Online Access: www.absronline.org/journals *Corresponding author: Ouma Denis PhD scholar Jomo Kenyatta University of agriculture and technology, Nairobi. kenya E-Mail: ouma_denis@yahoo.com 83 International Journal of Operations and Logistics Management Volume 5, Issue 2 Pages: 83-97 June 2016 e-ISSN: 2309-8023 p-ISSN: 2310-4945 Retail Network Analysis through the Branch Ouma Denis 1 , Mike Iravo 2 , Agnes Njeru 3 , Ismail Noor 4 1. PhD scholar Jomo Kenyatta University of agriculture and technology, Nairobi. Kenya (ouma_denis@yahoo.com) 2. PhD scholar Jomo Kenyatta University of agriculture and technology, Nairobi. Kenya 3. PhD scholar Jomo Kenyatta University of agriculture and technology, Nairobi. Kenya 4. PhD scholar Jomo Kenyatta University of agriculture and technology, Nairobi. Kenya Retail operations of supermarkets chains, hold a very important position in supply networks due to the dominant position that retailers hold in the downstream supply chains. Current literature agrees that there are less works on his area. The present study is a second flagship study, investigating branch network variables. Using a mixed research design (descriptive and exploratory) the study employed hoteling’s, retail location to establish the relationship between branch location and branch network expansion. The study used a sample size of 300 respondents in supermarket retail operations. With a response rate of 61%, the findings reveal that branch location is significantly related to branch network expansion and that supermarket retailers should ensure that good locations were identified through different search methods lowering distribution costs. Ideal locations were identified to be in malls and next to distribution centers. The study results propose that branch location is a significantly variable to be used in developing an ISM model for branch network expansion. Keywords: Branch network, Branch location, Supply chain management, Retailing INTRODUCTION Retail supply chain management is a contemporary and evolving field which is a culmination of two different areas of management, supply chain management and retailing. Even though there many refereed journals in the field of supply chain management and retailing, there are not many research papers in the area of retail supply chains especially supermarkets (Avirat, 2006).Due to the power that comes with the control over consumers, retailers are often dominant in a supply chain (Msimangira & Sitalakshmi, 2014).While providing their functions, retailers integrate customer demand and other channel member’s supply into the supply chain as well as managing own retail supply chains .Supermarkets like other retail members are affected by a number of issues that