Much of the story of retail over the last few decades has been about the rise of big box stores, especially those offering an unrivalled level of assortment in a single retail sector – the category killers.
The home improvement chains, the office supplies stores, the electronics specialists and others provided the widest choice in large, no-frills boxes in cheaper real estate locations, giving them a decisive advantage over the smaller-footprint stores they superseded. Their low-cost structure and massive leverage of fixed costs allowed them to win with markedly better prices. Coupled with their overwhelming assortment advantage, this meant customers were prepared to drive further to get to their stores.
