Cluster ou aglomerado comercial varejista? : eis a questão para rua Santa Catarina

Abstract

The objective of this research was to identify if the cluster of companies on Santa Catarina Street, in the city of Aracaju – SE, is characterized as a retail commercial cluster, using as reference the fundamentals of competitiveness performance by Zaccarelli et al. (2008). A qualitative research with a descriptive approach was carried out through a study case. The main results of the study show that there are 105 companies in the cluster, but only 86 participated in the survey, 76 of which were micro-enterprises (ME) and 10 small-sized companies (EPP). They are distributed among 44 companies in the trade sector, in 24 different segments of activity; and 42 service companies, in 23 different segments. Regarding the main competitive advantages of the cluster, it was possible to measure that the wide variety of retail and service stores operating in the same location, in different segments and in a balanced way between them, are the main reasons for attracting customers. Another advantage identified is that the great demand for different products and services promotes a flow of information that ends up being shared among retailers and contributes to meeting customers demand. Thus, it was found that the cluster of companies on Santa Catarina Street can be classified as a developing retail commercial cluster.