In trade the market is shifting among the store types in such a degree that significantly changes the market positions of the actors in the sector. This competition is not simply about store types but ownership structures and network relationships as well. In this contest no trader can maintain a position without reviewing his or her business strategy. On macro-level the increase in consumption stopped, and economic policy (can) affect the directions of the following years' business development by the so-called plaza stop. Although the macro-level environment trends favor no ramp up in the retail sale, the plans for development and store openings did not decrease in numbers. For the entrepreneurs it has never been more important to have professional plans – socalled site selection strategies – than now. In my article I present a method based on the complex examination of the planned operating environment. There is abundant literature on both the mapping and the methodology presentation of company resources and macro-level strategic factors, so my analysis is more about the so-called meso-level, i. e. regional and locational economic factors affecting site selection. There are only a few areas of economy where the impacts and reactions between the entrepreneur and his/her immediate environment can be tracked in such extent as in trade. The economic examination of the trade enterprises' decisions about site-choosing got its place in regional economics only in the 20th century. In practice, the scientific methods did not come into general use, and there are only a few methods used widely in business life too. In my analysis I would like to assist with the development of such a method.