55SPATIALSTRUCTUREANDMARKETINGPAT-TERNOFLARGERETAILBUSINESSINXI’ANMAXiaolongABSTRACT:TakingthelargeretailcompaniesinXi’anasexamples,thispapermakesqualitativeandquantitativeanalysisofthespatialstructureandmar-ketingpatternofthecompaniesbasedonthesurveydata.First,itdividesthecityintofiveareaswhicharethedowntown,theeastarea,westarea,northareaandsoutharea.Thenitcomparesthesupply,salesvolumeandoperationefficiencyoftheretailcompa-niesinthefiveareasandmakesanoverlayanalysisonthespatialdistributionofretailcompanieswiththatofcommercialresidentialhouses.Atlast,itgivessuggestionsonthedistributionandpatternofretailbusinessinXi’an.KEYWORDS:largeretailbusiness;spatialstructure;marketingpattern;Xi’anCommercialAreaPlanningVOL.31NO.2FEB.2007562007312CITYPLANNINGREVIEWTab.1SurveyoflargeretailbusinessinXi’anFig.1TendencyofthelargeretailbusinessinXi’an57Fig.2SpatialdistributionofthelargeretailcompaniesinXi’anCommercialAreaPlanningVOL.31NO.2FEB.2007582007312CITYPLANNINGREVIEWTab.2SalesvolumeofthelargeretailcompaniesinfiveareasofXi’anFig.3SpatialdistributionofcommercialresidentialhouseinXi’an59Tab.3SiteselectionofdifferentretailformatsCommercialAreaPlanningVOL.31NO.2FEB.2007602007312CITYPLANNINGREVIEWFig.4OptimalspatialmodelofretailbusinessinXi’an61