Nicia Moran

Site Selection using Geographic Information Systems and Multi-Criteria Decision Model ©2015

A framework for site selection analysis was developed to contribute to Lowe’s home improvement store expansion strategy into the Canadian market. This project intends to locate which Target sites Lowe’s can potentially take over. The framework combines Geographic Information Systems and a Multi-Criteria Decision Model to select which Target sites in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area are the most suitable for Lowe’s to occupy. Using Thiessen polygons in GIS, a spatial analysis was generated to select the potential Target sites that was suitable for the next phase of Lowe’s expansion. The MCDM Analytical Hierarchy Process built the criteria based on the success factors pertaining to existing Lowe’s home improvement store locations. The methodology successfully selected six potential Target sites that were suitable based on the list of user specified criteria. These six potential sites were given scores guided by the Analytical Hierarchy Process method and were ranked in a priority scale from most to least suitable.