Investment norms in chain store expansion.

ROI techniques, so useful in weighing alternative courses of investment, are neither necessary nor practical for a large retail chain in assessing the potential of a proposed new store, the author says. Reliance on ROI can introduce irrelevant and even misleading elements into this kind of decision. He proposes that a chain establish a set of standard investment norms against which it can conveniently judge the expectations of a projected outlet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]