An Exploratory Geospatial Typology of Illicit Massage Businesses in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area

Abstract Illicit massage businesses (IMBs) are a substantial element of the retail landscape in North America, and represent the most-visible illicit retail activity across the continent. The locational and descriptive data available to researchers from online IMB review sites allows for analysis of locational strategies of IMBs that are simply not possible with any other form of illegal commercial activity. And yet, spatial analyses of the industry to date all treat IMB firms as homogeneous features, rather than distinct firms that make locational choices to differentiate themselves from their competitors and/or make themselves more attractive to potential customers. The assumption of homogeneity produced conflicting and inconclusive results in previous IMB locational studies. This research begins the process of addressing this problem by drawing on extensive field surveying of IMB storefronts in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro area to present the first geospatial typology of illicit massage businesses in North America. The typology represents a step toward a more nuanced understanding of the illicit massage industry, which can be used to improve locational analyses moving forward.