Expenditure on food is a major item of the budget of British households. For low income households it may be the single largest expenditure category. It follows from this that there are major welfare implications in the placement of the retail stores from which foodstuffs may be bought. This issue has been a topic of debate ever since the grocery retail system began to restructure into larger outlets. Food retailing in Britain is highly competitive and the major chains have an excellent record of supplying food on low profit margins per item. This in itself, however, forces them to seek other ways of reducing overheads. Accordingly, there are sound economic reasons why grocery retailers must seek low-cost locations that are accessible to the more mobile sectors of the community. The advent of the French-style hypermarket drew attention to the possibility that such a revision of the system of retailing might offer low prices but at the cost of making stores inaccessible to the less mobile low income groups who most need those low prices. It is to this vital issue that this thesis addresses itself. Empirical analysis is undertaken in South Hampshire in order to compare a hypermarket with a superstore. The latter type of store offers similar facilities of large scale grocery shopping but in a more accessible location. Three separate types of analysis, each within the positivist/ behaviouralist tradition proposed by Johnston, are attempted in order to draw out the welfare implications of these contrasted store types. Analyses are undertaken at each of the stores, in the hinterland of the stores and among higher-income and lower-income residents of the area. The conclusions are that the superstore is td be favoured on welfare grounds. At the same time, it is recognised that such stores develop within the overall framework of control offered by the British Planning System. Accordingly, the 'Managerialist' theories of Pahl are drawn upon in order to place the research in a wider context. This makes it possible to extend the applicability of the findings beyond the immediate research area. Observations are made on possible planning strategies to maximise the likelihood that superstores, rather than hypermarkets, will be built in the future.