Businesses that tend to locate near each other

[golden eagle]

If you go to a CVS in the Jackson area, chances are that a Walgreens is very close by. I also tend to see a Walmart whenever there's a Lowe's.

BTW, I'm looking for specific business names, rather than something generic like a check-cashing store near a liquor store.

[The Nature Boy]

If you go to a CVS in the Jackson, chances are that a Walgreens is very close by. I also tend to see a Walmart whenever there's a Lowe's.

Both of those seem to be regional things. Outside of the South, I never see a Lowe's/Walmart coupling. it's pretty prevalent in the South though (for some reason).

What about McDonalds/Burger King? If you see one then you can be assured that the other is close by.

[1995hoo]

....

What about McDonalds/Burger King? If you see one then you can be assured that the other is close by.

Not around here. McDonald's locations are far more ubiquitous than Burger King. Often this is due to zoning regulating how many "drive-thru" type restaurants are allowed in a particular area. When I was in high school, the operator of the Roy Rogers across from the school protested when a McDonald's was to open nearby, claiming the zoning prohibited it. The McDonald's operator responded that the zoning only allowed one "drive-in" restaurant but the McDonald's was to have a "drive-thru" facility (the Roy's didn't). He won.

Further to the south I've frequently seen Wal-Mart and Sam's Club located together (I believe they're owned by the same outfit). Around here that's not generally the case.

[golden eagle]

Sam's is owned by Walmart. The one in Pearl is several miles from the closest Walmart.

There aren't nearly as many Burger Kings here as McDonald's. There's a BK a mile to my southwest. They're about a mile southeast of McDonald's.

[hotdogPi]

Burger King is almost always near McDonald's.

However, I know of a Burger King without a McDonald's nearby. It's on the small patch of land surrounded by MA 114, MA 125, and MA 133. This small triangular patch of land also has a Bertucci's and an Ethan Allen.

[golden eagle]

I'm also starting to see Dollar General and Family Dollar stores being by each other, too.

[cjk374]

I'm also starting to see Dollar General and Family Dollar stores being by each other, too.

Don't forget about Fred's.  I know of 4 places near me that have Fred's, Dollar General, and Family Dollar very close to each other:  Arcadia, Grambling, Homer, & Haynesville (Louisiana).  In Haynesville, all 3 stores are within walking distance and were built less than 3 years ago.  The Family Dollar store gave up and closed its doors last month.  Yep, they were only around about 2 years or less and gave up...sad to see such a waste of a brand-new building.      

[golden eagle]

Near me are two Fred's that are about a third of a mile from each other. I have no idea how that happened.

Since Dollar Tree just bought Family Dollar, maybe the closed FD in Haynesville will reopen as a Dollar Tree.

[cjk374]

Since Dollar Tree just bought Family Dollar, maybe the closed FD in Haynesville will reopen as a Dollar Tree.

Oh really????  When did that happen?

[hbelkins]

Couple of weeks ago.

In my experience, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree serve two different types of clientele and two different markets. Family Dollars (and Dollar Generals, which used to be headquartered in Kentucky but now is HQ'd in Nashville) serve small towns and rural areas as well as larger towns. Even the smallest Kentucky county seat towns have a DG or FD, or both. And DG in particular is expanding into rural areas where no towns are around.

Dollar Trees are primarily in the larger towns and can usually be found in strip malls.

[Roadrunner75]

For awhile as they were gaining momentum in the late 80s/early 90s, Wawa seemed to be opening their convenience stores as close as possible to their national rival, 7-11.  In this case, Wawa opened a store right next door to a 7-11 (which eventually, as expected, closed and became a mom and pop "In and Out"). 
https://www.google.com/maps?ll=39.87683,-75.111353&spn=0.000008,0.006539&t=m&z=18&layer=c&cbll=39.876937,-75.111569&panoid=YlZ9qYoSaULvzb2bsX1Rqw&cbp=12,74.89,,0,5.61

It worked well, and 7-11s have somewhat gone down the tubes in NJ/PA.  Very few sell gas or fresh made food and they have not kept up with the times - many being rather run down dumps.  At first when I was young I liked my Slurpees and didn't like the seemingly more expensive Wawas encroaching on my 7-11s.  Now Wawa is king, supplies me with my gas and meatball classics and will be slowly invading an area near you.

[golden eagle]

Dollar Tree tends to really cheap-looking items. Yeah, it's a dollar store, but they tend to carry lesser-known brands than DG and FD.

[roadman65]

If a Walgreens goes up on one corner, then the other corner must have a CVS here in Florida.  Even though there are many other intersections that each rival drug store could use, they like to have it out on the same corner.  Even Home Depot in a war with Lowes, manages to put up their stores miles from each other, but these two pharmacy giants have to go for the same intersection.

Discount Auto Parts and Auto Zone are always neighbors.  Now, of course, O' Reilly's Auto Parts is entering the contest for auto parts as well as Bennett Auto Parts.

Wawa is taking off strong in Orlando and Tampa Bay.  They have the lowest price in gas other than Costco, BJ's, and Sams who are all members only only places.   Their hoagies are to die for and yes they have specials on one product at one time always including the 79 cents fountain drink special this Summer, the 4.79 hoagiefest, and the occasional dollar coffee. IMO they are the king of fast food now.  They even knocked one 7-11 out on John Young and Silver Star just weeks after opening, but Racetrac is giving them a run though.

[ARMOURERERIC]

Couple of weeks ago.

In my experience, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree serve two different types of clientele and two different markets. Family Dollars (and Dollar Generals, which used to be headquartered in Kentucky but now is HQ'd in Nashville) serve small towns and rural areas as well as larger towns. Even the smallest Kentucky county seat towns have a DG or FD, or both. And DG in particular is expanding into rural areas where no towns are around.

Dollar Trees are primarily in the larger towns and can usually be found in strip malls.

When it comes to Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, did not one of those just buyout the other?

[cjk374]

Never heard of Wawa.  Must be an east-coast thang...but I like hoagies!   

Here in Ruston, LA, Lowes located behind Wal-Mart a few years ago, but there isn't a Home Depot any closer than 40 miles away (Monroe). 

At the corner of California Ave. and Vienna St. in Ruston Wal-Greens located across from a Rite-Aid pharmacy (formerly K&B Drug...remember that name from the past?).  Wal-greens also located close to I-20 on the northside, but no CVS anywhere nearby.

[formulanone]

If a Walgreens goes up on one corner, then the other corner must have a CVS here in Florida.

It's not much different in most places; although for Florida, Walgreens edged out Eckerd Drugs and CVS bought most of them out.

[vtk]

Five Guys Burger 'n' Fries; Firehouse Subs

These two often seem to be located in the same building (along with a few other small retailers).  I think this is more because both have expanded aggressively in Columbus at about the same time, and the available retail space has been in new retail strips.

[Roadrunner75]

There are a number of retirement communities in the Pine Barrens not far from where I live.  All they get are drug stores, banks and doctor's offices.  As soon as I see a new building pad in that area, or a business closing, I know it's going to be one of those three soon after.  Granted, getting Pinelands approval to put in a Walmart or other large retailer is not going to happen, but even a liquor store or a fast food joint would add some variety that is sorely needed out there.

[formulanone]

Five Guys Burger 'n' Fries; Firehouse Subs

These two often seem to be located in the same building (along with a few other small retailers).  I think this is more because both have expanded aggressively in Columbus at about the same time, and the available retail space has been in new retail strips.

I was going to mention this one; they seem to have both expanded in their expansion in the past five years. Oddly, Columbus is one of the regions where you'd find them in the same plaza. But your reasoning is probably correct: Firehouse Subs uses the franchise model; I recall you have to purchase between 5-10 stores at a time, but Five Guys  stores are entirely company-owned.

[DaBigE]

At least around here:

Qdoba & Chipotle
Subway & Cousins (although not as frequent anymore)
Target & Walmart
Menards & Home Depot
Milios & Jimmy Johns
Kohls & ShopKo

Probably not what the OP had in mind but every Walmart now seems to have a Subway inside.

[pianocello]

In my area, the most obvious is Walgreens and CVS. I've noticed a lot of Menards and Home Depots near each other pretty much everywhere I've been except the Quad Cities.

As for Lowe's and Walmart, I had never heard of that combination going up next to each other, but there used to be a Walmart across from the Lowe's here in Davenport, and the Lowe's in Coralville, IA is across the interstate from Walmart.

[golden eagle]

When it comes to Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, did not one of those just buyout the other?

Dollar Tree is buying Family Dollar.

[SP Cook]

Drug stores.  The deal is not really that they want to be near each other so much as they want to be near hospitals or medical office parks.  Obviously that means near each other.

Old guy mode on.

Kroger used to own a drug store chain called SupeRX.  Always next to a Kroger, and Kroger did not have a pharmacy inside nor did is sell the types of items that drug stores do.  Sold them off.  And then just put a pharmacy in the store.  Whoever bought SupeRX didn't have a good lawyer, or they would have got a non-compete. 

Back in the old days when general credit cards were not common for common people, Holiday Inn took Gulf Oil cards, and many Holiday Inns had a Gulf station on property.

Another one was that Shoney's used to own Captain D's, and they were often very near one another.  Shoney's is dying, but the new owners of Captain D's have it going well.

[roadman65]

How many Burger King's are located right near McDonalds?  I never pay attention to that one, but mainly most interchanges have both.  That could also be a coincidence being everybody wants to be near a freeway interchange.  However what about in the cities and towns themselves?  To me it seems like it varies.

[briantroutman]

If you go to a CVS in the Jackson, chances are that a Walgreens is very close by. I also tend to see a Walmart whenever there's a Lowe's.

Both of those seem to be regional things. Outside of the South, I never see a Lowe's/Walmart coupling. it's pretty prevalent in the South though (for some reason).

Not just in the South: In my hometown (north-central PA) the first Wal-Mart and Lowe's in the region opened essentially next door to each other and about the same time (I think 1994). Similar couplings followed in Mill Hall, Shamokin Dam, and Buckhorn–accounting for 80% of Wal-Marts and every Lowe's in a seven-county region. It was enough to cause family members of mine to wonder whether the two were somehow connected.

My understanding is that these repeated pairings are sometimes more than just coincidental–that often a smaller retailer will mimic the expansion patterns of a larger retailer. If there's enough overlap in their target markets, a smaller retailer basically lets the larger one do all of the heavy groundwork of market surveying, site selection, and getting the wheels of local government turning.

A college textbook of mine said something similar of Red Roof Inns (referring to the era when they were consistent, company-owned properties–not the franchised mess they are today), but the difference being that Red Roof would allow Holiday Inn or Howard Johnson buy the expensive real estate right at the foot of the off-ramp, and Red Roof would intentionally buy the cheaper parcel slightly further back with less exposure. The intent being that a motorist would see Holiday Inn's towering sign and barrage of billboards, choose to exit for the night, but then when he was put off by Holiday Inn's high rates, he'd notice the lower-priced Red Roof Inn next door.

What about McDonalds/Burger King? If you see one then you can be assured that the other is close by.

I've never noticed this–except to the extent that if you have a small town with one strip of franchised fast food places, there's a decent chance that nation's #1 and #2 burger chains are both going to be on that same strip. If anything, my experience is more that fast food burger chains tend to be "peppered"  around an area, so that there may be a Burger King on one block, a Wendy's on another, and a McDonald's on a third, but I can't recall seeing many on opposing corners or next door to each other.