on that day.”).

Please note that the written explanation and documentation that you submit represents an appeal from you, requesting the opportunity to account for that portion of your grade in some other manner. If an appeal is not received, or if the appeal is deemed unacceptable, you will receive a grade of zero for the item you missed. If the appeal is granted – that is, your reason for missing the item is considered acceptable by the committee – then a mechanism for accounting for the grade value of the missed item will be discussed.
A Departmental committee evaluates each request. Decisions will be communicated by email within two weeks of receipt of all completed documents. Note: It is your responsibility to ensure your email account is working and able to receive emails. Claims that a Departmental decision was not received will NOT be considered as a reason for further consideration. Contact Sabrina Ferrari ([email protected]) Academic Counselor, should you NOT receive notification of your decision within 2 weeks of submission.

Note that holidays and pre-purchased plane tickets, family plans (unless critical, such as death of an immediate family member), your friend’s wedding, lack of preparation, or too many other tests are not acceptable excuses.

Requests for Extension on Assignments
Students MUST submit a request for extension in ADVANCE of the deadline in order to receive a decision.
If you require more time to complete an assignment you will be required to make your request directly to the Department by completing an on-line Special Consideration Request @ https://utmapp.utm.utoronto.ca/SpecialRequest. You will be required to provide supporting documentation.

Original supporting documentation (e.g. a medical certificate, accident report, etc) MUST BE SUBMITTED to the DROP BOX (labeled “Environment and Geography Petition Documentation”) located outside Room 3282, Davis Building. Note: ROSI declarations are not accepted as supporting documentation. You are expected to submit your request to the Department before the due date of the assignment, unless demonstrably serious reasons prevent you from doing so. In the event of an illness, if you are seeking a one-day extension, medical certificates or doctor’s notes must confirm that you were ill on the due date of the assignment; if you are requesting a longer extension, your documentation must specify exactly the length of the period during which you were unable to carry out your academic work. For extensions of time beyond the examination period you must submit a petition through the Office of the Registrar. http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/index.php?id=6988

A Departmental committee evaluates each request for an extension of time. Decisions will be communicated by email within two weeks of receipt of all completed documents. Please note that students are required to submit their assignment as soon as they are able and they should NOT wait for the decision of the committee. Note: It is your responsibility to ensure your email account is working and able to receive emails. Claims that a Departmental decision was not received will NOT be considered as a reason for further consideration. Contact Sabrina Ferrari ([email protected]) Academic Counsellor, should you NOT receive notification of your decision within 2 weeks of submission.

It is your responsibility to follow the appropriate procedures and submit requests for special consideration on time. Failure to do so may result in the committee denying your request.
Should you require further information regarding Special Considerations, please contact the Academic Counselor, Sabrina Ferrari, Undergraduate Academic Counselor, Room 3282, Davis Building, Telephone: 905-828-5465, email: [email protected]
Policy on Accommodations for Religious Observances
As noted in the Policy on Scheduling of Classes and Examinations and Other Accommodations for Religious Observances, the following provisions are included:
“It is the policy of the University of Toronto to arrange reasonable accommodation of the needs of students who observe religious holy days other than those already accommodated by ordinary scheduling and statutory holidays.
Students have a responsibility to alert members of the teaching staff in a timely fashion to upcoming religious observances and anticipated absences. Instructors will make every reasonable effort to avoid scheduling tests, examinations or other compulsory activities at these times. If compulsory activities are unavoidable, every reasonable opportunity should be given to these students to make up work that they miss, particularly in courses involving laboratory work. When the scheduling of tests or examinations cannot be avoided, students should be informed of the procedure to be followed to arrange to write at an alternate time.
It is most important that no student be seriously disadvantaged because of her or his religious observances. However, in the scheduling of academic and other activities, it is also important to ensure that the accommodation of one group does not seriously disadvantage other groups within the University community.”
With respect to minimum advance notice, the Policy provides that “Students have a responsibility to alert members of the teaching staff in a timely fashion to upcoming religious observances and anticipated absences.” Since students would normally be aware of upcoming religious observances as well as examination schedules in advance, a minimum of three weeks advance notice will be considered sufficient.
More information and some dates of potential relevance for the U of T community are available at www.viceprovoststudents.utoronto.ca/publicationsandpolicies/guidelines/religiousobservances.htm.
As with any academic accommodation request, students must submit an on-line Special Consideration Request @ https://utmapp.utm.utoronto.ca/SpecialRequest

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