Establishing Territorial Embeddedness within Retail Transnational Corporation (TNC) Expansion: The Contribution of Store Development Departments

Establishing territorial embeddedness within host regions in international retail expansion is well known to be important, although the processes underpinning its realization are less explicit. This research analyses some ‘emerging practices’ of international expansion planning by drawing on interviews across a sample of store development departments. The role of analysts within host regions in evaluating economic, institutional, cultural and social contexts, and appraising the viability of market-entry methods and store formats is explored. The competitive and regulatory dynamism of regions means that behaviour which encourages greater embeddedness following market entry can be particularly helpful in strengthening the marketing and development strategies of international subsidiaries.