Correspondence: David M. Ambrose, College of Business Administration University of Nebraska Omaha, Nebraska 68154, USA.
Tel: +1 402 330 2776; Fax: +1 402 554 2010; E-mail: ambrose1@cox.net

¹received his doctorate from the George Washington University (US) and has been both a faculty member in marketing and entrepreneurship and a consultant to a broad variety of business organisations. He has been a professor in the Department of Marketing and Management at the University of Nebraska at Omaha for more than 30 years.

²received his doctorate from the University of Arkansas (US) and has been actively engaged as a faculty member of management and organisation. He has been engaged in the academic preparation of advanced secondary students oriented toward a university education for more than 20 years. He has been a professor in the Department of Marketing and Management at the University of Nebraska at Omaha for more than 30 years.

³received her doctorate from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (US) and has been intensely involved as a faculty member of finance in the academic development of courses and engaging students in the modern financial world. She is currently a professor of finance on the faculty at the California State University, Sacramento (US).

Received 11 January 2008; Revised 11 January 2008; Published online 5 March 2008.

Abstract

Numerous studies that are conducted to provide an understanding of the attractiveness and conditions of shopping centres consider these complexes as composite entities. As a result, the studies measure and illustrate the overall shopping centres and not the individual retailers. The problem with this approach is the profiles of the individual stores may differ significantly from the aggregate profile of the overall shopping centre. The authors conducted a consumer assessment of the market conditions of a composite retail sector in Blair, Nebraska (US). The issues that composed the study were very similar to those of other contemporary market analyses. In the design of this study, the respondents, however, provide assessments and perceptions of the individual retailers of the shopping district. Therein, the study data profiled both the individual stores and compares them to the assessments as a composite of all stores. The intent of this paper is to sharpen the research methodologies addressing shopping centres and to distinguish the findings of overall assessments from the findings of store-specific assessments.