Research Collection Doctoral Thesis Empire of efficiency the urban impact of retail logistics using Walmart Stores, Inc. as a case study Author(s): LeCavalier, Jesse Publication Date: 2011 Permanent Link: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-a-007161563 Rights / License: In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted This page was generated automatically upon download from the ETH Zurich Research Collection. For more information please consult the Terms of use. ETH Library EMPIRE OF EFFICIENCY JESSE DISS. LECAVALIER ETH NO. 19689 EMPIRE OF EFFICIENCY THE URBAN IMPACT OF RETAIL LOGISTICS USING WALMART STORES, INC. AS A CASE STUDY EMPIRE OF JESSE LECAVALIER DISS. ETH NO. 19689 EFFICIENCY THE URBAN IMPACT OF RETAIL LOGISTICS USING WALMART STORES, INC. AS A CASE STUDY JESSE LECAVALIER DISS. ETH NO. 19689 DISS. ETH NO. 19689 EMPIRE OF EFFICIENCY THE URBAN IMPACT OF RETAIL LOGISTICS USING WALMART STORES, INC. AS A CASE STUDY A dissertation submitted to ETH ZURICH for the degree of Doctor of Sciences presented by JESSE LECAVALIER Master of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley Bachelor of Arts, Brown University 31 December, 1976 citizen of United States of America accepted on the recommendation of Marc Angélil Keller Easterling Laurent Stalder 2011 1 120218 DEPOSIT COPY LAYOUT.indd 1 14.03.12 15:36 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract - German Abstract - English 01 INTRODUCTION ............................................ 007-027 02 IT NEVER STOPS ............................................ 028-053 Logistics and Infrastructure A The New Electric Baby ............................................ 054-061 03 LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION ............................................ 062-093 Logistics and Real Estate B Recon ............................................ 094-099 04 SERVO-ORGANISM ............................................ 100-119 Logistics and Operations C Hercules ............................................ 120-125 05 CONCLUSION ........................................... 126-141 Logistics and Bentonville’s Global Metropolis Bibliography ........................................... 143-149 Notes ........................................... 151-160 Image sources ........................................... 161-163 Acknowledgements ........................................... 165 2 3 120218 DEPOSIT COPY LAYOUT.indd 2-3 14.03.12 15:36 ABSTRACT ABSTRACT GERMAN ENGLISH Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit den architektonischen und städtebaulichen Auswirkungen der This project concerns the architectural and urban manifestations of Walmart Stores, Inc., a discount retailer Geschäftstätigkeit von Walmart, einer global agierenden Discountmarktkette mit Hauptsitz in Bentonville based in Bentonville, Arkansas. It focuses on these subjects based on a conviction that within them there / Arkansas. Ihr liegt die Prämisse zu Grunde, dass die Beschäftigung mit diesem Fallbeispiel allgemeine is insight to be gained regarding the forces and mechanisms at work shaping contemporary metropolitan Erkenntnisse über Mechanismen bringen kann, die derzeit Einfluss auf die Stadtentwicklung haben. Der Fokus conditions. The focus here is on Walmart’s operations in North America but as the company continues to der Betrachtung liegt auf Walmarts Tätigkeit in Nordamerika. Doch insofern der Discountriese permanent expand—and as it shares common approaches with commercial enterprises worldwide—the findings are international expandiert, und weltweit andere Firmen vergleichbare Ziele verfolgen, könnten die Ergebnisse increasingly relevant to a number of different contexts. The goal is to understand how Walmart’s logistics auch in anderen Zusammenhängen relevant sein. Ziel ist es, zu verstehen wie Walmarts Expertise im Bereich expertise informs its organization in general, and specifically how that influences the way it develops, deploys, der Logistik sich auf ihre Bauten auswirkt: Wie findet die Struktur ihrer Logistik eine Entsprechung in and operates its architecture. One of the reasons to do this is to contribute to a fundamental body of knowledge Architektur? Wie werden Standorte ausgewählt und wie die Bauten bewirtschaftet? Diese Mechanismen zu related to the workings of one of the world’s largest corporations that, through its mere existence and sheer begreifen bietet die Chance, am Beispiel einer der weltweit grössten Firmen ein grundlegendes Wissen darüber size, is profoundly affecting the built environment. The study is also concerned with opportunities to engage zu erlangen, welche Einflüsse ihre Geschäftstätigkeit auf die gebaute Umwelt haben. Die Studie zeigt auch the issues raised by Walmart, either directly or indirectly. Such a motivation stems from a belief that there is Ansätze zur Stadtentwicklung auf, die von Walmart selber – direkt oder indirekt – verfolgt werden. Diese the capacity to substantially re-imagine the nature of contemporary cities and settlements. However, many of basieren auf dem Glauben, dass die zeitgenössische Stadt und Siedlungen neu erdacht werden könnten. Doch the actors involved in the production of territory are motivated by profits more than civic or ethical duty and sind die meisten der Akteure derzeit mehr an Gewinnoptimierung, als an sozialen oder ethischen Fragen the landscape they produce reflects these values. Though Walmart has been the subject of much research, given interessiert. Die von Walmart initiierten (Stadt-) Landschaften reflektieren diese Haltung. Obwohl zu Walmart the retailer’s size and reach, there remain opportunities to contribute to a better understanding of its impact. bereits viele Forschungsarbeiten vorliegen, soll die Möglichkeiten genutzt werden ein noch umfassenderes However, this project is not an apology for Walmart nor does it celebrate its business practices. This project Verständnis über dessen Einfluss zu gewinnen. Dabei darf dies weder als Versuch einer Rechtfertigung für is also not a history of discount retail nor is it a technical description of Walmart’s workings. Rather, it takes Walmarts Vorgehensweisen missverstanden werden, noch sollen dessen wirtschaftliche Erfolge gefeiert werden. Walmart’s logistics operations and examines their effects at a number of different levels. In this regard, the Es geht auch nicht darum die Geschichte der Discountmärkte nachzuzeichnen, oder eine rein technische account of Walmart’s territorial and architectural practices will remain a collection of moments that, through Beschreibung von Walmarts Strukturen zu verfassen. Vielmehr soll die Arbeit helfen, Walmarts logistische their aggregation, form a portrait of a major actor currently at work shaping cities. Strukturen und deren Effekte auf verschiedensten Ebenen zu verstehen. Die Auseinandersetzung mit Walmarts territorialer und architektonischer Praxis fügt sich als Sammlung von Momentaufnahmen zu einem Gesamtbild, und damit zum Portraits eines der wichtigsten zeitgenössischen Akteure der Stadtentwicklung. 4 5 120218 DEPOSIT COPY LAYOUT.indd 4-5 14.03.12 15:36 This project argues that Walmart’s desire for efficiency and total coordination causes it to produce a range of buildings, systems, and spaces that reflect these requirements while often superseding other planning values. The retailer increasingly renders qualities 01 into quantities by conceptualizing its merchandise, Introduction employees, buildings, and land holdings as data to be optimized and reallocated as necessary. While this is a common trait of many management operations, Walmart’s scale and its use of buildings make it particularly relevant to discussions of architecture and urbanism. Walmart’s repeatable but nimble prototypes present a kind of generic architecture concerned more with performance than with form. Such an emphasis, General claims combined with the organization’s transmission system, produces hybrid buildings that operate in both Methods architectural and infrastructural registers. Moreover, Walmart’s buildings acquire political functions as Goals they are used to override constraining legislative Underlying assumptions conditions. In order to articulate and analyze these issues, Walmart’s operations are examined at a range Sources of overlapping scales—from body to building to city Walmart literature review to network—and in terms of each scale’s attendant technological aspects, including the UPC symbol, material handling systems, construction details, communications satellites, and real estate software. Walmart overview All these elements can be assembled into a “techno- Logistics overview spatial” apparatus by which we can gain a more effective understanding of the company’s workings Walmart beyond retail and, in turn, what it suggests about architecture Walmart and other large corporations and urbanism more generally, especially in terms of shifting relationships to information, technology, and Walmart and architecture infrastructure. While it is perhaps an overstatement to say, “As goes Walmart, so goes the world,” it is fair to say that the retailer is a significant indicator of Chapter structure certain contemporary trends related to consumption patterns, public space, architectural understanding, and urbanization. METHODS This research adopts an opportunistic approach to Walmart and probes specific moments within the organization. In doing so, the aim is not to provide a comprehensive portrait of the corporation but rather to illuminate the mechanisms that support its operations, particularly as they relate to its expansion efforts.1 These probes will be arrayed in terms of scale, based on Walmart’s