Changes in Chinese supermarket development in the Toronto CMA : a case study of T & T Supermarket

The Chinese have developed expansive ethnic economies with high levels of institutional completeness throughout the Toronto CMA. While Chinese shopping centre development has been studied extensively in the literature, little research has been done on changes in the Chinese food industry, one of the oldest and largest sectors of the Chinese ethnic economy. Using T & T Supermarket as a case study, this paper investigates changes in Chinese supermarket development in the Toronto CMA. The first most notable change is the evolution of Chinese supermarkets from traditional-concept stores, which sell almost exclusively Chinese goods, to the one-stop supermarket, which offers a wider range of goods and services to a larger customer base. Chinese supermarkets have also experienced shifts in location from Chinese shopping plazas and enclosed malls to mixed-ethnic shopping plazas and enclosed mainstream malls. Finally, this study examines the prevalence of cross-shopping in mixed-ethnic shopping centres, thus illustrating potential benefits and future trends in ethnic shopping centre development.