Kressell Daniel

Socio-Economic Implications of a Wal-Mart Supercenter within the Urban Dufferin Mall Area, Toronto, Ontario ©2014

Wal-Mart is considered a global retail phenomenon that boasts of being able to provide everything that consumers want at low, low prices.  However, the global perception of Wal-Mart as a retail giant has yet to reach the Canadian market.  Wal-Mart’s new neighbourhood ventures within Canada are commonly perceived with a negative connotation. When attempting to measure the success of Wal-Mart and its impact on the Canadian market, it was realized that research surrounding Wal-Mart in the Canadian context is very limited unlike the extensive analysis conducted in the United States. This study investigates the incremental effects of Dufferin Mall’s Wal-Mart Supercenter on the socio-economic factors of the immediate area between 2006 and 2013. Therefore, it is anticipated that the analysis and findings from this research will be beneficial to local officials, stakeholders, policy developers and planners who act in the best interest of the public good within the Canadian context. In an effort to gain information on Wal-Mart and its impacts on the area, research was first completed on the present retail landscape of the study area. Retail establishments located within a 1.5 kms radius of Dufferin Mall were first categorized into 15 major categories based on service and product offerings. Empirical research study and previous primary and secondary reports were reviewed to assist in the exploration of the negative and positive incremental effects of Wal-Mart.  After a review of the existing research, the effect of Wal-Mart on the surrounding socio-economic landscape and its economic impacts were documented. Based on the findings of this study, in conjunction with other research, it was found that there has been a decline in the number of retail establishments that compete with Wal-Mart in the Dufferin Mall vicinity. However, retail establishments that do not directly compete with Wal-Mart have increased in frequency around the Dufferin Mall. Multiple linear regression was applied to test the relationship between the dependent variable (employment in retail) and select independent variables (population counts, median household income, education attainment average household size, etc.). The regression models reveal that the r squared was 0.426 in 2006 and 0.945 in 2011. These associations are helpful in understanding underlying processes that exist in this study.close